Donna

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

DIY, American van dweller and traveler with pioneer spirit on a journey to homestead. Working at family farms & homesteads learning skills & helping people transform spaces & reach their goals.

Description

Hello and thank you for considering me!

I'm a creative professional with a DIY pioneer spirit traveling America with my cat in a minivan on a journey to homestead. I'm passionate about empowering others, learning the old ways and freedom.

Working for you in exchange for a place to stay (room, camper or trailer) with basic amenities such as electricity, water, shower and Internet would be great. Paid work is helpful.

In the summer of 2021, my daughter and I converted our vehicles (doing the carpentry ourselves) and headed west. When in Colorado, I learned about workaway and headed to Arizona to begin my workaway adventures. Since December, 2021, I have been working at family farms, homesteads and intentional communities, and have acquired skills, which I would love to put to work for you! I would also love to learn from you and help you reach your goals.

I raised a daughter as a single mom and ran a business so I have resilience, inner strength and many things that these endeavors teach a person. I work hard, help wherever I can and maintain a positive, friendly, upbeat and can-do attitude. I eat clean, organic food and love to cook. I don't smoke or do drugs.

As far as work-trade goes, I can give you 10 to 25 hours/week depending on the exchange. Every place is different, and maybe we can discuss what seems like a fair trade.

As a 30-year graphic, brand and web designer (artist, muralist and content creator), I have lots of talent and skills to help you grow your business. I am willing to do all sorts of things including farm chores, house chores, graphic, brand & web design, artistic work, organizing, cleaning, hospitality or helping with your business. I have basic carpentry skills, gardening, cooking, cleaning, animal care and lots of other skills, and I am eager to learn.

My cat Luna travels with me. I keep her on a leash when outside. She has a calm, friendly and gentle nature, and she has short hair, barely sheds and is very well behaved. I'll need a place to stay that is somewhat climate-controlled so I can leave her when I'm working for you or out in the community.

Thank you for considering me. I look forward to exploring possibilities with you!

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WORKAWAY EXPERIENCE

My first workaway was in Bisbee, AZ where I learned how to make cobb, build cobb walls in an adobe and earth bag home, sand glass bottle windows, and watched how to kill and prep a chicken. I also did landscaping, weeding, planting and gardening tasks. It was a wonderful first workaway experience!

After that, I stayed for several months at two different working farm communities in the Tucson area where I did landscaping and transformation of spaces, tree work, digging channels for irrigation, tending gardens, watering trees and vegetation, repairing and restoring furniture as well as a cement hobbit hut, and more! At one of the communities, I designed and facilitated the painting of a huge Community Nature Mandala Mural (visit communitymandala.com for more on that).

In New Mexico, I worked on a family farm planting, weeding and watering gardens, feeding and watering pigs, goats, hens, ducks, a goose and baby chicks, cooking, cleaning up after meals so the hosts could enjoy free time, cleaning the house and pitching in wherever needed. I learned how to milk goats, make goat cheese, sourdough bread and more. I helped ready a bus for workawayers, which included deep cleaning inside and all around the bus, hanging shade cloth strategically and securely to keep the heat out, and putting on finishing touches so the place looked and felt welcoming. I enjoyed helping out wherever I could and really appreciated learning new skills!

On the road...

In Eagle Nest, New Mexico, I worked in a really cool diner greeting customers, serving up burgers and fries, scooping ice cream and performing live music. I'm service-oriented and love to make people smile. It was a fun and beautiful summer!

In Pennsylvania, I helped a friend with yard work, house chores, cleaning out a shed, fixing broken things, getting things out of storage and miscellaneous chores. She had a lovely camper for Luna and me, and we enjoyed helping one another out.

So many more experiences on the road!

Interests

Languages spoken

English: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

Being an elderly companion

Life at a Farmstay

Eco Projects

Hospitality/Tourism

General Maintenance

Animal Care

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Able to teach about:  

DIY and building projects

Charity Work

Languages

Art Projects

Teaching

Babysitting and creative play

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Helping around the house

Helping with Computers/ Internet

More details about your skills

TRANSFORMING SPACES — I have been transforming spaces at workaways. Give me a challenge and I will work hard to clean up, landscape, beautify, create, organize, cultivate and transform your space.

MURALIST — I recently painted a beautiful 20' x 10' food forest mural and an 8' x 8' community mandala mural in Tucson, AZ.

BASIC CARPENTRY & DESIGN — When I started doing carpentry inside my van, I discovered that I love carpentry and I'm pretty darn good at it. Would love to show you what I built, which includes: insulated floor, pocket in sub-floor for tent, kitchen, side door shelving, three tier standing shelf, hatch doors to stowaway basement, hinged door for mini garage in back. I travel with a jig saw, impact driver, power drill, power sander & misc tools.

OTHER SKILLS
• Graphic, brand & web design
• Weeding, planting, watering, harvesting
• Yard work
• Cooking & preparing meals (I love to cook)
• House cleaning, organizing & planning
• Art workshops & DIY projects
• Performing singer/songwriter, acoustic guitar (Americana, folk, Native spirit-inspired, roots)
• Odd jobs
• Can help caring for animals. I have a friendly non-shedding cat. Recently learned how to milk goats and feed farm animals.

SOFTWARE & INTERNET
• Mac Design Software — Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator
• Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Website Design & Dev — WordPress and others
• E-Commerce — WooCommerce, Square, Wix, Etsy and others
• E-communications — MailChimp, Constant Contact
• Social media — Emerging platforms

Age

55

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  mold

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  Special dietary requirements
  I eat clean, organic food and sometimes I'll eat local meat that has not been injected with anything.