Oliver

Czech Republic
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Profile information

Travel information
I am currently
Travelling
Activities i am interested in:
I am from the Czech Republic - and I'd love to learn hands-on skills, manual skills and practise English language
Description
Hi! My name is Oliver and I am a full-time freelance photographer from Czech republic. (www.benesoliver.cz) My motivation is to be more self-sufficient in the modern world. As I grow older I am realizing that practical/hand skills are very important, from cooking a meal or changing a bulb to farming and communicating in other languages. I am very passionate about learning new things, and even though I might not be the brightest one in the beggining, I’ll do the best I can.

Also, this year I almost burned out due to my perfectionism. Throughout the months, I realized that I need to take a brake from the stress in wedding industry and find again what motivated me to start photographing. If it would be possible, I’d love to take a camera with me and capture our experience, and maybe also create something useful for You. :)

Outside of photography, I love to spend time in nature, cook healthy and workout.
Interests
Farming
Hitchhiking
Nature
Yoga / Wellness
Animals
Cycling
Outdoor activities
Camping
DIY & crafts
Fitness
Languages
Self development
Pets
Art & design
Carpentry
Gardening
Mountain
Sustainability
Photography
Hiking

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Languages spoken
Czech: Fluent
English: Intermediate
Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn
I'm interested in:
Gardening
Eco Projects
DIY and building projects
Life at a Farmstay
Some knowledge of:
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Helping with Computers/ Internet
Able to teach about:
Art Projects
More details about your skills
Working as a photography freelancer since 2019, focusing mostly on weddings, couples and documentary. Photographers job is mostly about working and communicating with people - finding common ground, organizing the program and all the guests, getting them to feel relaxed (and persuading that one grandpa in the back that she also needs to be in at least one photo too! 😃) and create an incredible experience for them, as it is as important as great photo outcome, at least that’s what I believe in.

So far the business has been very successful with 62 5* google reviews so far.

I Never did any other job outside of photography, so now I'm eager to get my hands dirty and learn some new skills :)
Age
23
What else ...
My Travel experience

Before photographing people I travelled through several European countries for many times because of landscape photography, although almost never alone, but with friends or even with family when I was much younger.
We travelled mostly to Austria mountains, but I also visited Italy, Slovakia, Germany and Canary islands because of the wonderful night sky.
Thanks to my landscape and nightscape photography trips I learned to be patient with the process, even though sometimes I felt on the edge of my possibilites, especially during higher hikes with heavy equipment on the back.
On other hand, sometimes the toughest trips were in my country - Czech republic. We have many different beautiful mountains and nature parks such as Giant mountains or Czech Meadow, which are espcially beautiful during the winter time 😊
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
  Dairy
- Special dietary requirements
  Can't eat anything with lactose

Feedback

16 May 2024

Left by Workawayer (Oliver) for host (Join me on community ...)

Honestly, this was an experience of a lifetime. Paddy reached out to me because someone canceled on him and he saw my profile. I agreed to travel to his place in the second half of April and I stayed there for a month. Paddy is very kind, empathetic and so bright, and wise, when it comes to him, age is just a number. We talked about a lot of… read more

(Excellent )

24 Apr 2024

Left by host (Experience farm and village ...) for Workawayer (Oliver)

Oliver stayed , at my farm for almost five weeks , I was delighted to have him as it was spring time on the farm and a busy time of year , Oliver was an amazing help to me , Oliver learned about animals and taking care of them really quickly in fact evrything he did he picked up straight away , Apart from being an exelcent worker he is also really… read more

(Excellent )

18 Apr 2024

Left by Workawayer (Oliver) for host (Experience farm and village ...)

Dear workawayer, before I get to the review, I just need to give you a few tips for your stay at Aidan’s place; they are very, very crucial.

1. Stay for longer - no matter how long you’ll be there, it’ll be too short for sure. A whole week will feel like a day. So I recommend staying there for as long as possible.
2. Don’t be afraid of anything.… read more If you like farm life, this is the best opportunity you will ever find.
3. Prepare for heightened expectations afterwards - everything about Aidan and his farm is so perfect that you will never want to visit any other place. Just prepare to accept it. :) (At least, that's how I feel about it)

I stayed at Aidan’s farm for more than a month in May 2024. For me, it was my first experience abroad, so I was a little bit scared of how things would turn out. But I couldn’t be more surprised. There are not enough nice words to cover how I feel about everything that happened there. Aidan is very kind, caring, emotional, and open-minded person. He’s not striving only for a worker-host relationship; he becomes your close friend, your family. Unlike others, he took me many times with him to show me his favorite pub, places; he even introduced me to his family on several occasions. I always felt welcomed and treated with absolute generosity and respect. He even treats animals with the same amount of care and respect, which is really honorable. Thanks to him, I really found out the best side of Workaway, and I strongly believe that it can’t get better than that. Aidan can appreciate great help and also does his absolute best to make you feel like you’re at home. He makes sure you enjoy the stay, that you have everything you need, and that you get the best out of the experience. He’s one of the few hosts who show the good side of Workaway and the good side of human nature. When it comes to English, we spent numerous hours talking about everything and anything, and I understood everything he said perfectly, as he speaks slowly and his English is very understandable. No matter what you’ve heard about an Irish accent, here you’ll have no problems in communication at all. Overall, it’s very visible that farming is his life and that he loves to connect with people and animals on a deeper level.

