Workaway - Everything you need to know
Looking back to 1 year ago I had never heard of the volunteering exchange platform ‘Workaway’, now fast forward a year and I have lived in coastal Ecuador for a month as a ‘Workawayer’ - being a beach bum while working as a gardener and painter for a retired expat couple at their home on the beach. My Workaway experience was one of the most memorable times of my life so far and I hope I will get to experience the Workaway life again in the future. The opportunities available to you through this platform are truly unique - so I am going to explain to you everything you need to know about Workaway, and how you can jump on this bandwagon and experience it for yourself!
This blog post is in no way sponsored by Workaway, all opinions are my own.
The house we lived at during our Workaway experience in Ecuador
First things first, what is Workaway?
Workaway is a cultural exchange, typically of volunteer work for free lodging and sometimes food. Essentially, a ‘Workawayer’ or volunteer will provide a ‘host’ with a pre agreed amount of hourly work each day. In exchange, the ‘host’ will provide the volunteer with free accommodation. The work on offer is extremely varied, from farming to working on boats, at a sustainable retreat, on art projects, working with animals, IT help etc. Pretty much any type of work you can think of will be listed somewhere on Workaway if you look hard enough.
The outdoor kitchen we used while at our Workaway experience
So why is Workaway popular amongst travellers?
This is because there are opportunities to be a ‘workawayer’ in 170 countries across the world! In my opinion that is CRAZY! That means there are opportunities to have free accommodation and affordable travel in 170 different countries! There are also over 50,000 hosts worldwide, which means over 50,000 opportunities to live and work abroad. The options are endless and there is something for everyone. Workaway is also a great way to meet fellow travellers, this is because lots of opportunities for work that are listed on the platform require more than just 1 volunteer, therefore different work experiences become a place where multiple travellers come and go. Most volunteers also stay for longer periods of time, which allows you to build stronger friendships with people, this can often be harder with standard travelling where you tend to move around more quickly. You can also connect with fellow travellers by messaging them through the Workaway platform.
One of the resident dogs we lived with
Why do I believe Workaway is so great?
I love this platform because it allows you to travel for extremely cheap, it opens up travel options for more people, and helps people travel in a more sustainable way. Cutting out accommodation (and sometimes food) costs removes a huge amount of the typical travellers expenses. It means you can travel to more expensive destinations or it allows you to stay in a destination for longer than you could have before (or both)! It allows you to give back to the local community by supporting and lending your skills to local people and business, and you get a more personal and ‘real’ opportunity to see what living and working in that particular place is really like.
The important part - where do I sign up?
You can sign up here via the Workaway website. You can sign up as single person or as a couple / with a friend. It is really easy to do, you just need to fill out your personal details and create a profile. Couple accounts are made for either friends, couples or families that always travel and apply to hosts together. Single accounts are for those travellers volunteering individually. This means you should only apply to hosts for yourself.
What are the costs associated?
You can purchase a yearly membership to Workaway for around £48 for a couple / 2 friends (£24 per person), or £38 for a single person membership. This entitles you to apply and complete unlimited Workaway experiences in that year. The initial membership cost is the only charge the Workaway platform charges.
Once I have signed up, how does it work?
Once you have signed up and created a profile, the team at Workaway will verify your account. They may ask you a few further questions or give you some advice on what to include in your profile set up too. Once this is complete, you can use the website to search for and contact hosts you are interested in staying with, you will typically discuss what the host is looking for, what you can offer, the dates of your stay, how many other volunteers are currently there, what you can expect in return for your volunteer work and time etc. The host may have a minimum length of stay which they will also discuss with you (for example if the volunteer is staying in accommodation that is shared with the host, they may ask for a minimum stay period of over 1 month to prevent lots of people coming and going from their home. Once you and the host have confirmed the dates for your visit and are happy with the arrangement, you are ready to be a Workawayer!
Sunset from our Workaway accommodation
How can I find the right opportunities for me?
