Profile information
Travel information
We are currently
Travelling
Description
Hello!
We are Baha (30 yo) and Valerie (26 yo), two easygoing, happy people :) We are currently traveling around Asia for a year (Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Laos) and just arrived in China.
We are both born in the Netherlands but met while both solo traveling in Brazil in 2019. Passionate about nature, travel, discovering new things & learning new skills. Some of our interests are hiking, meditation, sports, natural horsemanship and reading. We are both vegan and love animals. Both of us speak fluent English and Dutch. Baha also speaks fluent Turkish and an okay German.
In the past we have traveled a lot using Couchsurfing and loved this, sadly this platform has a lot of people disappearing. Valerie's profile is here so you can read some reviews since we are new to WorkAway: https://www.couchsurfing.com/users/2003022556
We are respectful to you and your home, and respect your privacy and home rules.
A bit more about each of us.
Valerie:
I am passionate about biodiversity and nature conservation. I have two bachelors in Psychology and Communication Science and a master degree in Environmental and Resource Management, specialised in biodiversity and ecosystem services. November 2024 I quit my job to travel which was a tough decision. I loved my job, where I worked as a deforestation-free GIS Specialist for a non-profit organisation. Most of my work was tracking illegal deforestation in Brazil (using real-time data from satellites) linked to beef and soy supply chains from companies such as JBS, linking such companies to illegal deforestation and human rights issues, which data was then used by major environmental campaigning organisations such as Greenpiece and Mighty Earth, and even used in court.
At the end of last year, I also co-published a coffee table book ‘Fading Hoofprints’, to bring attention to rare and endangered horse breeds around the world. This coffee table book is part of the Equine Legacy Project, where I, together with a photographer and videographer, raise awareness for endangered horse breeds around the world. We also created a wonderful 7-part documentary series for which I had the pleasure to interview dozens of passionate people. For this project, I traveled to England, Scotland, India, Kentucky (USA), Puerto Rico, Portugal, and Czechia to capture endangered horses and their environment, people, and culture. Truly an incredible passion project of three women that is still ongoing!
Travel is a another passion of mine, to discover new places and learn from the people I meet along the way. Some longer term travels I have had the opportunity to go on were to Brazil, USA, Turkey, India, and China. Aside of living in the Netherlands I have also lived in the Czech Republic (Prague), the United States (Seattle), and China (Chengdu).
Being in nature makes me happiest, and I am very interested in working with and learning more about natural horsemanship and about sustainable living/regenerative farming or agroforestry.
On horse experience:
I started riding horses at the age of 8, and had my own beautiful Arabian mare when I was in high school. I used to do trail riding, ground work and do a lot of trick training with her. During my university studies I was less involved with horses due to living in the big city and frequent travels/living abroad. However, the past few years I traveled for the Equine Legacy Conservation project to write, film and interview endangered horse breeds in their natural habitat. For example, in the summer of 2022 we were filming the semi-wild Fell pony of England in the mountains, in Spring 2023 the Marwari horse in India, and in Autumn 2023 the semi-wild Sorraia horses in Portugal. Due to this fantastic project, my wish to be around horses has really been kickstarted again. I would love to involve myself more with natural horsemanship and learn more on this. It was a passion of mine when I was younger, but over the years knowledge has faded. On a side note, if horse riding is part of the job (which I love to do) I will only ride bitless/without bridle in the mouth. I understand everyone has their own view on horse riding and have no judgement on this, but simply stating what I am comfortable with to do myself. If not possible, I have no problem not riding! :)
I am hoping I can be of assistance to someone!
Baha:
I'm 30 years old and slowly but surely getting gray. I grew up in The Netherlands to Turkish parents. I was raised bilingual and with both cultures in mind and have lived, studied and traveled mainly abroad since I was 18 in several countries across Europe, South-America and Asia.
In my professional life I have worked on various programs over the years which aimed in supporting companies and employees in developing their skill, agility and vitality. My skills lie in project management with a focus on marketing and operations, in which I have nearly 10 years of experience. I can help you out with this as well. However, I would like to get more involved and familiar with animal care so besides sitting behind my laptop to do brain work I definitely am all for doing the exact opposite in the form of being physically active as well when it comes to voluntary work.
Finally, topics that interest me personally and that I am concerned with in both my professional life and personal life are: sustainable and responsible living, technological innovation, cultures and of course travel.
Both of us can teach Dutch or English. Baha can also teach Turkish. We are both interested in learning Spanish.
Interests
Movies & TV
Politics / Social justice
Culture
Sustainability
Vegetarian or vegan
Pets
Charity work
Self development
Writing
Performing arts
Cooking & food
DIY & crafts
Books
Animals
Outdoor activities
Yoga / Wellness
Adventure sports
Camping
Nature
Hiking
Mountain
Dancing
Cycling
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Turkish: Fluent
Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn
We're interested in:
Animal Care
House & pet sitting
Some knowledge of:
Charity Work
Able to teach about:
Languages
More details about your skills
We are two energetic people, who take our work seriously and carry our tasks out with responsibility. We can work well independently as well!
Language: Both of us can teach Dutch or English. Baha can also teach Turkish.
Horses:
Valerie: I have been around horses since the age of 8. Experienced in all-round horse care. Familiar with horse body language. Used to have my own horse back in high school, but only got back to horses since 2021 for a filming and writing project I am working on (Equine Legacy conservation project). I did some trick training with a young filly and some bitless riding in India (2023). I want to increase my time around horses which is why I am on WorkAway! I know the basics of natural horsemanship, but would love to (re)learn more as some knowledge I had has faded away. I used to take care of my horse by myself in everything, but since it's been some years, some knowledge is bound to have sank away. Looking forward to getting this back! I am an experienced horse rider and trail rider (outside riding is my fav) but only do so bitless/without bridle. I am an eager student. Horse massage is also something I am interested in.
Baha is not familiar with being around horses but is looking forward to learning about and gain experiences with them.
Writing:
I have written a book as part of the Equine Legacy conservation project I am involved in. More info here: https://equinelegacy.minhdanvu.com/ and am finding my way in writing for travel magazines. I can help you out with writing for your website or social media.
Marketing:
Baha is an experienced marketing and project manager. He can help with setting up marketing strategies, business strategies and executing (marketing) campaigns.
Geographic Information Systems Specialist:
A very detailed skill I don't think I will be using on here, but for actual work I used to track illegal deforestation based on satellite imagery.
Sustainability and ecosystem services:
I did my masters on this topic and have some work experiences in these fields. If you are looking on help for sustainability, I might be able to help you out in this!
Cooking:
Both of us like to cook, but are only comfortable cooking vegan food. If you are not vegan this is not a problem for us at all, but if you could cook that part of the meal yourself that would be much appreciated :D
Physical labor/outside work:
Both of us are fit and healthy, don't mind getting a dirty, and love being outside. Mucking out stalls? No problem! Carrying very very heavy equipment is not something I (Valerie) am capable of doing. Baha has enough strength for both of us :) But carrying heavy stuff day in day out all day through is not the type of labour we are interested in. But bales of hay or things like that are no problem!
Age
27 & 30
What else ...
We eat vegan, but have no problem with others eating meat around us. If you are interested in hosting us but not sure if you can provide vegan food, please don't let that stop you. Feel free to ask and we will think with you! There's a lot more things that are vegan than you might realise. We've never been anywhere where vegan food was not possible, be it mountain villages in Vietnam or the Brazilian countryside, we've had no problem :)
Some more information
Smoker
Driver's licence
Allergies
Special dietary requirements
Vegan
