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29 mars 2024
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Description
Hi! My name’s Sian, i'm 26 and my boyfriend Luke who’s 31. We're a young couple living in central Bulgaria with our big dog, Bax & cat, Bit Bot.
We live in a small rural village where we have built our own house with straw bales. We moved to Bulgaria in 2020 during the pandemic for a big lifestyle change after missing the freedom from being locked down in a city. We previously lived in Athens when the lockdown in 2020 started.
Both Luke and I are qualified (ex) skydiving instructors but unfortunately had to stop due to Covid. During lockdown we were both unable to work so we decided to make a big lifestyle change and take on a new project in an effort to live a more sustainable life outside of the city. Our house is semi off grid with 8 solar panels, compost toilets, rainwater collection system and a vegetable garden.
The goal for 2024/2025 is to get our place fully 'finished' so hopefully we can rent it out and start to save money so we can start another build.
We joined Workaway for serveral reasons:
1. There are so many little jobs to do with a big piece of land. It's nice to have helping hands!
2. For the social aspect. The village is quiet, it's nice to just spend time and hang out with other travellers and hear about their adventures!
3. After our first volunteers came in March 2023 we were amazed how much got done with extra help in a few days.
For this year, we are looking for workawayers who:
1. Are creative - we want volunteers to help with some art projects on fences/gates/the summer kitchen.
2. Pay attention to detail - there are lots of small finishing jobs to do that extra hands would help with.
3. Like painting - there is always painting and touch ups to do around the place!
4. Can sew - got lots of second hand material and would like bunting/napkins/pillow cases made.
5. Happy to help with digging - there is a big mound of clay from the foundations we want moved.
6. Photographers who can take photos of the house/plot of land for future advertising purposes. If you have a drone that would be great to get some aerial shots!
7. Ideally a couple or two friends.
** Please get in touch if any of the above interests you! We love hosting and would love to hear from you. ** ^^^
The village we live in is very small (about 70 permanent residents) but we have a local shop and the manager speaks English/German. The shop is extremely well equipped with basic household goods, beer, tobacco, snacks & is a 2 minute walk from the house. It's open from 8-1pm and 4-7pm. There are some beautiful walks and a few lakes close by. We're 25 minutes from the nearest town (Chirpan) & 45 minutes from the closest city (Stara Zagora) and 1h15 minutes drive from Plovdiv.
There is no strict routine here, we're very flexible with when you do your working hours, it's fine if you need to work online. Our routines vary, I (Sian) work online teaching English some days and Luke sometimes has to work off site at other clients projects.
Good to know:
- There is no public transport in our village. Ideally, we prefer if you have your own transport if you come stay with us. If you dont, get in touch, we could potentially arrange to pick up/drop off in Chirpan or Stara Zagora.
- We like kids but do not accept families.
- We have a dog and usually do host people who have pets too. However, we recently adopted a new dog and are still in the training process. So for now, we are not hosting people with pets until we have had more chance to train our dog.
Our ideal workawayers:
- Have your own van/camper/caravan - camp on our plot behind Lukes workshop. Gives both us and you some privacy when needed!
- Independent - happy to work alone on a task if Luke & I are both working.
- Enjoy socialising with other people.
A rough routine during your stay would be:
1. Continental breakfast (communal or not depending on our work schedules)
2. Variety of jobs throughout the day
3. Down time in the afternoons
4. Dinner/few drinks together in the evenings. (We do enjoy a drink or two in the evenings especially after a busy day!)
Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre
Projets artistiques
Aide avec des éco-projets
Jardinage
Bricolage et construction
Cuisine/repas pour la famille
Aide à la maison
Entretien général
Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre
We're a British couple who have decided to settle in Bulgaria for now. We enjoy a quiet, laid back lifestyle in nature and are both becoming increasingly passionate about the environment. We are always keen to learn different ways of living a greener life.
We've both lived in multiple different countries and enjoy learning about other cultures. We are young for the type of project we have taken on with minimal experience but that's all part of the fun!
About Sian:
I'm very outgoing and love meeting new people. Im an online English teacher and work part time. Working hours vary depending on weather, what jobs need doing! I really like learning about different cultures especially if it involves food! I've lived in 8 countries so far and have a big passion for travel. Im extremely organised & motivated and would love to share a part of our life here with other likeminded people.
About Luke:
Luke's the practical one! He can turn his hand to just about anything (whether it is building a roof or getting enough hot water in the house using only solar panels!) He is more reserved but has a big passion for music, loves a friendly debate and a good sense of humour. His passion is carpentry and he mainly works building the furniture for the house or doing carpentry work for clients.
Aide
Garden Projects:
- Digging/moving mud
- Taking down old stone wall
- Pruning trees
- Planting seeds/flowers
- Making garden beds
- Lots of weeding
- Painting/varnishing
- Digging trenches for water pipes/drainage ditches
House Projects:
- Lime washing outside walls
- Digging drainage trench
- Painting porches
- Backfilling around the house
There are lots of more artistic projects we would like to do in the garden e.g. permaculture beds, murals, painting tyres and making the place feel more homey in general.
