Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
11 Apr 2024
Reply rate
90.0 %
Usually responds within 3 days
Feedback
26
Email verified
Badges (2)
Details
Description
Greetings traveler.
We are Matias (31), Jennifer (33) and our three little kids, a family mostly motivated by keeping things simple, down to earth, and cost-efficient ;)
The ultimate long-term goal is to be as self-sufficient as possible even though it's not something we're stressing about. We just want to be as prepared as possible for when the SHTF for real. Which is increasingly looking like it will be sooner rather than later.. Well, let's move on shall we?
Matias is a professional armchair philosopher and an amateur woodworker. He likes to smoke tobacco and start random projects at the drop of a hat.
Jennifer can teach you about gardening and edible plants. She's also passionate and knowledgeable about natural birth.
We originally arrived in this valley as Workawayers ourselves. We very quickly decided that we wish to plant ourselves here long-term and bought a hectare of land and consequently built a house on that land.
We live surrounded by other households within walking distance (2km or less) and we very loosely define ourselves as a "community" which is more like a spread out village. There's many families of various nationalities living here, so if you have kids in any age between 0 and 13, they will find a child to play with somewhere in our valley.
At the moment we have some chickens and roosters, a dog and a few cats. In the future sheep, rabbits and possibly a cow are things we would like to integrate into our lives.
We are - even after 5 years since starting this adventure - still learning and adapting to this lifestyle. Compared to "standard Western living" we are quite minimalist. Our solar panels give us enough juice to keep the lights on, charge our phones/laptops and keep a fridge running in the summer months.
In the kitchen we have set up a gravity-fed system with collected rain water, so there we have running water. We do washing and dishing with rain water (or take a dip in the lake). Drinking water we take from a well on our land or sometimes from a spring down in the village.
Speaking of the village, we are 1.5km away, at the end of a dirt-road (mostly uphill) that gets progressively worse the closer to us you get. If you have a camper, there's a possibility - when the road is dry - to get up to a ridge about 400 meters away from our house.
Matias eats low-carb, the rest of the family eats everything. Vegans/vegetarians can be accommodated without any problems.
The projects we have lined up for this year are:
-Building slip-straw walls for a second house we started building last year
-Garden related bits and bobs (mulching, weeding, planting etc.)
-General homestead related maintenance (fixing broken things, firewood related adventures, fences to be readjusted etc.)
Apart from this, we expect you to at least offer help with cooking and dishwashing procedures, even though half of the time it won't be needed.
What you can expect generally:
- Informal, chaotic but relaxed and mostly politically incorrect environment
- Kids that will want to play with you and show you all kinds of things (if they like you)
- Delicious sour-dough bread
- Dynamic and flexible working hours (we don't do very strict schedules around here)
- Nature (the pleasant and unpleasant)
- Good internet connection
What you CAN'T expect generally:
- 5 star accommodation
- Warm water on demand
- mRNA spike proteins
Accommodation:
The unfinished house was used for accommodating volunteers last year and it worked out great, you will have a mattress and a fat cozy blanket. Pitching a tent is another option, usually a mattress fits in there as well.
Free time:
We like to play board games/card games and regularly get together with neighbors and their volunteers to play. Also random visits for socialization are not unheard of. Campfires and pizza-parties are also a common occurrence in summer.
We accept stays of any length but preferably 2 weeks minimum. It usually takes a while to get used to each other and the longer the stay, the better we will get to know each other :)
#romania #community #selfsustainable #selbstversorger #gemeinschaft #rumänien #selbstversorgung #offgrid #homestead #permakultur #natur #nature #homemade #gardening #building #animals #permaculture #unschooler #freelearner #homeschooling #homeschoolingfamily #familywithkids
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
As we are foreigners in Romania, we can't give you much of Romanian culture.
What we hopefully can provide, is some food for thought and inspiration in regards to how or why to start on the path of self-sufficiency. We don't follow any specific prepper ideology or religious dogma, rather we try to be realists and look at the world as it now stands, and plan our steps accordingly.
