Hannah

From: France

Account Type
Individual account
Travelling to
Germany, Italy
Travel dates
07/07/2019 - 22/12/2020
Badges

My status
Travelling
Description
Hello!
My name is Hannah. I am 23, British and have spent the last three months at home in England with my fabulous family due to COVID-19.
I left my home in Surrey, South England four and a half years ago to go exploring in New Zealand for a couple of months. Those couple of months turned into 6 months, and since then I have been to the Netherlands, Belgium, back to New Zealand, Fiji, France, Spain, Malta, Denmark and Germany.
I love to travel, but I also enjoy my country and often go back to visit my family - a couple of years ago I spent a month unicycling unsupported down the length of England...a very silly but worthwhile trip which raised money for a Foodbank!
I come from a large family (I have 7 sisters) and was homeschooled, which means I am very used to living with others and helping out with whatever needs doing. I love learning new languages, playing the piano and the accordion, travelling and exploring, going on bike rides and camping. I can also be arty at times! I am a sociable person and love chatting but also really appreciate a little time and space to myself every now and then :D
Now that non-essential flights to certain countries from the UK are permitted again, I'm bursting to get out exploring again!! I'd love to learn a new language and as Indonesia is not currently an option for me, I've started turning my thoughts to Italian...
Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Life at a Farmstay
Eco Projects
Helping around the house
Hospitality/Tourism
Charity Work
Language practice
Art Projects
Teaching
More details about your skills
As far as work is concerned, I'm very happy to try my hand at just about anything. I like to do things well and thoroughly so I will ask questions, but am also capable of using initiative when necessary.

Paid work experience so far...
-Administration in a Foodbank office
-Reception staff in a youth hostel
-Waitress/barista/kitchen hand in a café
-Floor staff in a bookshop and a charity shop
-EDI in a kiwifruit packhouse
-Cleaner in a hostel
-Au pair (live in nanny) for two families
-Supermarket customer service
When I was younger I did the generic babysitting and paper round jobs.

Other than that, although cooking is not my favourite thing to do, I did cook meals for my au pair host families, so I am no stranger in the kitchen.
I have been a workaway member before but my account was disactivated as I hadn't used it for over a year - my eight previous experiences have been in:
-The Netherlands (helping a yoga teacher to rebuild her shed and decorate her studio)
-New Zealand (in the countryside looking after 4 energetic homeschooled boys and gardening)
-Spain (helping to renovate an old house/garden in La Coruna, then helping to run a hostel on the Camino de Santiago near León)
-Germany (cooking, waitressing and cleaning in a wellness hotel near Luneburg; taking care of many different kinds of animals on a farm/education centre near Frankfurt; then renovating a farmhouse in the Black Forest)
-Denmark (mainly construction work as well as cooking/cleaning in Asnæs)
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
German: Beginner
Spanish: Beginner
Indonesian: Beginner
Age
23
Nationality
British
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
  Penicillin
- Special dietary requirements

Photos

Feedback

11/12/2020

Left by Workawayer (Hannah) for host for (Help with building and ...)

WELL. It's been 9 months since I left this beautiful house in Leinstetten. I've left the review so long to write not only because I am a master procrastinator but also because I really wanted to write it PROPERLY.

I stayed with Johannes & family for 6 months; Autumn through to Spring, and I can honestly say that those were some of the most… read more educational, thought provoking and fulfilling months of my life! I enjoyed the time and learned so much more than just traditional building techniques. Although both the family and I were very busy, they were always ready to give advice about places to go, things to see and ways to get around – as well as delighting in explaining the history and ways of the Black Forest and its inhabitants. I especially appreciated being included in Fastnet and Christmas celebrations, being taken to the castle in Glatt for tea and ENORMOUS amounts of cake, joining in with their personal Chinese New Year dinner and being shown around a couple of markets 😊

My work while I stayed was mainly finishing the clay Fachwerk walls, laying floorboards, putting in an incredible amount of insulation, sanding and vanishing various pieces of wooden furniture and beams, tidying up the building site and organising the place. However there are always tonnes of other little jobs to do and Johannes will always try to find work that suits each workawayer’s capabilities/preferences. He is also very reasonable and flexible about when your working hours are, so don’t be afraid to have a discussion about what works best for you both.

