Passionate About Walkable Cities? Join Our Family Near Amsterdam, Netherlands

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least a week

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    =========================
    JANUARY - Happy Birthday to Chris! For the month of January we would like to offer short stays for people who are passionate about walkability. Chris's 39th birthday is January 2 and his lifelong career goal is to work in machine learning for Urban Planning. We would like to host guests who share Chris's passion so that we can share knowledge of urbanism books and YouTube channels, and make connections in this field. It is our dream to help create a network of people who have experienced walkability first-hand and can advocate for walkable cities in their local areas. Our Haarlem house has an ideal walk score. If you love 'Not Just Bikes' or 'Strong Towns' please message us! Dates available are December 22 to January 31. We are hoping to host people for 3-7 days at a time. Couples are welcome.
    =========================

    _We appreciate you not emailing us unless you see available dates, thanks! WorkAway reduces our account points when we don’t reply to initial messages, even for dates blocked out on our calendar.

    We are a family of 4 living in Haarlem, Netherlands. We love going to cafes and to the beach. We like to do cultural exchanges with people who are cheerful, friendly, and outgoing. We have young girls so prefer to have someone as an older sister. We are happy to host a couple or a single but it’s a small room with a pull out bed. We are not looking for someone who wants to move to NL - we prefer someone who is coming on vacation.

    We do best with last-minute hosting - we aren’t good at planning a few months into the future due to our own changing schedules, sorry! We travel a lot ourselves.

    Our house is a classic Dutch house with a modern remodel inside. Our house is on a fairly quiet street. Our house is located very near the center of Haarlem. We don’t own a car - there is public transit for everything we need. The city is extremely bike-friendly.

    ABOUT US
    - Kali (mom) teaches classes online. She loves rock climbing, snowboarding, and horses.
    - Chris (dad) works from home as a software architect for AWS with Amazon. He loves ice hockey and snowboarding. it is his lifelong dream to work in Urbanism for walkable cities.
    - Quinlyn (age 12) loves gymnastics, dance, cooking, horses, figure skating, and crochet.
    - Revelyn (age 6) She loves animals, art, imagination games, roller skating, and being outside.

    As a family, we love watching movie series like the Marvel movies, Harry Potter, and Star Wars. We love playing board games like Azul and Calico. We also love playing PS4 games like Sack Boy and Raymond.

    We often need dog sitting for 1-3 dogs. One dog is temporarily in our care as a rescue. She is high fear so someone very experienced with dogs strongly preferred. The dogs can be crated during the day so you can explore Holland but the dogs need potty breaks around 9am, 5pm, and bedtime minimally with at least one 30-60 minute walk in there.

    FRIENDSHIPS:
    The kids keep us super busy but we are happy to spend a few hours together here and there. Please share your areas of expertise! We are curious, life-long learners. If you have a talent like art, music, or making videos, please show the kids! Quinlyn would happily teach you how to crochet - she's very good for her age. If you drink coffee at all, we would like to take you to 4 third-wave cafes to compare cappuccinos and talk about what makes a great cup. We would also like to show you some great Pho or Poke bowls in Amsterdam, or get some Dutch fries and hang out on the beach in Zandvoort. One of our favorite restaurants in Haarlem is an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant and we love to go there for lunch on the weekend once in awhile.

    We own a kombucha business. Currently it is operating out of our house so that does add some crowding in the kitchen. We are happy to introduce you to kombucha and teach you how to compare different brands. We do not need any business help - just enjoy sharing our passion. Our kombucha is eco-friendly because it’s made from the waste products of coffee production- coffee cherry, coffee leaf, coffee flower. We can tell you more when you come!

    HELPING OUT:
    We appreciate help with dishes and general house keeping. Just being another adult in the house with a good attitude and good energy is super appreciated.

