Exciting adventure in a rustic cabin in the woods of the Maine cost, USA

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least a week

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    I am an engineer and usually I reside in Massachusetts, but I am looking to spend some time this summer doing some work fixing up a cabin in Brooklin, Maine that my parents built with some other people back in the 70's on 50 acres of forested land. I have been going up there nearly every year I have been alive and it is very much a tradition. In recent years, the land has not seen much human inhabitance and the once productive blueberry field is quickly getting eaten up by bayberries, aspen, and birch. It would be great to spend a little while working on getting things back to how they used to be. If the mosquitoes are getting the better of us, we can go exploring lesser known parts of the coast or see whether the canoe that is under the cabin still is leak proof. I thought it would be fun to find someone else looking to have a bit of an adventure who is interested in helping on some DIY projects and sharing a week or too together on the coast of Maine.

    If you go out on the field on a clear night, the view of the sky is amazing; I have seen more stars here than pretty much anywhere else I have ever been!

    I am normally a very techy kind of person and someone interested in transhumanism and robotics. It would be fun to try and create "natural robots", that is, moving sculptures made out of things we can find in the woods. It is one of my personal projects that I am working on back at my main residence in MA, to create self-replicating robots. I am also into non-combat LARP (Live Action Role Playing), or was pre-pandemic anyway.

    I have hosted people on couchsurfing.org (back when it was a nonprofit), bewelcome.org, and couchers.org and it has been great to meet interesting people from all walks of life from all over the world. I have also done a more formal and extended form of "workawaying" when I spent two years in Zambia with the Peace Corps, doing small business development and environmental education in local elementary schools.

    The cabin is very, very rustic. There's no running water (we need to haul drinking water from a neighbor by car) and the only electricity comes from a small solar panel. It goes without saying then, that there is no dedicated internet (there is usually cell service, although it can be patchy). There is also very limited privacy (basically the loft is the only place with a little personal privacy) and personal space, so there needs to be a good amount of trust, understanding, and friendliness. If it is in the summer, there will likely be an abundance of mosquitoes so you might want to bring some bug stuff (I will have some though).

    Basically, if you are looking for a traditional vacation-with-a-little-bit-of-working tasks experience, this is probably not for you.

    If you are looking for an exciting shared adventure, this is what I am looking for too!

    I am fully vaccinated (with COVID-19 and all other common viruses that have vaccines) and you should be too!!! I have some rapid tests that I will bring with me that we can take when you get here just to be on the safe side.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Art Projects
    Help with Eco Projects
    DIY and building projects
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    You will get some real experience of how to live without most of the sophistications of modern life.
    You will see what life is like living "Down East" on the cost of Maine.
    You will get to soak in the amazing scenery.
    You will hopefully make a new friend!

  • Help

    Help

    Help rebuilding the shower platform and finishing the "new" (going on decade old) outhouse
    Help clearing the blueberry field
    Help fixing the well
    Help repairing the stone oven
    Help building cool moving sculptures out of natural materials
    Generally helping together on things of interest and necessity

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    English: Fluent
    Chichewa, Chewa, Nyanja: Beginner

    This host offers a language exchange
    I am always up for learning new languages, although I am not that great at it - I spent over two years in rural Zambia and only was able to pick up the very basics of Chichewa.

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    As already stated, the cabin is very, very rustic. Basically it is camping with a roof and four walls. There is a bed in the "living room/backroom" and a blowup mattress (that may or may not hold air) in the loft, as well as thermarest sleeping pads that I can bring with me.
    We will likely share in the time involved with making, consuming, and cleaning up of meals - I will probably have the basics for at least breakfast (coffee, tea, cereal, ex.) and some vegetables (If it mid-late summer when you come, I may have more squash than I know what to do with). Don't feel pressured to spend lot of money buying food before you come if your budget is tight, I will have the basics. If you have allergies/food preferences let me know, I tend to be a pescetarian when cooking on my own and an opportunitarian when eating with other people. I do not have any food allergies and I do eat a lot of peanut butter, so probably not the best fit if you are allergic to peanuts. If you have other specific dietary needs, we can discuss.

  • 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

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    The driveway is on the rough side and is about .2miles/~300-400m long

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    Really, dogs are the only kind of pet that make sense - unless you have goats, they would be great to help clear the blueberry field!

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    One

  • ...

    Hours expected

    15 hours/week

Host ref number: 472349386442

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