Simone

Information de voyage

Actuellement, je suis

Description

Hi, my name is Simone.
I was born and raised in Italy and I have spent the best part of my adulthood abroad. During my professional career I had been based in the UK for 13 years, Japan for 9 years and Spain for about 1 year. Since early 2020 I stepped off the fast lane in order to follow my passions, be more in tune with nature, help people, live a simpler life and travel the world.
My professional career has mostly been within the English Language Industry and Education. I have led Operations & Customer Services for more than 10 years and I also worked in Transport, as a Teacher and Activity Leader still within the Language Industry. When I was a student I also worked as a Waiter, as a Food Service Assistant, and last but not least harvesting apples, grapes and cherries in my native region (which is indeed very popular with these crops).
I am very Zen, understanding and I truly believe in hard work and disciplined life. I am also very flexible, helpful, adaptable, resourceful, and have great respect and tolerance for other cultures and beliefs. I am ready and willing to manage complex projects/tasks, organize and run fun activities, getting my hands dirty working the land, cleaning toilets and what necessary, build & assemble, support, help or else!
I am very passionate about running, cycling, and swimming, this is where I get a great deal of my physical and mental strength from.
I am truly in love with nature and her miracles, and I am particularly keen on Permaculture, Beekeeping, Bamboo, Natural building, Medical herbs, Animals and Self sustainability. Consequently I first tried my best to self-educate myself as much as I could on these topics and since early 2020 I have joined many Workaway projects in Italy, France, Portugal, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Perù, Chile, Brazil, Nepal, Thailand and Laos. So, I am now very happy to say that that I gained a great deal of knowledge and experience through these opportunities.
Further about myself I am very conservation minded and I am working my way toward sustainable living. Before long I would like to settle in a little corner of the world where to start my own Eco Project to help the world to become a better place.
I am very keen to help & support Workaway Hosts with my skills, knowledge and dedication in exchange for further practical experience and I am very much look forward to meeting you!

For further details about my hands on Workaway experiences, here's a brief summary in chronological order of my most fulfilling placements:

1. ITALY (Valperga) - my Workaway experience in Northern Italy focused on Beekeeping, Permaculture and Animal management. Here I was successfully able to help, do, practise so much and provide my own valuable contribution to the project. Some of my highlights vary from working in the beehives to processing honey, harvesting seasonal vegetables, preparing the soil, sowing seedlings, animal management, supporting the host with social media and other platforms management.

2. FRANCE (Aquitaine) - as a Workawayer I joined a fabulous Eco Project in the making, they focused on bamboo and I spent most of my time working on the foundations of a new bamboo processing hangar and land management. Here we were surrounded by groves and regarding Bamboo whenever I find myself in a Bamboo grove or near one, I always feel a magical vibe. The sound of it, its tranquillity and everything is something very special. Not only Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants, it also releases 30% more oxygen into the atmosphere. Bamboo is life, culture, tradition, and its applications are practically limitless! These are just a few fascinating pieces out of a million and I truly wish way more housing and things were made of Bamboo, yes and indeed we need more Bamboo in our lives!

3. PORTUGAL ( Agra Velha) - as a Workawayer I completed a wonderful experience in a off grid Eco Project. It was fantastic to experience what it means to be 100% off grid and understand, learn and use the “systems” and “features” you need to have in place to accomplish this. At that time we mostly concentrated on construction work using natural techniques. During my experience I worked with cob, lime painted and cleared areas of the property that were overgrown.

4. COSTA RICA (San Isidro mountains) - after spending 3 fabulous and fulfilling weeks as a Workawayer at this organic finca I then came back for 6 more months. Here I was able to further my knowledge and experience about Coffee & Bananas growing, management, harvesting - Animals management - Permaculture/Organic growing - Soil preparation -- Planting - Pruning - Chop & drop - Mulching - Organic fertilizes prep - Organic pesticides prep - Advance Composting technics - Vermiculture - Landscaping - Irrigation systems - Drainage - Soil erosion control & prevention - Bamboo management - Bamboo construction - Medicinal herbs - Fermented food/drinks

5. COSTA RICA (Guanacaste, Playa Negra) - as a Workawayer I joined this beautiful and alternative resort surrounded by marvelous nature. Here I took care of their vegetable garden by first building frameworks for shade, and then by preparing the soil, seeding, planting, weeding, fertilizing, watering and giving love to the plants. At this resort I also helped with customers interaction, entertainment, and necessary language translations.

6. PANAMA (Bocas del Toro) - as a Workawayer I joined this Eco-friendly lodge at the edge of the jungle on beautiful Red Frog beach. My primary responsibility was to lead group activities for their clients such as Quiz night, Nature hikes, Beach volleyball tournament, Fitness/Running/Swimming sessions, Bonfires, Beach games etc. I truly enjoyed interacting with the guests and I was very motivated and passionate about ensuring they had the best possible experience.

7. COLOMBIA (Palomino) - as a Workawayer for this very project I was entrusted with gardening. This lovely family was preparing to opening their house and land to guests and lodgers, so they had to action their dreams!
I prepared the soil and planted about 60 flower plants and 10 fruit trees on their land, I helped their local contracted workers who were building a roof extension and with some daily housekeeping chores. I particularly loved the total integration into a Colombian family and I felt comfortable and at ease.

