Lara

Travel information

I am currently

Description

Hi I'm Lara, 23 years old from the Netherlands. I just finished my bachelors degree in Sustainability Studies, with a thesis about Food Forests. I am very interested in sustainable food production, so I'm hoping to gain some practical experience and knowledge about that in the coming months.

I am a very social person, I love to get to know new people and hear their stories. I previously did two other volunteering projects, both at hostels: in Porto (2022) and Sevilla (2025). Both times I spend a month and a half at the hostel. I love the hostel life, especially when staying for a bit longer than the guests, and building deep friendships with colleague volunteers and travelers alike. Based on these experiences I am especially interested in volunteering with a host that accepts multiple volunteers, because I enjoy being surrounded by many people.

Hablo castellano con fluidez pero con errores. Sin embargo puedo hablar sobre cualquier tópico con facilidad. Han pasado unos meses sin hablar castellano entonces tengo ganas de tener la oportunidad de practicar de nuevo!

Interests

Cooking & food

Plant care

Writing

Charity work

Farming

Self development

Politics / Social justice

Events & social

Sustainability

Vegetarian or vegan

Gardening

DIY & crafts

Books

Nature

Hiking

Outdoor activities

Mountain

Dancing

Camping

Adventure sports

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent

More details about my language interests
This workawayer has indicated that they would be interested in sharing their language(s) or learning a new language. You can contact them directly to discuss this.

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Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

DIY and building projects

Animal Care

Charity Work

Art Projects

General Maintenance

Life at a Farmstay

Eco Projects

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Some knowledge of:  

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Hospitality/Tourism

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Able to teach about:  

Languages

Helping with Computers/ Internet

More details about your skills

I have eight years of experience working in restaurants and I love to work with people. I worked as a server and hostess but at home I also like to cook. I would say I'm a pretty good home cook although I am sometimes too stubborn to follow the recipe :). I usually learn things pretty fast because I am committed to my work. I love to learn new languages. I come from a family of photographers so I have picked up some skills from them. I am a creative person, in an artistic sense but I also like to think I am good at coming up with creative ideas and solutions.
I just finished a degree in sustainability studies at the University of Amsterdam. I doubt I can put much of that theory in practice, but we can certainly have interesting conversations about it. In my thesis I explored the barriers and enabling factors that food forests experience in the Netherlands.

Age

23

What else ...

I have broad interests and will easily be excited about learning new skills, but during this journey I am most excited to learn about the following:
- plants and sustainable agriculture
- carpentry (or another practical skills that involves building or repairing)
- hearing about other peoples (perspective on) life, and their philosophies
bonus: dancing! I would like to learn bachata or salsa but any dancing would be fun. I am not a very rhythmic person but I just enjoy movement.

What I usually do in my free time:
- cooking
- writing (in my diary and letters to friends)
- visiting modern art museums
- basketball
- watercolor painting
- reading (currently: My brilliant friend by Elena Ferrante and Fortuna's daughter by Isabel Allende)
- admiring local architecture
- hiking

I ran out of space in the skills block so here a little bit more about my thesis: I visited about 12 different food forests in the Netherlands and talked with many initiators/managers of the projects. I really fell in love with this form of agriculture and would love to gain more practical knowledge in this field.

Some more information

• 

  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  No

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  Special dietary requirements
  I prefer to eat not too much meat, but I am flexibel when someone else is cooking for me