    YOUR STAY:
    - We offer a small bedroom with a day bed that pulls out to form a queen size bed with 2 twin mattresses
    - There is a shower and toilet right by the bedroom
    - Excellent wifi
    - Quiet street, walk anywhere
    - Great public transit
    - Small backyard patio
    - A bike to use

    CONFIRMING YOUR TRIP:
    - Before confirming a stay, we ask you to send us a quick 1-minute video on WhatsApp so we can learn a little about you
    - Before finalizing a schedule, we do a video call to make sure it is a good fit
    - After the video chat, we provide our home address so you can book your travel

    WALK OR BIKE TO:
    - Wonderful restaurants and cafes
    - LOTS of hiking trails
    - Organic Market on Fridays a 5-minute walk from home
    - Farmer’s market on Saturdays all year long
    - Haarlem museums
    - the public Library
    - ice rink (Quinlyn goes almost daily)
    - indoor and outdoor skate parks
    - indoor rock climbing gym and bouldering gym
    - Stand-up paddle, rowing, or kayaking around Haarlem canals

    TRAIN SYSTEM:
    You can see so much of the Netherlands or the EU from our house. We are a quick, 4 minute bike ride from a fantastic train station with clean, safe trains and busses. The transit system in the Netherlands is top-notch and safe for women to ride alone at any time of day. Here are some adventures we recommend:

    - Zandvoort 10 minutes away by train (amazing beach popular for kite boarding and wind surfing)
    - Amsterdam 20 minutes away by train
    - Leiden 20 minutes away by train
    - Den Haag 30 minutes away by train
    - Alkmaar 45 minutes away by train
    - Antwerp 1.5 hours by train
    - Brussels, Ghent, and Bruges 2-3 hours away by train or bus (bus for 10 euros!)
    - London 3-4 hours by train
    - Paris 4-5 hours by train (bus for 30 euros!)
    - Scotland and England easily accessible by overnight ferry (50 euros!)
    - Train anywhere in the EU

    ENRICHMENT OPTIONS:
    We want you to experience Haarlem and The Netherlands so we encourage you to go hiking or go downtown to pick up a coffee and walk in the parks. There are some awesome foodie tours you can do in Haarlem with great restaurants and micro-breweries. Your stay wouldn’t be a complete trip without a visit the museums in Amsterdam or the beach in Zandvoort. To save money, you can bike everywhere. Transit costs 4-7 euro per round-trip train ride or 3 euro per round-trip bus ride.

    Weekends are a great time for you to see more of The Netherlands because you can get a month-long weekender train ticket for 40 euros. With this pass you can travel anywhere in the Netherlands for free as much as you like, as long as it is a weekend. We live in a beautiful area and you should see it! Really - the Netherlands has some incredibly diverse ecosystems that you wouldn't expect, like dunes with pine trees, surfing and kite-boarding, wild horses, and the wine country of Limburg. All is at your fingertips.

    About once a month we go to a new city on the weekend via train, but we mostly do day-trips as opposed to staying overnight. We would love to include you in these adventures. Please come along if you like!

    KEEP IN MIND:
    Although we are extroverts, we both have very extroverted jobs (we are often on video calls most of the day). For that reason, we need some introvert time to recharge. Meanwhile the kids will talk your ear off! Revi loves constant company. If you need a break, it's ok to take time to yourself!

    One thing to note - our youngest, Revi, needs someone with a joyful sense of humor. She gets confused and grumpy when people are too literal, critical, or sarcastic. It’s especially hard for her to understand when people have an accent. So, we try to pick helpers who have an attitude that is fun and who want to help Revi be brave and happy.

    LANGUAGE:
    English is spoken everywhere here in The Netherlands, so there is not a language-barrier issue. Sometimes it can be hard to break into a friend circle in The Netherlands. You have to really be willing to put yourself out there (like joining a soccer team or taking yoga classes) to make connections. Our Workawayers often find connections by using the Workaway map or going to Couch Surfing Meet-ups in Amsterdam.

    Contact us for links to our Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and website :)

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Teaching
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURE EXCHANGE:
    Both Chris and Kali are into Myers Briggs (Kali is ESFP and Chris is ENTP) and Gallop Strength Finders. Kali is a huge fan of Chinese Medicine. She loves talking about ailments and remedies. Chris used to own a coffee shop so if you want to learn to geek out about coffee, he is the ideal teacher.

    Kali is the founder of an internationally acclaimed horsemanship program and curriculum for kids and kids at heart. She is currently taking a break from horse training while we get settled in Europe and is writing. As a horse trainer, she specializes in rescue horses and wild Mustangs. She has written four books and produced a dvd.

