Workaway reviews, feedback and ratings

Tremendous asset to the hostel! Multi-talented and willing to perform any task and to do it well. Responded well to the flexible and varied nature of the work to be done here. If you get the opportunity, this guy is a gem and should be considered for any opportunity. John General Manager

I had a good time with Jelle. He is a very intelligent and thoughtful man when it comes to health and nutrition. I learnt a lot from him during my stay. He also provided his bikes to be used throughout Amsterdam. If you are staying in Amsterdam, you have to experience biking in the city. It is amazing. I suggest however avoiding rush-hour as it can get a little hectic. By far my favourite part about Amsterdam was all the bike roads and how biking is such a big culture. I biked every day while in the Netherlands.

Nicolo this young Italian man stayed with us for over two months during the summer of this year during this time we found him to be extremely hardworking ,honest , realiable,kind,goodhumoured and caring. He was ready for any task big or small. Nicolo was always up early in the morning even before ourselves. He was easy to please when it came to food and adapted immediately as part of our family. Our son broke his foot while Nicolo was staying with us and he kindly opted to extend his stay to help us while our son was on crutches and always helped him in every way. Any family that would be lucky enough to host Nicolo would have a very pleasant experience. We wish him well in the future and hope we will meet him again one day. Tony & Margaret

I stayed one month with Ellen and had a great time! I recommend this stay to everyone who would like to experience the "village life" of Canada- being surrounded by woods rather than buisy streets can be very relaxing! Furthermore you get to know the warm atmosphere of a small neighbourhood. Fort Langley is a cute historical town and for everybody coming from big cities the big properties in the area will be stunning (for me they were as well, although I´m used to a big garden...this is just different!) If you want to improve your English without having pressure or feeling uncomfortable, this is a good opportunity! You get to know not only Ellens relatives but also a couple of friends of hers. I loved meeting all of them, all conversations were really interesting. That was one of the most impressive parts: I felt like a family member, we watched a movie and played games, talked a lot. And she was comfortable with my diet ( I am a vegetarian). There´s a lot to do in the area: Vancouver is only one hour by car, Whistler 2 hours. Hope, Hell´s Gate, Golden Ears, Grouse...hiker´s paradise (if you have a car). Remember: Canada is huge, so 1-2 hours of driving is actually nearby and easily reachable for a day trip. One of the main reasons for my review is to put right what was written incorrectly previously from another workawayer: Yes, you generally work a couple of hours throughout the day and are supposed to be there for lunch and dinner. BUT: If you want to go to an event in the afternoon to evening (or anytime when your working time would be) it is POSSIBLE, you just need to arrange that with her in advance- working hours are always flexible :) I was allowed to use her car for my days off (although I got my license only since 1.5 years), of course it needs a bit of trust to give your car in the hand of others- so don´t expect to get it for yourself from the first day on and all the time! Ellen can be very caring, I appreciated that, it made me feel home. When I went for a hike on my own, she told me to be careful - just to make sure I´ll be alright, I didn´t feel like she treated me like a child at all. Yes, you help her with the emails, but still she is the one communicating with all the workawayers! As I like to sing and play the guitar and piano, I played for her and sang with another workawayer. We all really enjoyed that. And the work never was hard, it didn´t even feel like work most of the time- watering plants, helping in the backyard as well as cooking, doing the groceries, sewing some pants... Big variety and the days went by so fast! So, to conclude: Wanna have a month (or longer) to calm down from an exhausting, loud lifestyle in the city? Want to get to know different Canadians in a relaxed atmosphere? Want to explore Vancouver, other smaller cities or local mountains around the area two times a week? Go there, you will enjoy it. Why not five stars? Without a car, you cannot reach alot in the area. Also many peoples prefer to combine both days off, which is hardly possible. And, as already mentioned, you don´t work 4 hours in a row and then have the rest of the day off- which actually can also be seen as a plus, depending on your preferences. I am grateful for the cool experience I had at Ellens place. It is great for newcomers to Canada, as you have enough time and no stress to get to know the country. Thanks for everything, Ellen!! :)

Absolutely outstanding! Dror was a great asset to the hostel - always willing to pitch in where required and approached every task with enthusiasm and good humor. Very versatile and brings a lot of skills too the table. Anyone who snags this guy will be glad they did. John General Manager

Hi Angel, Thanks very much for all your help and good mood! It was a pleasure to work with you! Continue your travell well! And really , we can recommend you to the hosts of workaway! See you!

