Tanja & Michael

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Switzerland
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Profile information

Travel information

We are currently

At home

Activities we are interested in:

Ranching, Animal Care, Horsemanship, Construction Work, Tourism projects

Our next destination:
New Zealand - from Feb 2027 until Mar 2027
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Description

Hi, we are Michael and Tanja, a Swiss couple in our fifties with a curious mind, a love for travelling and a strong connection to nature, craftsmanship and simple living.

Over the years, travelling has become much more to us than just visiting places. We enjoy staying long enough to understand how people live, sharing everyday life, learning new skills and contributing something useful along the way. We have travelled extensively together – from a round-the-world journey to longer trips through Europe, Central Asia, North- and Central America – and today our lives are divided between Switzerland and our old countryside property, Björkliden, in southern Sweden.

Björkliden has become our own big learning project. We renovate, build, garden, experiment with permaculture and rewilding and are constantly learning how to do things ourselves. This has taught us that we are happiest when we can combine practical work with nature, creativity, good conversations and the feeling of creating something tangible.

We are both hands-on people and not afraid of getting dirty. Gardening, painting, simple construction and renovation work, maintaining a property, cooking, helping with guests and animals – these are all things we enjoy. Michael is also interested in traditional crafts such as blacksmithing and woodworking, as well as photography and writing. Tanja enjoys creative activities such as watercolour painting, pottery and other arts and crafts, and is always curious to learn new techniques.

At the same time, Workaway is not only about what we can contribute. We would love to learn from people who have chosen interesting ways of living – whether on a smallholding, farm, homestead, guesthouse, eco-project or simply somewhere where there is something meaningful to build, grow, restore or create.

We are independent and responsible, but sociable. We enjoy working together as well as getting on with a task on our own. We appreciate good food, humour, evenings around a table or a fire, interesting conversations – and equally the freedom to retreat and enjoy some quiet time.

For us, a great Workaway experience would feel less like being temporary workers and more like becoming part of a place for a while: helping, learning, exchanging ideas and hopefully leaving with new skills, new inspiration and new friends.
Interests

Adventure sports

Yoga / Wellness

Politics / Social justice

Pets

Gardening

Writing

Winter sports

Water sports

Van life

Sustainability

Sailing / Boating

Photography

Outdoor activities

Nature

Music

Mountain

Languages

History

Hiking

Farming

Events & social

Drawing & painting

DIY & crafts

Culture

Cooking & food

Carpentry

Camping

Books

Blogging

Animals
Languages spoken

German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Spanish: Beginner
Swedish: Beginner
Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn

We're interested in:

Creative DIY projects

Eco Projects

Art Projects

Some knowledge of:

Light gardening

Light maintenance

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Life at a Farmstay

Helping around the house

Animal Care

Hospitality/Tourism

House & pet sitting

Able to teach about:

Languages

Helping with Computers/ Internet

Teaching
More details about your skills

Tanja has plus 25 years of experience teaching students aged 12–20, including sports, general education, German and English for beginners. She also worked with children as a Girl Scout instructor and helped friends running a Swiss Alpine hut. She enjoys creative activities such as watercolour painting, pottery and other arts and crafts.

Michael has a professional background as a self-employed consultant and trainer in General Management, Marketing and Human Resources. He enjoys practical work and has experience with renovation, gardening, photography and traditional crafts such as blacksmithing and woodworking.

Through our own countryside project in Sweden, we have gained plenty of hands-on experience with gardening and permaculture, maintaining and renovating an old property, simple construction work and various DIY projects. We also have basic experience with animal care, including pets, horses, cows, sheep and chickens, as well as various farm and ranch chores.

We both enjoy cooking and have some experience in hospitality and gastronomy. We are practical, reliable, happy to get our hands dirty and always keen to learn new skills.
Age

52 & 56
What else ...

We are easy-going, curious and reliable, enjoy both good company and our own space, and are always open to new experiences and learning.
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
- Special dietary requirements
  we try to avoid gluten

Website Safety

Feedback

6 Oct 2023

Left by host (Stay with us in a 1830's ...) for Workawayer ()

A wonderful couple to have for a stay. I hope you two return to this area to explore more of our culture.
Take care.
yvonne

(Excellent )

29 Sep 2023

Left by Workawayer () for host (Stay with us in a 1830's ...)

