Isabelle

Austria
Login to see last activity

Badges (3)

Photos

View all

Give the gift of Workaway

Profile information

Travel information
I am currently
Travelling
My next destination:
France
View all
Description
My name is Isabelle, I am currently 24 years old an living in the beautiful city of Vienna, Austria. Here I am doing my bachelor's degree in psychology & I work in a cozy café/bar, where we organize lots of events such as jam sessions, sketch sessions, clothes switches etc. Whenever I have the time, I try to go different places. I have lived and studied in Cape Town, South Africa for 1,5 years, have chilled with friends in the Pacific Northwest in the US for two months and travelled the Indonesian Islands with my sister. After traveling through Portugal in February and staying on an eco farm in the south, where I met a few workawayers, the concept became more of a reality to me. I did my first Workaway on an organic farm in Greece in North Evia in the summer of '19.

In the future I would like to use my degree in Psychology for some kind of Public Health, Development-related area. We'll see where this leads me.

In my own time, I like to dance, I like to write, I like to learn languages and I like to be close to nature, especially the water. I prefer the ocean/sea, but I also take any lake I can get :) Nothing feels quite as poetic to me as water does. Another thing that I am becoming increasingly passionate about is earth-friendly consumerism. I try to surround myself with people who reflect just that and are creative and aspiring in whatever they do. I have been lucky enough to find a great group of friends here in Vienna who are always inspiring me, open for cuddle sessions and open for a good party ;)
I consider myself a very open-minded person, a good listener, and always willing to learn. I would say I am introverted by nature but have developed a very extroverted mind on top of it, since I have become increasingly open to myself as I am.
I would love to meet people of all interests and passions and help you out on whatever endeavor you need help with. Let's see if we match our skills and needs!
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
French: Fluent
Swahili (Kiswahili): Fluent
Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn
I'm interested in:
Gardening
Eco Projects
Teaching
Some knowledge of:
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Animal Care
Hospitality/Tourism
Charity Work
Life at a Farmstay
Able to teach about:
Languages
More details about your skills
I would say greatest skill is in the hospitality area. I have worked in cafes and bars since adolescence, including a small hotel in my home town, where I worked in the restaurant and cleaned the rooms etc.
As mentioned in my profile description I now work in a cafe/bar in the center of Vienna. This job found me through a friend and every time I come home I thank the world for it. It is not about profit, but about community. Lots of artists come on different days of the week, show their craft, be that music or drawing. Many people spend their evenings there several nights a week, because they like the atmosphere so much.

I often get told that I have a very friendly, approachable and helpful vibe around me. I do my job in peace, and at the same time have become friends many of my "customers".
Therefore I am pretty confident to say, whenever socializing or taking care of guests in general is involved, I will do a good job if the atmosphere is right :)

Another thing: I can help in the kitchen. I would not go there to say that I could lead, but I do love to cook and I do love to experiment with vegetarian meals and usually they turn out pretty well :)
Age
28
What else ...
-
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
  -
- Special dietary requirements
  vegetarian (unless it otherwise gets thrown away, I'll eat almost anything)

Friends

Photos

Show all photos

Feedback

24 Oct 2019

Left by Workawayer (Isabelle) for host (Help at a natural farm on the ...)

After two months I am finally coming around to writing a review.
First of all I want to say thanks to everyone for four weeks spent almost entirely outside - cooking - showering - eating working - sometimes even sleeping, when we had days off and would sleep on the beach.
I have to admit, I had a romanticized view of what it entailed to actually… read more work on a farm, especially during the hot greek summer. But I enjoyed the experience very much. In a way it is such a privilege to work somewhere for free, more for the experience than for money and I'm glad I got the opportunity at Kandili farm.

This Workaway experience will rise and fall with the other volunteers on the farm. I had the privilege to experience the the volunteer space being completely full of people from various backgrounds, but also being completely alone for a week with only George and Katerina and sometimes Ellie and Babes (George's parents - absolute angels).
When we were several volunteers we always cooked amazing food with the vegetables we got from the farm. The lessons I learned about food and cooking in itself were worth the experience.
When I was alone, George and Katerina would cook for me at night - it was a pleasure to connect with them and get to know them better.
One evening I remember it was only me and George at the farm, so we finished the farm work, had some food and beers, made jam (which burnt :) ) and just talked really openly and joked around like old friends.

On days off we would hitchhike to some beautiful places in Evia. There really are some of the most beautiful, clean beaches I have seen in a long time. Generally, if you want to get anywhere from the farm, hitchhiking is the only way unless you have a bike.
Depending on how many volunteers are there, don't expect to only work five hours a day, 5 days a week. There is a lot work that has to be done on certain days that cannot be postponed like in other jobs. George is usually the first one up in the morning and the last one to go to sleep and barely ever takes any days off. So when I was the only one, I had to adopt this pattern. But there was always time for jokes and laughter during work, which made the experience very enjoyable.

By the end of my stay I learned how to make goat's cheese, fig jam, sun-dried tomatoes (more or less), tomato mash, and more. And I made some friends who I am still in touch with.
On the day that I left, George and Katerina took me to Chalkida, the closest city and where George was raised and I had lunch with their entire big family before I took the bus to Athens. Thinking about this still makes me smile. When George's dad dropped me at the bus station he left me by saying in very broken English "You, you're family".

I'm glad I chose this farm for my first workaway, not just for the experiences itself, but also for the people I met and the experiences that unfolded after I left. It was a very diverse and influential summer for me and I would recommend this Workaway to anyone who is looking for a raw and real experience of working on a farm working towards self-sustainability.

(Excellent )

To leave feedback make sure you are logged in & your account is online