Introduction:
Hi everyone! My name is Fidel and I’m going to talk you about travelling as a volunteer. So, if you want to travel cheaply and have a fun journey, probably it interests you.
Right now I’m studying Spanish philology, I love learning other languages and I love travelling to other countries.
I’m from Córdoba, and I want to discover the world, so, last year I decided to travel to England, but I didn’t want to waste money, so I looked for information about exchanges, volunteer working, and other low cost activities.
Fortunately, I found WWOOF (World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) and I searched a lot of information on the internet. When I was determined to travel as a WWOOFer, I started to planificate my holidays in England. It was amazing!
In my presentation I’m going to give us some tips, advice, and información about WWOOF. I will discuss how to participate in this work exchange, how to find a good and comfortable place to stay, which is the ideal baggage, wich are the most common farm jobs, and, definitely, give us some tips that could be very interesting.
Main body:
WWOOFing is a work Exchange: the WWOOFer Works on a farm and the host gives you accommodation and food. But the first question that you can ask is: what kind of Jobs you have to do in a WWOOFing farm?
The answer is easy; there are mainly three kinds of farms: agricultural farms (with a vegetable garden, for example) and livestock farms and garden farms (when the host wants to have a beautiful garden). You can choose the one that interests you.
In Agricultural farms you usually have to:
• Plant trees, vegetables, fruits, etc.
• Prune threes
• Collects fruit and vegetables
• Mow the lawn
• Remove weed
• Fertilice land
• Watering plants
In livestock farms you have to:
• Take care of the animals
• Milking goats, sheeps, etc.
• Feed animals
• Leaves dog or dogs for a walk
Finally, in garden farms, you normally have to take care of the garden, prune trees or shrubbery, mow the lawn, remove weeds, etc.
Also, It’s very common to find a mixed farm (for example, livestock and garden farm).
If you are interested in participating in this Exchange, you have to register at the official webpage. Yo have to pay -more or less- 20 pounds, and when you do it, you can contact with the hosts.
In the web, each farm has a useful description which you can have an idea of the farm. For example, there are farms which are only for vegetarian or vegan people; there are farms where you have to sleep in a tent, etc. You have to choose the most suitable farm for you. So, I recommend you to read carefully the farm descriptions.
But... Be careful!, because in WWOOFing there are «bad farms». There are farms who want people just for working, and this farmers exploits their WWOOFers. Probably, your question is How I can do to avoid it?
I can give you some tips:
- Choose a farm where you work for six hours/ 5 days in the week. There are a lot of farms that wants you to work 8 hours all the days of the week. Thats crazy!
- Take care about sects. There are some farms wich are sects, but, normally, they are easy to recognize. For example, if in a description you read things about the soul of people, the deep dream of your life... My recommendation is dont pay any attention. Also, if you read a description and It’s not clear whether the farm is a sect, you can contact with the host and ask him more things about his farm.
- Choose a good accommodation, because to have your own bedroom is not the same as having to sleep outside in a tent.
- Ask the host all the things that you want to know; like for example, does I need to have a tent? Or just ask for Wifi connection.
Now, I’m going to talk you about your baggage. What things do you need for WWOOFing?
First of all, If you’re on a farm, you should take workwear (probably you dont want to work with your best dress or suit).
Try to have gamboots, a water bottle, globes, a tent (if its necessary), your laptop or mobile phone, etc. BUT I always recommend you talking with the host whenever its necessary... Imagine that you pay for a tent and you wont need it!
In my website, you have an amazing and very useful table that is used to not forget anything.
If you want to travel cheaply, WWOOFing is a very interesting option, but its not the only one!
There are so much more!!!
- Crewing.
- Couchsurfing
- Helpx and workaway
- SVE (Servicio de voluntariado europeo)
- Works in hostels
As you can see, there are a lot of possibilities to travel cheaply, so you cant have any excuse not to travel.
Conclussion:
WWOOFing is an interesting way to discover new countries and I did it in England. I was in Gloucester and I was in a farm with a garden, with animals and with a lot of threes and greenhouses. We was with other WWOOFeers and we learn a lot, HOWEVER sometimes we had problems with food (but thats other story). In summary, it was a fantastic experience that I want to recomeds you.
