Alex

Pays-Bas
Connectez-vous pour voir la dernière activité

Badges (2)

Photos

Voir tout

Offrez Workaway en cadeau

Information du profil

Information de voyage
Actuellement, je suis
en voyage
Les activités qui m'intéressent :
Help out, improve my Spanish, extend physical skills, experience living in a community and other ways of living, learning organic building / agriculture, processing harvests into products.
Ma prochaine destination :
Zaragoza, Spain
Voir tout
Description
Helloo! Cool that you're interested to know more about me. We share the curiosity for other people. Enjoy reading and don't hesitate to reach out if you just wanna have a chitchat. It might just lead to us meeting up someday and before you know we have crossed the pyrenees from east to west, created a community and went on a 5000 kilometer journey on horseback....¿Por qué no?

My trip:
I've travelled down the French coast into Aragon, Spain. From Aragon I went straight to Granada from where I started a loop of Andalusia and returned again to La Alpujarra a couple of months later. Then I went via Almería to Murcia where am I now (end of July 2022) aiming to go towards Valencia (or maybe even more north). I prefer to skip small steps from host to host over large distances, however, nothing is set in stone. So, in case you have interesting projects that have common ground with my likings do reach out and I'll see what I can do :)

My main goals:
* Improve Spanish (I practice every day)
* Learn lots of (physical) skills.
* Experience different ways of living
* Work together, help out, share everything and have fun!

About me:
* I get energy from really connecting with people. Not the basic, superficial talks about the weather or keeping up appearance but really talking about what drives you in life, your struggles, things you care about/have learnt/want to learn.
* Apparently (as people told me) I am openhearted, sharing a lot of my own experiences, insights, things I like etc. and as a result of that people feel at ease with me to share their stories. Which is of course what I am curious about! :D
* I've been working for more than three years in the corporate world and now I've decided to do things differently. That basically means I'm in the middle of transitioning my life more in line with myself and my values. I've already switched my finances to an ethical bank (Triodos) and now I'm reading a lot about the past, present and future of the (global) economy. During my journey I have found gained the clarity that I wish to contribute to economic system change so I am searching online for a job in that field and I started an online course called Regenerative Economics. I can tell you all about it!

About the work:
* As mentioned I wish to learn lots of physical skills. Examples that I curious about are eco-DIY, permaculture, turning harvests into products and food, increasing my variety of vegetarian / vegan cooking etc.
* During summer I prefer to start working early (7 AM), have half an hour or hour of breakfast break at 9 AM and finish around 12:30 or 1 PM.
* Cultural Skills I wish to learn: (Spanish) dancing, Spanish culture, theatre, playing an instrument, make more use of my creativity (currently I am creative in a mental way such as creating puzzles, poetry or playing with words)

So far I have learnt that:
* I prefer to work TOGETHER on a bigger project instead of working on my own on lots of different small tasks.
* Since I like to learn things I appreciate it if you explain your plans or the reasoning behind the things you want me to do. This allows me to think along or question your way of thinking and has shown to be of value to a couple of hosts.
* I would like to know the day before what we will be doing the day after, allowing me to plan other activities around.

As I am aware that it is not always possible to meet my wishes, in such case, I appreciate honesty upfront so I can choose to accept it or not.

In case you are interested in more references, I also have some on Couchsurfing, search for Alex Pielaet
In case you wish to see what I did in my working life you can find me on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexpielaet/
Centres d’intérêt
Montagne
Nature
Camping
Auto-stop
Sports d'aventure
Sports nautiques
Fitness
Cyclisme
Danse
Activités en plein air
Randonnée
Jardinage
Menuiserie
Dev. durable
Langues
Architecture
Art et design
Arts du spectacle
Bricolage / artisanat
Livres

