Workaway reviews, feedback and ratings - page 8

Hermosa perdona , colaboradora y activa, gracias por tu participación!

Tal fue muy buen voluntario, divertido, respetuoso, activos. Destacado en su desempeño!

My family of four (two adults and two kids, ages 14 and 11) enjoyed our two and a half weeks at Randy's olive orchard property immensely, and we feel grateful to have had such a rich, first experience with WorkAway! Randy welcomed us to his home, picked us up from the train station the evening we arrived and had some delicious, homemade soup and fresh bread ready for us as we had been on a long train ride to get to Puglia. Randy showed us around his place, introduced us to his sweet and active dog, Lucca, and we got started helping out with the projects he had in mind right away -- trimming the olive trees, cleaning up the trimmed branches to make a burn pile, setting him up with extended WiFi for his guest house, fixing a TV antenna, setting up a place in his basement for a small, winterized greenhouse, and more! We enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving with Randy and his wife, and appreciated so much their hospitality. We also got to visit the surrounding area, thanks to Randy's generosity in showing us around and introducing us to the trulli homes in nearby Arbelobello, the gorgeous architecture in Lecce, and we went on a little excursion ourselves to visit Matera and Monopoli. We fell in love with the area of southern Italy in Puglia, the beauty of the olive orchards, the wonderful food (thanks for introducing us to the amazing focaccia by the coast, and the panzerotti (fried pizza - delicious and local to Ostuni). We hope to come back to Ostuni and visit Randy again in the near future, and travel more through southern Italy. Thanks, Randy, for such a lovely stay!

What an experience! The location is close(ish) to town but feels many miles away. Its such a calm and peaceful place to be and we will miss the large view to the far horizon at breakfast from the stone table outside in the garden. Such a great way to start the day! The work was varied and not too demanding or long hours. We prepared and then joined a party on our first work day and after that done various, house/dog sitting, DIY or cleaning guest rooms. We stayed for 3 weeks and only went into town twice for food supplies as the Kitchen is one of the best equipped and useable kitchens we've experienced so far on our travels. The altitude is a consideration. At 4000m everything for us was slower and that bit harder to do. But its not a race and there is no pressure to complete or start things at certain times. Zeze is a caring person and easy to communicate and plan with. We enjoyed talking to him about the local history and the development of the farm among other interests. We also had our own space in our room in the evenings if we wanted. The accommodation was also top notch and the showers were constantly hot and so nice to get in!!! (Hot Shower = Something we have had difficulty in finding in Peru!) If you want a peaceful, quiet place away from the rush of towns and cities we would highly recommend staying here.

Ruben has been one of my favourite Workawayers! He was only here for one week, but he did soooooo much! He's incredibly handy and inventive. You give him some tools and materials and he can fix anything. He barely needs any input; one word is enough.I normally give my Workawayers a lot of freedom in how many hours they work and when they work, and this worked really well for Ruben and he just kept going and was really generous with his time. I loved talking with him during our meals and in the evenings. He has a lot of positive energy, so many interests and knows a lot about everything. He is really well traveled and had a whole bunch of interesting stories. My kids also loved him, especially when he took out his guitar and started singing and playing songs. He's a really easy-going person that probably fits in anywhere. I'm really thankful he choose to stay with me and I hope he'll be back one day. For all the other hosts: Ruben is a one-in-a-million. If he asks you to stay at your place, you'd be lucky to have him.

Mein Aufenthalt war zwar kurz, da sich meine berufliche Situation geändert hat, aber dennoch sehr positiv. Ich wurde herzlich empfangen, konnte einige Arbeiten abschließen und habe sehr nette, bodenständige Menschen kennengelernt. Eine schöne und angenehme Erfahrung.

amazing experience, lovely family and beautiful area to stay.

