Worldwide Working Vacations

Being surrounded by the peace and tranquility of the natural landscape can be the perfect way of escaping from the stresses of modern living. And staying in a cosy cabin can be the ideal accommodation to enjoy it from. But when it comes to costs, in both travelling to and renting out a place can be expensive. So the solution – why not consider a working holiday?

If your budget isn’t able to go as far as you would like there are a huge number of people and businesses who are able to accept people from across the world on working holidays. There, you can spend time some of the most impressive scenic locations all for a much lower price than you’d spend on a traditional vacation.

Although you’ll be expected to work it allows you to help out with some amazing projects, learn new skills and meet other new people who are working there also.

Here are a couple of the sites you could take a look at if you think a working vacation could be for you:

HelpX:

If you want to experience life working at a whole variety of different places then it’s well worth having at look at the Help Exchange (HelpX). Depending on what it is you actually want to do you could end up working on anything from a yacht, a Bed & Breakfast or even helping out down on a ranch.

The main advantage of a site like this is that the hosts are looking for a huge variety of different people who can bring with them certain skills. So if you’re not the best farmer, but can do bricklaying for instance then it’ll be more than likely that there is a position for you. Some hosts aren’t so specific. If you have the determination and a good attitude then you can end up in certain places – and learn new skills along the way!

The actual jobs you might end up doing and the hours that you work need to be negotiated between you and the host, so it’s worth spending time talking about the position so you know what you’re letting yourself in for. To see the different locations where you could end up in and have a look at the Helpx website here. 

WWOOF:

If you’re looking for something which involves working with the land then try WWOOF. It’s a work exchange programme which is centred around organic and sustainable properties from all around the world. There are over 100 countries which have venues that you could work in. Just have a look at their website to see which countries you’d like to travel to.

In order to contact the farms which are listed on the site you will need to pay a subscription fee. However, there are so many places to choose from and you could head to a farm either in your own country, or head off around the globe and travel to places such as Thailand, Sri Lanka or Peru.

Ideally if you volunteer at one of these places the volunteers (or woofers as they are known) are normally expected to contribute to work 4-6 hours a day and in return their accommodation and food are provided. Depending on where you end up staying at there isn’t normally an established period for how long you’re expected to stay – although people can end up staying for months if they really enjoy themselves!

Plus if you have kids that you’d like to bring along some farms do accept this, so you could all head off on vacation together!

Things to Consider

Although a working vacation can be a fantastic experience at a price much lower than you’d expect to pay for a non-working break, there are still other costs that are worth considering before you decide to travel.

Any travelling expenses will need to paid for directly, both for flights and the travel to the actual farm. As these are often in rural locations finding transport can sometimes be difficult, or expensive if you have to hire a taxi. Getting the right type of insurance is always essential and could be more expensive depending on the type of work you’re going to be doing. It’s also a smart investment to buy some heavy duty shoes and clothing if you’re going to be doing manual work, plus a proper outdoors rucksack to put it all in!

So, where in the world are you planning on heading off to?