Volunteer with a family on the Pennine Way, England

Area: Insular

I am British and my wife is Colombian. We have a 6-year-old boy, 4-year-old girl, two dogs, a cat and two goats. We run a country eco-hostel in San Gil, Colombia. La Pacha Hostel is located in the centre of a large coffee farm and is surrounded by forests and pastureland. It is made up of an abandoned farmhouse, restored by us with a shared kitchen and dormitory, two campsites, a campfire area, organic and regular showers and toilets, a sheltered hammock area with campfire and barbecue next to a converted bus with library, boardgames and TV (with over 1000 movies to choose from). The shop sells necessities (flashlights, shampoo etc.), fruit and veg, basic groceries and snacks and drinks. Special treats include fresh cow's and goat's milk, homemade yogurt, lassis, smoothies, fresh juices, pancakes, veggie empanadas, toasted sandwiches and whatever else we're baking at the time! We serve vegetarian Colombian and International meals from a set menu of the day. Specialities include: Indian curries, served with podadoms, lassi, and chutneys; vegetarian shepherds pie; vegetarian bangers and mash with gravy; quinoa soup, bean soup, lentil soup all served with brown rice, platanos and vegetables and salad; changua; vegetarian sushi; vegeburgers and chips, Pasta and vegan pesto; pasta pomodoro. Volunteers stay in tents with comfy mattresses. We offer a free breakfast only. For the other meals volunteers can cook their own in the kitchen or order from the menu. We ask for 5 hours work per day. Volunteers can take 1 full day off per week. From the hostel we can arrange all the activities the area has to offer. San Gil is the tourist centre of the region offering numerous adventure sports and buses to local colonial villages, bathing spots and waterfalls. Barichara is well known for it’s artists and alternative culture, including film and music festivals. There are also spiritual activities like yoga, Aztec dance, sweat lodges and ancestral medicine. The hostel is remote but accessible, 10mins walk from the bus route. Taxis will come to the farm gate, 100 metres from the hostel. Buses pass every 15 mins to San Gil (15 mins away) , Barichara (20mins away) and Villanueva (20 mins away) . There are picturesque country hikes to all three towns, as well as to Curiti. Our interests include organic gardening, birdwatching, swimming in rivers, movies (we have a huge movie collection) , yoga, vegetarian cooking, healthy living and healing ceremonies. We can introduce our guests and volunteers to any of these activities and also the adventure sports, nature spots and hikes in the area.

Area: North Otago

We are a vibrant blended family "living the dream" as Marcel my fiancée describes our life. We are now living and working on a small dairy farm in the Waitaki Valley. We have young family of 2 boys and a girl. Marcel is Dutch and he manages the farm while I work on it as well. We live 15 minutes drive from Duntroon with its famous Elephant Rocks and about 25 minutes drive from the interesting and unique city of Oamaru. We offer free accommodation with food on a short term basis in our home in exchange for whatever you can help us with, we generally expect about 4-5hrs of work per day that you eat and sleep here. There is lots of gardening to do, maybe some farm work and house painting and building type work to do. Any assistance with general housekeeping/childcare etc. but we are happy to work in with whatever your abilities are. We like the opportunity of exposing our family to new people and cultures and building friendships.

Area: Abruzzo

We have a little biological farm holiday in the centre of Abruzzo National Parks at 850m a.l.s. Marino lives there with Elide and a lot of friends who come to visit them.

Area: Andalucia

We are a couple from Essex and are both very sociable and love to have a laugh and a good time We moved to Spain in 2010,and bought a Cortijo which was a ruin in a rural area, the local town is Orce. Over the years we have been restoring the property but now due to age and ill health, we now need help to complete our project. We are also looking for one volunteer for housework, washing and ironing etc. we have 3 very excited dogs and a cat. Ideally we are looking for positive and motivated people that is not opposed to getting their hands dirty! We have lots of different jobs that we need help with and work varies according the time of the year. We enjoy sharing a cup of coffee with our guests, but just don't have time to show them round our local area and/or provide entertainment. This is why we tend to get on better with self sufficient people. You will have your privacy and we expect to have ours too. We live in a small Spanish village in Andalucia (just one hour and half from Granada) It's probably important to point out that we're located in a quite rural area. We live in an old stone Spanish farmhouse, set in a perfect but remote location to relax, read or walk. We speak very little Spanish We look forward to welcoming people to our home

Area: Marlborough

Hello, my name is Marty. I live at Nydia Bay in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds, a labyrinth of waterways at the top of NZ's South Island, which you can get to only by boat. I have an holiday accommodation business here and also work as a builder/joiner around the Sounds and in Nelson. I have two young sons, Francis (14) and Michael (10) who go to school in Nelson but who come out often to be with me in the Sounds. My main hobbies are yoga meditation, landscape oil painting, boating, fishing,walking in the bush, woodwork, travel, playing guitar and piano. My lifestyle passion is sustainable living. Nydia Bay is powered by hydro generation and solar panels. At present I am getting my organic garden together and need help with this as well as the wide variety of jobs around here so far away from shops, services, roads and people. For me workawaying is about meeting like minded people, making new friends and having fun as much as it is about getting jobs done. Workers come here usually for one or two weeks.