Christine is a lovely woman and the greatest host! She makes sure that we are having the best of times! I have been so nurtured while I lived there for almost 2 months and I am grateful for the opportunity to support this wonderful garden. Hope to go back in this magical place. The vibe is easy going, a perfect combination of feeling accomplished and cooperating. The work is pleasant, the place is magical and the view is spectacular from the mountain homestead. We cooked together, and specially Christine and her neighbour are amazing cooks, and also we had nice regional wines and our own fermented beverages and other farm neighbours coming to visit. There is a hiking trail passing by the land and hikers from all over the world came to drink our water and it was super interesting to be there for them. We walked the animals and they are the best and super fun ! There are two very smart border collies and one Alpaca. Thank you Christine, for being such a good friend ! ❤️

Roger was with us for one month and we really enjoyed his stay with us . He fittet very good in our way of life we have in this Moment...more relaxed, more quite ... Roger is very independent in working, he was helping us a lot with the olives...picking them for hours and days....and he seemed quite happy doing it and also helped in the garden. He is also respectfull with the privat space and it was always interesting to talk with him during the meals. I hope, when we see us again in march, you show us the guatemaltecan kitchen.... We can recommend Roger to every host, he might be shy at the beginning, but after short time he opens and you will see a very interesting, interested and lovely young man. Ser you soon

We spent 2 weeks with Bård and our main task was helping him sand a kitchen floor. Even though none of us had done something like this before, we figured it out together, and it was very rewarding to see the final result. Bård was very welcoming and made us feel at home. We had many interesting conversations and discussions over a cup of coffee, a late night snack or the fourth pizza in row, and there was always time to play some really intense games of Catan with Nick and him (Nick even had 3D pieces of the tiles for the !FLAT! Catan world, sadly there wasn't an ice wall). Bård also shared a lot of stories and insight about music, Bergen, and himself. To sum it up: It was a really geeky time. Thank you again so much for everything. We enjoyed ourselves immensely and hope to return one day (to beat you in Catan)

We had the pleasure of having Mizuka-san here for about two and a half weeks. She was mainly here as a language exchange workawayer, but she also helped out with some housekeeping, cooking and also helping out Merethe with some winter seeding! Mizuka-san is easy going, polite and respectful. She is patient and very helpful when it comes to teaching Japanese, and Christian got a lot out of their time together. If she could stay for longer, we're sure he'd get fluent in no time, haha! Her knowing Norwegian was also a big bonus, and allowed her to connect more with the kids. That's always a big bonus! Thanks for the visit, Mizuka-san!

We would like to say thank Nele and Gin for volunteering with us for two weeks. They are both very kind and friendly people, and they have helped us a lot during their time with us. We would also like to apologize if we made any mistakes or caused any inconvenience in any way. Please kindly forgive us. We wish you a wonderful journey . Please take good care of your health. Thank you very much. From Sophea and Hiro

She is an outstanding native-speaking teacher who worked with us for three months, successfully teaching students of all levels, from young children to adults. She always showed great kindness, positive energy, and professionalism, creating a welcoming and motivating learning environment. All the students still remember her fondly and truly miss her. She also built an excellent relationship with her colleagues, proving to be cooperative, respectful, and always supportive. She was always punctual, reliable, and well-organised. In addition, as a host, she was extremely clean, tidy, and respectful of shared spaces. She was a real asset both professionally and personally.

