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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
17 May 2026
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100.0 %
Usually responds within 11 days
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Description
Welcome to Our Home in Lyaskovets! 🇧🇬
We are an international couple (from Belgium and India) in our late 30s and early 40s, crafting our life in Bulgaria for the past 6 years. Together with our 7-month-old daughter and our sweet 4-year-old rescue dog, we love opening our home to the world.
We are veteran hosts, having welcomed over 100+ Couchsurfers over the last decade and many wonderful Workawayers. For us, this isn't just a transaction; it’s an extension of our family. We love forging genuine connections, sharing stories, and exchanging cultural traditions (especially cooking—we love Asian and Indian recipes!).
Our town of Lyaskovets offers a charming, laid-back country lifestyle but has everything you need (supermarkets, clinics, sports facilities). We are just 15 minutes from Veliko Tarnovo and 7 minutes from the Gorna Oryahovitsa train station, making it a great base to explore.
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### What We Expect: The Right Fit 🤝
We put a lot of heart into hosting, and in return, we are looking for self-independent volunteers.
> **A Note on Our Philosophy:** We welcome you as a friend and an extension of our family, but we are not a free hotel. We have a lot to juggle with a young baby, so we appreciate proactive people who can take care of themselves and supplement their own needs when required.
* **Communication is Key:
We prioritize clear, two-way communication to ensure expectations are fully aligned and everyone is comfortable.
* **Privacy & Balance
We deeply respect your privacy and need our own as well. There is absolutely no pressure to hang out outside of help hours—we all need space to decompress away from the bustle of family life.
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Accommodation & Food: What We Offer & What to Bring
We have a clear boundary between work days and free days so everyone knows what to expect.
* **Stay:You will have your own private room
* **Food on Work Days:Shared meals are provided on the days you help us.
* **Food on Off-Days: On your non-work days, we expect you to be self-reliant for your meals, whether you choose to travel or stay around the house. If we are able to prepare and share a meal, we will inform you in advance
* **Breakfast:We keep basic essentials in the kitchen which you are welcome to help yourself to. If you have specific dietary desires or want more than the basics, we expect you to supplement those needs yourself.
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### The Schedule & Hours
We try to be highly organized but remain adaptable to seasonal changes and how the week evolves.
* **The Hours:25 hours per week, fully coordinated in advance.
* **Summer Early Starts: As summer approaches, we like to start early to beat the heat and wrap up the day early. Our working window is never before 8:00 AM and very rarely after 3:00 PM.
* *Note: The earlier we start, the earlier you are free to explore! If you struggle to get out of bed before 7:30 AM, this dynamic will not be an ideal fit for you.
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Ultimately, we approach hosting with a mindset of gratitude and respect. While we hope the work itself is fulfilling, the true joy for us is the lifelong connections we make with our volunteers. And at the end of the day, we want you to have fun.
If you are an independent, respectful traveler who wants to experience a musgmash of cultures, we are excited to welcome you!
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions (and ask us for our Couchsurfing references if you'd like!).
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Sustainability
Van life
Self development
Politics / Social justice
Pets
Plant care
Hitchhiking
Gardening
Art & design
Nature
Mountain
Dancing
DIY & crafts
Cooking & food
Architecture
Animals
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Language- We speak 6 languages together- Me- Hindi, English, Bengali, learning Bulgarian and Dutch and Arne- Dutch, French, English, Bulgarian.
Au Pair Help
This host is looking for Au pair help.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Help Needed: Hands-On DIY & Home Projects 🛠️
We are looking for enthusiastic, practical hands to help us with various creative DIY projects around our home and garden. Because we have a young baby, having an independent volunteer who can take a task and run with it is a massive help to us!
If you enjoy working with your hands, being creative, and seeing a tangible result at the end of the day, you will fit right in.
**Some of the projects we currently need help with include:**
* **Woodwork prep:
Sanding down old wooden furniture, doors, or window frames to give them a fresh lease on life.
* **Brightening up walls:
Giving some indoor walls a fresh coat of paint to brighten up our living spaces.
* **Creative wall styling:
Helping us hang wallpaper or decorative wall coverings to add some personality to our rooms.
* **General tidying & upkeep:
Light help in the garden, organizing spaces, and general day-to-day hands-on tasks around the house.
You don't need to be a professional craftsman, but previous experience with basic DIY tools, painting, or handling sandpaper is handy.
If you are detail-oriented, tidy with a paintbrush, and enjoy making spaces feel cozy and welcoming, we would love to have your help!
Languages
Languages spoken
Bengali (Bangla): Fluent
English: Fluent
Hindi: Fluent
Bulgarian: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
English, Hindi, French, Dutch, Bengali
Accommodation
Private bedroom with fast WiFi.
