Help exchange - the special way to travel

I have worked in a farm and a hostel through HELPX.

I applied to about 3 farms that match my schedule and one of them took me. I was really picky when choosing these farms. I was looking for the farms with different kinds animals I really like to work with, while a lot of them only specifically have a few kinds. I ended up working in a farm has sheep, cattle, goats, ducks, chicken, big parrots, and even two ostriches. I also looked for private room, free meals and the farm owner need to have good comments. Most importantly, they don’t ask me to work long hours so that I can have my own time to have fun. And those are all possible in Helpx.

I worked 2-3 hours per day and took one day off in that week. My job included feeding animals, digging potatoes and cleaning house. They are not really hard and I surely had lots of fun during working. The best experience I got was to sell animals and vegetables in a farmers market. We sold more than 10 chickens, 3 ducks and a lot of potatoes that day.

The couple in that farm was really nice. They tried to let me have all the experiences I can ever have in a farm. They showed me how to feed animals, how to inseminate a cow and they even shaved their sheep earlier because I was leaving the next day.

Help exchange is a good and special way to explore the world you don’t know. It’s not about how much money you can make or how important your job is. You volunteer your time and receive free accommodation. Remember, the amazing experiences that you don’t have in your daily life are what you will treasure the most.

A "smiling" goat. It ran toward me every time I walked to the fence.

Websites you need for planning your trip

Besides CouchSurfing, there are so many other resources you can use. I will talk about some useful website when you are travelling in a budget in this post.

Hitchwiki

Hitchwiki is a collaborative website for gathering information about hitchhiking and other ways of extremely cheap ways of transport. It is maintained by many active hitchhikers all around the world. You can get information about how to hitch out of big cities, how to cover long distances, maps and many more tips.

Semester at Sea

Semester at Sea is a multiple country study abroad program open to students of all majors emphasizing comparative academic examination, hands-on field experiences, and meaningful engagement in the global community. Students from 250-300 colleges in the United States and the world participate on Semester at Sea each term. Credit earned is transferable to a student’s home institution.

WWOOF

WWOOF is a worldwide network of organization. They link volunteers with organic farmers, and help people share more sustainable ways of living. In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles.

Helpx

HelpX is an online listing of host organic farms, non-organic farms, farmstays, homestays, ranches, lodges, B&Bs, backpackers hostels and even sailing boats who invite volunteer helpers to stay with them short-term in exchange for food and accommodation. In the typical arrangement, the helper works an average of 4 hours per day and receives free accommodation and meals for their efforts.

Volunteer Vocations

A list of organizations that take volunteers：

NEIO- Nepal Education Initiative Organization

IHF- International Humanity Foundation (Indonesia, Kenya and Thailand)

PISCO SIN FRONTERAS (Peru)

Otra Cosa (Peru)

Aec Tea (Brazil)

Sikanda- Solidaridad Internacional Kanda A.C. (Mexico)



I will talk about my own help exchange experience next week.