Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
28 Apr 2025
Reply rate
94.4 %
Usually responds within 2 days
Feedback
42
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Details
Description
We're not just your average family; we're the cool crew of Emma, Simon, two kids (12 and 14), and even a groovy grandma! Our digs? A house nestled in the middle of Graz, nevertheless surrounded by the serenity of a small forest and a garden that's basically our own little slice of paradise.
But there’s more! Our little household also includes Luigi, the cat; Inara, our energetic hunting dog; Lilly, grandma’s loyal lap dog; and some chickens that keep us supplied with fresh eggs.
We prefer to host couples or solo workawayers. For solo workawayers: If needed, sharing the room with another workawayer might be part of the arrangement—but of course, only if everybody is comfortable with it.
LATEST:
+++Carpenting projects for our pizza paradise, finishing a watering system or tidying the cellar. Repair and upcycle an old racing bike and e-bike. Teaching our son FreeCAD, Blender, Python programming, Raspberry Pi projects, or working with the Unix shell in Ubuntu.+++
We expect you to help 4-5 hours a day, five days a week. Helping hours can also be managed flexibly (preferably in coordination with Simon and Emma's working hours). Depending on your skills you can do special tasks, as written above, or you do gardening, cleaning, maintenance in or around the house. It would be great if you can handle and finish one or the other project independently, but in coordination and of course if necessary in cooperation with Simon.
Most of the time you can eat with us or with granny, sometimes we cook together or you have to cook yourself. In any case, you will find enough things in the fridge.
We hope all our workawayers can take a moment to go through the workaway ID verification process. This simple step helps us maintain a trusted and transparent space for everyone. Thanks so much for understanding :).
Usually start with a short getting-to-know-you call via Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp to see if the chemistry is right for everyone. If that goes well, we’d be happy to arrange a two-week Workaway stay. If things work out during the stay and it fits all plans, we could also extend the stay.
Since we have children, you should have no problem with the fact that sometimes it will be noisy and sometimes chaotic, but you will find a creative family life.
We want to live a lifestyle combining work in the office and at home, creating a beautiful home in connection with nature, gardening and small farming. We want to improve our personality through cultural exchange and diversity. We want to see local conditions with different eyes through new ideas from outside, which opens the possibility of creating a better quality of life. We believe that we are all turning the wheel of time and that only together we can make the future better.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are a family with roots in Austria, Slovenia and Italy. Of course we live and love to share traditions from this heritage. Besides German we speak fluent English, Emma speaks Italian and French, grandmother speaks Slovenian. We are open-minded and love the exchange with other ideas and cultures.
Emma has many language skills, Simon has a lot of experience in fixing things, upcycling, 3D printing and DIY projects. Gardening experience is mediocre, but slowly getting better :).
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Homegardening, help around and in the house, cleaning, maintenance, help in realizing some ideas around the house (e.g. there are always carpenting projects, woodwork, prepping for winter, realizing a root cellar, repairing an old hut).
Cultural, cooking and language exchange is welcome :).
Simon enjoys playing chess in hobby level. He would appreciate playing exciting games and exchange tips and tricks.
For Emma knowledge sharing in aromatherapy or making tinctures, teas, creams, soaps for personal use would be of interest.
If you are very familiar with gardening or fermenting, we are always keen to learn new things :).
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Italian: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
We both speak fluent German and English. Emma speaks fluent Italian and French. Granny speaks Slovenian. We are interested that our kids learn to speak English.
Accommodation
Our house was build in 1984. You will have a nice guest room with 4 beds and bathroom. Since we have only one guest room, we can only host workers who belong together. You will have a small kitchen, but of course we can cook and eat together in our bigger kitchen. Right next to our house begins the "Grazer Bergland", which opens the possibility of hiking, walking and cycling. The center of Graz can be reached by tram in 15 minutes. It takes 35 minutes to reach the main train station.
Graz is the capital of the Austrian province of Styria and the second largest city in Austria after Vienna (which is 2,5 hours away by train). Graz is known as a university city and has four colleges and four universities. Together, the city is home to more than 60,000 students. Its historic center (Altstadt) is one of the best preserved city centers in Central Europe.
Numerous cultural events take place here.
What else ...
Hiking, biking, cultural exhibitions, concert, opera, theater. Going to famous south styria (Weinstraße). Going to the alps (1hour by train).
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have continuous internet with wlan. 18mbps download, 5 mbps upload, ping 11ms. Not the best, but ok.
Space for parking camper vans
Motorhomes would be welcome, but there is no infrastructure. A parking lot is available, but very narrow and steep to reach. Only for really good drivers.
Can possibly accept pets
Yes, but maybe there will be some problems with our pets.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Feedback (21)
I think a key part of what made my time in Graz so special was how Simon and his family continually went out of their way… read more
Momina is very funny,… read more
Photos
Feedback
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(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
I think a key part of what made my time in Graz so special was how Simon and his family continually went out of their way… read more
Momina is very funny,… read more
I played lots of games with the kids and had fun family card games… read more
His biggest… read more
From the moment we arrived, Simon offered us a drink that they made with another WorkAwayer, which was delicious!
We were given almost full autonomy of a project from start to finish. The work was fun and… read more
Initially, they planned to stay for two weeks, but fortunately, Georgia stayed for three weeks, and Kobi for five weeks. Both of them were absolutely delightful to live with – considerate, respectful, and… read more
The tasks were various, as a big house usually comes with lots of belongings to clean and sort out, repair, move from one place to another and organize nicely. There is always something to do, depending on… read more
Simon always wanted to be sure that the task was OK for us and he always… read more
Both of them demonstrated great initiative and seemed… read more
As for the tasks, there's a wide range of tasks, from gardening to DIY, there's something for everyone. Simon trusted me and let me help independently on the construction of a henhouse, and I… read more
I was in Graz for 1,5 weeks.
Simon, Emma, Oma and the children made me feel very comfortable. Inspecially eating, chatting or playing a game was very enjoyable and fun was always included. :D
Thanks for the stay!
During my three-week stay at Simon and Emma's house, time flew by effortlessly.
Simon guided me through various tasks, from gardening to painting the living room, ensuring I never felt alone.
Their big house is filled with warmth from the kind-hearted family. Oma's… read more
We worked in the garden, built a paving stone under the garden’s ping pong table, cut firewood, picked… read more
The time spent with the family and the open and insightful conversations were very enriching and this experience represents an important step in my… read more
They stayed nearly 2 weeks and their tasks… read more
The chores we got to do were clear, Simon was very flexible and open for our ideas and thoughts. We got to choose the tasks we were comfortable with… read more
The house on the hill is beautiful, the helpers-room is cozy and you have enough space to withdraw. The tasks we were asked to do included gardening… read more
Die Erwachsenen stimmen dem zu. Geplant waren zwei… read more
Nach kurzer Besprechung durften wir uns das Projekt 'Pizzaofen' zu Eigen machen und konnten selbstständig daran arbeiten. Wir konnten stets unsere eigenen Ideen und Änderungsvorschläge mit… read more
From our point of view it must be very challenging to step out of the comfort zone and go to a strange house with two small children to help in… read more
