Valerie

United States
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Travel information
I am currently
Travelling
My next destination:
Spain
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Description
My name is Valerie and I'm a 28y/o female solo traveler from the US. I would describe myself as independent and curious and fun. Among my interests are camping & hiking, cooking (& eating) good food, language learning, surf and ski, personal development and Buddhism and of course, traveling.

A bit about my history with world travel - I studied abroad in Copenhagen, falling in love for the first time with a foreign city. I’ve volunteered at hostels in Barcelona and Madrid leading activities and creating fun and inclusive environments for travelers like me. I spent a year in Madrid teaching English and another year in New York as a primary school teacher. I moved back to Madrid and I learned web development and did a bit of freelancing. I then decided to move to a small surf town called Noosa on the other side of the world in Australia on a working holiday visa where I worked on a ginger farm and a beach side restaurant as a server. My life seems all over the place but I’m grateful I have had experiences all over the world but I know there’s still so much more to learn and experience!

I'm looking for an experience that will allow me to immerse myself in peace and nature so that I can have the opportunity to reconnect with myself and practice meditation. I am a great cook, a quick learner and I'm open for any type of experience, including child or animal care, gardening, cooking, and manual labor.
Interests
Self development
Events & social
Culture
Languages
Cooking & food
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Mountain
Hiking
Camping
Beach
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
More details about my language interests
I am from the United States so I am a native English speaker. I have spent one year living in Madrid as an English Language Assistant so I am very open to teaching English! I have also been learning Spanish for almost two years but I would really like to have some speaking practice.
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Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn
I'm interested in:
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Babysitting and creative play
Eco Projects
Helping around the house
Animal Care
Languages
Art Projects
Charity Work
Life at a Farmstay
General Maintenance
Some knowledge of:
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Hospitality/Tourism
Able to teach about:
Teaching
More details about your skills
I am an excellent cook, cooking every day for myself and often for my family; I am extremely organized and tidy and enjoy cleaning; I am a very sociable person and have a lot of energy so I do not get tired easily
Age
28
What else ...
I am a very open person who loves to travel, meet people, cook and learn new things. I have a deep appreciation for nature and like to camp and hike!
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
- Special dietary requirements

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10 Jan 2025

Left by Workawayer () for host (Help with building an eco ...)

My experience with Senpo was very special. The land for his eco village is located in a lesser-known part of Taiwan in between the Pacific Ocean and the mountains. I ended up spending a lot of time alone, reflecting, meditating and journalling since the environment here is perfect for that.

I would like to make it clear that any volunteer who… read more comes should be open to more work than a typical Workaway schedule. I worked from 8AM to 5PM daily with a two hour lunch break from 12-2PM for 6 days with 1 day off a week. The trade off for this schedule is that Senpo took me on a few outings including to the nearby beach and one night to have dinner and then to Antong hotsprings. If I am to be fully honest, I was willing to work this schedule because I had plenty of time in Taiwan to spend in one place and by the end of my stay I was finding it slightly challenging to keep up my motivation to work. Because of the long working day, I only left the property once on my one day off during my 10 day-long stay.

The work itself was not hard, but sometimes tedious. The tasks I did included scraping rust off of metal poles, painting the poles, metal and wood cutting and organization. Also since his partner, Ivy, was gone for the majority of my stay I was responsible for cooking all the meals after Ivy taught me a few of her recipes. She really is a wonderful cook who is knowledgable about so many different Taiwanese vegetarian ingredients, many of which I had never seen before.

Senpo is a very kind and open minded person who is very generous with his spiritual knowledge. For anyone who is interested, there is a lot you can learn from him. He was very curious in understanding who I am as a person and I felt his presence to be nonjudgemental and very accepting. I was very inspired by his vision to create an eco village that can act as a spiritual center for people to come together to share their knowledge. He was very supportive of my own dreams I shared with him and I felt that we are now friends.

I had a lot of opportunities on the long lunch breaks to wander into the mountains behind his property and found it very healing to spend time alone in such beautiful nature. In terms things to do nearby, on my day off I walked to the very local, small but charming town of Changbin (40 min) and the stunning black sand beach (1 hour away). It's also located nearby King Kong mountain, a local tourist attraction.

I recommend this workaway experience to anyone who is interested in learning about spirituality in Taiwan, wants to explore an off the beaten path region of Taiwan, and is willing to work longer hours than average.

Thank you Senpo for your generosity and for supporting my dream to buy a house in the mountains of Spain :)

(Very good)

4 Nov 2024

Left by Workawayer () for host (Explore the outdoors and ...)

Raimon was an excellent host and I had one of the best life experiences staying with him in the Pirineos in Catalunya! At first the transition to a rustic lifestyle (toilet outside, bathtub in the kitchen, animals everywhere, etc.) was a bit of a shock but I quickly acclimated to the environment and within a few days I felt very comfortable.… read more

(Excellent)

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