Profile information
Host rating
80 %
Feedback
10
Email verified
Badges (2)
Details
Description
***Minimum age 23 years old***
***We are especially interested in hosting people who are looking to live completely self sufficient in the future and maybe even wants to stay in this area***
Do you have what it takes to live without modern facilities & running water? Do you want to experience what it's like to live off of the land, gather and fish for your own food in order to survive in what's called the last wilderness of Europe?
If so, come & be part of our in the making self sufficient alpine homestead & experience what it's like to live truly off the grid with us!
We are a Swedish/English couple, Cecilia (29) and Aaron (34), living on a beautiful old private farmstead "in the middle of nowhere" in Lappland, north Sweden. On our farm also lives goats, rabbits and chickens.
Lapland, despite it's cold and harsh climate, is a place where people have been living self sufficient, as hunter-gatherers, ever since the end of the last ice age when the land became habitable about 10.000 years ago.
Every day we strive to become less and less dependent on modern society and live off of the land, like we used to do. This means we have to put in a lot of manual work to sustain ourselves, including tending to animals, gardening, collecting firewood, fetching water etc. Therefore it's important that you as a volunteer are prepared that help will be physically demanding at times and also, since we haven't got an income, food will be quite basic at times. In summer we commonly eat fish, goats cheese and potatoes (or rice for variation) and in the winter meat and potatoes.
However, although work can be hard, the rewards of our work are greater - eating fresh fish from the lake, berries from the forest and milk from the goats is luxuries few has access to. And in the end of a working day, jumping in the lake or having a hot sauna as well as cooking on the open fire in the evenings... For the nature and animal lover, this is a small bit of paradise on earth.
ABOUT US
Being introspective & curious, Cecilia loves to dig deep into the innovative ways people sustained themselves in this part of the world before modernization and apply it to the farm. Other interests include nutritional sciences, spending time in nature and playing music. Cecilia has done plenty of workawaying in the past during her 2 years of solo backpacking.
Aaron, having worked in England as a landscape gardener running his own company is a hands on, practical and hard working man. His interests include building, mechanics and generally fixing stuff, but also sports like snow boarding and mountain biking. Plus he's a great cook!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainablity goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You will have the chance to experience for yourself what life was like in Lapland when people lived off of the land in the old days.
There are no modern facilities here, everything is heated by wood, food is cooked on the fire, dishes are done without running water, there is no shower (just a beautiful cold lake).
As we are both new to this lifestyle, we are learning new things every day about raising animals, gardening, preserving food etc. in traditional ways. As a volunteer you will have the opportunity to learn many things and even teach us things too. There's a lot to learn, really a lot, and it's very exciting and interesting to discover alternative ways of for example preserving food to last without usage of modern facilities and gardening in ways that yields the greatest harvest with minimal effort.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Our main jobs this summer include helping with hay making, different types of garden jobs, helping with the animals (moving fences, feeding etc), berry picking and fishing.
Daily jobs include fetching water in the forest spring, chopping firewood and cooking over the fire.
In the winter work is mainly looking after animals (fetching water and bringing them hay), plus snow clearing and a few other maintenance jobs. There's also opportunity to go ice fishing using our equipment in the nearby lake.
In our closest fishing lake lives perch and a few trout and we usually put down a cage one day and the next we have got sometimes 50-100 perch which needs degutting and taking care of. There's also another lake with trout only (salmon fish) where we will go sometimes and fish with rods & put down nets.
Please bear in mind that we haven't got much income so please be careful with any tools or equipment that you borrow. If something would break when used incorrectly, we will kindly ask for compensation. Just make sure to follow instructions and don't be afraid to ask if something is unclear.
We have put down 5 hours as expected work, however living on an off grid farm means everything takes more time than usual, since for example water needs to be fetched by hand, as well as wood for heating the stove.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Swedish: Fluent
Accommodation
You can choose between living in the upstairs "apartment" in the old farm house, potentially sharing room with other guests or you can stay in a traditional Sami hut ("kåta") with a fireplace inside.
Food we will mainly cook outside on the fire. We eat mainly fish and potatoes in the winter and in the spring/summer we also get milk from the goats and eggs.
What else ...
Our farm is very close to a beautiful lake where you can go swimming or fishing. We also got a boat and a traditional log sauna on the land for use. Around the farm is deep beautiful woods and wildlife here is abundant. Around here lives for example many mooses, reindeer, wolves, wolverines, and even a few bears has been seen (rarely).
The closest shop is in Åsele, about 35 km away, we won't be going there often but maybe once a week for some essentials. We can pick you up from Åsele where you can go by bus from Umeå, Dorotea and Vilhelmina.
Its good to bring a sleeping bag, working gloves, good shoes and a maybe a knife. In wintertime a flashlight is very handy and in summertime mosquito nets to protect your head and bigger ones that covers your bed could be useful.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have a desk in the room for volunteers and with the right internet provider there is excellent internet access.
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
Can possibly accept pets
This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (5)
During her stay she helped with the daily chores - carrying water for the animals and feeding them, as well as cleaning out animal houses, clearing snow, butchering etc - heavy… read more
It was so interesting to learn about self sufficiency in the middle of nowhere in Lapland ! I'm very impressed about… read more
We would recommend… read more
Life there is really different and extraordinary (no electricity, no running water). Far from everything, we live a real experience of self-sufficiency with the means at hand.
I was able to experiment with different activities such as fishing, there are many lakes… read more
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(4.8)
Communication:
(4.6)
During her stay she helped with the daily chores - carrying water for the animals and feeding them, as well as cleaning out animal houses, clearing snow, butchering etc - heavy… read more
It was so interesting to learn about self sufficiency in the middle of nowhere in Lapland ! I'm very impressed about… read more
We would recommend… read more
Life there is really different and extraordinary (no electricity, no running water). Far from everything, we live a real experience of self-sufficiency with the means at hand.
I was able to experiment with different activities such as fishing, there are many lakes… read more
and respectfull and everything he done he did very well and efficient. We enjoyed many good conversations and had a great time together working and relaxing. We would recommend any host to welcome Simon and take well care of him!
Thanks again Simon for helping… read more
I spent a couple of weeks in this amazing off-grid farm. Cecilia and Aaron are very practical, patient (with my bad level in English 🤣), and easygoing peoples. I learned a lot about the self-sufficiency, helped in very diversified works (gardening, fencing, split the logs, milking, building project, fishing and so on). I was… read more
