Charlize

Travel information

I am currently

Description

Hey there! :) I'm Charlize, a 22 year old from Germany. I have made great experiences with Workaway in the past and am currently looking to find an affordable way to travel whilst also being able to get to know local people, cultures and places away from mainstream tourism.

I am a rather calm and easily content person, who enjoys simplicity and the slow life. Right now, I am in between my undergraduate and graduate studies in physics and philosophy. Although I am very invested in my studies, I often feel the common way of living is quite far from what I desire and feel is natural.
I have gained a lot of insights into off-grid and alternative ways of living through Workaway and through my previous partner who lives self-sufficiently in the Portuguese mountains, and am hoping to learn even more about all these things by doing Workaways. I very much like solo-traveling as it forces me to interact more with strangers and I have really loved getting to know new people with all sorts of backgrounds and stories from whom I can learn!

A little more about me and my interests:
I have a creative and contemplative spirit and a soft spot for learning new languages; my most recent language to learn is Swedish! Although I might not be the biggest extrovert, I do very much appreciate company and find that I am also easy to talk to. I can be a bit quiet and observant sometimes - because as much as I relish great company, I also like tending to myself for a little while. For this reason, I am a very autonomous person.

Aside from my academic interests, I am very interested in permaculture and herbalism. Thus, I would love to learn more on these topics, as I can also imagine having a small farm/garden of my own eventually!

My studies have been rather time-consuming. Besides my classes, I teach introductory philosophy courses and work as a student assistant at my university's philosophy department. In my free time, I like to go hiking in the forest, read, do yoga, or draw and paint. Also, I enjoy cooking fresh meals for friends as well as for myself.

Over the past two years, I was traveling back and forth to my ex-partner's place a lot (sometimes spending three months at a time at his off-grid land), who has been running Workaways for many years. Through him, I made many experiences with volunteer work, and learned about permaculture, gardening, caring for the land (especially for fire prevention), construction work like rendering walls, tilework, building terraces, etc.
In the summer of 2022, I spent three months at a small hut in the Italian Alps working as an allrounder, too!

Interests

Gardening

Astronomy

Animals

Languages

Farming

Culture

Sustainability

Self development

Carpentry

Art & design

Books

DIY & crafts

Cooking & food

History

Music

Plant care

Photography

Writing

Drawing & painting

Yoga / Wellness

Winter sports

Outdoor activities

Nature

Mountain

Hiking

Cycling

Camping

Languages

Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
French: Intermediate
Danish: Beginner
Portuguese: Beginner
Swedish: Beginner

More details about my language interests
I am not as fluent as I would like to be in Spanish and French, so practicing these languages would be great for me! Beside that, I enjoy learning all sorts of languages and I could teach German in return, if you're interested!

Find a language partner

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Art Projects

Life at a Farmstay

Helping around the house

Animal Care

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Some knowledge of:  

Eco Projects

Light gardening

Creative DIY projects

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Light maintenance

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Able to teach about:  

Languages

More details about your skills

Help around the house:
I have no problem managing "every day tasks" around the house, whether that is cooking (which I love!), cleaning, washing the dishes or the clothes, running errands, you name it. I think I am quite a good cook and can think quick on my feet to throw together a meal with random ingredients!

More physical work:
I am quite fit and, as I would say, rather strong (for a woman of my size, of course), therefore, I am also capable of heavier work. As I indicated before, I have some experience with volunteer work and off-grid living, especially with gardening, making permaculture beds, chopping firewood, and smaller construction tasks with cement (like building walls and terraces, rendering, etc.), hence some things are not that new to me. But I am also not an expert when it comes to construction tasks.
I have very often helped my parents in their garden, whether that was with chopping and stacking up firewood, tending to some gardening, doing some weeding, cutting bushes or doing smaller constructions. I don't mind handiwork and like to dive in head first into new projects. I am attentive to detail and love trying out new things. Besides, I think I'm a quick learner ;).

Animal care and gardening:
I have had rabbits for pretty much all my life and took care of dogs here and there. This was definitely not the same as looking after chickens, goats or other farm animals, for sure. I do have some experience with animal care in general, though, and have also done apprenticeships at the vet.

DIY and other projects:
I am good at painting and I'm creative. I love designing and (re-)organizing things and have at least the basic tool and construction knowledge necessary. Also, I was very interested in architectural drawing for a while - thus, I am rather good at visualizing project ideas.

Age

22

What else ...

Hmm ... did I forget anything important? Let's see. I enjoy playing board games, especially Backgammon, or any other form of time spent together! :)

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
  I'm neither lactose nor gluten intolerant, but I do try not to consume dairy and gluten products when I can.