    Chris has achieved a lot in the world of programming. He is great with Kubernetes, iOS, PHP, and Python. He has multiple apps in the app store. He is also an incredible team lead if you're looking to learn more about people management and project management, like Agile and Scrum. He's a big fan of the book "Getting Things Done" and has a tremendous amount of knowledge about user experience design.

    OUR HOSTING EXPERIENCE:
    Since 2010, we have hosted multiple Workawayers each year. We have lived in a few different houses over the years and always open our home to travelers because we love travel ourselves and believe in travel as a path to self-improvement and community-building at a global level. We have hosted Workawayers from the following countries:
    UK
    Spain
    France
    Germany
    Costa Rica
    Brazil
    Colombia
    Netherlands
    ...and more

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

    This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

  • Help

    Help

    - General helper with good attitude is a must
    - Dishes, laundry, making juice
    - No smoking or vaping (cigarettes or other). Chris has Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.

    We expect you to help out wherever you can. Our home can feel wild with young kids, so you have to be used to a busy environment. You'll learn a lot about the upbringing of American children. Our kids are outgoing and athletic. We will treat you as a member of the family, but we expect you to contribute more similarly to how an adult would contribute than to how a child would contribute.

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent
    Spanish: Beginner
    Dutch: Beginner

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    YOUR ROOM
    Your room will be on the middle or top floor of our house, which is 3 stories tall. It can be a bit bright so bring an eye mask for the nights! There is a bathroom with a shower or a tub. Rooms are small in The Netherlands. We are happy to send you photos and videos of our house.

    MEALS
    We like to eat dinner together but it’s ok if you’re not home. We eat a lot of meat, rice, and potatoes, plus fresh fruit and veg. We eat almost zero sugar and minimal dairy, although the kids like cheese and cookies. We have a gluten allergy so we eat bread made from rice and nuts as well as gluten-free pasta. We eat both regular and vegan cheese. We have a good quality juicer and juice daily. It is very easy to walk to buy a croissant or fresh bread if you need something else. We encourage you to try all the Netherlands cheeses!

    YOUR ARRIVAL
    Workawayers can fly to Amsterdam Schipol Airport and take the train or bus to Haarlem. If you need help with luggage, we can meet you at the station, which is just a few minutes away from our house. It is possible to walk, bike, Uber, or bus to our house from the station. When you arrive, you can have 1 full day to just relax. We will start asking for help after that.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    Here are some great Netherlands cities that we will be visiting soon and can bring you along:

    Maastricht
    Gronigen
    Bergen op Zoom
    Gouda
    Venlo
    Nijmegen
    Aklmaar
    Zwolle

    Here is a list of cities that our Dutch friend recommends:

    - Den Bosch, it’s a historical city!

    - Arnhem, there is a really cool open air museum with traditional Dutch buildings of all kinds. It gives you a good historical perspective on how Dutch people used to live. It’s like walking back in time! In wintertime it’s really cute with lots of lights, an iceskate ring and so on

    - Zutphen and Deventer (close to me) are both beautiful and historical. They are both Hanzesteden (old trade city) just as Zwolle and Kampen (both beautiful as well)

    - National park the Veluwe is beautiful as well. It’s easy accessible from Rheden, it’s a 15 min walk from the train station. You can rent bikes or walk, both enjoyable. There’s also a really nice museum (Kröller-Müller) in a different area of the Veluwe, with lots of Van Gogh.

    - Leeuwarden, Franeker, Sneek, Stavoren (all in Friesland) are small and authentic cities as well, maybe a bit far out for you, but worth a visit some day. Franeker hosts the oldest planetarium (not sure if it’s the correct word haha) in the world. Someone build it in their own living room.

    - there is also a open air museum in Enkhuizen about the Zuiderzee and old Dutch ships (the Zuiderzee does not exist anymore, it nowadays consists of polders and the IJsselmeer)

    - there are also ferry’s a cross the IJsselmeer (one sailing ship) which connect you with Friesland. It’s a fun and faster way to go there.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    We have business grade internet at our house because Chris works for AWS at Amazon and Kali teaches online classes. Our upload and download speeds are very fast.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    Dogs yes, cats no (we are allergic). We do have a small female dog ourselves and occasionally take rescue dogs short term

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    2 Hours a Day, 5 days a Week, possible to combine hours if you want to do fewer days

Host ref number: 999691639413

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