Portugal, an amazing place, and the people are just as amazing if not more. Supporting Margarida and her vision was the single most fulfilling experience throughout the visit. Margarida is a kind, gentle and caring person, and she puts all her energy into caring for the children and assuring the learning center facility provides everything necessary to promote children's creativity, development, education and safety. She is truly committed to the children. There were several tasks requiring attention that were resolved during my visit, however, scheduling was difficult due to weather. Navigating the rain was difficult for the most part. Margarida was patient and expressed her needs clearly making time to be available to gather supplies. She is able to envision the project through conversation, and she allows each person to interpret her expectations independently - she is not a micro manager. She is truly grateful for the work and efforts of the support she receives from volunteers and speaks very highly of all who have participated in achieving her vision. She has a friendly and very smart dog, Bamboo, a friendly cat, a guinea pig and a couple chickens. Although the restructure of the chicken house wasn't exactly what I wanted, it worked for the time being, until the weather is more cooperative. The yard needs more work, although I was able to remove most of the weeds and drop some grass seeds. The dry toilet at the learning center was the big project. Previous participants did an excellent job at making a frame, which made my task more reasonable and expanding from somebody else's idea. It was built with raw lumber that still had the bark attached. This was truly an excellent concept. Margarida is very resourceful and was able to obtain items to repurpose and put them to use at the facility. She is very aware of the impact we have on the environment and focuses on minimal footprint. She is authentic and conscious about recycling and reducing waste and plastics.

I would happily recommend Luca to any host. He stayed with us for about three months and was kind, calm, reliable, and always willing to help with whatever was needed. He was very patient and caring with the children, which I truly appreciated. He created a positive and respectful atmosphere in our home, and i am very grateful for his help. I can fully recommend him to other hosts.

He is a world traveler with a friendly and bright spirit! He stayed at my place for five days. During his stay, he was polite and nice. He joined several gatherings my friends and I hosted. He shared with me and my friends many details about Israel's current difficult political situation, as well as its deep history and culture. Hosting him was a wonderful experience, and I felt honored to host a traveler with such a beautiful soul. I look forward to seeing him again! :) Hiroshi Yamazoe

Cat and Adrian were very welcoming and kind from the start, though their two cats are the king and queen of the castle. Their home is beautiful and centrally located. I would absolutely recommend to anyone considering a stay here!

Dave and Marie were able to accomidate on short notice, and gave me the best rural new zealand experience I could have expected. I learned how to drive manual and use a tractor. Additionally, I am amazed at how well-kept and beautiful their property is maintained. I would definitely recommend!

Yamato didn't stay long, but we really appreciated her dedication and help. it was fun having her around and she is also an interesting person, interested in everything too!

I stayed one week at Perla’s place, helping her with the planning of a natural swimming pond, as I am a landscape architect. Accommodation-wise, I slept on the rooftop in a tent. In the beginning this was a bit uncomfortable, as the tent stands on concrete that is very mouldy. Because the house is located in the forest outside of Cancún, everything is generally very humid. The tent also didn’t look like on the pictures: it was placed in a corner on the rooftop, I had to set it up myself and was told to watch out for scorpions. There was no double bed mat. Perla provided a camping mat and some fresh sheets. During my stay, I also built a dry stone wall using stones that were already on the land. Most of the time I worked independently, so this place might suit people who don’t need much guidance. One day Perla helped me finish the wall, which was genuinely fun and a good moment of collaboration. At first, I was confused because several things shown on the Workaway profile did not correspond to the actual situation: * Alex and Perla are no longer a couple(she alteady told me in a privage message), but Alex still lives on the land in a campervan and has his own projects and Workawayers, it felt like there were two split parts even if I was welcome to hang out with the others :) * There is no lavender or herb plantation as shown in the pictures. * There is no plantation project at Perlas place, that would rather correspond to Alex‘s projects * The accommodation setup is different from what is presented online. We also had a misunderstanding regarding working hours, as this was not clearly discussed before my arrival. I worked more than the stated 5 hours per day, and Perla expected me to work the 7 days, based on her own past experiences as a Workawayer. I think this should not be compared and needs to be clearly agreed upon when arriving. In the end, we had an open conversation and found a solution, which I appreciated. I strongly recommend clarifying working hours and days off very clearly in advance. Food-wise, we went to the market once to buy vegetables, which was really nice. At the beginning, Perla told me that if I wanted to eat her organic food or meat, she was happy to share — but only if I cooked for her in return (outside of working hours). Overall, Perla can be a really fun person to be around. She has a lot of knowledge about soap and cream products, history, and music, and she is clearly very smart. :)