Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
4 Mar 2026
Reply rate
96.2 %
Usually responds within 19 days
Feedback
19
ID verified
Email verified
Country info
Badges (4)
Details
Description
Hi there, I'm James, 32 years old and from Scotland. I live in a house in the countryside near Valencia and work from home as an online English teacher - although my real passion is music. The house is in a stunning area surrounded by mountains, with lots of hiking routes and two pretty villages nearby. Over the last few years, I've worked with many workawayers renovating the house and trying to make it beautiful. I enjoy living here, it's comfortable, but there's always more work that needs to be done.
I love hosting people here, getting to know them, and learning from each other about life, as well as picking up all kinds of DIY and gardening knowledge. My ambition is for this house to be a beautiful, relaxing place where you, me, and my friends can feel happy and at peace.
I'm looking for people who feel confident doing DIY, gardening and cleaning tasks, and doing them alone some of the time, especially when I'm particularly busy with my work. Tasks aren't done on a serious rota like in other more organised workaways - it's just my house and garden and I'm looking for someone who's good company and happy to help out with things.
We can work together whenever I'm free, and of course we will hang out at meal times, at the end of the day and at the weekends, and go hiking together if you want! I also often go into Valencia city at the weekends to see friends, and you're welcome to come along.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Technology
Sustainability
Self development
Politics / Social justice
Movies & TV
Events & social
Culture
Charity work
Languages
Gardening
Cooking & food
Books
DIY & crafts
History
Music
Writing
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Fitness
Hiking
Cycling
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
I'm an English teacher and I can of course help you with your English. I'm also fluent in Spanish so if you're learning Spanish I can help you with that too! If you're a musician, then we can make some music together - I play the piano and guitar and sing and I have built a small home studio here. Other people are always the best inspiration!
Help
The work depends on the season and how available I am to do big projects, because most of the year I'm quite busy working from home as an online English teacher. So I basically do two types of workaways:
Type 1: During times like Easter, Summer, and when I have less teaching work, we can work together on more important projects. In the past this has been things like plastering and repainting the house, and in the future will be things like rewaterproofing the flat roof, building a fence, renovating the bathroom, building a barbecue and any other idea I come up with! This will require more work from you, and I'll ask for an average of about 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, in return for your accomodation and 2/3 meals a day, prepared by me (or together, if you like, but all using ingredients that I pay for).
Type 2: During other times, there's less work to do. The work will consist of gardening, cleaning the kitchen, bathrooms, and common areas, small maintenance tasks and helping me with bits and pieces. This needs less work from you, about 2 hours a day, 4-5 days a week, and would be perfect for someone travelling as a 'digital nomad', so you can combine the house work with your own work. In this case, I'll make you 1 meal a day (usually lunch, as that's my main meal) and your breakfast and dinner will be up to you.
I try to keep the bottom of this section up to date with the work I need right now, but when you message me I'll let you know the current situation and we can agree what to do. It could also be that during part of your stay there is more work, and then less, or that there's something that I want us to work together on all weekend when I'm free, and then you can relax during the week. We'll talk about it and agree what you'll do and what I'll give you in return, as it will depend on what we're both looking for at that moment.
Work I need right now (updated 15/2/26):
- Type 2; Keeping the kitchen, bathrooms and living spaces clean and tidy
- Gardening: planting, watering and maintaining vegetables, trimming trees and plants, sweeping up leaves
- Helping me out with other ad-hoc tasks (eg. taking rubbish to the dump, small DIY)
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Accommodation
The house is a bungalow with a big kitchen, a comfortable living room, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, an office/studio, a big garden, a roof terrace, and a beautiful starry sky. In the spare room there is a comfortable single bed and storage. In terms of food, I'm an occasional meat-eater, but I love vegetarian and vegan food and I'm happy to adjust my diet according to your needs.
What else ...
The house is surrounded by mountains with lots of places to hike and in the local village there is a nice river you can swim in. The place is amazing for cycling. Like everywhere in Spain it is full of history - on the other side of the hills there's an abandoned airfield from the civil war, and down the road in Gestalgar there is a castle and the remains of a Roman aqueduct. Valencia is only a 50-minute drive away or there's a train from Llíria which I can drive you to. There's also a bus to the city which passes twice a day.
Finally, I will never ask you to do any dangerous work, but for everyone's peace of mind, please make sure you have medical cover for your stay. If you're from the EU, the free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is perfect; otherwise, a decent travel insurance works great. I'll need to see evidence of it before you arrive :)
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
I have a Starlink internet connection which I use for teaching online classes, it's very fast and reliable and you're free to use it!
Can possibly accept pets
This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.
How many Workawayers can stay?
One
My animals / pets
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (9)
During a 6-day stay, my task was to paint the bars on 11 windows. It was a task right up my alley. I've enjoyed it a lot, it was a therapeutic experience. I've… read more
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Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
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:
(4.9)
Communication:
(4.8)
During a 6-day stay, my task was to paint the bars on 11 windows. It was a task right up my alley. I've enjoyed it a lot, it was a therapeutic experience. I've… read more
I stayed with James for about 3 weeks in his wonderful house. It was my first workaway experience.
I sent a request with very little advance and luckily was it possible for me to come .
From the first contact he was very nice, kind and help me to find the way and the bus to get to the closest town to his place.
The house is… read more