You can use the Workaway search function to search for opportunities by country or location, and by keyword. You can also use various filters to specify your search, such as the type of work you are looking for, for example at a school, with animals, on a sustainable project, in a hostel etc. Try to be flexible with your search because if you are searching for opportunities which are too niche, you may miss out on really cool listings you might be interested in. You can also filter your search by availability i.e only searching for the dates you are available to volunteer. When searching for an opportunity be sure to read the reviews of previous workawayers, this will give you a good insight into what the experience was like and if others enjoyed it. Try to avoid applying for opportunities where there are no reviews or the reviews are poor, especially if it is your first time.
Top tips for applying to an opportunity
Once you have found some opportunities you like the look of, you can ‘favourite’ those hosts to refer back to later. I favourited between 10-15 hosts and reached out to maybe 3 or 4 of those. My top tips would be:
Make sure you have read the entire listing before sending a host a message. Often a host will have written somewhere in the listing things like ‘include the dates of your stay in the subject bar’, and if you don’t include the dates then the host will know you have not properly read the listing, and more often than not discard your message and not consider you for the opportunity.
Before messaging a host, make sure your profile is complete, i.e you have multiple pictures of yourself, all the information is filled in etc. The host will want to immediately see who you are and what skills you can offer them during the exchange.
When messaging the host, ensure you have included what has attracted you to their listing. Why did it catch your eye? What reasons do you want to volunteer with them? What details in the description did you like?
When messaging also make sure to include what skills you can offer the host and why your skills match what they are looking for in their listing. For example, if you are volunteering at an animal shelter, have you worked with animals before? If so, what experience do you have with animals? Clearly explain why you would be suitable, and if you don’t have any experience but would like to learn, be clear about that.
Above all, apply for experiences you genuinely believe you will enjoy!
What can you expect from life as a Workawayer?
No two Workaway experiences are the same, though there are typical things you can expect from taking part in this exchange. Ultimately I believe the goal for these opportunities is to give back to a community and immerse yourself in the local culture and destination. It gives you time to slow down and really experience what it would be like to live in that particular area. For example, delve deeper into the language, visit local areas you otherwise would’ve missed from your itinerary, learn and interact with the local people, and help give back by lending your skills to particular projects. For me, a great Workaway experience has a balance between the volunteer work itself, and being able to have some free time to explore and experience the culture. Personally, I would apply for Workaway experiences which offer working hours of between 4-6 hours per day, and allow you 2 days off per week, so you have some time to travel around to nearby towns and areas on your days off.
A few things to bare in mind:
Make sure you put in the effort when you are doing your hours. No one likes a slacker, and its obvious if you are clock watching or not grafting when you’re supposed to be. It’s ok to take breaks, especially in hot weather, but don’t let down your host and try to do the best job you can because in most cases the reward they are offering you is totally priceless.
Make sure you understand what is required of you during your work hours, and if you are unsure of what you are supposed to be doing at any point, ask!
If the host asks for feedback - be honest! If there is something you are struggling with, speak up. Communication is the key to a successful Workaway exchange.
If you feel you have skills to offer the host that they are unaware of, tell them! The host will want to utilise your skills in the best way possible, and if you spot a job that needs doing that you know you would be suited to, let them know. This makes for a more enjoyable experience for everyone. For example, I told my host that I was really into photography and videography, and showed them my work, they then asked me to photograph the entire property and create a video for them to use to show future Workawayers what it is like to live and work there!
Are there any downsides?
Of course, as with most things in life there are a few less desirable aspects to Workaway which I can shed some light on. The first major thing for me was that, if I was to look at the typical accommodation price of a hostel in the area I am volunteering in (for example in my case, a private room in a hostel in Ecuador would be between £6-10 per night), and if I divide that by the amount of hours I am working per day (in my case I worked 4 hours per day), I am essentially getting paid between £1.50 - £2.50 per hour. You can start to question - is the free accommodation worth the time and effort I am putting in? And ordinarily, if I was to work 4 hours back home at a previous job I would get paid far more for that time. I guess you have to put that thought to the back of your head, because you have to remember - this is an exchange - it is not a job where you are paid for your time and services. For example, at your job back home, would you get to finish work and sit on the beach enjoying a beer and watching the sunset? (Maybe you would - but I definitely would not be able to), or could you visit a tropical waterfall in your spare time? Go surfing? Meet other travellers? Speak to locals in another language or learn about another culture? Go hiking in the jungle or up a mountain? You get the picture - this is about an exchange of skills for affordable travel and experiences that you would otherwise have to pay much more for, or maybe not be able to afford at all.