We had wonderful 10 days at Yvonne's place. The cottage is very neat and offers all one can wish for. We did many different types of work from cleaning the yard from branches to weeding with machetes, painting and harvesting cotton.
Yvonne spoiled us with delicious cajun food (crawfish etouffé, cracklings, boutine) and helped us organise the time … read more

(Excellent )

11 Jul 2023

Left by host (Helping out on a family ...) for Workawayer ()

Tanja and Michael are wonderful people and terrific guests. We had a very good time with them and got SO much work done! They really became part of our household and lifestyle while they were here and were very keen to join in on all of our strange and wonderful activities. Tanja and Michael know how to be a guest in someones home and were always … read more

(Excellent )

3 Jul 2023

Left by Workawayer () for host (Helping out on a family ...)

We want to express our gratitude for the wonderful two weeks we spent working in Zenovias and Tylers home and garden. It was an enriching experience for us, and we truly enjoyed every moment of it.
During our time we focused on various tasks such as weeding, planting new flowers and plants, mowing the lawn, and pruning shrubs and trees. It was … read more

(Excellent )

27 Apr 2023

Left by host (Come and help with ...) for Workawayer ()

Good worker, good workingmoral. Sensitive to sounds, maybe not so good if you live in a family and share everything. Tanjas way is not always the right way. Works good alone, drove atv big distanses and packed trails very good. Very good with animals, supergood when we ran dogs she was very fast seeing what needed to be done. Very good cooker, … read more

(Very good )

17 Apr 2023

Left by Workawayer () for host (Come and help with ...)

I had a great ten week stay with Håkan and Lotta and of course the dogs. The day started at 9 am in January and February and slightly earlier in March with our "Tresure Hunt" (picking up poop from the yard), regularly followed by some snow shoveling - sometimes only half an hour, somtimes up to six hours. Another major work was to pack the 10+ km … read more

(Very good )

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Communication:
(4.8)

Skills:
(5.0)

Observed house rules:
(5.0)

6 Oct 2023

Left by host (Stay with us in a 1830's ...) for Workawayer

A wonderful couple to have for a stay. I hope you two return to this area to explore more of our culture.
Take care.
yvonne

(Excellent)

29 Sep 2023

Left by Workawayer for host (Stay with us in a 1830's ...)

(Excellent)

11 Jul 2023

Left by host (Helping out on a family ...) for Workawayer

(Excellent)

3 Jul 2023

Left by Workawayer for host (Helping out on a family ...)

(Excellent)

27 Apr 2023

Left by host (Come and help with ...) for Workawayer

(Very good)

17 Apr 2023

Left by Workawayer for host (Come and help with ...)

(Very good)

26 Nov 2022

Left by host for Workawayer

Thank you, Michael and Tanja for all the help you provided. The two of you have been exemplary in assisting with every sort of chore from feeding animals, to repair and maintenance of infrastructure, to photography of the daily life here on the ranch. Your contributions in the kitchen have been most praiseworthy as well. Mmm!
I can highly … read more

(Excellent)

11 Nov 2022

Left by Workawayer for host (Come enjoy riding, ...)

We had an intense eight weeks at Kelly's with countless amazing experiences like chasing bulls and cows on horseback, beautiful trailrides, sorting / marking and vaccinating calfs and lambs, we did a lot of fencing and helped with the daily tasks such as feeding the animals (cats, dogs, pig, chicken, lambs, ponys, mules, horses, a rabbit and Buffy … read more

(Excellent)

29 Jul 2020

Left by host (We love to host and meet new ...) for Workawayer

It was lovely to have such a down-to-earth and interested couple on our farm. Tanja and Michael helped us conscientious and very motivated, they asked in-depth questions and thought the tasks through before starting. They loved to work self-dependent and were willing to do all kind of work such as harvesting, weeding, mowing, but also construction … read more

(Excellent)

29 Jul 2020

Left by Workawayer for host (We love to host and meet new ...)

We came to Anna and Markus in our very first Workaway and felt very welcomed. Although we have met the two in a challenging situation, we learned a lot and enjoyed the meals together. In the evening, we talked about the tasks for the following day so we could work self-dependent and according to the weather conditions. Some tasks were physically … read more

(Excellent)