Joachim

Travel information

I am currently

Description

Almost exactly three years ago, I returned from a year-long trip doing Workaway in Southern Europe, and I can say with confidence that it was one of the most impactful experiences of my life, for which I’m grateful to anyone who contributed to it. Motivated by a short but intense encounter at my last stay in the south of Spain, I decided that I wanted to take advantage of the residues of my Spanish lessons in school. The primary approach of the method I’m using is consuming a lot of content with increasing difficulty, and I’m currently at around 1000 hours of input. This means that I can understand an easy to intermediate level of Spanish pretty well if spoken calmly and patiently. I don’t have any output practice so far, so this is my main intention for this next trip.

On this last trip and on another one two years before (3 months in Portugal), I was given the opportunity to have a shot at a wide range of different, some more and some less challenging tasks and experiences. I helped at different communities, from picking the best tomatoes I ever had, to building wooden staircases to arranging the underfloor heating of a house that was 100% built with the help of volunteers. I also helped a lady with a huge rescue farm with about 30 horses, learned dry stone walling and helped building huts and a sauna made of clay (if I remember correctly). The tasks I enjoyed the most were when I learned something new, or when there was some team effort involved. And generally I really enjoy woodworking.

I would consider myself to be a very open person who is eager to learn new things on practical as well as on a theoretical level. I try to spend my time as active and in nature as much as possible, since it greatly contributes to my well-being. I lean more towards the calmer side of personality and sometimes need some time to warm up to people, but I also have an outgoing and open side when I find some common ground and feel comfortable.

Gaining emotional reflection and understanding my own and other people's mental processes is a very important topic for me due to my own personal history, so I invest some of my time into methods like Meditation, journaling or educating myself through books and other media. People who have an openness for these kinds of practices or topics are very high on my sympathy list (which doesn't mean that you're not if you don't).

On an interpersonal level, I'm looking for places where there is a strong priority on connection and an openness for sharing some significant amount of time, either while working or not.

So coming back to my intention about learning Spanish: In my learning process, I’m currently at a place where I feel like immersing myself in an environment where Spanish is the primary language would greatly contribute to my readiness to start expressing myself in the language. I intended to do Tandem a couple of times but it felt too daunting to me, so I wish that experiencing that language daily in a natural environment could be the step to kickstart my speaking practice. Since I know from my own experience that in communal type of places, English mostly is the primary language, I’m looking for a place where this is not the case.

Interests

Pets

Outdoor activities

Events & social

Movies & TV

Mountain

Languages

Self development

Sustainability

Plant care

Music

Hiking

Gardening

Fitness

Farming

Nature

Vegetarian or vegan

Dancing

DIY & crafts

Cycling

Culture

Books

Camping

Cooking & food

Beach

Architecture

Art & design

Animals

Adventure sports

Languages

Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner
French: Beginner

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

I'm interested in:  

DIY and building projects

Animal Care

Babysitting and creative play

Art Projects

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Some knowledge of:  

General Maintenance

Life at a Farmstay

Helping around the house

Gardening

Eco Projects

Helping with Computers/ Internet

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Hospitality/Tourism

More details about your skills

I would say that I'm a quick learner and am open to do mundane and repetitious tasks, but also to learn some more specific skills

I have some gardening experience and love cooking

At my current stay here I gained some knowledge in building stone walls, took care of a lot of tomato, zucchini, paprika and aubergine plants and cleaned a lot of land from weeds

Age

34

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 prefer a vegan diet, but I'm not super strict