Kelly

Travel information

I am currently

Description

I am a single mature woman with the spirit of a child who has lived in or traveled in over 70 countries, alone.

I grew up on a farm raising goats, sheep, horses, cows, chickens, geese, ducks, rabbits. I milked the goats twice a day for many years. We also collected wood, cut, split, stacked for burning in our kitchen wood stove and regular heating stoves.

I live a similar lifestyle but even more rugged in Ladakh, the Himalayas of Northern India, at 4000m (12,000ft). I break ice in the winters and haul water by hand up the hills to my house, hand wash clothes, bucket showers, grow my own vegetables and dry them for the long winters when we are cut off from the rest of the world for 7 months a year, collect my own vegetable and flower seeds for the next year, make my own hand lotion ... whatever needs doing I figure out how to do it with very limited resources.

I can do carpentry, building or repairing rock terraces or walkways, painting, all kinds of restoration work on buildings, cob,eco construction, and more. I am a fast learner, very conscientious of caring for tools and organisation of things. I believe in doing a job right the first time and am not afraid to ask questions if something is not clear. I have learned to be extremely creative and resourceful with what is locally available.

I live alone in a little rammed earth passive solar house built seven years again in a small village in Ladakh,. All gardening, making compost and soil, maintaining a rammed earth house, hauling water, everything is done with interest, mindfulness, and care.

I am a certified teacher with over a decade of international teaching experience. For the last 11 years i have not earned money, but have been volunteering, teaching young Buddhist monks and nuns and offering teacher training. Ladakh is a Tibetan Buddhist region in the high desert of the Tibetan Plateau, on the rainshadow side of the Himalayas. I sold my home in the US and everything I owned in 2013 so that I could continue living in Ladakh and volunteering. I also started a non-profi to recruit volunteer teachers for the remote monastic schools.

Winters are frigid and schools close (as we have little resources for heat, primarily cow and yak dung collected throughout the year), allowing me to head to warmer ground. I love my life. I am incredibly grateful for all that I experience. But I also love having a break in the winter iwhere I can have a chair to sit in and maybe a shower, the real luxurious of life. I have much to offer and much to learn and particularly interested in meeting like minded folks who seek to live a sustainable life and share the commonalities of goodness, love, respect, compassion, easy going and happy and content wherever or whenever. I am particularly looking for an eco community where i could spend at least 6 months a year as India recently changed their visa laws and i can only live in my home here for 6 months in a calendar year now.

I take responsibility seriously, am a good communicater, flexible, resourceful, sensitive to others needs, observant, engaged, have great relationships with animals and people of all kinds, enjoy laughing, creating, sharing, connecting, and being happy and content where I am. Obviously i am much more comfortable in rural settings and generally avoid cities.

Previous hats in this lifetime: I was an anthropologist, archaeologist, project coordinator for the Charles Darwin Research Station-Galapagos Islands, International teacher in many countries, worked with homeless families, folks fresh out of prison, responsible for all refugees entering New Mexico in the US, and worked with refugees in Serbia, and Greece, built houses, 35 ton Dumptruck driver, etc

Interests

Farming

Hitchhiking

Politics / Social justice

Nature

Yoga / Wellness

Vegetarian or vegan

Sailing / Boating

Outdoor activities

Sustainability

Pets

Mountain

Photography

Writing

Plant care

Music

History

Gardening

Hiking

Drawing & painting

Dancing

DIY & crafts

Culture

Books

Camping

Carpentry

Charity work

Beach

Art & design

Architecture

Animals

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: 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

Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

DIY and building projects

Being an elderly companion

General Maintenance

Life at a Farmstay

Eco Projects

Hospitality/Tourism

Charity Work

Art Projects

Babysitting and creative play

Creating/ Cooking family meals

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Able to teach about:  

Helping around the house

Animal Care

Languages

Helping with Computers/ Internet

Teaching

More details about your skills

construction
interior design
resourceful
artistic
gardening
teaching
carpentry
milking goats
writing
resourceful and rustic
drive 35 ton Dump Truck, vus, motorcycle, horse and buggy
computers
care for animals
can do and/or learn most anything
website development

Age

62

What else ...

I am easy going, very resourceful and creative, a problem solver, hard working and I believe in doing the job right the first time. Very flexible, happy

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  poison ivy, perfume

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  Special dietary requirements
  Prefer vegetarian but am totally flexible