Area: Asturias

Janet and John live in Asturias. We are now at the end of our fifth year of so called retirement here and love it. This is definitely not the Costas! We live in Valdes in Asturias….. a county of rugged coasts with super ( but often stony) beaches. The interior (where we live at 270 meters high in the hills and 30 minutes from the nearest beach) is largely mixed forest of sweet chestnut, oak, ash and beech with plantations of northern pine and eucalyptus. The valley bottoms and tops are mainly green pasture for cattle grazing or silage with flatter fields with maize for cattle. It is beautiful – a lake district without the lakes and without the crowds. Weather – This is green Spain so we have clouds and rain. The temperature is higher than the south of England – a greater noticeable difference in the back part of the year. When we bought our house we wanted a house with some land to grow veggies on. We ended up with two houses (one “the barn” had no floor and was only home to spiders and cobwebs – we called it the barn because it was the oldest and still had the cattle feeding stalls), a traditional Horeo, 5 fincas (fields - one with a small maize mill – not functioning) and two Montes (bits of hillside with lots of trees on.) Thank goodness three of our neighbours keep most of the fields clean by grazing cattle, sheep and growing grass, so I am left with only the finca (6500 m2 )below the house to look after. We have six chickens and two dogs (and a cat that adopted us). During the year we grow most of our own vegetables. John does most of the work on the land while Janet writes and directs two musical shows a year for her group of performers back in England

Area: puerto viejo, limon

We are currently chillin' in Puerto Viejo, Limon, Costa Rica. We are managing this awesome little hostel and we are looking for fellow friends to help us out. We have some single rooms that we would like you to live in while you are visiting us and help us out around the place. We would be doing things such as painting, cleaning rooms, helping out in the kitchen (we are starting a new resturant), gathering coconuts, receptioning, and the obvious making new friends from around the world, and chillin' on the beach....Let us know what you think, we would love to have you!

Area: South Africa, Little Karoo

A Lagoon which is bordered by the Swartberg Mountains and the Gamka Nature Reserve and surrounded by farms, open space and breathtaking views. Amber lagoon is a hostel where people can sleep in a self-catering reed and stone chalet, splash in the big pool and enjoy home-cooked meals in the open-air bar. We also have a big garden, dogs, chickens and various indigenous plants.

Area: West of Ireland.

Our Artfarm is a art dream in progress. It is hoped that in the future it will be a centre for art/film/music/workshops/classes and residencies for anybody with a dream of using their creativity in some way. Some day classes have already been run here including woodcarving and mosaic classes which were a great success. The dream is a work in progress with the ongoing restoration of house, outhouses and haybarn as studio space and organic veg plot slowly expanding. This creative space is in a rural setting in east Galway, 35 miles from Galway city, 15 miles from Roscommon town. It has a minimal footprint ethos with a great respect and love for the space and all its ecosystem. It is hoped that this centre can be a place where the local community both young and old are made welcome and where visiting workshop participants and artists can feel at home. It is hoped this place can be eco rather than ego driven. Anyone with an interest in art and environment is welcome here.

Area: El Valle de Anton, Cocle Province, Panama

We are is a non-profitable organization dedicated to the conservation of native species of orchids in a charming little town of Panama, El Valle de Antón. It was established on 15 May 2001 with the view to protecting endangered endemic species of orchids and thus contributing to the conservation of the amazing biodiversity of the region and the Republic of Panama. Please contact us for further information.