montrer plus
Langues
Langues parlées
Anglais: Courant
Hollandais: Courant
Français: Intermédiaire
Allemand: Débutant
Espagnol: Débutant
Plus de détails sur les langues qui m'intéressent
- I mainly want to improve my Spanish but if I can improve my French and or German as well I will not let that opportunity pass by ;)- I am quite interested in learning other people English as I always try to improve my vocabulary and search for grammatic rules etc.
Trouver un partenaire de langue
Compétences et connaissances que j'aimerais partager ou apprendre
Ça m'intéresse :
Éco-projets
Langues
Projets artistiques
J'ai des connaissances :
Travail associatif
Enseignement
Jardinage
Bricolage et projets de construction
Aide informatique / Internet
Entretien général
Accueil / tourisme
Aider dans une ferme
Préparer les repas / cuisiner pour la famille
Je peux apprendre aux autres :
Aider à la maison
Quelles sont vos compétences ?
- I have experience with using machines like a chainsaw, brush cutter, powerdrill, jackhammer, angle grinder etc.

- I have basic gardening experience

- I'm economical with resources and like to (re-)use what's available

- While working on a task I will signal things to you that might be valuable to know. This is because I care about the end result and the bigger picture.

- Given time I always amaze myself when it comes to fixing things such as fixing a shoe cabinet while simultaneously mounting a power socket into it to charge devices as well as a power source for my coffee machine, thereby turning it into a power station for me and my devices! ;)
Âge
32
Autres infos...
- I like to play around with words, letters and languages. That is also why I make puns and wordplays and can make quick, witty remarks in the moment (if I could only earn a living that way... ;))
- I'm adventurous as I've been on hitchhiking trips throughout Europe and intend to do more of these for a longer period of time in the future. During these trips I've used Couchsurfing which has brought me so much.
Informations complémentaires
- Fumeur
- Permis de conduire
- Allergies
  Plastic in nature
- Régime alimentaire spécial
  Vegetarian with an interest in Vegan

Feedback

09.10.2022

Laissé par l'hôte (Help with some gardening and ...) pour le workawayer ()

Alex came here for a couple of weeks in August. As he was our very first workawayer we were open to this experience, but obviously not very well prepared as we did not realise how important a real project was for him and possibly for the
next WorkAwayers to come.
From the very start we had a wonderful time with Alex who is very easygoing,… read more

(Excellent )

03.09.2022

(Help with some gardening and ...)

I had a great time in Sax as Karina and David's first WorkAway! David and Karina are caring people with a rich life experience and they were happy with every form of help I was able to give them. When I joined them they were in the planning phase of turning an unused piece of land into a new utopian, Asian-influenced garden. I started with the… read more

(Excellent )

03.10.2022

(Help us build our house with ...)

Wow, what a bravery of Sara, Juan and their daughter Julia to take on such a demanding project and the way they do it is really inspiring.

I mainly helped them by cleaning and organizing the tiles (I will never forget the Rio Grande/Pequeño and the Tapa Grande/Pequeño, haha), preparing lime mortar, filling an overlapping ledge with lime mortar,… read more sieving the compost (highly interesting and ingenious!), mushroom-culture, cleaning. All this in a hidden, remote valley with great mountain views all around and several places where you can go to take a bath in the river.

During everything, even outside of the work, Juan and Sara were very patient, as since I expressed my curiosity and eagerness to learn, they were willing to explain a lot. So apart from learning about their way of building they also taught me a lot about the Valencian culture and language, biology, cuisine and so on...

As of the first contact with Sara it was clear that we were totally honest from the start and that it would involve a bit of creativity to make our demands meet, and so we did. As I was studying, Sara drove me a couple of times to the local library and, in addition, they allowed me to use the apartment in a nearby village during their time off from to work as well. This basically enriched my whole experience as I got to see multiple places of this remote yet interesting and simply stunning area. Also, during my entire stay Sara and Juan were very well in communicating what the plans were and if I was on board with that or not. Also, adjusting their plans to take into account my needs were no problem.

Also, when I mentioned that my parents wanted to visit me - after being a long time on the road - they instantly invited them for lunch. And so I saw my parents again, caught up with them while enjoying a home-made fire-cooked Valencian paella made with fresh-picked mushrooms! How about that!?

Last but not least I'm also happy to have met their daughter, Julia, a creative princess and drama queen that is enjoying a highly rich form of education by her parents in nature. Moreover, I have tremendous respect for the way of life of their neighbor Nicolas. He has lived for his entire seventy years in the remote place and is still actively collecting wood for the villages around such ways of life just open your eyes.

