Life enriching experience staying on the small island of Leros, Greece

Details

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  Description

  Welcome to the islands of Greece! Come and experience off grid life on a small island.
  We are living sustainably and simply in a very beautiful spot overlooking the ocean, on Leros Island, part of the Dodecanese chain of islands near the Turkish coast. We are looking for a couple who enjoy the simple life, working outside and can help us with general garden and house upkeep.
  We both embrace sustainable living as we are lifelong sailors, so living sustainably has not been a great challenge for us; we designed our own home and built it here on Leros beginning in 2008, finishing over a 10 year period, building slowly, like the locals, as money is available.
  A lot of the work of building our home, probably 65% we have done, hands on, we are practical and inventive people who know how to live well on little. We created a landscaped area the size of a football field, with lots of trees and shrubs, it is well established now and requires a LOT of work!
  We come from varied backgrounds having learned different ways of surviving creatively and enjoying life in all its shapes and forms; we love animals and nature, and life on the land and on the sea; we have lived in various cultures and traveled extensively. We lead a life very much outdoors, simple, uncomplicated. We are still active -although not young anymore. We wish we were! Everyone who has stayed with us has told us that they have had an enriching experience experiencing Greek Island culture and our way of life.
  
  PLEASE! Read the entire message before replying and if we do not receive a personalized message, we will not respond. We will not respond to people who are traveling alone, only couples or 2 friends. Please reply only if you are 2 people and the timeframe works for you and please pay attention to our exchange offer.
  
  The tasks will be varied, but typically we need help clean up garden cuttings and rake the paths and hauling away the cuttings. There is always help cleaning up dead leaves and branches from gravel walkways in our landscaped area. Sometimes we need some house painting, or light maintainence, tasks that we have always done ourselves. There is always a lot of window cleaning and possibly house cleaning.
  
  If you don't like cats, please don't inquire, we are animal lovers and we have wonderful feline company, all 6 of them, each think that they are "an only child".
  
  Our spring and autumn- are what summer should be! It can get hot during the day in spring and autumn, but nothing like our summer, during which time it is just too hot to work.
  You must be fit and able bodied to do the kind of help that we require.
  
  Below is our normal "description".
  Workaway exchange available in 2025 for September and October; the time "slots" are mainly due to the favorable weather conditions , it is too hot in the summer months and we don't require help during the winter. This is the only convenient time for us to do this kind of work. We will be looking for help in April, 2026 as well.
  
  Please note our location, LEROS, ISLAND, DODECANESE, GREECE before you inquire, and understand how to get here. We have ferry and air connections. Please read all of the description of our exchange THOROUGHLY before you inquire.
  
  PLEASE! DON'T SAY YOU ARE COMING AND THEN DUMP US AT THE LAST MINUTE. this has happened twice this year because the couples did not budget for their long-term travel, and we were the part of their trip that got cancelled, we find this unforgivable.
  We rely on our Workawayers to help us with what at our age has become more taxing. Until now, we have done this work ourselves. Please, if you commit, don't back out a month before coming, it is not right, and people seem to think that it is OK to do this, we don't think it is right at all. This is why we ask that you are fully aware of where we are before you apply.
  
  We really look forward to a good exchange and have had many. We stay in touch with a number of workawayers that have been with us, some have come back for a second stay.
  Shoot away with any questions! We may be "old people" but we are very young at heart and continue to be active.
  Please note: We have internet where you will live- but it is not like wifi when you are on the grid. You can use the excellent "digital nomad" center in Lakki, a 20 minute downhill stroll where there is all the shopping necessities that you will require. Lakki is the main port, Agia Marina is the other.
  We just put in a new "SkyLink" internet and it is much better than our previous setup.
  
