Profile information
Host rating
Not yet rated
Feedback
-
Email verified
Badges (1)
Details
Description
Dear volunteers, my name is Nicola, I'm 30 and I live (and grew up) in a farmhouse in the not much known north-eastern corner of Italy, Friuli.
I opened this host profile six years ago, in the year when I helped my dad running his farm. During that time I had the luck to host some of the best volunteers I could hope for, and even tho it feels like ages ago I still keep great memories of that experience.
Since then, lots of things had changed: my dad is not around anymore, and the place can't be properly called a "farm". My dad used to keep sheep, wild-range pigs in the woods and other animals, and to cultivate our 3 hectares of land... while now in the woods has moved a small pack of roe deers, and in the morning you can see them browse undisturbed in the fields! Other current non-human inhabitants are our 30 hens, two cats, and my mum's dogs.
Nowadays, after moving back from Venice where I lived for some years for uni, I work as a librarian in a nearby town's public library. But since I'm doing a part time, during the rest of my week I'm always working to keep this place nice and not too wild... And this is where you could help :)
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
There's much to learn about this area and its history and culture. We're in Italy but maybe not as you learned to expect it, people here even speak our own regional language, and food, ways of being and traditions are quite different.
I will also be very interested in learning about your background and culture. After all, one of the reasons why I decided to host is to keep meeting travellers from other places in the world also while I'm not travelling myself!
Help
As a volunteer myself, I got both experiences of those places where there's a mission, big commitment, lots of projects going on, and also of hosts that were more chill and just needed a hand for every-day maintainance and errands. The kind of volunteering I'm needing this time is the latter, so if that's what you are looking for, hopefully you will enjoy your stay here :)
In more detail, the bulck of chores you'll be carring out will mostly involve feeding the hens, collecting the eggs, and mowing the grass all around the house. Other than that, once you're here I will think of things you can help me with, like clearing out areas from brambles, doing some cleanings, prepare wood for the winter and other gardening and general mantainance stuff.
Depending on your preferences, the agreement can be about just accomodation, and in that case I will only ask you for a couple hours of work every day (with days off od course) to carry out the essentials, and you can be free for the rest of the time (and of course have full freedom to the kithcen), OR it can include meals, and then we can be more creative about tasks to work on together!
I'm happy to discuss other options, like for instance with me doing the grocery shopping and you cooking for the both of us (which actually wouldn't be bad, especially when I'll be coming back from twork). Let's see what works out best in each case. This is something we can discuss beforehand and can lay out the agreement clearly in the beginning, so we both know how it will be and what to expect.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Catalan: 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'll have your own room with a bunk bed (I don't hate couples, that's just the only spare bed I had in the attic!). This is downstairs in the same part of the house where I live. You'll have your private toilet downstairs and for showering you'll use my bathroom upstairs. We will also share the kitchen.
I'm very happy to share my house and to provide a welcoming place for you to stay. I travelled as a volunteer myself in the past and I know how it is :) You will have all the privacy you need, in your room or in the big garden, walking around, borrowing our bikes... but I'll be also happy to spend time together, cooking meals, chatting, driving you around and showing our beautiful area.
What else ...
The farm is surrounded by a lovely countryside, which you can explore by foot or bike. There are plenty of villages to visit, rivers to go swim and so on. The nearest village with shops, bars and buses is 15 minutes by bike or an one hour walk.
As you can see from the map, we are quite close to the border with Austria and Slovenia, as well as the renown italian cities of Venice and Trieste, which you can reach in less than two hours by train on your free day (I will be happy to drive you to the station and come to pick you up). Also the main town of the area, Udine, is less well known but worth a visit.
We have the Alps to the north, Slovenia to the east, the Adriatic sea to the south and Venice to the west!
I have tried to think of everything relevant to write here but if you have any other questions or want more information, please feel free to ask. I'm really looking forward to hosting volunteers again this summer!
Nicola
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.
Space for parking camper vans
Lots of space for parking, but no drainage
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
