Estados Unidos
33 “me gusta”
Aloha Workawayers!
We are looking forward to being new Workaway hosts and to help you get a glimpse of local Hawaiian culture and experience the beauty of this place.
My husband and I are a, busy, outspoken, happily married couple (24 years) that would love to share our Hawaii home, wonderful Big Island, our skills, knowledge, mentoring, friendship and laughs while appreciating assistance with our many projects.
We live in the Puna district of Hawaii Island (the Big Island), 3 miles from Pahoa in a nice, quiet subdivision, on a 1-acre with avocados, lilikoi (passionfruit), citrus, breadfruit, cassava, pineapple and a few greens/herbs, flowers and other trees. (Currently, the 2 active volcanos are not anywhere near us.)
I grew up on a large Minnesota farm and love getting my hands in the dirt, but don’t have the time to garden as much as I’d like, so Robert’s doing most of that lately. I have my own nutrition-related business, virtually mostly, so I spend many hours on my work, but happy to share my knowledge and experience, open to help as well.
My husband enjoys gardening, landscaping, cutting down invasive trees. He is a master carpenter, building contractor, skilled electrician, mechanic, security specialist gardener, massage therapist, sailor, diver and has a ton of valuable information he’s willing to share as you assist him. He is also computer literate, knows plumbing and he speaks intermediate Spanish. (I do not, sorry.)
He is a wealth of knowledge on many topics, and will often make you laugh with his quick humor. He makes friends quickly, but will expect as much from you as he’s able to give. (He’s been known to work circles around people 20 years younger than him!) He will expect your best. He comes from a solid military background, so will be outspoken and you’ll generally know exactly where he stands on any subject.
We’ve hosted many family and friends as well as strangers through other platforms, but this is just our second experience as Workaway hosts (the first experience was great!). We’ve stayed others often in work/trade situations, with family/friends or via other platforms and we have 5-star rating, as we always strive to leave a place better than we find it.
We ran a B&B in our past, and our guests also loved us, quirks, discussions, politics and all.
We also love exploring the island, hiking, biking, inline-skating, snorkeling, warm ponds, camping, diving if we make time, going to local farmers markets and enjoying friends. We would love to have you share those experiences with us as well!
Ayuda en proyectos ecológicos
Jardinería
Proyectos de construcción y bricolaje
Ayuda en una granja
Cocinar para toda la familia
Ayuda doméstica
Mantenimiento general
Ayuda con ordenadores/Internet
It's Hawaii. We love sharing this beautiful, peaceful and sometimes exciting place and culture.
We love sharing the island fauna/flora with you, teaching you what we know.
You might want to check out local, often free classes or events.
You’ll mostly be working with my husband, so those skills that he has, he’ll teach you if unfamiliar. (Some projects might include learning how to sharpen a chain-saw blade, repair a roof, repair drywall, install a roof fan, replace a roof panel, repair a vehicle, cut down a tree, butcher a wild hog, smoke meat, harvest avocados, repair a fence, do construction, bicycle or small engine repairs, rust mitigation for preserving tools, plumbing in a shower, repairing a pool, etc.)
But also from me, maybe cooking, food preservation techniques, painting techniques, cleaning skills (as a past innkeeper, housekeeper and food-service worker).
When we head to town or travel on our adventures, we generally love showing others around and will invite you to join us on outings.
There are great opportunities for continued education locally, and an abundance of opportunities for beautiful photography.
\Will can take one person or a long established couple (willing to share a queen bed) for 20 or so hours a week each. (No children or pets.)
We are early risers. Since I work with clients on the mainland, I’m often starting internet or phone work as early as 5:30 am local time, and we might be in the kitchen making noise. (My work table is in our main living area. It’s mostly quiet time after 8 pm. (Soft TV is fine- might be up later on weekends or if sharing a movie.)
The hours are flexible, some days starting by 6 am, others, starting much later and working later in the day, depending on the weather, how late we all stay up and what’s on the agenda. Travelers are welcome to negotiate hours always, we are open to input and great at compromise. Sunny days we may work longer days, and less when it’s raining.
Some weeks it may be 4 hours, 5 days a week. Other times, you might help 2 long days, and take a 3-4 day weekend to explore the island. If we are doing the same, you might want to join us, taking a 2-3 day island exploration/camping breaks, provided we “feel” like friends/family.
General household tasks I need help with include general housekeeping/cleaning/organizing, vacuuming, sweeping, windows, screens, cleaning decks, cleaning kitchen & bath, doing dishes, extra cleaning attention in areas prone to mold, deep cleaning of certain areas.
Outdoors may include: helping with Robert maintaining our home and property.
Gardening, planting, harvesting, weeding by hand, landscaping, tree maintenance, mowing, clearing jungle of trees & overgrowth, use of equipment may include weed-wackers, push and riding lawn mower, shovels, rakes, picks, trash runs to the transfer station. Possibly some moving of logs. Cleaning/organizing decks, washing/detailing vehicles. Powerwashing the roof, cleaning gutters. General maintenance and upkeep. These will be supervised/done as a team unless/until you demonstrate comfort doing on your own.