In my spare time, I REALLY enjoyed going on walking, cycling and camping trips around the Schwarzwald. There are loooads of things to see (if you enjoy mountains, forests, rivers, old villages and castles) and so many paths through the forest that you can follow to get there! I also often baked, chatted to the neighbours, played accordion/violin/recorder music with the family and cycled over the mountain to pretty Horb (15km) or along quiet, green forest tracks to Loßburg (11km).

As well as gushing about how much I appreciated my time here, I also want to give some advice to any workawayer who is considering coming to stay. Please don’t come here if you are just looking for a free hostel and aren’t serious about upholding your side of the deal; fairness and honesty are very important to Johannes - something that I really appreciated. He has workawayers for company and so that he can share his knowledge of the area and the building project, but also because he really does need help to keep the project moving, so he has little patience for people who don’t do their part. Once he has shown you how the place works, you can decide together what your work will consist of: you can either work for a certain number of hours each day, or you can agree on a certain amount of work that you will get done each day – either way, Johannes will discuss it with you and he will appreciate you telling you what you think is a fair amount of work to do. The excellent thing about this is that you can always be sure of exactly *what* is expected of you and *when* you have to do it, which means you can plan how to fill the rest of your time without having to worry about whether you’re supposed to be helping or not! Of course, you may find you enjoy your work so much that you carry on all day without thinking about the time at all (this certainly happened to me a several times). To sum up: you get out what you put in! Make your work something you’re proud of, make sure you communicate clearly, become invested in the project and you will really enjoy your time here 😊

So! If you're prepared to work hard, get your hands dirty, learn a lot, have many thought provoking and enjoyable conversations, experience living in a more self-sufficient way than what you may be used to - and OF COURSE spend time reminding your legs how strong they're capable of becoming while wandering around this BEAUTIFUL, mountainous area of Germany which I fell in love with last year; I'd 100% recommend sending Johannes an email.

Johannes – thank you so much for this time. I’m very grateful for everything and I DO promise I will be back to visit you and the family in this BEAUTIFUL house. Keep going!!
Hannah 😊

(Excellent )

02/06/2020

Left by host (Help with building and ...) for Workawayer (Hannah)

Hannah is like Elias (the workawayer who stayed before her): one of our very special workawayers. It was like Elias said; he left me and our building place in good hands.

She stayed (apart from a long break over Christmas) from September till March and, if it weren't for the corona-virus, it is likely she would have stayed even longer. We… read more

(Excellent )

18/10/2019

Left by Workawayer (Hannah) for host for (Help us on our camel & llama ...)

I arrived during a very, very difficult and sad time for Dani and Beate - and yet they still managed to be excellent hosts :) They are patient, strong and caring people who have a lot of knowledge to share. They made sure I was very comfortable in their lovely b&b house and I’m positive I put on weight from all the yummy food!!
The work I did was… read more

(Excellent )

13/10/2019

Left by host (Help us on our camel & llama ...) for Workawayer (Hannah)

Hi Hannah.. Thank you so much.. You are so powerful.. Full of energy.. Independant.. And so helpful during your stay here.. And you are the best bike doctor ever!! Never met a person repairing bikes so patiently. We wish you wonderful experiences in the world, animals and with people..

(Excellent )

23/10/2018

Left by Workawayer (Hannah) for host for (Help with gardening on a ...)

I stayed 12 days with Sonia in June, and they were 12 days very well spent! Sonia is a lovely person with a big dream and a big, big heart. She made me feel comfortable and well looked after throughout my stay and I was definitely never hungry! Her home, is a beautiful place which she has spent the last couple of years turning into her 'dream' -… read more

(Excellent )

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