As you can read, this has been a very, very rich experience for me. I want to take Juan, Sara and Julia for their hospitality and for their willingness to cater to my needs. I wish you all the best with the project and I really hope that you will be able to organize some events in future so you will be able to unlock the marvels of this beautiful place, in a respectful way, to the world. Thank you and take care!

(Excellent )

19.08.2022

(Help at agroecological farm ...)

I stayed two weeks with Natalia, Hawa, Levi, Juan-Ma and the other WorkAwayers Tizian, Matyas and Juliette. This is a special place in a beautiful green corridor in the valley of Ricote. One of the reasons I went to this place was to get experience with building natural stone walls and I spend most of my working hours on this and I am happy with… read more the result that I managed to achieve. Natalia shared a lot about how to do things ecologically also in the household and she shared a lot about the history of her town and surroundings. I loved the acequia that runs behind the house where you can quickly hop in to refresh yourself or just use it as your bath. I also helped with clearing all the cane (canã) and other plants from a ridge between a wall and the acequia so it can be concreted in future. Working together while standing in a refreshing acequia is not so bad haha. Natalia is fascinated by languages and will question you a lot which is fun, also the games we played involved making words from letters. Quite fun!

In general the food is great and since everyone has a shift to make lunch you experience different cuisines. I appreciate that people took the effort to cater for me as a vegetarian although there were some days that this seemed to be forgotten.

The way of working at the place is relaxed. The normal summer schedule is way up slowly, work a couple of hours in the morning and finish at noon. Lunch is at around three and in the evening there is a couple of hours of work. But you also have the freedom to work your own schedule as I preferred to start earlier and finish at noon as well. The tool shed is nice and organized so it is easy to find the things you need and people are helpful and caring while you are at work.
In case you are a non-smoker this might not be your place as there were quite a lot of smokers during my stay and although the outside area allows you to sit apart, the wind will blow the smoke in your direction anyway.
Additionally, I experienced my first days as a bit unwelcoming since I wasn't aware that my host would not be there when I would arrive. This despite me trying to keep updates about my whereabouts and time of arrival. The other people that were there did not take any initiative to introduce me, explain how things work or show me around.For me this is essential as you get a better understanding of where you are, what the place is all about and what you can bring to the place. Only after a few reminders I was given a tour, together with the other WorkAwayers. I have also shared this improvement point in person.

During my time off I enjoyed (hitch-)hiking trips around the area, visiting different places and enjoying nature. Some pictures that I took look like they are from a fairytale!

Thank you Natalia and all the others for a great experience in El Valle de Ricote! Good luck, have fun and especially keep going with spreading the ecological message! You have my full support!

Kind regards,
Alex

(Très bien )

Voir tout

Amis

Photos

Wild, handpicked blackberries! Yum!

Meanwhile in Nantes; can you spot the elephant in the room?

A terrific lunch break after doing groceries and sightseeing with Didier and Esther

Organized Esther's woodshed and compost. Ready for winter!

Anne's hangar is waterproof!

Very important to know your boundaries ;)

Voir toutes les photos

Helping Dave and Erica with the renovation of the house by preparing shutters for painting

Using the debroussailleuse of Anne to get rid of some wild blackberry bushes (ronce)

Visiting my future home ;) at Josselin

Eating Roastbeef and yorkshire puddings with Alan and Jane

I've made my move (at Chateau Dampierre), now its your turn

On top of Dune du Pilat: What a view!

Photos concours

Feedback

09.10.2022

Laissé par l'hôte (Help with some gardening and ...) pour le workawayer ()

(Excellent )

03.09.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Help with some gardening and ...)

(Excellent )

03.10.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Help us build our house with ...)

(Excellent )

19.08.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Help at agroecological farm ...)

(Très bien )

05.08.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Help with beach clean up, ...)