Painting and preparation for painting (sanding, etc) experience and/or expertise a huge plus, as we are due to paint much of our home, interior and exterior, however, we have experience and happy to teach this skill as we work with you!
Your other special skills always welcome! Maybe you have experience in Robert’s skills noted above, or as a cook/chef, seamstress (sewing machine available for use), hairdresser, manicurist, interior decorator, massage therapist, personal trainer or yoga enthusiast.
(We going to be self-sufficient and usually cut our own hair and do our own nails; Robert is also a massage therapist & Jan enjoys yoga, with classes available nearby.
Idiomas hablados
Inglés: Fluido
Español: Intermedio
Este anfitrión ofrece intercambio de idiomas
Robert speaks fairly fluent "Mexican" Spanish, Jan is just a beginner, but open to practicing more.
Our home is a simple, on-grid, 3 bedroom/2 bath with carport and front deck.
We are 3 miles from Pahoa town and 10 miles from the ocean (by road) but just a few in a direct line, so if lucky, we may hear crashing waves from the back-door. We’re just a block away from the 2018 volcanic eruption in a quiet neighborhood on a one-acre lot. Some nights, it is so dark, you cannot see your feet.
You will have a private room with windows to the East and South, with your choice of a soft queen size bed or a much more firm and just slightly lumpy queen futon.
Bedding/linens/towels available for your use. Also, you will have a full, mosty private bath with shower/tub. (It’s near the kitchen, so will be used by guests or by us on an occasional basis, so keeping it reasonably neat and clean is expected.)
You will also have a dresser, closet space, side tables (with optional TV/DVDs, or via wifi if you have your own Amazon fire-stick-they are about $30, and only if it doesn’t interfere with Wifi for our internet work - which may be any time of day.)
We have good wifi, but it can slow down in the evenings if streaming video, so best to download during low usage times and watch later. But, you will have decent WIFI access, but I need priority if holding video conferences or doing live feeds. (In case you have an online side job.)
Cell phones work great here, but we understand mostly for Verizon, not not T-mobile. You may use wifi calling as well.
We have no AC and it can get hot, especially summer months, but we do have many fans. ((Edit- We do have one small window unit for the hottest of days. But we use that minimally.)
You’ll be welcome to do laundry or maybe add your laundry when we do a load to reduce electricity costs (some of the most expensive electricity in the US). If it’s a breezy, dry day, we’ll often hang some partly washed clothing/towels outside.
We have a large, quiet, private backyard.
We are on a well-maintained catchment system with pure, filtered drinking water available.
We like a wide variety of foods and like to cook and happy to share what we know. We eat well, healthy foods mostly, but never ones to follow any extreme diets. We almost always have an abundance of food in the fridge and on the shelves we're happy to share. We’re almost always stocked with staples like fresh fruits, lots of veggies, rice, beans, tortillas, bread, potatoes, milk, eggs, cheese and meat (wild pork, beef, fish, chicken). You are encouraged to contribute your favorites.
Please be prepared to take care of your own special food needs, special food requests, snack foods & personal dietary needs, but happy to accommodate you also at times.
But we’ll work out a shared option for shared meals/leftovers. Always be prepared to purchase your own preferred foods from the farmer's markets or store when on outings or food/material runs to town.
Common meals we eat: Oatmeal/fruit/nuts/seeds, omelets, scrambled/boiled egg/sausage/potato or smoothie late breakfast. Common Dinners: Steamed veggies, salads, soups, fish, beans/cornbread, fried rice, chili, mexican (street taco/burrito/guacamole/chips), spaghetti, beef stew, sandwiches, all often with a lot of veggies and beans). Can easily get in ruts, so love having other cooks in our kitchen! We’d love to have you share your favorites, and we personally have some highly differing preferences!
Cleanliness is a must or bugs move in-but we’re not OCD about anything. It can be messy. (My ADHD self can deal with disorder better than it can grunge, mold, smelly things and dirt.)
Security for you, us and our property is of major importance. Confidentiality is also of great importance to us.
You will NOT be able to bring guests over without prior approval.
We have cameras outdoors and in main living areas for our and your security.
If you love photography, the opportunities for beautiful shots are as close as the gecko near the front door or the flower out your window.
You may want to consider renting a car if you want to explore the island on your own, unless we're going and you wish to come along.
We're happy to pick you up/drop of at Hilo airport, provide some travel accommodations or bring you with us when we make food/supply runs or exploring ourselves.
Pahoa offers a free outdoor pool which we use weekly, recreational center, skate park and local stores/restaurants. Hilo is a bus ride away and offers beautiful snorkeling beaches, farmers markets, the Imaloa astronomy center, etc. There is a bus but it’s not very reliable and hitchhiking, though still happening, is now illegal and somewhat risky.
Acceso a Internet
Acceso a Internet limitado
Tenemos animales
Somos fumadores
Puede alojar familias
Yes. We understanding "working remotely," since I've done that for 20 years. We have good wifi that may slow down if streaming videos from time to time. TV available in your guest bedroom with DVR and possible internet connection if desired.
Have driveway space for parking a van/trailer.
Dos
20 hours/week. 4-5 days a week. Very flexible though.
