From: United Kingdom
Individual account
Spain
01/11/2018 - 30/04/2020
At home
I spent a year travelling in India, Sri Lanka and Uganda in 2017/18. The highlight of my trip was the two months I spent as a workaway volunteer! In September 2018, I left the UK on my bike and cycled to the south of Spain where I stayed until July 2019; 5 months with one Workaway host, one month with another, with some house-sitting and a little excursion to Morocco in-between. My bike is currently enjoying a rest with friends in Spain and I'm looking forward to being reunited with it later on in this current journey!
This time, I am travelling in a bit more comfort, in a self-built campervan that I spent 3 months converting over the summer. I left the UK in September and spent a great month in Hungary and Austria, visiting friends and seeing new places. I'm travelling down the east coast of Spain, en route to some house-sitting near Malaga from the middle of December.
I love travelling and enjoy meeting people and 'doing something'. For me it's a much better way to really see real life and is more interesting than just sightseeing. I didn't do any volunteering in India in 2017 and arrived in Sri Lanka determined to do more than just sightseeing and being a tourist. I needed to do something useful! I spent 2 months at a new project helping to develop tourism in a post-conflict area.
I like rural areas much more than big cities - the kinds of place where people know and look out for each other. I think life is better when it's simple and not at the hectic, noisy pace of a city.
I've had a varied working life - NGO management and development in both the UK and Uganda; I ran my own catering business (Meals on Wheels delivering hot meals to elderly people - more of a social service than a business!); did property renovation (decorating, basic electrics and plumbing, kitchen fitting etc) and am a qualified teacher of English as a foreign language. I guess I can now add campervan conversion skills to that list!
I currently teach students online as I travel (which does mean I need to be somewhere with a decent mobile or WIFI signal) and I look for hosts who don't need volunteers to work at set times - so we can agree what hours I work when. I have a wide range of practical, administrative, management and teaching skills that I can offer.
I'm easygoing, relaxed and flexible. I enjoy working and doing a good job and am open-minded. I enjoy doing things that make a positive difference to other people. I enjoy learning as much as I enjoy teaching.
I don't smoke. I do eat meat and like a beer or glass of wine sometimes but I'm equally as happy eating vegetarian food and not drinking alcohol for weeks!
Gardening
Life at a Farmstay
DIY and building projects
Being an elderly companion
General Maintenance
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Eco Projects
Helping around the house
Hospitality/Tourism
Helping with Computers/ Internet
Charity Work
Language practice
Teaching
NGO development and management
Community development
Qualified teacher of English as a foreign language
Good practical skills for general building refurbishment and maintenance
Good computer skills
Catering skills
Open-mindedness and willingness to learn
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner
51
British
I'm looking for volunteering opportunities with people who love what they are doing, whether that be running a school, a business, an eco project or an NGO, or just living their lives they way they want. A bit of passion for something goes a long way!
I'm happy to do most things and keen to learn new skills as well as use the ones I already have.
Smoker
Driver's licence
Allergies
no
Special dietary requirements
no
