Share off-grid life with a young family near Coímbra, Central Portugal

Infos

• 

  Description

  We are a Japanese/English family of four restoring an old Quinta in central portugal. We have two young daughters 7 and 3, also four dogs and three cats.
  We have been living off grid on our land for 5 years in a caravan/cabin and are now rebuilding the ancient stone ruin.
  The land is around 3 hectares located in a small valley with a stream that joins nearby to the Rio Seia.
  Within walking distance we have numerous neighbours living a similar lifestyle.
  
  We are a 15 minute walk from a small village where you can sometimes get a coffee and bread, but there's always something going on in neiboughhod. Yoga or dance event, star observation, we're involving various community projects like exchange shop and music/family fun festival.
  
  We are still in the pioneering stage so facilities are very simple but we have all the basics. There's small solar system with enough power to charge devices and running water for washing. Drinking water is collected from the village.
  Our waste water drains onto the land so please natural cosmetics only. If you like to use a lot of chemical based fragrant products then this might not be the place for you.

• 

  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Bénévolat

  Projets artistiques

  Pratique d’une langue

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Baby-sitting et jeux créatifs

  Entretien général
• 

  Centres d’intérêt

  

  Plage

  

  Dev. durable

  

  Vie en van

  

  Événements/vie sociale

  

  Ferme

  

  Arts du spectacle

  

  Soin des plantes

  

  Musique

  

  Dessin et peinture

  

  Menuiserie

  

  Livres

  

  Cuisine et alimentation

  

  Bricolage / artisanat

  

  Jardinage

  

  Architecture

  

  Animaux

  

  Activités en plein air

  

  Nature

  

  Randonnée

  

  Camping

  

  Danse
• 

  Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre

  ...

  ...

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Qu'est-ce que c'est ?
• 

  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  We are willing to share our knowledge and what we have learned so far in this lifestyle.
  
  Jim has always worked in general construction mainly involved in electrics and plumbing. He also has a lot of experience in land clearance and forestry. He has picked up a lot of handy skills through DIY over the years and enjoys finding solutions to problems using stuff that is lying around.
  
  Natsuki has a love of fermenting, especially miso and kimchi but also finding ways to deal with abundant fruits. Cook Japanese based food at market and event sometimes.
  She also enjoys experimenting in the garden with different methods. Through this has an interest in micro organisms.
  
  More then anything being here will be an experience in an off grid life, an off grid life from scratch! We can't say it's glamorous but what we do, we do for us and there's a lot of freedom in that.
  
  The area is widely populated by foreigners living a similar lifestyle. It's a vibrant active community of wonderful people and is one of the main reasons we settled here. There's always a social event to go to with plenty of good folk to meet.

• 

  Projets impliquant des enfants

  Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.

• 

  Aide

  Currently our main project is building the house using both conventional/eco methods
  There's also developing the garden, land management and parenting, we are realising it's a lot of work for us alone. Any skills in these areas are great but there are also plenty other tasks that's don't need experience, only enthusiasm and willing is needed.
  
  Help with the kids is always appreciated. Our girls are easy going.
  
  Around 20 hours a week help split over four or five days.
  
  We like to do things with other people it's more fun to work in a group and the motivation It brings is always a buzz.
  When we work, we like to work hard, this life comes with a heavy work load and a willingness to get stuck in is important to us in a volunteer

• 

  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Japonais: Courant
  Portugais: Débutant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Cet hôte a indiqué qu’il souhaitait faire partager sa propre langue ou en apprendre une nouvelle.
  Contactez-le pour en savoir plus.
• 

  Hébergement

  Our living space is small and full, plus we need time for ourselves as a family so volunteers will have to be somewhat self sufficient.
  
  We have our old van with a double bed in it, it's what we used to travel in and is comfortable.
  We have some flat spaces for camper vans and plenty of camping space if you have a tent.
  Would best suit volunteers with their own transport.
  Only basic cooking facilities can be provided at the moment.
  We welcome the opportunity to host families but for now you must be pretty much self sufficient in sleeping and cooking, if you have a camper van then it can work.
  
  We provide lunch and dinner on workdays.

• 

  Autres infos...

  Our Quinta is in the foot hills of the Serra de Estrella. We are surrounded by nature with many beautiful places to walk and a river to swim in nearby.
  Bring a jumper as even in the middle of summer the nights can be cool.
  We live within the bounds of Travancinha, a quiet village with few amenities. The next village over has a few cafes and a small shop. For more, the towns of Seia and Oliveira do Hospital are both a 20 min drive away.
  
  There are many markets in the local area, they are a social event in themselves whether its a traditional Portuguese market or a foreigners artisan market they are all a community hub and a nice way to spend an afternoon.

• 

  Informations complémentaires

  • 

    Accès Internet

  • 

    Accès Internet limité

  • 

    Nous avons des animaux

  • 

    Nous sommes fumeurs

  • 

    Familles bienvenues

• 

  Espace pour garer des vans

  Camper vans and small motor homes are welcome, access is tight.

• 

  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  Well behaved dogs are welcome but they must be sociable to get on with our and the neighbours animals, especially the chickens as their area can easily be accessed by a hungry dog.

• 

  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

• 

  Mes animaux

Sécurité du site