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Description
Please Note: We have accepted 2 workawayers for June - July 2024.
If you are keen to help us August - September, please connect. Thanks.
Help build a Co-Living/Working Community in beautiful Braga, Northern Portugal.
We are finalising refurbishing a large town house with ample gardens, swimming pool, home cinema, etc.
When we open for guests later this year, there will be space for 24 people.
Until then we are just 4 (2 adults + 2 children) and looking for 2 more to complete the initial team.
The house is very central and has excellent transport access to the whole city and surrounding areas.
If you want to live & work in a historic city with plenty of culture and learn how to setup a Co-living Community from scratch (we are documenting everything 100% Open Source) join us!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Language practice
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are fluent in English and Portuguese and speak French and Spanish. We're happy to teach/learn language skills.
Also we have decent experience in the kitchen (having worked in restaurants in our youth) and workshop we're very happy to share. Want to learn to 3D print, edit video or laser cut wood? We've got you covered!Host offers payment in line with the minimum wage
This host offers accommodation and payment.
Host has indicated that they will pay at least the minimum hourly wage of their country for each hour worked and that accommodation will also be provided. They are asking for help with a business or business activity. Contact the host directly via the site messenger for more information and details about the wage provided. Any arrangements should be agreed in advance with your host.
Help
We are building a co-living/working house in the historic center of Braga, Portugal.
Our goal is to build a family-friendly community focused on health & well-being.
Braga is an ultra-liveable city with all modern amenities, great food, proximity to nature and near zero crime.
Do your own research.
The house is 200m from cycle/running track along the river. We have bicycles available.
There is a 23m lane swimming pool; perfect for fitness or just cooling off after a long day.
We have Gym equipment on-site but there are also 3 good gyms within 2 minutes walk (a 24/7 gym is 50m from the house).
We need help with Light Construction & Landscaping to finish our garden and build furniture.
We are completing the outdoor areas (garden) and building custom durable furniture using premium materials (steel, wood, glass, fabrics) and require help! If you are hands-on and have some manual aptitude, we can teach you everything you need to succeed. Typical jobs include preparing concrete forms (e.g. planters), planting/pruning trees, building garden furniture including welding and carpentry - we have all the necessary tools in our on-site workshop.
Work is paid (10% above the National Minimum Wage) and include full room & food.
We expect you to help for 4-6 hours per day and 4 days per week. (Max 24h per week)
This gives you plenty of free time to work on your own ideas/projects, explore the surrounding areas or adventure further around Portugal and North-West Spain.
We feel this is a mutually beneficial offer as just a room in our area would be €400/month.
The house is a 7 minute walk to the Bus/Train station where you can get the train to anywhere in Portugal or FlixBus to anywhere in Europe. Porto Airport is a 40min (direct; €8) bus ride away.
We expect the minimum stay to be 2 weeks and maximum stay to be 2 months.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Portuguese: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
French: Intermediate
Chinese (Mandarin): BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
We love learning languages. Share yours!
Accommodation
You will sleep in a shared room with 1 other person of the same gender.
Sharing space is part of the co-living experience. Please don't apply if this is unclear.
We are building our own "luxury" bunk beds from scratch with privacy and sound-proofing.
You will have a brand new memory foam mattress, choice of pillow and new linen.
Our housekeeper does all the laundry and linen changes as often as needed (usually once per week).
Bathrooms are shared, but we have 5 and there are only 4 of us in the house;
all recently refurbished to the highest standard.
Multiple WiFi access points per level; 1GB fiber. Consistently great 5G reception too.
Additional amenities: music & games room with many instruments & games.
Ping pong Table. BBQ. Wood fire pizza oven.
What else ...
Location:
Braga is an in-land city with rivers like London or Berlin
The house is super central everything you need is within walking distance.
The bus stop is directly in front of the house and bicycles are available.
45min (€3) train ride to Porto and 40min (€3) bus to Geres nature park.
Weather:
Summers are hot but not overbearing like the Algarve. Typically around 29 - 34 * C.
There are pristine river beaches you can visit (we usually go once per week in summer).
They have kayaks, paddle boards and other water sports. Just search for "Praia Fluvial Braga".
The house is fully air conditioned (all solar powered) and the swimming pool is a great way to cool off.
Food:
There are many excellent (and cheap!) cafe/restaurants within walking distance. Search on Google/TripAvisor!
Unlike Lisbon/Porto/Faro which are all "tourist" prices, Braga still retains many restaurants where you can have a 4-course meal with wine and coffee for under €10.
The farmers / fresh produce municipal market is a 8min walk and has superb produce at excellent prices.
For everything else there are 4 supermarkets less than 4 minutes walk from the house and 2 excellent bakeries (sourdough etc.).
We like to cook everything from scratch using fresh ingredients.
We make traditional Neapolitan pizza from scratch in our wood fire oven once a fortnight.
We grow our own heirloom tomatoes in the garden - but use usually use San Marzano on pizzas. ;-)
We are experimenting with sourdough and vegan "cheeses" but also have excellent *real* cheeses (DOP Mozarella & Parmesan); if you like to experiment and learn about food, vem!
Culture:
In the historic center of the city there are daily activities including free open air music concerts, gastronomic and cultural events. e.g: "Braga Romana". Several parks, churches and monuments to visit.
The house is a 7min walk to Braga Forum where there are regular concerts featuring international artists. Recently: Dua Lipa, Now United, Bryan Adams, Thirty Seconds to Mars.
Sports & Fitness:
There's a 5km running/cycling track along a river ("Rio Este") 200m from the house; excellent if you enjoy nature while walking/running/cycling. We often take walks/bike-rides along it. It's well-lit at night and super safe at all hours.
There's an excellent free multi-sport facility 8mins walk (2min bike ride) from the house. It has an outdoor climbing wall, skate park, football fields, tennis and beach volleyball court! There's a well-maintained basketball court 400m from the house too and we have b-balls you can borrow. You will not be short of sports if your are into them.
For football fans: The SC Braga Stadium is a 10min bus ride from the house.
You can watch Liga Portugal (top level) football for ~€25.
The stadium alone is worth a visit as it's a modern architecture masterpiece carved out of a mountain!
Bottom line:
There's plenty to see and do in and around Braga!
Do your own research and then book your trip!
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Disclaimer:
The inside of the house is finished; minus some furniture which we are custom-building.
If you like modern robust furniture design from first principals, not disposable flat-pack, and want to help with designing and building something on our list we can fill-in the gaps in the skills you need to build!
Your bed will be ready before you arrive but it will be "spartan".
We expect you to help us test and provide feedback on everything especially the bed.
Half the garden is a building site because we are building something special; plans available if you're interested in architecture/engineering. Ideally you can *help* us finish it.
Our children are 1 and 3. They are lovely 99% of the time. But occasionally get excited and noisy. If this is a problem, please don't apply. But if you like kids, apply!
We don't have a TV. So there is zero mindless channel-zapping. But we do have a home cinema (4k projector + Dolby Atmos sound) and all the streaming services (Netflix, Disney+, iPlayer, etc.) if you want to watch something specific like a film or nature doc. Cinema only after our kids are in bed ~20:00.
We try to be as transparent as possible and expect the same in return.
What we are building is a work-in-progress and we need help!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We were digital nomads (software engineers) until recently so can provide ideal working environment (desk, ergonomic chairs, screens, 1Gb Internet, etc.)
Space for parking camper vans
Free on-street parking 20m from house.
Can possibly accept pets
We love pets. We currently have a fish tank in the house but want to adopt dogs & cats in the future. We'd love to meet your pets if you have them!
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
4 - 6h per day. 4 days per week. (Max 24h/week)