Another downside that you may experience is that the accommodation offered tends to be pretty basic. It is unlikely you will be offered a luxury hotel room - quite the opposite. You will often have to share in a dorm style, with basic amenities, shared bathroom, cleaning up after yourself. You may be very in touch with nature - that means spiders, scorpions, lots of bugs, moths and other creatures (depending on the destination of course). We were lucky in that we had a private room with a shared bathroom, but our room had a ‘tin’ roof, so when it rained (which was usually at night) it was extremely loud. It also meant that the walls were not properly sealed to the roof and lots of critters could enter the room unwanted, we found scorpions in our room multiple times, along with various other bugs and lizards. Once, a bird even fell through from a nest that was in our room! There is almost never air conditioning in workawayers accommodation, so something to keep in mind if you do not deal with the heat very well in hot countries. Again, you could say this sort of thing is character building, it makes you a stronger person and helps you understand how some people live. I think it also changed our perspective on what it meant to be truly happy, that even though we had the most basic amenities and very little material things, this time in our life was one of the happiest times we’ve ever experienced. Things like that really broaden your perspective on life in general and make you appreciate the little things much more - silver linings and all that!
A bit about our personal Workaway experience
If you have followed me on Instagram for a while you might remember our time as workawayers in Ecuador. If you are new here, let me give you a quick overview. For 4 weeks between March and April of this year, Richard & I lived and worked on a beautiful property on the coast of Ecuador, in a small town called Puerto Cayo. We volunteered for a retired expat couple (Canadian & British) who had permanently emigrated. They were looking for a couple who could help them take care of their large property. We did a variety of jobs including gardening (lots of weeding), painting, cleaning, general maintenance, Richard did some DIY and I helped out with some photography / videography of the property.
The location of the house was absolutely wonderful, it was quiet, right on the beach and we watched the sunset every single night. The sunsets we saw there were incomparable to any sunset we’ve seen anywhere else in the world - truly magical. The couple had built an outdoor kitchen specifically for volunteers - this is where we spent most of our time outside of the working hours. It was the perfect place to relax, watch the waves, enjoy the company of the resident animals (4 cats and 2 dogs), and cook delicious meals from fresh local produce.
The room we had was basic at best, it was separate from the main house, had a double bed, a shared bathroom and was essentially what you might describe as a small ‘shack’ type room with a loose tin roof - but we didn’t mind it because we really only slept there. We worked for 4 hours a day - we tried to start at 7:30/8am and finish before 12pm to avoid the midday heat, and so we had the afternoon and evenings to explore, relax and do our own thing. The hours were flexible and as long as we did the hours, the hosts did not mind when they were done each day. Additionally, we had the option to work extra hours on some days in order to free up time on other days, for example working an extra hour a day from Monday to Thursday meant we could take Friday off and have a long weekend away at a nearby town, which we took advantage of on 2 occasions. The property also had a decent WiFi connection compared to some areas in Ecuador which allowed us to do online work in our free time.
We thoroughly enjoyed our Workaway experience, it was the perfect opportunity for us to reset and refresh after 3 intense months of fast travelling and we would love to volunteer for another host through Workaway in the future.
If this particular Workaway sounds like something you’d like to do, here is the link to the listing we did:
Thank you for reading!
That brings me to the end of this blog post! I hope I have provided you with some useful information about Workaway, how to get involved and an insight into my personal experience. My goal is to help make travel accessible to more people, and I think Workaway is such an amazing tool which enables that. I also hope this inspires you to explore the infinite opportunities available through Workaway. If you enjoyed this blog post please share it with your friends and family, or even reach out to let me know - I love hearing from you!
(P.S the picture to the right is a carefree me enjoying a spectacular Ecuadorian sunset from the beach just next to our Workaway accommodation!)
