NOTE: my profile was used previously for when we lived in Mexico, so you may see comments and photos related to that from others on here).
ABOUT US:
I'm Rachel - a 45 year old British American writer working as a content manager for a whisky distillery. I traveled all over in my 20s and 30s. My last 10 years before moving to Scotland were in Mexico where I opened a mezcal bar and wrote a Mexican cookbook (the story/philosophy/travel bit - not the recipes). I love meeting new people, deep-diving into philosophical subjects, and walking in nature. I'm easy-going, welcoming, and a bit goofy when in a good mood. I like to take my time in the morning with a cup of tea and a meditation or stretch - when I manage to get out of bed early enough to fit it in. We eat healthy, no real dietary restrictions, but happy to accommodate - and learn from you!
Lila is 8, very creative, happy, loves to dance and make art, play outside, swim...all the usual kid stuff. She's pretty independent, very strong and intelligent, but also very sweet and loves to play with others. Our house is a simple home with a good vibe and good wifi.
WHERE WE LIVE:
We live in a small village called Boat of Garten, about 40 minutes south of Inverness. There's 1 pub, a steam train, the public bus, a mini-market, and loads of trails to walk just outside our door. It's a gorgeous, quiet village with beautiful houses, and a 10 minute drive/bus to Aviemore with bigger shops and restaurants. We're right in the middle of the Cairngorms National Park, so if hiking, mountainbiking, or watersports are your thing, you'll be covered. I honestly think we live in the most beautiful place in the world - though on endless rainy days it's a little harder to feel that!
There's not much for nightlife or entertainment that's not outdoor-based, but Inverness has pubs and clubs, so you can always go there. You can also take a train south to Edinburgh, Glasgow, and beyond from Aviemore.
I'm excited to host other travellers who like to engage in conversation over a coffee or a meal and share ideas. Any questions - fire away!
Please include the word RAINBOW in the title of your message to let me know you've read all of this. (It's the name of our cat, btw).
Happy travels!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Interests
Culture
Pets
Self development
Books
Blogging
Writing
Drawing & painting
Animals
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Fitness
Camping
Dancing
Mountain
Winter sports
Outdoor activities
Hiking
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
I've spent years moving and working around the world, and have loads of stories to share. I loves to talk about philosophy, travel, our growth as humans, potentials for living in community, how we might fix a broken system(s)...
I was raised in the US, spent years moving around the world; my last 10 years were in Mexico where I ran a restaurant and mezcal bar before moving to Scotland last year. I now work for a whisky distillery!
Lila is Mexican-born, super fun and witty, and pretty well-travelled herself!
Help
Help is mostly needed participating in the house: cooking, tidying, being an active part of the household, childcare. Dog walks are also appreciated and pet sitting is needed from time to time. Would be very happy to host a native Spanish speaker to help Lila with her Spanish and/or someone with experience in primary education.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
This host offers a language exchange
We are fluent in English and Spanish. I'd be happy if someone was a fluent Spanish speaker and could practice with Lila, as I sadly, rarely do. (As a single mum, I can't tick all the boxes!).
Accommodation
We have a 3 bed, 1 shared bath cottage and a small garden. You'd have your own room.
We have 1 very friendly dog and a super affectionate cat.
What else ...
Hiking, kayaking, cycling, hiking, bird watching, historic sites, hiking, puddle jumping, camping...how do you feel about hiking?
We're also in the Spey region so there are loads of distillerys to tour within an hour or 2 drive.
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 wifi connection. I also work from home.
What an amazing first Workaway experience! Rachel and her daughter Lila treated me just like a member of the family. After a very warm welcome, I was treated to homemade pizza (Rachel is a fantastic cook!) and plenty of cuddles with Rainbow the cat.
My daily routine was very relaxed. I helped out with a few tasks around the house, such as cooking,… read more vacuuming, and looking after the dog and cat. In my free time, Rachel was kind enough to give me lots of great tips for hikes and walks in the surrounding area. She even invited me along to a friend’s house for dinner and a movie night, which I really appreciated.
