Help on my homestead in the desert near Mesa Verde National Park, USA

Details

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  Description

  Hi, I'm Evan, I'm 42 years old and live on a 4 acre homestead just outside of Cortez, CO. I live here with my 2 cats, Hunter and Calle and currently 11 chickens. I'm from Virginia and had intentions of being a digital nomad and traveling the world. I had previously traveled to Portugal and lived for over 2 months in 2018 and was planning my return in 2020 and this time I packed up all my things and planned to travel indefinitely. Traveling out of the country did not work out at that time and so I began traveling the US instead. Traveling didn't last long as when I reached the four corners area I felt right at home. I ended up staying at a campground and a fellow traveler introduced me to Workaway and I began looking for hosts for the winter when the camp would shut down. Serendipitously, right at that time the camp owners asked me to house sit for the property and take care of care of their animals. I realized how much I loved the lifestyle and the area and ended up being able to get this property and eventually taking on the chickens I took care of and one of the cats, my guy Hunter. So I never stayed at another Workaway but wanted to hopefully give the experience to others that I was seeking.
  
  I previously worked in the corporate world for a decade and slowly realized the dissatisfaction with the way my life was going. Over 10 years ago I started on a journey and committed myself to healing and self improvement, getting out of my comfort zone. I dove into all kinds of teachings from mysticism, philosophy, psychology and so on. I began training table tennis which gave me a solid goal and I ended up becoming a coach which was very fulfilling. Part of pushing myself out of my comfort zone was also going to massage school in 2016 and I transitioned to working as a massage therapist for some time before stopping my professional practice in 2019. Now I'm working in the table tennis industry online in the mornings and work for my friend's farm during the growing season. I've been focused on improving and cultivating this land, becoming more self sustainable and learning as many skills as possible.
  
  Along with my passion for ping pong I found a love for disc golf and created a course on the property. Some other interests include golf, yoga, reading, and hiking. I don't keep up with the news and like the quietness of small town living. I lean more toward being introverted and spend a lot of time to myself but see great value in building community and find myself being pretty social as well. I've been involved in creating the local disc golf club and regularly have friends over to play my course. I also have friends over for poker games somewhat regularly. I'm excited to meet and host new workawayers and hear their stories and share my experience as well.
  
  Messages will show my name as Robert which is my legal name, but I've always gone by Evan.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Mesa Verde National Park is 15 minutes away and there are many historical native dwelling sites around the area. I played competitive table tennis and coached for a few years. There are the disc golf baskets around the property and I could teach someone how to play. I have bow and arrows and an archery bag for target practice. So I'm happy to teach anyone these skills. I can also take workawayers to the farm I work at and show them around and give an introduction to market gardening and give them an idea of what it takes to run a successful vegetable farm. I also work the farmers market as well so could possibly show someone what it's like to sell vegetables at a market. I do some canning and pickling of the vegetables I grow here so I could show that process although I am no expert. For years I studied self development techniques and how we use language and and the effects it has on our psyche. I'm always interested to share this information with others and hope I could help with functional tools to improve the way we see and interact with the world. Although I'm still learning myself and hope those that stay can also teach me new ideas about functioning with one's self and the world in a harmonic, balanced way.

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  Help

  Right now I can host for shorter stays and would be able to pay minimum wage for every hour worked.
  
  I will need periodic help throughout the summer with weeding in the garden and around the property. And also harvesting vegetables which may include some canning/pickling. There may be a possibility to help sell produce by setting up a farmstand as well.
  
  I may also host someone to help me setup gutters and a rain catchment system. For that experience doing that would be required.
  
  There is also a junk pile that I'm continuing to clean up and may need help with.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  There is a camper trailer that is fully functional with kitchen and bathroom with shower that would likely be the main spot to host people. There is a tiny house that I've rented the past couple years which I'm planning to rent short term that could be available when empty. I have a canvas yurt that can be setup. Also tent camping around the property is an option and I have an extra tent. Should be able to host someone with a smaller RV/Camper or van and there are electric, water and sewage hookups. The camper also has an outdoor shower hose and when needed the main house shower can be used or the stream has some pools that workawayers have used to bathe in before as well. There's an outhouse for anyone who wants to camp. With past guests I've shared some meals and I can provide eggs from the chickens, plenty of vegetables from the garden, as well as some meat, rice/beans and raw milk.

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  What else ...

  The Four Corners is such an amazing area in my opinion. Situated in the high desert with the mountains being a short drive up the road. The house is just outside Cortez which is less than 1 hour from Durango, 1.5 hours from Telluride and 2 hours from Moab. Mesa Verde National Park is 15 minutes away. The small town of Dolores is 10 minutes north and Mancos is 20 minutes east. All of these smaller mountain towns have a charm about them with lots of activities going on. There are so many hiking trails within a relatively short distance away. The house is up on a hill and has great views of Mesa Verde, the La Plata Mountains and the Sleeping Ute Mountain. There is an irrigation stream on the property with a natural pool area if you want to take a dip. It's a nice luxury in the desert. It's very peaceful surrounded by sheep and cattle farms along with other small hobby farms. So it feels like the country yet is a 5 minute drive into Cortez. You can see the milky way on clear nights. I have a bike that is available for use. Along with Mesa Verde there are many other historical native sites around this area including the Canyons of the Ancients. Cortez is a small town but has a nice park with disc golf course, recreation center, and there are some good locally owned restaurants and breweries. A championship level golf course is 5 minutes away as well. Dolores is a pretty little town up in the mountains that has parks, with a brewery and some fine dining. Mancos similarly has fun places to visit and has built an artsy culture to go along with it's farming and ranching history. Phils World is a top mountain bike trail destination just outside of town. You can do your shopping and tourist activities in Durango and Telluride while also getting in a world class hike. You can also hit the hot springs in Durango or venture a little further out to Pagosa Springs, Ouray or Ridgway. The Million Dollar Highway is quite the attraction as well to hit a bunch of these towns in one day. There are some great farmers markets around the area if you like local organic food. With this being Colorado there are plenty of dispensaries for those that are 420 inclined.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  The wifi is strong.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Can accommodate smaller RV's/5th wheels/Campervans. Have electric, water, sewage hookups.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  Hosting pets would be tough but it is something I'm open to if it is the right situation. My cats are very territorial with other cats and get scared of dogs. A dog would also need to not mess with the chickens that free range.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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