I spent about a week with Ravi when he rented a house in La Herradura. I went to Ravi with the intention to support the beach clean up and online help. The day after my arrival it turned out that Ravi's companion was not able to join us yet and Ravi saw no value in us cleaning together. As a result my task turned into cooking and I discussed with… read more him if I can do anything else as I did not feel really of value and only cooking was not in line with my intention of staying with him. I ended up helping him with other online stuff.

After a few days it also surfaced that I was not really welcome to stay in the house for long periods of time and that I should spend most of my time in the camper car and/or somewhere on the boulevard. This was not in line with what I expected and this was also not written on the profile. And this problem kept surfacing for the remaining part of my stay. Also, he asked me to keep low profile in the garden as he did not communicate to the owner of the area where the camping car was located that someone would be staying there. I would advice Ravi to never ask this to anyone else, it is not very welcoming.

Despite that, Ravi clearly communicated the times he expected me to do something, e.g. cook or meet up at a coffee places.

As a result of not really feeling welcome and/or having a place to work I communicated quite early after my arrival that I would start looking for a next host and that I wanted to stay with him and help him until I had found the next one. With our original agreement not being there our relationship eventually got into a bit of a conflict but we also were able to work it out.

I do not wish to blame Ravi or portray him as a bad person. I only wish to paint the picture of my experience to draw lessons from for myself - I could have communicated better and shown proactiveness in doing other work or started cleaning up the beach regardless it being a campaign - as well as give insight for other WorkAwayers on what to take into account to make sure that you have a great experience with Ravi, because Ravi is a wonderful, kind-hearted guy that is definitely worth meeting. He is a knowledgeable guy, speaks many languages, is a poet and great with words, has a ton of life experience and everyone can learn from him. He wishes to care for 'pacha mama' as shown by his campaign

His kind heart is shown by the 'keep the cigarette butts dry' (mégot seco) campaign that he used to run together with his companion in France. In the future he wishes to give, take care of 'pacha mama' and care for the people around him. I guess he deserves some support.

Advice for next WorkAwayers and/or profile improvements points for Ravi:
- Have clarity on the areas of the house/place where you are welcome (Note: Ravi was moving from La Herradura shortly after my stay so the situation will most likely be different than I have described).
- Confirm that the work you intend to do is also possible to do and have a plan B
- Have clarity on a daily schedule
- For Ravi: Do I need to inform anyone around me that I will receive guests/helpers?

I wish Ravi, his future WorkAwayers and everyone joining him in his campaign to care for pacha mama the best. "The universe is perfect!"

Kind regards,
Alex

(Bien )

18.07.2022

Laissé par l'hôte (Help on an organic farm and ...) pour le workawayer ()

Alex was a pleasure to have as part of the team here, he is really enthusiastic and trys to get the most out of every experience, exploring the area, meeting the locals etc.
He worked hard here strimming, repairing our natural swimming pool which involved days of hard digging out plants, repairing the liner in the scorching sun and various other… read more

(Excellent )

18.07.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Help on an organic farm and ...)

Wow, what an experience!

Staying a month there is for me one of the most special experiences during my journey. Situated beautifully in the Alpujarra hills with wild life and two donkeys around, living off-grid in a small mountain hut while doing construction and garden work with an international group of people from Turkey, Spain, German, the… read more

(Excellent )

18.07.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Come and enjoy the peace and ...)

I want to thank Sam and Rowena for their hospitality and allowing to experience their way of life including their faith, delicious vegan food and meeting/working together with international people (USA, UK, Italy, Dutch Antilles) in a beautiful area of Spain! I look back on a colorful experience with adventures such as hiking to the ermita on top… read more

(Très bien )

18.07.2022

Laissé par l'hôte (Come and enjoy the peace and ...) pour le workawayer ()

Thank you Alex for choosing our farm. We really appreciated the range of skills that you brought. We really appreciated your insightfulness, friendliness, independent spirit. We also appreciated your attention to detail and your professionalism in using the strimmer. Excellente! You also handled yourself very well in the kitchen. Muy bien. We wish… read more

(Très bien )

28.06.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Help us with eco projects in ...)