Ideally, you will be pushed at least to the edge of one your comfort zones during your stay here, it might be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. Either way, we hope that we can serve as a catalyst in some way for your continued growth as a human being.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Tasks for 2024:
- Walls/plaster
- collect firewood
- everything garden related (seeding, planting, weeding, prepare the greenhouse, prepare beds, ...)
- enjoy life
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Finnish: Fluent
Swedish: Fluent
Romanian: Intermediate
Dutch: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
You can choose to sleep in the loft of the new building which does not have walls yet or to put up a tent in a spot you prefer. We recommend you to bring your own sleeping bag as it can get cold in the nights. Also warm clothes and good shoes would be preferable for autumn/winter/spring.
We can provide you a mattress and blanket, plus a tent if you wish. If the road is not too wet it is possible to get up here in your campervan.
We are living off-grid surrounded by nature. The electricity comes from photovoltaic panels, the drinking water from a well, the firewood from the woods. For washing we usually use rainwater or go have a dip in the lake. Our toilet is a compost toilet.
Electricity and Wifi are available in our house. Of course food will be provided.
What else ...
We are in plain nature, no big streets nearby but many paths to hike!
In the village down the hill (1.5km) you can find a small shop, where you can connect to the locals or just spend some time off.
Twice a day there goes a mini bus from the village to Orastie, where you have more variety of shops and entertainment if you're looking for that.
Hitchhiking from or to Orastie is the easiest option.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have a good internet connection so that working online should not be an issue. Jennifer is working online herself.
Space for parking camper vans
In summer when the road is dry you can get pretty close to our house.
Can possibly accept pets
Yes. But dogs should stay out of the house, garden and not chase the cats or chickens.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (10)
So I stayed here in Balșa at the homestead for around 5 weeks, mostly alone whilst Matthias and Jenny were away, only getting to meet them at the end for 2 short but lovely days. In the whole experience I… read more
Jennifer and Matias are such heartwarming personalitys, I felt welcomed from the first moment I got there. The experience of just being sorrounded by nature and really getting in touch with it was so peaceful. The work was fun and I really enjoyed it.
Definitely recommend this… read more
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(4.6)
Communication:
(4.9)
So I stayed here in Balșa at the homestead for around 5 weeks, mostly alone whilst Matthias and Jenny were away, only getting to meet them at the end for 2 short but lovely days. In the whole experience I… read more
Jennifer and Matias are such heartwarming personalitys, I felt welcomed from the first moment I got there. The experience of just being sorrounded by nature and really getting in touch with it was so peaceful. The work was fun and I really enjoyed it.
Definitely recommend this… read more
The tasks Hannah worked on were mostly weeding and building slipstraw walls and she did very well. I (Jennifer) actually was impressed by how fast she progressed in taking weeds out. ;) Without her help the… read more
They were both very nice and kept making sure I had everything I needed.
Matias and Jenny are always open to talk about anything. So the work was never boring. I helped to build a house out of mud and straw and to weed and plant in the garden.
I was able to arrange… read more
Both of them were really motivated and worked hard. They dug out some clay as… read more
Like it said in the profile it was unstructured but… read more
He blends into the social sphere naturally and doesn't take more space than he needs. Exceptional understanding of human nature and… read more
Although my stay here was very short, I´ve decided, nonetheless, to leave some feedback for Matias & Jennifer.
My idea was to stay longer, but, it ended up being just one week. The sudden and unexpected heavy rains made it impossible to do any work outdoors, and, at that moment, there were no tasks to be done in the… read more
Ludwig helped us with getting firewood (cutting dead trees down, chopping it to… read more
Thank you so much! We really hope you can make your new place ready for winter or at least next years first… read more
They are motivated, creative and can work on their own.
The food they made was awesome too! :) Thank you guys for everything and enjoy your journey.
She got along well with our little daughter and helped with other tasks. Sadly the weather was not the best to work more outdoors.
We wish her all the best. :relaxed:
