Beyond Borders- Global Work Exchange “Vacations”

There are vacations, and then there are “vacations”.  For those who want to be immersed in local cultures, combining travel with the opportunity to make a positive impact in a community may be the kind of experience you want.  Hundreds of volunteer organizations want you.  Many of them allow you to contribute to global causes and allow you to participate in projects that address social and environmental issues.  There are basically two ways to do this.  Both are noted below; however, this article will only address the Work Exchange option. 

Way #1- Volunteer Vacation.  A plethora of profit and not for profit organizations can be found on-line looking for volunteers to do almost anything.  An example of a large organization such as Volunteer World (like a volunteer Tinder) to a smaller local organization such as African Impact.  Almost all of these require you to pay for the experience.  You choose your cause, location, length of time and then pay anywhere from a couple of hundred USD for the experience all the way up to a couple of thousand.

Way #2- Work Exchange.  A few well-established on-line exchanges offer work opportunities in a variety of settings and locations.  Like above, you choose what you want to do, location, length of time, and the host.  Outside of paying your own travel and free-time expenses (and possibly a minimal annual website access fee), there is little additional cost.  Room and board are exchanged for a set number of work hours each week.  Access to the websites require a minimum age of 18.  There is no maximum age for participating.  Depending on the work and location, families (with under age 18) may be able to participate as well.

While volunteering both ways is commendable, Way #2 more often checks a few extra boxes for those interested in:

·         Cultural Immersion, allowing for a deeper understanding of customs, traditions and daily life in a foreign country.

·         Language Skills

·         Personal Growth

·         Networking and Professional Connections

·         Adventure and Travel

·         Cost-Effective Travel

·         Resume Enhancement and Professional Development

·         Contributing to a cause or sustainable development

There are three well known global websites for Work Exchange opportunities.  They include Workaway, HELPX, and WWOOF.  More about them and how they work below!

Workaway  www.workaway.info

Workaway has more than 50,000 opportunities in over 170 countries and has been around since 2002.  Their role is to connect hosts with “workawayers”, they are not an agency.  The website is easy to use.  Opportunities can be filtered by region or country, accommodation information, availability, the type of work you want to do, and host score.  Reviews are left by previous workawayers, as well as hosts leave reviews for the workawayer that may be used to accept or refuse a future requested stay.  Workaway also offers databases that allow you to search for a travel buddy and/or to find other workawayers in the same area to meet up if interested.  On a basic membership, you can see all the information posted.  To contact a host, you will need to upgrade for $49.  The fee includes the ability to connect to hosts, travel buddies, a tree planted, a reference letter, and several safety features and support. 

HELP Exchange https://helpx.net

HelpX has been around since 2001.  The website doesn’t list the number of countries or hosts but appears to have a well-rounded global representation.  The website is not as refined as Workaway nor does it offer as many filters.  After selecting Geographical region, you can choose Host Category, Host Facility.  To see the full listings and/or contact a host and see reviews, you need to upgrade to a premier paid membership.  The upgrade costs approx. $22.

WWOOF https://wwoof.net 

WWOOF (Worldwide Opportunity on Organic Farms) provides opportunities in over 130 countries with over 12,000 hosts; and is set up slightly differently.  Once you choose your destination, you then sign up with that WWOOF group.  While WWOOF has been around for a long time, in 2012 a global federation was created to link national WWOOF groups together under one umbrella.  Filters include country, host type, farming practices other practices, farming methods, lodging, type of meals, etc.

Navigating work exchange opportunities takes time, research, and flexibility as there are so many types of experiences.  Language barriers, cultural adjustments, and navigating unfamiliar work environments are all part of the journey.  A transformative journey for sure.

NOTE: In any situation that involves staying with a host (such as a work exchange, a room in an AirBNB, etc,) do your safety due diligence and always have a back up plan just in case something falls through.

One Persons’ Experience

My son, Alexander, has participated in four work exchange programs, in three different countries, between the ages of 20 and 26.  He has done them solo as well as with a partner. 

Here are his experiences as he related to me:

My experiences with work exchange were always fantastic.  My “jobs” were related to teaching English, however, each of my experiences morphed into so much more!  I have also used these experiences to broaden my comfort level for traveling alone, cultural immersion, and language skills.  I spent over two years working remotely in 5 different countries and truly believe some of my work and cultural exchange experiences made that possible.

The first time I did a work exchange was one summer in college.  I contracted with a family just outside of Barcelona, Spain to watch their two boys for the summer and speak English with them.  They spoke Spanish and Catalon.  No English.  At the time, I only spoke English.  My work hours consisted of 4 hours a day/ 5 days a week and included a private room with all meals while working.  We spent very informal days at the pool and local beach practicing English.  Outside of work, the time was my own.  I traveled around Spain, learned Spanish and some Catalon, and spent time with the family learning to cook Catalon recipes.  This experience was mostly a way for me to travel in Spain inexpensively.

My next two experiences were in Tuscany, Italy with the same host.  I loved it so much I went back a second time!  My job consisted of working with a group of kids in an after-school program put on by a local priest in the village.  He wanted them to learn English.  He also volunteered at a food kitchen in Rome where I joined him in feeding the hungry, who in this case were mostly refugees.  One of the perks of this experience, along with learning some Italian and awesome Italian food cooked by the local village women every day, was being invited to participate (at no cost to me) in two Caminos the priest organized with the older parish children.  The first was to Greece where we walked over 150 miles on the mainland and the second was to Israel where we did about the same distance.  On weekends and when the priest was free, he would drive me to many of the other small Tuscan villages where we would drink wine and talk about the world and life from our different perspectives.  This was truly a cultural exchange.

My final work exchange experience (so far!) was to Thailand.  I taught English in a classroom to elementary school age children with my American girlfriend in rural Thailand in an impoverished school.  We stayed in a hotel with a stipend for meals in local restaurants.  Our responsibility including planning and then teaching the lessons daily.  While there were interactions with the children every day, this was mostly a true work experience with little cultural immersion on a day-to-day basis.         

Alexander Wasserman is currently an up-and-coming director in NYC.  You can follow him on Instagram at alexwassyfilms