I had a great stay with Silvia, Eros and their kids Luca and Pascal. As a British-Italian family living in Spain, I was assured to improve at least one of my latin languages ;)

I slept in the revamped horse trailer that was located near the water basin so I would drift off while listening to frog concerts and the deck in front of the trailer… read more

(Excellent )

13.06.2022

Laissé par l'hôte (Learn about permaculture, ...) pour le workawayer ()

We felt very comfortable, natural and warm with Alex staight away.
We enjoyed so much talking with him just about everything - from practical to spiritual, from superficial right into the depth of life and how to be ... - it was norishing, inspiring, interesting and also a lot of fun, too.

And we just as well enjoyed working with him. He was… read more

(Excellent )

15.05.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Learn about permaculture, ...)

Ute & Markus purpose(s), as well described on their profile, directly got me hooked, so I went there with quite some expectations and I can safely say ALL of them have been met OR exceeded. It was only the second time I had an experience with other WorkAwayers but, once again, I really liked working together as well as getting to know more people… read more

(Excellent )

23.05.2022

Laissé par l'hôte pour le workawayer ()

Alez a passé une semaine à la maison et a fait du bon boulot. J'ai bien aimé sa détermination et sa façonde tirer un enseignement personnel, voire même une formation, de ses différentes expériences de worker. Son travail consistait à casser au marteau piqueur le bas d'un vieux mur pour en retirer la couche de ciment qui s'ñétait abimée avbec le… read more

(Excellent )

15.05.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Join me in a little corner of ...)

I admire Laurence for taking on a project like she is doing; restoring an old building to its former glory while also developing a nice (herbal) garden. I stayed in 'the queen's room' and I still smile when I think about the awesome canopy bed that I was lucky to sleep in.

I mainly helped Laurence with plastering the outside wall of the courtyard… read more

(Excellent )

21.04.2022

Laissé par l'hôte (Help with gardening, ...) pour le workawayer ()

Alex came to Help at the house in March, it was great to have him for few weeks. Alex is a very enthusiastic person always willing to help. Alex did many different type of task, in the garden mainly but also in the house sometime, in every task he was doing he tried to do his best. He is an organised person. It was also great to share life… read more

(Excellent )

04.04.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Help with gardening, ...)

I had a great three week stay with Jerome, his daughters and Neo, a beautiful and enthusiastic young dog! I prepared the garden for summer by weeding, planting flowers and trees, cleaned the house and terrace after a sand storm and several DIY tasks among which fixing some walls (my first time working with cement, hooray!).

The house and garden… read more

(Excellent )

08.02.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Join our non-profit art and ...)

Luis is a kind, caring person who works hard for idealistic purposes such as a repopulation of the rural areas in Spain in combination with hosting artistic and cultural events and in yet another initiative he's involved in impact strategy and management. Very admirable and yet he still finds time for all the people in his commune and having a… read more

(Très bien )

07.02.2022

Laissé par l'hôte pour le workawayer ()

The experience with Alex was great, very easy to communicate and deal with him. He did a great work in the house and in the project, always giving alternatives and wishing to learn. Very recommended indeed and hoping to see him again.

(Excellent )

09.01.2022

Laissé par l'hôte (Help renovate an old ...) pour le workawayer ()

Alex was due to come and stay with us for just a few days, but due to circumstances beyond his control, he stayed with us for several weeks. What a result for us!
There are always two sides to the Workaway experience for hosts. The work (ability and ethic) and the personality of the individual guests.
In terms of work, Alex got stuck in to… read more

(Excellent )

09.01.2022

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Help renovate an old ...)

Before you request to stay at Lynn's and Tony's take into account that you will have to deal with a certain degree of sadness after you leave them. I've warned you ;)

I aided Lynn and Tony with the renovation of their dining room by stripping the wall, removing the joints, build a metal framework, mounting and sanding the plasterboard. I also… read more

(Excellent )

06.01.2022

Laissé par l'hôte (Enjoy the outdoor life in a ...) pour le workawayer ()

Alex à été très agréable durant son séjour chez moi. Il m'a donné un coup de main pour nettoyer un coin de palissade et avec de la patience il a méthodiquement éradiqué les ronces et placé les branches que je coupais à l'autre bout du jardin pour en faire un tas à bruler. Il a rangé et trié le coin ou j'entassais des branches et du bois (ouf j'y… read more

(Excellent )

21.11.2021

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Enjoy the outdoor life in a ...)