During the week, I found so much peace and relaxation in the stunning Highlands. To anyone considering staying here: definitely go for it! I felt welcome at all times and would come back in a heartbeat.
Thank you, Rachel, for making my first experience such a wonderful one!
Sara was great to have around. She was excellent company and conversationalist, happy and easy to be around. I didn’t have loads of projects for her to do but she naturally pitched in without me asking in cooking and tidying, and was happy to help out wherever needed.
We’d absolutely have her back — to help or as a friend!
I had a really special time with Rachel and Lila, who are a fun-loving family - it was a great experience for my first time properly offering au pair-style help. I highly recommend this place as you'll learn so much and have a blast, just note that their profile is out-of-date but if you're reading this, don't hesitate!
I stayed for the last few… read more weeks of the school holidays. Our days were often filled with exciting things but it could also be a little challenging at times as Lila is adapting to moving into a new house and preparing to start at a new school again. I often helped with getting her ready for the day or entertaining her and the neighbourhood kids during Rachel's work hours, making sure they were well-fed with healthy snacks and had lots of activities to keep them busy. I felt grateful too to see Lila getting excited about her birthday. Lila is extremely creative; she draws well, creates incredible crafty things, and comes up with awesome stories (I especially loved the one we wrote down one about a princess who proved to be much more brave than the prince sent to save her). Lila has amazing women around her to influence her - Rachel is a powerhouse in her work and ambitious creative projects, but she also keeps up an enviable social life and surrounds herself with powerful female friends. It was a pleasure to meet some of these friends during my stay.
The general tasks around the house, including cooking dinners, feeding the cat and walking the dog, hardly felt like work and we went camping, on hikes and other day trips together, and were even out dancing for a night which was great. The area around Aviemore has a surprising amount of things to offer including woodland wildlife to spot, not to mention the Cairngorms practically at the doorstep, and Rachel was super generous in offering me some hiking gear. Rachel is very very good at communicating and made sure I had time to myself and also a great choice of things to do (+ transport) on days off. Plus the Friday night pizzas were delish :)
Thank you so so much for the warm welcome and I learned a lot from you both. Wishing you all the happiness in the world!
(Excellent
)
18 Dec 2016
Left by Workawayer (James & Lauren) for host
Rachel and Noel were great hosts and are full of knowledge of the local area and Mexico in general. We helped in the setting up of their Mezcal bar and it was really fun to watch it develop over the two weeks we were there. Noel's cooking is delicious traditional Mexican food and their Mezcal is artisanal - I'm sure they'll give you a tasting!… read more It'd be worth going to Todos Santos for these things alone but it's also a great town where you can learn to surf etc.. Rachel was really helpful and friendly, introducing us to her friends and family and making us feel instantly at home from home. We can highly recommend staying and working with these guys. Big love to Jane and Jim too who were so generous and lovely.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Excellent
)
3 Dec 2016
Left by host for Workawayer (James & Lauren)
Lauren and James were a great help! They were super flexible, go with the flow, and had no problem jumping in and helping out wherever needed. They helped us get our mezcal bar ready to roll by doing a lot of painting, landscaping, cleaning, hammering and hanging things. It was a lot of fun having them around and we were sad to see them go.… read more They're great company and great workers!
What an amazing first Workaway experience! Rachel and her daughter Lila treated me just like a member of the family. After a very warm welcome, I was treated to homemade pizza (Rachel is a fantastic cook!) and plenty of cuddles with Rainbow the cat.
My daily routine was very relaxed. I helped out with a few tasks around the house, such as cooking,… read more vacuuming, and looking after the dog and cat. In my free time, Rachel was kind enough to give me lots of great tips for hikes and walks in the surrounding area. She even invited me along to a friend’s house for dinner and a movie night, which I really appreciated.