8. COLOMBIA (Cartagena) - as a Workawayer I was welcomed to a huge and beautiful Colonial House in the heart of Getsemani operating as an Air B&B. I was basically their local worker (Jairo) assistant and every day we had different tasks and challenges to tackle. Housekeeping, readying rooms for check ins, fixing water leaks in the roof, painting, cleaning, raking leaves, cementing walls, temporary & permanent fixes to problems etc. were some of the duties we carried out. I really enjoyed my time spent at the Colonial House working in tandem with Jairo.

9. COLOMBIA (nearby Guachaca) -what an experience leaving in the jungle in an indigenous style house! The access to the property is an hour walk through the jungle from the nearest village and here I helped their land keeper (Jorge) to demolish his house in an orderly fashion, in order to select and put aside any reusable posts, rafters, roofing tiles, nails, wires etc. All this in preparation for the construction of their new house. It was such a privilege helping, working and sharing jungle stories with Jorge, such a simple, wise and humble man!

10. PERU (Shintuya) - what an incredible experience I had at Shintuya Hot springs & lodge. I always look for the most possible genuine, engaging and full immersion placement and I could have not find a better place here sharing life with Jhohan, his parents, and his people. Priority went to lodgers and tourists visiting the hot springs, hence some of the tasks were housekeeping, cleaning the hot springs, keeping the place clean and charging the hot spring entrance. Along this they were building two new cabanas, therefore we've been sourcing materials from the jungle (Cana de Selva) to build walls, with all the processing this involves,cutting/transportation/peeling/sanding/varnishing/fixing to the wall. When required I had to escort some tourists to the nearby waterfalls through the jungle and stay at the property while Jhohan was away on a short trip as originally agreed.

11. CHILE (Villa Alemana) - what an incredible experience I had with professional beekeepers through and through. On my very first day I was introduced to queen rearing with grafting and the starter colony, and on day 2 and 3 I was lucky enough to listen and observe a class my host was delivering on "artificial queen insemination". Haha, by then I understood I was mingling with pros! We have worked and inspected hundreds and hundreds of beehives, more specifically carrying out varroa treatment for apiaries, preparation and distribution of sugar syrup and candy, few days making NUCS from existing healthy colonies, taking care of starter colonies, even collecting a swarm and any other necessary task required on the day. Moreover we worked along with some colleagues who were very knowledgeable about beekeeping and great fun to work with, this also helped me a great deal to know more about Chile and understanding beekeepers' comradery, solidarity and networking.

12. CHILE (Puerto Natales) - this was my first time volunteering at a campsite, and after spending almost a month in a tent, I can for sure say that I absolutely loved it. Volunteering duties included reception work, campers' help and interaction, shelter & bathrooms cleaning and general supervision of the campsite. I thoroughly enjoyed this placement, especially the daily interactions with people from all walks of life.

13. NEPAL (Arubote - Ilam) - besides improving my organic growing / permaculture skills I am always looking for new things to broaden my general knowledge; that's why I joined this Tea organic farm in Ilam. Here I've been picking, rolling & roasting tea, besides cleaning tea bushes after pruning and some easy concrete work finishing touches. I was able to observe and practise Tea picking and processes such as weathering, rolling, oxidation and roasting and I was lucky enough to see, help and understand how different teas are processed. Quite a few varieties to include green - yellow - dola - white - black - spring black- roasted black - golden tips Tea. Living on the farm was an incredible Nepali rural life experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.

14. THAILAND (East Bangkok) - I volunteered at this Buddhist/meditation centre in order to learn and understand a little more about Buddhism, its practice and the way of life. I certainly left with a better understanding of Buddhism and it's ethics ( 5/8 precepts, merit, karma & vipaka, meditation, 4 noble truths and noble eightfold path). Onsite we followed the bhikkuni's way of life and the days were filled with chanting, meditation, learning; tasks varied from composting and up keeping of the property to helping with alms collections and attending daily ceremonies/rituals.

Centres d’intérêt

Langues

Langues parlées
Anglais: Courant
Espagnol: Courant
Italien: Courant
Japonais: Courant

Plus de détails sur les langues qui m'intéressent
Ce workawayer a indiqué qu’il souhaitait faire partager sa ou ses propre(s) langue(s) ou en apprendre une nouvelle. Veuillez le contacter directement pour en discuter.

Trouver un partenaire de langue

Compétences et connaissances que j'aimerais partager ou apprendre

J'ai des connaissances :  

Jardinage

Bricolage et projets de construction

Entretien général

Aider dans une ferme

Éco-projets

Aider à la maison

S’occuper des animaux

Travail associatif

Aide informatique / Internet

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Je peux apprendre aux autres :  

Préparer les repas / cuisiner pour la famille

Accueil / tourisme

Langues

Enseignement

Quelles sont vos compétences ?

I can be very helpful with operations, logistics, human resources, social media managing, working the land, animal management, building, assembling, preparing food and any kind of necessary support. I speak a few languages so I can certainly help with translations/interpretations and can also organize and teach lessons in English. I am very much into fitness and nutrition and can certainly share my knowledge to improve wellbeing.

Âge

47

Informations complémentaires

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  Fumeur

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  Permis de conduire

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  Allergies

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  Régime alimentaire spécial
  I eat everything but meat