To start with, I will simply say “wow.” Chhabi and Laxmi are both such amazing people, heading such an amazing project. It is evident right away how much of an impact this school has had in the local community: kids are confident, and (for the most part) excited to be at school, with very good levels of spoken English. They are always eager to chat and play. The family is so welcoming. So much delicious food and laughter and genuine concern for my well-being. Chhabi and Laxmi, their sons Xavier and Felix, and Chhabi’s niece Sarmilla all work, attend, and live at the school. So staying there becomes much more than a volunteer job—you truly are part of the family. That does mean sometimes giving up some personal space and becoming equally involved with domestic life as with teaching or farming. If you’re looking for a basic, set 10-3 volunteering experience this might not be your cup of tea. But in my opinion, the work done with the family and around the household made the experience much richer and allowed me to experience Nepali home life in a completely unique way. It wasn’t excessive either, with plenty of free time. You just need to find a way to take time out of different parts of the day. I taught English for the upper classes (7,8,9,10) and also did some extra tutoring. Teaching and lesson planning only took up about 2 1/5 - 3 hours each day and felt very manageable. The rest of the time I spent helping with childcare, meal preparation, and occasional some gardening or other manual labour that was very straightforward and not so difficult. The school week runs Sunday to Friday. You are expected to teach classes on your own. It’s terrifyig at first but absolutely gets better, then enjoyable! If you have any concerns about this or are worried about a lack of experience, contact Chhabi or Laxmi directly. For the most part, it’s relatively simple and the lessons come straight out of the provided textbooks. I was at the school during a hugely varied time and got to experience just about everything they had to offer! As well as doing regular lessons, I sat in and tutored during exams. For a couple weeks, the school was in holiday and at these times, I mostly helped by taking care of the youngest boy Felix. The family honoured me by bringing me to their old family home higher up in the hills and including me in Dasain and Tihar celebrations, which was a beautiful gesture I will never ever forget, also something I know I could never experience as only a tourist. Everyone was so kind; I am already thinking of when I can go back. Came as a guest and left as a sister. Accommodation is comfortable, with all the basics. So much delicious food! The scenery around the school is fantastic—terraces rice fields, wandering goats and buffalo, rolling hills, and extraordinarily friendly people. There’s a river that runs by just a few dozen feet from the school. It’s clean and not too cold; a great place to swim, bath, and wash your clothes. The village Chandrawati is small but with a few shops selling food, clothes, toiletries, and basically anything you might need last minute. No ATM in town, but Chandrawati is in no way remote: it’s easy to get from there to Dumre which has anything you might need, and transportation is cheap and frequent. From Dumre, you can take a day trip to Bandipur or Siddha Gufa easily. In the other direction, you can spend days hiking up the hills, going through spots absolutely charming and not marked out in the tourist trail. Depending on the time of year, you might get some Himalayan views if you climb high enough! I know a couple of other volunteers who took a break from the school to go trekking, it’s at a great base for that. Easy to get to Pokhara or Besisahar too. I was at the school for eight weeks, and still don’t feel that was long enough. They will welcome volunteers for almost any amount of time, but please, if you can, consider staying there for at least a month. That’s when it really starts to feel like you belong. Truly, I think three months or more would be ideal. This project overall is so incredibly inspiring and I can’t thank Chhabi, Laxmi, Sarmilla, Xavier, and Felix enough for letting me be a part of it. At the time of writing, they’re currently raising money to build a library that will be accessible not only for the students but for everyone in the community. I know there are countless projects like this out there, but having seen with my own eyes the positivity this place has in the people around it, I can say with confidence this one is absolutely worth donating to. If you’ve read this far, think about contributing. And please, if you’re on a tipping point, not sure whether to go or not, think go. I’m happy to answer any more questions or chat about my experience. Thank you Shrestha family for everything!

Jordan, what a pleasure having you with us! We would recommend her to any host managing any project in any country. Too much? Not if you meet Jordan. She would wake up, have breakfast and head straight to the paddy field, quickly learning all necessary skills to carry out a good SRI. Jon's efforts to teach you about paddy, weed and soil were well rewarded! She would also contribute to other projects at the farm, you just need to tell her the plan and she's already in. Jordan is very respectful, curious and attentive to other people, especially if from different cultures. She adapted herself - mindset, diet, language - to our local environment in a way we felt like she was there since much longer and could stay even longer. Her vision of traveling, discovering and supporting realities all over the world truly matches with our idea of participation and unity, where listening is the key enter to people's heart (cheesy enough?). She is not easy to get tired, always ready to roll up her sleeves and get things done in a very efficient way. We wish you best of the best in your new journey. Send pictures and news from Alaska, until next time!