The whole farm is another chapter. It feels like heaven on earth. A well-maintained access road with a wonderful view leads you through the green valley with a flowing river towards the farm itself, which is clean, bright, and has its own specific atmosphere. The world suddenly takes a slower pace. Everywhere you look, there are either amazing views or cute animals, with rainbows 24/7. I am just wondering how amazing it must be in the summer :).

My room was a private wing of the house, spacious, huge, cozy, you name it. I loved the wood-burning stove; the kitchen is big and full of everything you would need (although, I preferred to cook the meals in Aidan's kitchen, as it’s best to share the meals and Aidan also loves to cook together :). The bed is huge, and the whole space is just very, very cozy.

When it comes to work, Aidan will make sure he chooses the best fit for you. For me, it honestly didn’t feel like a chore at all, as I fed animals every day and did some help here and there for Aidan when he needed assistance. :) He also gave me a lot of personal space to fulfill my ideas and plans there :).

In conclusion, I am extremely grateful for the month spent at your farm, Aidan. I wish you nothing but happiness in whatever you’ll be doing and wherever you’ll be, and I hope I’ll visit you someday again :)

Thank you!

(Excellent )

17 Mar 2024

Left by Workawayer (Oliver) for host (Come and spend time on our ...)

I spent 14 days at Lynda and Chris's farm, from 2.3.-17.3.2024, and it was a life-changing experience :)

Chris is very active and work-motivated, funny guy. He loves to write, tell stories and jokes, and he’s very creative with his solutions. Lynda is a great cook, and she’s also kind and understanding. They both have a very positive mindset, and… read more it showed. Almost most of the work was explained to me with kindness and patience, and they helped me with a lot of English words to great detail, which is necessary to get better in it!

Work was 5 hours a day, usually starting at 10 and ended at 16 with a pause at 13 pm for lunch with 3 working hours on Saturday and a free Sunday.

My whole week went like this: The first day on Monday I moved manure around the garden and dug roots from the ground. Tuesday was the same, but I dug roots for most of the time and moved manure a bit. On Wednesday I dug a wide hole in the ground for the jacuzzi that just came, moved the dirt into the garden nearby, and moved and piled up turf in the shed (turf is very similar to wood). Thursday was about digging a deeper hole, I also moved concrete blocks, piled the rest of the turf, and prepared the ground of a future parking lot with some plastics and stuff before laying the concrete. On Friday I dug again, even deeper, and created a mound of concrete blocks in the ground for the jacuzzi. We ended 30 minutes earlier, so we could start 30 minutes earlier tomorrow. Saturday was all about moving the jacuzzi (as a pond for ducks) - but before that, we covered and prepared the ground in the parking lot area for laying concrete, I moved a few wheelbarrows of gravel, and that was all for that day from my side :) I took some photos (as a photographer) of transporting the jacuzzi to the hole I dug, and we ended up the work hour and half earlier 😊

On the next Monday, I moved gravel from a pile to a few spots around that needed it. After that, my shift ended early, and I was able to take some photos around the place 😊! On Tuesday, concrete for the parking lot came, and we worked on it for the whole day, we ended 30 minutes early :). Next days were quite similar :)

Work was very manual and quite demanding, but totally doable. I wish it was a bit more combined with easier stuff, but again, I still managed to be energized after it more than I expected. Partly I also learned that it’s important to make it easier for yourself and not necessary to try to lift everything at once. When I gained their trust and the work was hard, sometimes we ended a bit earlier, which was very pleasant :).

Lynda cooks delicious meals! For lunch, there is usually a light soup with some sandwich. Then there’s dinner at around 19:30pm. Personally, I had to cook something in between, as work was very energetically demanding, and I usually walked around 12000 steps a day, so I couldn’t go for 7 hours without a meal. Lynda was also very kind to take care of my lactose intolerance, for which I am very very grateful! She really cared about it and made sure I enjoyed the meals 😊

The nearest village is around 15 minutes of walking, full of nice pubs, and also a supermarket. The supermarket is open for a whole day, so there’s a lot of time to buy what you need! On the weekend, when there’s more time after the work, it’s better to go to Westport by bus and buy things there. :) Also, don’t forget to visit the beach, as it’s so close! You can also comfortably use a great bikes they have 😊

I got a nice private room in the same house as hosts, with fast wifi! :) There’s a huge bed and window with a wonderful view. I recommend taking earplugs with you, as the wind and rain can be really loud against the window when the rainstorm comes. It was very warm even on the cold days. The only negative thing I mentioned to Lynda before leaving was the overall poor state of hygiene and cleanliness inside the whole house. But I believe they will work on it :)

Overall, I learned how hard life on the farm is, about manual work, landscaping, how to work effectively with various garden tools, and also improved my English, of course, as we talked about a lot of things in the meantime :) Thank you for the experience, and I wish you only the best!

(Excellent )

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