What is Workaway, what is it, what are the general terms, how to apply, what should be considered when creating a profile, how to find a host and many more information. WHAT IS WORKAWAY? TRAVELING THE WORLD WITH WORKAWAY I explained in my article. Since we have read that article and have detailed information, this time we will look at the daily life during a little workaway and as an example experience I will give the answers to the first questions that come to mind about the workaway experience in Germany.
As in the other workaway article, I am not the one who wrote the article and had this experience, my wife prepared the article.. Let’s thank him once again and listen to him
Workaway experience ?
I saw a model of a vacation in the unit titled “Gute Reise”, that is, a good vacation, in the textbook we used in our German course.. He was talking about staying on a farm in the Swiss Alps and living the village life at the same time.. In other words, imagine that you stay in a hotel in the village with your spouse and children and you milk cows, mow the grass, run horses and herd the sheep every day, it’s like working and vacationing at the same time.. I was terribly excited when I saw it; because village life was something I was curious about and envied since my childhood.
Village life was something I was always curious about.
So I decided to research how to make my dream come true and discovered that there are many places to vacation like this.. There are many farms not only in the Alps, but also in Germany and Austria.. While I was searching the internet with great excitement, I suddenly came across a site called workaway.info.. So I joined this world.
Why did I choose a farm?
My preference was to look for a farm with plenty of animals in the Bavarian Region.. Although I love animals very much, I have made such a choice because I have never had the opportunity to feed them.. I wanted a place where I could spend a lot of time with the animals and experience real Bavarian farm life.
My The farm I stayed at was a llama farm named Zu Zeigenbauer. The owners describe it as a llama farm, but apart from llamas, there are also cats, dogs, sheep, horses, cows, oxen, chickens, roosters, turkeys, rabbits and ponny.. Since llamas are more touristy animals and the owners organize llama tours in nice weather, this is how they promote the farm.
How were my hosts?
Manfred in his 50s, his wife Sabine in his 40s and their 13 year old daughter Lili were extremely positive, helpful, cheerful and true Bavarians.. Manfred works part-time at an insurance office in the city center, 15 minutes from the farm, Sabine works as a manager in a multinational company that also has an office in Turkey, and their daughter Lili, as you can guess, was studying.. In addition to their corporate life, Manfred and Sabine also managed their farm.
My hosts at Workaway
Workaway Experience: How was my first day?
About an hour and a half by train from Munich then I arrived at Neuötting station, Manfred picked me up in the car and we drove home. He showed me my room and I tucked my clean linens onto the bed, opened the windows and aired out the room and unpacked my stuff.. Later, I learned from Manfred what I should do by wearing the overalls and clothes they gave me.
How was my daily routine?
I was home alone when I woke up in the morning. I got up at 9 am and had breakfast. Then I would go into the pen and check the feed and water of the animals (llamas, horses, cows, sheep, chickens, rabbits and ponies) and make up for the deficiencies.. Don’t mind me passing by in one sentence, it was a tiring job that took time to go through the fields of all the animals and carry hay to all of them.. First of all, you go upstairs and empty the straw you have separated from the hay stacks to the lower floor through the hole in the floor.. Then you distribute this straw downstairs to the animals’ quarters.. And at the end you’re sweeping the floor. There’s a lot of dust, but it’s a relatively clean job.. The main thing is to clean the dirt accumulated in the animals’ compartments You have to fill the dirt you collected with the shovel into the wheelbarrow and pour it into the area where the dirt accumulates outside.. It’s not really a job for princes and princesses
My host greeted me where I got off the train on the first day.
All this work is done by noon, then I was playing with three dogs named Leni, Whisp and Palu. Since I have never had a dog, I was satisfying this longing to the fullest.. All three were incredibly smart and followed every command to the letter.
It was around 2 o’clock that Manfred and Lili arrived. We ate together and walked around the farm around 4 o’clock, sometimes fixing the broken fences, sometimes taking the llamas around, sometimes taking the cows to the wide meadows, sometimes grooming the horses and running to the cart for a stroll.
After eating and chatting together at around 7 pm, we retired to our rooms and one day was thus over.
Workaway is not a snuggling place. !
Have I had scary experiences with animals? Have I been harmed?
Animals are afraid of humans no matter how big their size is. When you approach them with fear, this hesitancy makes them even more nervous and they can act aggressively.. It’s the healthiest way to stay calm, thinking you won’t hurt them, and wait for them to feel it too.
At first I was a little nervous about llamas, horses and cows, I’ve never been this close with all three of them.. Do llamas spit, do horses spit, do oxen horns?. But when you approach with love, believe me, they feel it and they approach you in the same way.
I didn’t have any bad experiences, I didn’t get injured, but we had to chase them three times because the llamas escaped.. Once, the oxen did not want to return to the barn, we struggled a lot, I must say that I was a little nervous at that time.. Imagine trying to bring an animal with tense horns 10 times your size to the barn.. Once, one of the horses stepped on the side of my feet.. Luckily he didn’t step all the way or I might have been seriously injured.. In summary, we can say that the one who loves roses will bear the thorns, if you are careful with the thorns and do your best not to sting, things will go well unless bad luck happens
Organic and healthy living
Do I recommend the Workaway experience?
Absolutely. It’s an incredible way to get a local experience you can’t experience in any other way, and it costs nothing more than what you pay for a one-year membership.. It is very important that you find a landlord that is just right for you.. For example, if you don’t like to be with animals, farm type places will not be suitable for you at all, or if you have a physical problem such as a herniated disc, you will need to find a place where you can work without physical burden.
Showing love to animals and seeing their love in return.
Advice and important reminders for the Workaway experience:
- Bring clothes suitable for the weather conditions of the region you are visiting. Even though it’s May, I took some very thick clothes with me, including thermal underwear.. I’m glad I bought it.
- If you are a very meticulous and cleaning person, if you have not had Airbnb, Couchsurfing, hostel or 1-2 star hotel experience before, think again.. Don’t let the house I stay in be perceived as clean enough or I’m not meticulous enough, but if you’re going to get stuck with the dust on the floor, the spider web on the cabinet, the oil on the kitchen counter, etc., it may be a bit difficult for you.. You will have to ignore them for a while.
- If you have habits such as sleeping on someone else’s bed linen, not using your towel or wearing your slippers, I recommend you to take precautions for these as well.
- In 99% of the toilets abroad, you try to clean your butt. there is no suitable faucet (bidet faucet). For this reason, if you are sensitive about this issue, have wet wipes with you (although it is not pleasant, it should be mentioned ).
- If you have medicine that you use regularly or that you take with you on vacation, throw it in your bag and find it.
- Remember that you are a guest, try to learn as much as possible and teach something from your own culture.
Peace ..
My observations and learnings during the Workaway experience:
- Working with animals is an effort that makes people tired physically but also relaxes the mind.. Feeding animals with your hands, seeing the goodness in their eyes and feeling the unrequited love is an incredible experience.
- The government in Germany is seriously supporting agriculture and animal husbandry.. Even in the most remote villages, the farms get their electricity from the solar panels they install on their roofs, and the infrastructure of this system is covered by the state.. In other words, the state encourages the villagers to stay in the village and produce.. In order to prevent immigration and keep the population at an optimum level,. Thus, people live more peacefully and happily.
- I haven’t seen such happy people together for a long time.. People don’t lock their doors, everyone greets each other, smiles, everyone is happy.
- People treat nature and animals so well that you feel one with them.. In other words, they see themselves as a part of nature and animals.. They are focused on producing, not consuming, they never try to gain ownership over the land or animals.
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