Helen & Stephen

Travel information

We are currently

Description

Hello folks, My name is Helen and I am a retired family nurse practitioner with a strong interest in diet and health. Steve is a retired geological scientist with many years of experience rehabilitating old homes. Steve and I are looking for travel adventures that will connect us with the local populations. We enjoy travel that combines learning about new areas and being able to give back to the communities in which we find ourselves. We have been growing organic vegetables, fruits and lamb for the local farmer's market and grocery store for a decade. We are scaling back on these projects and are now willing to exchange our accumulated knowledge of sustainable living habits with others around the world. We love backpacking, river running, sailing, and most any other outdoor activities. We have retrofitted two of our homes to passive solar heating over the last 4 decades after having gutted these homes. For the last 18 years we have lived in a small town in central Idaho, 3 hours drive from the nearest hospital or shopping mall, surrounded by the mountains and wilderness areas of central Idaho and located on the beautiful, wild Salmon River.

Interests

Languages spoken

English: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner
French: Beginner
Italian: Beginner

Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn

Some knowledge of:  

DIY and building projects

General Maintenance

Animal Care

Hospitality/Tourism

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Able to teach about:  

Gardening

Life at a Farmstay

Eco Projects

Helping around the house

More details about your skills

Steve - has renovated our 3 homes over the last 4 decades, everything from foundations and additions to plumbing and wiring to sheetrock and roofing. We also designed and retrofitted passive solar aspects on two of our homes. Also lots of pruning and gardening experience, as we have a fruit orchard and multiple gardens. And has worked with livestock ( dairy & beef cows, goats, sheep ). I worked in science and engineering.
Helen - Worked as emergency room nurse for 12 years and then as family nurse practitioner, providing primary care to our small Idaho town 3 hrs from a hospital for 10 years. Also, started a farmers market and has been growing organic vegetables, fruits and lamb for market. Good at painting, remodeling, sheetrocking and dry stonewall building. Also very knowledgeable in nutrition, and enjoys experimenting in the kitchen with new ways of cooking.
We are both very active and fit for our age, routinely hiking 10 miles in the mountains around our home. Or working long hours in our gardens.

Age

69 & 73

What else ...

Steve loves sailing and for the last 20 years has spent the winters aboard a 35' ketch. Also enjoys white water rafting, hiking, backpacking, canoeing, and camping as well as gardening.
Helen loves camping, hiking, backpacking, gardening, yoga, and learning about healthy lifestyle alternatives to traditional western medicine. Also love to learn new crafts from cheese making (especially working with sheep's milk) to basket making, (have done both palm frond and pine needle baskets) and dabbles in watercolor painting.

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies

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  Special dietary requirements
  No though we try to eat a healthy, plant based diet with occasional meat, eggs and dairy products.