Bathroom in the same floor.
Shared lounge area.
Beautiful big balcony
The floor above is where our bedroom is and also has a shared full kitchen with an oven and 4 stove induction cooktop plus another wet room.
Local Community and grocery stores: Safe neighbourhood, neighbours keep to themselves but are friendly.
less than 1 minute walk to the grocery store
10 minute walk to the town centre
6 minute walk to the closest bus stop that goes to Veliko Tarnovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa or cross country travel via the train station at Gorna Oryahovitsa.
We are right in the middle of the country. If you like nature, walking, biking, birdwatching, etc... this is the perfect place. The city of Veliko Tarnovo- the Medieval capital of Bulgaria is beautiful and the house is in the heart of the old town
The most important thing:
We ask all our guests not to smoke inside the house (only outside in the garden).
We would like to highlight a few things in advance to ensure both you and us have a comfortable experience when sharing our home and life for the time you invest with us:
- As a cross-cultural couple- you will receive hospitality which will be a mashup of cultures and food diversity.
- We make meals, some simple, some elaborate when we can. Guests are welcome to join us, or make thier own food using the supplies in our kitchen for lunch and dinner. We prefer guests to be independent enough to handle breakfast on their own.
- We are digital nomads ourselves and live and work online, Hi-Speed Wifi is at your disposal, helpful if you work remotely too.
- We like clear communication and strive to be as clear as possible when confirming duration (decided after we discuss what you are looking for and what our circumstances at the time allows us).
- We cultivate friendly relations with volunteers -the idea is to meet other travelers for a sustained amount of time each and create something lasting together with an exchange of culture and ideas.
If the above fits your vibe- drop us a message :)
What else ...
You can explore the whole country from here alone via the Bulgarian Railway. Closest Railway station is Gorna Oryahovitsa, a 6 minute car ride from our home or a 15 min bus ride.
The whole country is well connected to Veliko Tarnovo by bus as well. Lyaskovets and Veliko Tarnovo has buses to and fro every 20 minutes from 7 am -8 pm. There are lots of Waterfalls, hikes, nearby. Veliko Tarnovo is 14 kms away.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
As digital nomads ourselves- we understand the importance and requirements that come with the territory. We have fast internet for this and can set you up with a work corner in the house as well. I have quit smoking, while Arne vapes but always outside the house.
Space for parking camper vans
Parking of cars and Campervans is easily possible outside the house- we live in a quite part of the town.- 100 meters away from our front gate- since we live down a lane.
Can possibly accept pets
This is possible but with prior discussion to ensure all pets are comfortable. :) We can accept pets only with pior meeting with our doggy and if he gets along well with them. He was bullied as a stray dog and only allows his friends to enter his territory (he lives in our Yard).
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
My animals / pets
Barfi (4 years)
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (21)
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Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
At the time I was there, plan was to help outside to get ready for summer, implying some gardening and storage.Tasks were easy and schedule very flexible, they made me feel more like a friend who give a hand than a hosted workawayer.
There is no doubt I will visit… read more
I was only there for a week, but it really felt like more! They showed me the village of Lyaskovets and introduced me to friends from Veliko Tarnovo.
It was a pleasure to collaborate on the cabin project, where I was able to contribute my… read more
He is handy with wood and open to new techniques around finishing works- he helped us get closer to finishing our project by covering the insulation… read more
Arne ensured there was materials and good tools, making the jobs enjoyable to do.
It wasn't all work. We had some very… read more
I would… read more
We were able to share a few afternoons with them and it was enough to know that they are good and kind people. This is also reflected in their friendships, which they introduced us to from the first day and they' re all beautiful people with whom you can share a good time and a nice chat.
The guys were very… read more
In this one and a half weeks there were little work, wich was partly due to the delays in delivery for the material of the tiny house. Therefore I wanted to help with the housekeeping, but they did not expect it from me. I had a lot of possibilities to… read more
Nous les avons aidé à la rénovation d'un mur et c'était très intéressant, nous avons appris de nouvelles choses.
Nous avons également rencontré leurs amis et avons passé de bonnes soirées en leur compagnie.
Nous avons eu le temps pour nous reposer également, pas de… read more
Don't be fooled by the few reviews they have on Workaway, these guys have a huge experience in hosting people, mainly through Couchsurfing, and it was clear from day one. So welcoming, nice, and easy going.
Careful about your personal space and free time, as much as willing to… read more
The weather made it hard for us to do much work but we helped where we could.
As the weather improves and their various projects develop there will be plenty of varied tasks to do and I have no doubt they will take a flexible and responsive attitude with future workawayers. They're just lovely… read more