  Some of our "Workawayers" have shown interest in staying in the winter to help us. We do sometimes require "house carers" with pet sitting during the winter but only with mature couples who can manage solar power systems and use a wood burning stove for heating. You might be asked to do some tasks during the winter, but less so than in autumn or summer. We require at least a month commitment for the winter stay. We live very simply; our off the grid home covers the basics, such as charging a computer or phone and lighting the house, but nothing more, we prefer to live this way. Again, there is an excellent digital nomad center in Lakki town, a 20 minute walk from our home.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Sustainability

  

  Pets

  

  Culture

  

  Self development

  

  Plant care

  

  Music

  

  History

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Books

  

  Art & design

  

  Photography

  

  Languages

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Architecture

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Carpentry

  

  Animals

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Nature

  

  Camping

  

  Sailing / Boating

  

  Water sports

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Cycling
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  This is a small Greek island still unaffected by tourism although we do have tourism. I can't say enough about what a special place this is. Leros is a great place for experiencing small island culture with strong ties to its past; a slower pace simpler way of life which we love; for us, this is a very big and important aspect of living here; there are many fishermen and farmers still on the island, at least 60% of the island does one or the other; 100s of goats still being raised here. Leros is unique, we have absolutely everything we need in a radius of about 6k or less.
  We have traveled extensively for life/work and enjoyment and have lived in a number of other cultures. My husband is English, I am of American origin having spent a good part of my life in Italy, and over 25 years here in the Greek islands. We are people who keep to ourselves, not overly "sociable" but not offish either :) !!
  We see this stay as an opportunity for you to experience LIFE and the Greek culture to explore and discover for yourselves; you will have plenty of free time to do so, basically, a week of work in exchange for a week of free time. We live comfortably and well among the Greek islanders with great respect for their spirit and individuality, they are a unique people. You will be working in a beautiful natural environment, and the island people are friendly, easy going and very self-reliant. We are friendly and easygoing as well, but very individualistic with our own ideas about existence and life.
  We see this as an opportunity for you to see how foreigners can live in harmony and blend in with the local culture, to see how two adventuresome people live life- after a long life of ... adventure.
  Come and embrace our way of life . Being of ... a certain age, we are not always up with the current trends. We are past that age of finding it worthwhile to keep up with a world that is not as good as it was 40 years ago and we are not interested in how the western world now expects people to all become of one boring mind in a constrictive society, a big reason why we are, where we are, islanders are an individualistic people. Globalization is a detriment to cultures surviving and cultures being preserved and "lived" is what makes life - life.
  So if you are adventuresome, individualistic and strong, do get in touch, see what life can be.
  Note, we are still in touch with one couple who came to help out, after 6 years, and another who came 8 years ago who has become our honorary "grandson". When things "click" it is quite rewarding. We had 2 young women here in May and we clicked really well, they were here 2 years ago, it was a great exchange for all of us. Our workaway couple from the Czech Republic like to come back once a year to stay and help, this is the third year.

