Stefano

& Chiara

Travel information

We are currently

Description

Ciao everyone!
Chiara & Stefano here, from marvellous Italy!

Workaway count: 5
Where:
- Annascaul, Ireland (2022)
- Cobourg, Canada (2023)
- Victoria, Canada (2023)
- North Vancouver, Canada (2023-2024)
- Saaremaa Island, Estonia (2024)

Although we've known each other since September 2021, we've come a long way from just picking apples shoulder to shoulder. Now we get along well in every step of our young lives, from every-day routine to future plans. The main thing that brings us together is travel and the constant desire to add new places to our inner map of the world.

Needless to say, it takes all sorts to make a world, and we too come with differences.
Chiara loves to care about people, loved ones but also strangers, thanks to a profound empathy and emotional intelligence. She is practical, indefatigable and believes firmly in every action she undertakes.
Stefano has graduated in Modern Languages, a bachelor in which he learnt Spanish and refined his English skills. During this time, he has never stopped working occasionally in order to get the money he needed to travel.

We started working and travelling together from the very beginning, and now our plan is to escape from our home routines and travel the world independently and through self-finance.

IRELAND
In July 2022 we left Italy together, heading towards the natural paradise of the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland, where we spent 2 months and half in a beautiful guesthouse named Inspiration Lodge. There we learned from A to Z whatever it takes to keep a guesthouse running: checking-in and out guests, cooking and serving dinners and breakfasts, keeping the kitchen and the dining room tidy, make the rooms, as well as doing laundry.

FRANCE
We spent our winter 2022-2023 in Courchevel, France, managing a chalet, a small winter cottage, very close to the ski slopes of the largest ski resort in the world (600 km of slopes!). Our job was to keep our guests at ease by preparing 4-course dinners, cooked breakfasts and tea cakes, serving them, making their beds and cleaning their bathrooms, as well as giving them any information they needed. In our free days we got the opportunity to ski and explore the area, making the experience very pleasing and satisfying.

CANADA
- In May 2023 we flew over the ocean, to Grande Prairie, Alberta, to start our summer job as kitchen helpers at Camp Tamarack, an inclusive summer camp for kids of all ages. Our cooking skills got enriched with the ability to cook for big groups (up to 90 people) and the ability to satisfy all the allergies and intollerances.
- As the camp season ended, in September we moved to Cobourg, Ontario, to work for a month in a Christmas tree farm. There we pruned trees in the mornings and we helped with the animals and with the property maintenance in the afternoons.
- After a 1-month break back home, we headed for British Columbia. There we joined Erik in Victoria for 10 days before moving to North Vancouver to help a family of 4 in their daily house chores such as cooking, cleaning, babysitting and dogsitting. This experience lasted until April 2024.

ESTONIA
Our 2024 summer season brought us to Estonia, specifically at Pilguse Residency on Saaremaa Island, where our curriculum has been enriched with our first job as sous-chefs in a professional kitchen. With the help of the head chef Albert, we were able to learn the profession very quickly and later manage the dinner services autonomously when the chef was off-duty. Other than the daily service routine with the à-la-carte menu, we also got the opportunity to cook fixed menus for weddings and corporate events of up to 90 people.

Furthermore, our stories can boast of some long stays in other foreign countries: an AuPair experience in Australia for 10 months (Chiara); and a Year Abroad in Ireland and an Erasmus of 5 months in Lithuania (Stefano).

We want to fully understand a place by diving deep in the local culture, trying local food and meeting local people. We prefer to stay away from touristy places because they are polluted by consumerism and mask the true identity of the country.

Interests

Winter sports

Culture

Van life

Team sports

Sustainability

Photography

Pets

Outdoor activities

Nature

Music

Movies & TV

Mountain

Languages

Hiking

Gardening

Events & social

Farming

Camping

Cooking & food

Animals

Adventure sports

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate

More details about my language interests
We are eager to learn local languages

Find a language buddy

Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn

We're interested in:  

DIY and building projects

General Maintenance

Eco Projects

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Some knowledge of:  

Being an elderly companion

Gardening

Animal Care

Life at a Farmstay

Babysitting and creative play

Hospitality/Tourism

Helping with Computers/ Internet

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Able to teach about:  

Languages

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Helping around the house

More details about your skills

Chiara:
- people-in-need work, childcare of all ages (au pair in Australia), gardening, agricultural work, cooking. Little experience with elderly and office work. Has worked in clothing store, Christmas market house, orchards and social community. Possesses a full driver's licence.

Stefano:
- photography, video-making, digital content creation, social media, marketing and event management, cooking. Has worked in university media office, local tourist board, WWI military fort as tourist guide, as well as in supermarket, Christmas market house and orchards. Full driver's licence and experiences in driving agricultural vehicles. Holds a Bachelor in Modern Languages for Business and Tourism Mediation.

We both are diligent, punctual and hardworking. We're good at problem-solving and decision-making. We are super flexible and adapt perfectly to the change.
While in Canada we both obtained the Food Handler and Food Allergen Certificates.

Age

26 & 27

What else ...

We both come from Trentino, a small mountainous region of northern Italy, where skiing and hiking are the principal activities. We like to do both, but we have more experience in the second, in fact, we have wandered around Dolomites (our mountains) a lot, getting to know all the ins and outs. We also love to relax on the side of our beautiful lakes and to do adventurous sports such as paragliding and rafting.

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  Chiara is allergic to cats

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  Special dietary requirements