Always a variety of jobs but that depends on what work we are focusing on during your stay. Majority of the work is outside helping to clear/organise the garden.
Langues parlées
Anglais: Courant
Bulgarian: Débutant
Espagnol: Débutant
Hébergement
ACCOMODATION/LIVING ARANGEMENTS
Park on our plot of land, we have space for vans, motor homes and caravans.
You can plug in to charge during the day and use your battery at night.
You're welcome to use our caravan as well if needed.
FOOD
This can be communal or not depending on your preference. 3 meals a day provided. I'll cook breakfast/dinner. You can help yourself to food in the fridge. We eat vegetarian food.
If you like cooking please feel free, you are also more than welcome to do so when you're here!
Autres infos...
During your time off there are a variety of things to do/see:
- Horse riding (local village 10 minutes drive)
- Hiking in the hills
- Visit local lake (Lovely to walk around with the dog!)
- Visiting the local bar seeing the cowman with the horse leading the cows home
- Local restaurant (mehana) - 10min drive
- Local vineyards about 30-40 min drive.
- Hotel bar/restaurant 15 minutes away
- Old marble quarry - great for swimming in the summer
A village 25 minutes away is a famous spa place with thermal baths/spas and many hotels which are cheap to visit for the day.
Further away in the closest town there are lots of restaurants/bars/shops. They sometimes have live music playing at different venues.
At the closest city there are many typical city things to do incl. shopping, restaurants, adventures and local tours.
Informations complémentaires
Accès Internet
Accès Internet limité
Nous avons des animaux
Nous sommes fumeurs
Familles bienvenues
Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads
We usually have very good wifi connection. Only if there is a big storm it's sometimes a bit glitchy. If you have a motorhome/caravan/van, you're welcome to use our caravan as an 'office' during your stay.
Espace pour garer des vans
We only accept volunteers who have their own vehicles. Vans, motorhomes, campervans! Our house is a one bed, we also have a caravan which is used as our spare bedroom (gets cold in the winter!), but we prefer volunteers to have their own transport. You are more than welcome to use our caravan for an office or sleep there during your stay.
Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?
Deux
Nombre d'heures attendues
4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week. This may change depending on the day/whats needed
Feedback (6)
Christian is a hard worker, a morning person, polite, excellent English skills, offering to help with tasks after work for the day was… read more
As a couple, they’re very easy going, lovely to spend time with, they both work extremely hard either in a group or independently and they are more than willing to try anything, regardless of how… read more
Sian is very social, a very good cook and just spreads good vibes with interesting stories about her experiences and positive… read more
He has a very relaxed personality and was happy to help with whatever jobs needed doing and also with cooking. He treated us to a delicious dinner one… read more
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Christian is a hard worker, a morning person, polite, excellent English skills, offering to help with tasks after work for the day was… read more
As a couple, they’re very easy going, lovely to spend time with, they both work extremely hard either in a group or independently and they are more than willing to try anything, regardless of how… read more
Sian is very social, a very good cook and just spreads good vibes with interesting stories about her experiences and positive… read more
He has a very relaxed personality and was happy to help with whatever jobs needed doing and also with cooking. He treated us to a delicious dinner one… read more
they are both lovely people and very accommodating, Sian is a wonderful host, a great cook and made me feel right at home. Luke was very patient explaining tasks and how to use certain… read more
It worked great for us that he was… read more
Anton is incredibly bubbly. Invariably got a smile on his face, a beautiful passion for life whether its bartending or skateboarding or… read more
The work in hand was varied, fun and I worked mainly outside (which suits me best!) I was tasked with varnishing Luke’s workshop, helping with gardening and also helping Sian with building part of the… read more
Laura is extremely sociable, a fantastic cook and such a hard worker. In the week she was here she varnished our summer kitchen & workshop, helped build more of our drystone wall, shovelled a load of horse manure & treated us to some great home… read more
The following day they worked really hard, happily working independently on different tasks. Marcel did a marvellous job of weeding all around the house and… read more
Luca & Bianca are both very calm & gentle people with some crazy travel experiences to… read more
The work you can do is very varied - we planted a lot of flowers, prepared the ground for the seeds, cemented another part of the garden to put in poles to construct a whole outdoor kitchen area in just 4 days, painted it and put a roof on top!… read more
Their straw bale home is just gorgeous and sits on a little plot of land with direct access to the hills. If you’re interested in building your own home or living off-grid you should definitely visit. Sian and Luke built their home from… read more
She arrived at ours with her girlfriend, Karo and their 2 wonderful dogs Otto & Mowgli. Even though they only stayed for 3 days it was such fun getting to know them. I wish they could have stayed longer!
Naomi is such a gentle soul,… read more
