Mandy & Lee

Travel information

We are currently

Activities we are interested in:

We have been housesitting and doing Workaway since 2021. It's a great way to travel and make videos for our Frugal Travellers YouTube channel.

Description

Hello! We're Mandy, from New Zealand, and Lee, from the UK, and we met whilst trekking in Nepal in 1996.

We were living in Australia until August 2017 when we decided to sell everything and travel the world indefinitely!

Work wise, we've had many jobs:

Mandy was raised on a farm in New Zealand, and has been:
• accounts clerk
• office administrator
• personal assistant
•. cleaner
• waitress
• receptionist

Lee was a Postman in the UK for 13 years and actually won the Midlands Postman of the Year award in 1993 :))
He is a professional driver:
• Heavy Rigid trucks
• 16-seater minibuses
• quad bikes.
• one-tonne forklifts

We've also:
• Managed hostels in Scotland and Portugal
• House sat in Australia for 5 years with dogs, cats, fish and birds
• Had an allotment in the UK
• Been Relief Milkers on a dairy farm in New Zealand
• Helped build a house in NZ and a bathroom extension in France
• Cleared land with a strimmer
• Cut down trees with a chainsaw
• Used a splitter to cut firewood & then deliver it
• Planted 4,200 trees on our block of land in New Zealand
• Looked after our 6 nieces & nephews
• Been featured in CNN Travel articles

From 2017 we had an incredible 3 years exploring the former USSR and Soviet Bloc, including the 5 'stans, the Caucasus and the Baltic states.

We spent the 2 years of lockdown in Portugal, housesitting and doing Workaway.

During that time we made many Portugal videos for our YouTube channel, Frugal Travellers (same name on Facebook and Instagram).

We also made videos on our Workaway and housesitting experiences, so it's a great way to learn more about us!

We're so happy we signed up for WorkAway... we love meeting new people and pets, and we work hard with any tasks we're given!

We are easygoing, competent and aren't afraid of physical labour.

Laughter and meeting people from all over the world are two things we love. We might not be professional chefs but we will have a go at cooking anything and everything!

We travel with backpacks, live on a budget of US $25 each per day, sleep in dorms, take public transport or walk everywhere!

We are versatile, resilient and extremely adaptable... and are excited to think of the amazing people we'll meet and experiences we will have through Workaway!

Interests

Self development

Politics / Social justice

Movies & TV

Events & social

Plant care

Yoga / Wellness

Sustainability

Sailing / Boating

Pets

Outdoor activities

Nature

Mountain

Languages

Hitchhiking

History

Hiking

Gardening

Farming

Cycling

Culture

Camping

Books

Beach

Astronomy

Architecture

Animals

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Portuguese: Intermediate
French: Beginner
Russian: Beginner

More details about my language interests
Lee has been studying Portuguese for 3 years and is keen to improve his language skills

Find a language partner

Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn

We're interested in:  

Creative DIY projects

Light maintenance

Eco Projects

Charity Work

Teaching

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Some knowledge of:  

Light gardening

Life at a Farmstay

Helping around the house

Animal Care

Hospitality/Tourism

Languages

Helping with Computers/ Internet

House & pet sitting

More details about your skills

We are excited to share our skills and experiences and we love learning new things from others... an exchange of cultures, languages, recipes and practical techniques is what makes life fascinating!

Practical skills we have include:
Gardening - we had an allotment in the UK and a veggie garden in NZ
Tech savvy - have a website, YouTube channel & social media as Frugal Travellers
Farm work - Mandy was raised on a farm in NZ with cattle, sheep, pigs & chickens
Fencing - we built a boundary fence on our land in NZ
Chainsaw - Lee is pretty handy with a chainsaw and we're both proficient with cutting, splitting and moving firewood.
House-sitting - we house sat in Australia for 3 years, looking after dogs, cats, fish and birds
- Looked after a 50-bed hostel in Scotland while our friends were away.

We are native English speakers. Lee speaks Spanish, some French and Russian, and has been learning Portuguese for the past 7 months.

Mandy understands some Spanish and basic French, and I am kicking myself for not keeping up with Portuguese, Russian, Thai and Japanese :))

We have a website and YouTube channel under the name: Frugal Travellers and are fairly tech savvy. Mandy is a born proof reader and is always happy to cross check any articles, social media posts etc.

We are both able to get on with any job given to us, and always welcome feedback.

Age

56 & 55

What else ...

Mandy started practicing yoga last March and does at least 10 minutes every morning. She is also an inveterate bookworm and can talk for hours about favourite books and authors.

Lee is fascinated by maps and can read them for hours! He also enjoys astronomy, learning languages, board games, especially Scrabble and Monopoly, and reading biographies.

We both love walking - we find it to be the best way to get to know a place, and it's such great exercise!

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