My week stay at Esther was great! She's easy going, open-minded, caring and chaotic in a calm way (yes, really!). She shares what she has and has inspiring ideas and is a role model for me in terms of being flexible throughout life (which is not always easy...). She is a great cook and tell you all about it including all the positive noises that… read more

(Excellent )

05.12.2021

Laissé par l'hôte (Visit our family and help out ...) pour le workawayer ()

Alex is for us the perfect workayer. He's helping, observing, asking, be discrete, curious, respectful of our way to live.
It was for us a wonderful, fluid week. We thanks Alex for all his help, we have wood for at least 2 winters!!!
We wish you all the best!

(Excellent )

04.12.2021

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Visit our family and help out ...)

My week with Vanessa, Limbi, Sarah, Adyan and Gabril is one of the reasons I went on this trip: to experience others ways of living. This family has numerous interesting ways of doing things differently (to what I was taught/used to) and as a result they have opened my eyes and I grateful that they shared their way of living with me. Simply living… read more

(Excellent )

18.11.2021

Laissé par l'hôte (Stay with me in Southern ...) pour le workawayer ()

I was delighted to welcome Alex who helped me a lot in my various tasks: brush clearing, various crafts (except painting ;-)), meal preparation, and many other little things that I couldn't do alone and for which he also gave me ore framed ideas ...he "forced" me to speak English all week and I "corrected" his French (which he already knows well).… read more

(Excellent )

02.11.2021

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Stay with me in Southern ...)

I've stayed a week with Anne at her project playground! Anne is a nice, warm, seasoned and smart person with big dreams and a can-do(-with-what-you-have) mentality. I've helped Anne with weeding and 'debroussailleuse-ing' wild blackberries, raising her chickenhouse off the ground, protecting her shed (aka The Hangaar) from rain by putting plastic… read more

(Excellent )

17.11.2021

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Old priory with lakes. ...)

Dave and Erica accepted my request last minute and gave me a very warm welcome. I had great time chatting with them over dinner over a large variety of life topic. I've helped them with weeding, the chickens and their renovation project by preparing window shutters for painting. They adviced me cool stuff to vist in the area and their cuisine is… read more

(Excellent )

28.10.2021

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Experience local French life ...)

Jane and Allan are caring, warm people and they will share with you what you have. Really, I've been pampered like I visited my family. I went with them to church, they showed me around the area and shared their culture with me. I liked to work with them in the garden and take some well deserved time off to explore afterwards. All in all, a great… read more

(Excellent )

28.10.2021

Laissé par l'hôte (Experience local French life ...) pour le workawayer ()

Alex is a pleasant likeable young man He works hard and is eager to learn new skills .He loves to talk and has many interests We wish him well on his new adventure

(Excellent )

18.10.2021

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Help us with gardening and ...)

Overall my stay with Kevin, Charlotte and their baby has been great! They've shared their culture with me through food, stories, facts and recommending places to visit. I enjoyed the nights we spend together playing games and enjoying a part of the French cuisine. I've helped them with the start of the renovation of the living room. Based on my… read more

(Très bien )

09.10.2021

Laissé par le workawayer () pour l'hôte (Gardening, repairs, ...)

I had a great stay at Nick and Donna's and a good first WorkAway Experience. Although last minute things were easy to arrange and they were flexible in time. They welcomed me into their home, introduced me to their friends and pets. I'm happy things worked out with the dogs :D They showed me the photobooks of the process it took to turn the old… read more

(Excellent )

08.10.2021

Laissé par l'hôte (Gardening, repairs, ...) pour le workawayer ()

Alex arrived as a last minute workawayer, on the same day that we first made contact. He immediately blended into our household and was a relaxed and easy guest.
Alex is independent and happy to organise his own work routine. During his short stay, he worked in our garden; he worked thoroughly, tidied up after himself and we were delighted with… read more

(Excellent )

Pour laisser un feedback, il faut se connecter et avoir activé son compte.