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Host rating
80 %
Last replied
6 Oct 2025
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Description
We’re Andrea and Sofia, we divide our life between Valchiusella and the Colombian Amazon forest where we live in both continents in a way completely off the grid and immersed in nature.
After spending many years between Berlin and traveling around the world, tired from the misleading city life style, in the year 2017 we decided to get a land in the middle of the wood with two traditional houses (more than a century old!) to be restored on the banks of a river called Chiusella, aspiring to a self sufficient way of living. We moved from the beginning in the house we live but when it still did not have any kind of service, even the most basic and discounted as a driveway access, electricity, water, heating and toilet facilities. The surrounding land, apart from a forest part still existing was an abandoned pasture for years colonized by brambles and other plants pioneers of natural regeneration. From this moment we have dedicated our time to try to make this place livable by cleaning, planning and renovating our house following the traditional alpine line and integrating it with the use of only natural materials, making mistakes and learning from them and doing all the work self-didactically or with the help of experienced carpenters friends that we were lucky enough to meet during our journey.
After sleeping in any corner of this house that was not used as a construction site at the time and having lived without many comforts for several years we can finally say that we have completed the main works to our house, of course some details are always missing but nowadays we enjoy a nice comfy house provided by a solar electric system, wood heating and spring water that supplies our self-built aqueduct, as well as a land with vegetable gardens, fruit trees, medicinal plants and a dirt road that allows us to get in front of the house with our small 4x4.
All these experiences have allowed us to learn not to take anything for granted, to invent solutions to survival, to learn new techniques of bio construction and to rediscover ancient traditions, to experiment with different ways of natural agriculture and, above all, contributing largely to what we are today: people who firmly believe in this lifestyle despite all the difficulties.
Apart from eco building and agriculture we share deep interest in plants and natural medicine, in both a botanical and spiritual sense. When we do not work in the garden or in the house, we are dedicated to experimenting with herbal preparations, especially spagyric medicines and distillations of essential oils.
From our life in South America we learned to deeply appreciate anything related to indigenous and ancestral cultures and traditional medicine.
For several years we run a project of solidarity trade of crafts made by natives of Colombia that we sell online and in some markets and festivals. In addition to this, we perform various occasional jobs ranging from carpentry to gardening. We also produce cosmetics and natural remedies from the plants we grow and the essential oils we distill.
Currently we are dedicated to the renovation of an old barn adjacent to our house where, in the future, we would like to host people and workshops. We also carry out our own vegetable gardens and the processing of medicinal plants that we grow or we collect in the wild.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Sustainability
Farming
Hiking
Plant care
Photography
Gardening
DIY & crafts
Books
Cooking & food
Carpentry
Art & design
Architecture
Nature
Mountain
Camping
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You will make a real experience about how to live in the mountain through an off the grid way of living and in a close contact with nature. We will be happy to share our modest knowledge about natural agriculture, bio constructions, essential oils distillation, spagyric medicine,seed saving, edible and healing wild herbs.
Help
The help requested ranges from general maintenance of the houses and garden, we are not asked to help you with any profitable or business related tasks.
We prefer to host willing and energetic people who share our passions or who are interested and enthusiastic about knowing and learning about them, living the mountain or simply attracted by our lifestyle and especially that have any probelm doing physical work.
We have been hosting workawayers for several years and we can consider ourselves lucky to have never had particularly negative experiences and indeed, to have met many people who today are good friends and still come back regularly to visit us.
Despite this we prefer to clarify some things that may or may not convince someone to write us and in case, to make the coexistence with our volunteers more harmonious:
-a minimum of adaptability and practicability is required, considering a daily relation with wild nature and a lack of comfort normally expected.
-no matter how many sports you do, the strength required by us is of another kind, we have had too many athletes who get tired after an hour with a hoe in their hands :).
-we are not interested in hosting people who are looking for a place to sleep just to avoid paying a hostel .
-if in your free time you just like to watch series or TV this is not the right place for you.
- we are not the kind of people who like to repeat what you should and shouldn’t do, as this will be also your house for a while so in addition to the required hours of work, help is appreciated in domestic work: cleaning the house, washing dishes, help in the kitchen.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
German: Intermediate
Accommodation
We usually host our volunteers in a hut nearby our home (a old barn on restoration), it's not yet well isolated so during the coldest month (spring-autumn) we build the tents inside (with a good sleeping bag you will haven not any problem) . . We can provide two tents for two people each, some camping mattresses and pillows; you should bring your sleeping bag and in case you feel cold we have some extra blankets.
The last year we started to renovate the hut where we usually host people so we could probably host people just in the tents.
Our place is off grid, we produce our energy independently without relying on traditional public service networks so:
-we don't have Wi-Fi;
-we can use the washing machine just during sunny days;
-we only have wood-heating;
- in the sunny days of spring and summer we have hot water from a solar boiler otherwise we use a wood-burning boiler that must be lighted on couple of hours in advance.
-If it rains for several days even the electricity supply becomes very limited.
For any doubt don't hesitate to write us.
What else ...
STUFF YOU NEED:
-sleeping bag
-good hiking/working water proof boots
- warm clothes
-working clothes
-head lamp
-water proof/wind proof jacket
During spring and autumn is common that it often rains , if you will visit us during these seasons is indispensable that you bring RAIN BOOTS and RAIN JACKET.
You will have two free days a week that you can spend at the river, hiking, rock climbing or simply chilling at the river under our house. If you prefer you can also easily reach the city of Ivrea and from there, in around one hour of train, go to Turin or Milan.
The closest village is 15-20 minutes walking and it has a small supermarket, a bar, a resturant and a post office.
HOW TO GET OUR PLACE: you can reach Ivrea by train and then take a cheap bus to Traversella, our village. It starts directly at the train station in Ivrea and can leave you at the bus stop where we can pick you up.(we’ll send you the timetable if you need it) For more information please contact us in advance and please try not to arrive on a Sunday because there are not buses.
Sometimes we go to Ivrea so we can directly pick you up at the train station.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
Parking place at 10 minutes from our home because it is reachable just walking (or with a small 4x4).
Can possibly accept pets
Although we love dogs we prefer not to host them because our cats, who are the true hosts, are not used to share their space with them. Our cats live also inside the house so please consider it if you are allergic.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Nin
Mina
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