What an enormous pleasure it was to have Carmen stay with us here! Carmen is everything one could want tin a volunteer - laid back, funny, positive and enthusiastic. Everybody here loved Carmen; grandparents, kids and other volunteers. Every task that was given to Carmen she undertook with determination and positivity - even the somewhat monotonous jobs that other volunteers were less enthusuaitic about! In the evenings we could hear Carmen laughing with our other volunteers and in the day they sang little songs and entertained everyone. I was particularly taken by Carmen's journey of curiosity that she undertook whilst staying with us. She arrived questioning the systems and habits that lead to her unhappiness at visiting supermarkets every day, and delved deep into discussions of food production and distribution, always going away with thoughtfulness and returning with more questions. During her stay it seemd to me that she had a few 'lightbulb' moments and when she returned to the Netherlands, she stated her intention to seek out community gardens and ethical food production. I would not hesitate to recommend Carmen as a volunteer, she was an absolute joy to be around and she was terribly missed when she left. Good luck on your journeys Carmen - both physical and intellectual. Thanks for all the laughter :)

Erika is a quiet and pleasant person easy to live with. She is discrete and respectful. She is calm, conscientious, likes to do things properly and excel in works that requires some patience. She adapted to many tasks, cleaning, gardening, cooking and took great pictures of furniture for sale in the classified advertising. I recommend her to the community

Ally and Jim stayed with us for a few weeks and really fitted in well. They are very humorous and motivated! They got organised very quickly in terms of finding their feet in Australia and it was obvious that they are seasoned travellers. They got on well with the children, cooked, cleaned, fixed and painted a wall, did gardening and laundry. I’ d wholeheartedly recommend them to future hosts, and of course, they’re invited to come back here anytime! All the best Amélie

We always told him and everybody that Angel was literally an angel :) He is for sure one of the best volunteers that we had in the hostel. So easygoing person, always happy and super responsible! His way to deal with situations and his sympathy made all our staff and our guests be very happy with his presence! Always available, SUPER intelligent and extremely responsible. Thanks for bringing your light for us during these months that you spent here, Angelito!! You are the best! Carol

I had the honour of helping out the ‘big family’ for a few weeks and was left awestruck by the sacrifice and dedication that some people manage to extend to helping those less fortunate. Everyone involved is happy, relaxed and the sense of gratitude for what they have is palpable and an enriching lesson for the likes of me. One would have to have a heart of stone not to be enchanted by the very sweet, lovely and loving children. Nathan and Anca are so suited to the role they have offered themselves in and have my utmost admiration and gratitude for their effort. Their loving care extends to the children, many in the community as well as those marginalised and living on the fringes of society in very challenging conditions. If you’re after a happy and meaningful life experience, that will surely always remain with you, offer your help. I believe DIY and building skills will be very useful immediately, along with whatever you feel you have to offer.

Jordan and Henrick were great helpers at my home. They were very energetic and accomplished their outside tasks very effectively despite unusually high temperatures. I found them to be courteous and thoughtful and enjoyed their company. I wish them all the best in their travels

Rute welcomed us (Kristiina and I) into her life during our 2.5 weeks here. We worked on the land in the morning, visited the Saturday Barril market, went on long walks with the sweet dogs Lyca and Zoca, read Rafael's admirable book collection, worked together on cooking and cleaning, and generally enjoyed the silence of the world here. We also organized a silence day, watched Mooji videos, TED talks, and learned about non-violent communication from Marshall Rosenberg. I would wholeheartedly recommend this experience to anyone who is willing to become a thoughtful and active member of a small, conscious family unit. Thank you for the experience, Rute and Elsa. Rafael, hopefully I will see one of your concerts one day.

Loren and Lorenz spent 10 days with us and fit in to our family from the get go. They are warm, funny, kind, easygoing and patient just to name a few. They were my nannies with our four crazy kids and we were sad to say goodbye. They will always be welcome in our home and I hope we stay in touch as they are pretty special people.

Mathieu & Alice were with me for 10 days and I found them to be very polite and helpful at all times.

Was staying for 4 weeks. Josh told me a lot about mushing and sled dogs. On the weekends we took the dogs for races and training. He teached me how to handle different situations with the dogs. That counts for daily tasks like feeding, cleaning, health care, structure and behaviour of a dog team, but also for races. We even went on trails through the woods. Amazing experience! I have to put this up here: Be prepared to work, on projects and with the dogs. Do not think about them as pets but more as performing dogs in a sport. Then you will be totally fine. Josh is always there to help you, give you instructions or to answer questions. Don't be shy to ask. He is a good host with a clear way of communication. I had a great time, learned a ton and made a friend!

Deborah is a great girl energetic and active,she stayed with us for a week,we went to monestery together for the festival unfortunately because of festival we couldn't practice meditation,but hopefully next time we would be able to do it,she cooked us food and we enjoyed chatting over few beers .we wish her all the best in her future travels.

Riaan and Lisa were wonderful hosts, we both loved staying with them. The work exchange was very fair and we had more than enough time for ourselves. The acommodation is really really nice. We had good conversations with them, went on excursions and both of them went out of their way to make us feel comfortable at all times. We are grateful to have met them and highly recommend to stay with them. Their welcoming attitude made us WANT to work and help them. Much appreciation. Thank you Riaan and Lisa, much love!