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  Help

  We require a couple or 2 friends who can work together and who speak English fairly well, (at least one) and can do tasks on their own, doing physical work maintaining the landscaping and house.
  We have a sustainable home, which is big, lots and lots of windows that require cleaning, a very large landscaped area surrounding our home which always needs clean up, raking leaves from paths, all of which in the autumn will be the focus; trees require branch removal then carting away the debris - a big part of the job.
  The house that you stay in may need some general housekeeping inside and out - these are the main tasks. I also ask that you clean the accommodation that you will stay in before you leave, this is a big help too. You have an efficiency apartment for your exclusive use.
  The tasks are physical, and it is still pretty hot here spring and autumn (but less so than under the Greek summer sun).
  Depending on your capabilities, we need help with some house painting and indoor cleaning, the house is big, I can't keep up. If you don't like using cleaning materials or paint, have issues with this sort of thing, this is not a place for you. We are hard working DIY people, strong, with a strong work ethic, BUT we also know how to live and relax; we are retired professional sailors, among other things. We have lived what some would consider a rough life- at times and enjoyed it; "fluffy" people don't do well with us or in our environment. :)
  We have our way of seeing life and are more than tolerant of other people's way of life and existence.
  Having lived in 10 countries between the two of us, we know how to live among other peoples. We are not young but young at heart, forever. We could live on our own and survive on a remote island without any help, (well maybe from God........) that is the kind of people we are and we spend a lot of time alone- as a couple and as individuals being fully ALIVE.
  Your accommodation is a stylish separate efficiency apartment, that we designed and built for ourselves and guests) for now it has the basics: running water a solar shower (works during daylight hours) a gas cooktop-and small gas fired oven. We have a little work to do to complete it, but nothing that compromises its comfort.
  You are in nature, a place of solitude, great sea views and only goats as neighbors. (oh, and chickens too) 10 min. walk to the sea. (longer trek coming back up!) think of our accommodations as ...luxurious glamping! It is actually much more than that, but we don't want people to have unrealistic expectations. We are still missing a window, which for now is filled with a clear plastic panel. (the only construction problem that we have run into! ) You will have the basics and be in a beautiful place on a really wonderful island. We have only 12v lights and charger, electricity is limited, you will be able to charge one phone at a time, during the day. We have no intention of making this house a "normal" accommodation, we like our simplicity and live roughly the same way in our home, very comfortably with the essentials. Come here and forget about the rest of the world for a while. There is enough here on Leros for us to be quite comfortable, we think that you will be too, you don't need much during Greek spring/summer/autumn.
  Be prepared for physical tasks, if you have not done this kind of help before, think twice, please we want your workaway experience to be the right one for you and for us.
  Leros is.... REAL Greek culture.
  Thank you.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  Greek: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  Your accommodations will be a separate large efficiency apartment with kitchen corner, living room, shower and toilet, very stylish modern design (we designed it and built if for ourselves and guests) with everything you need, in nature, sea views and only goats and chickens as neighbors in an area with lots of olive trees.
  We do not provide meals, but we will provide basic provisions to begin with. You have all the facilities to do your own cooking, this is a fully furnished apartment.
  I can teach you some interesting cooking skills if you are interested. (I lived in Italy for 20 years, I am an Italian citizen) Be aware that we do not have a fridge, there is an "icebox" if you want to get ice and keep some things cool.)
  Your exchange allows you half of the time that you stay completely free to do as you like, this is what we offer; your help time in exchange for "holiday time" to explore and discover and relax. How you want to organize the work is mostly up to you.
  
  We ask that two people spend two weeks with a work schedule that is flexible, providing us with a total of 30 hours during the 2 week period: you will have ample time to enjoy the sea and explore and experience Leros. HELP HOURS AND DAYS are flexible, you can stay a bit longer if you like (as long as it works with our schedule ), beyond the first period of exchange of two weeks. Workaway requires that "if we don't provide meals" that we don't ask more than 15 hours a week of work, although more would be helpful should you CHOOSE to do so.
  We recommend working earlier in the morning to beat the heat. Generally, when you wish to do the work is up to you except when we need to do some of the work together. We have previous Workawayers who would be happy to serve as references if you want to ask them about staying with us. Each exchange is unique.

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  What else ...

  The island has more WWII history than ancient; it is living history, the people are very tied to their roots and great to live among. Leros was actually part of Italy from 1921 to 1949, so there is a smattering of Italian culture woven into the local culture. The island was controlled by the Ottoman Turks for 500 years before that, so there are also touches of a more Eastern culture.
  These are strong resilient people that you can learn a lot about life from, we are very grateful for our existence here, the modern world and ridiculous "new norms" has not ruined this place.
  If we could live in the past, we would, this is the closest thing to the 60s and 70s without going to the "third world".
  There is bus which circles the island probably 5 times a day, closest shopping is 20 minutes walk away, in Kamara or Lakki. Motorbikes can be rented for 10-15 euro a day through people that we know. We are happy to make a grocery run with you a couple times. I go to town rarely, I just love being... here.
  The only thing you have to watch out for is a very anarchistic way of driving if you rent a bike!! We call it "island law".
  We have a hospital, dentists (good and inexpensive!) and other medical services on Leros, should there be need. There is just about everything that you could want or need right here on Leros.

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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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  Space for parking camper vans

  You can park where we live if you bring a vehicle with you. We do accept longer stays, let us know if you would like to stay longer than 2 weeks.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  My animals / pets

  

  We have 7 who think they are each an "only child". (9 years)

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