During the week, I found so much peace and relaxation in the stunning Highlands. To anyone considering staying here: definitely go for it! I felt welcome at all times and would come back in a heartbeat.
Thank you, Rachel, for making my first experience such a wonderful one!
Sara was great to have around. She was excellent company and conversationalist, happy and easy to be around. I didn’t have loads of projects for her to do but she naturally pitched in without me asking in cooking and tidying, and was happy to help out wherever needed.
We’d absolutely have her back — to help or as a friend!
I had a really special time with Rachel and Lila, who are a fun-loving family - it was a great experience for my first time properly offering au pair-style help. I highly recommend this place as you'll learn so much and have a blast, just note that their profile is out-of-date but if you're reading this, don't hesitate!
I stayed for the last few… read more weeks of the school holidays. Our days were often filled with exciting things but it could also be a little challenging at times as Lila is adapting to moving into a new house and preparing to start at a new school again. I often helped with getting her ready for the day or entertaining her and the neighbourhood kids during Rachel's work hours, making sure they were well-fed with healthy snacks and had lots of activities to keep them busy. I felt grateful too to see Lila getting excited about her birthday. Lila is extremely creative; she draws well, creates incredible crafty things, and comes up with awesome stories (I especially loved the one we wrote down one about a princess who proved to be much more brave than the prince sent to save her). Lila has amazing women around her to influence her - Rachel is a powerhouse in her work and ambitious creative projects, but she also keeps up an enviable social life and surrounds herself with powerful female friends. It was a pleasure to meet some of these friends during my stay.
The general tasks around the house, including cooking dinners, feeding the cat and walking the dog, hardly felt like work and we went camping, on hikes and other day trips together, and were even out dancing for a night which was great. The area around Aviemore has a surprising amount of things to offer including woodland wildlife to spot, not to mention the Cairngorms practically at the doorstep, and Rachel was super generous in offering me some hiking gear. Rachel is very very good at communicating and made sure I had time to myself and also a great choice of things to do (+ transport) on days off. Plus the Friday night pizzas were delish :)
Thank you so so much for the warm welcome and I learned a lot from you both. Wishing you all the happiness in the world!
(Excellent)
18 Dec 2016
Left by Workawayer (James & Lauren) for host
Rachel and Noel were great hosts and are full of knowledge of the local area and Mexico in general. We helped in the setting up of their Mezcal bar and it was really fun to watch it develop over the two weeks we were there. Noel's cooking is delicious traditional Mexican food and their Mezcal is artisanal - I'm sure they'll give you a tasting!… read more It'd be worth going to Todos Santos for these things alone but it's also a great town where you can learn to surf etc.. Rachel was really helpful and friendly, introducing us to her friends and family and making us feel instantly at home from home. We can highly recommend staying and working with these guys. Big love to Jane and Jim too who were so generous and lovely.
You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
(Excellent)
3 Dec 2016
Left by host for Workawayer (James & Lauren)
Lauren and James were a great help! They were super flexible, go with the flow, and had no problem jumping in and helping out wherever needed. They helped us get our mezcal bar ready to roll by doing a lot of painting, landscaping, cleaning, hammering and hanging things. It was a lot of fun having them around and we were sad to see them go.… read more They're great company and great workers!
(Excellent)
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Please note due to the UK leaving the EU, freedom of movement from the EU to the UK ended on 1st Jan 2021. If you are not a UK citizen, Irish citizen, settled status holder, Commonwealth citizen with the right to abode in the UK, BNO passport holder with valid visa or have a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme (working holiday) visa and you are entering the UK to work or study you may be refused entry to the UK after Jan 1st 2021 unless you have the correct visas and permits in place. To find out more information about visas and work permits for your nationality you need to contact the embassy in your home country BEFORE travelling.
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Culture
Pets
Self development
Books
Blogging
Writing
Drawing & painting
Animals
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Fitness
Camping
Dancing
Mountain
Winter sports
Outdoor activities
Hiking
