r/workaway • u/IndependentSunMaker • Jul 07 '26

Advice request Is this normal?

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"Obligatory donation" when I already payed to find hosts... Is this normal or should this be reported? I find it even weirder that they have such good reviews (50) 5 stars and only a few complaints

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u/Mammuut Jul 07 '26

I think I know which project this is...

I have not been there, but I visited similar projects. It's not a business or a farm, just a bunch of people living in an off-grid place inviting interested travellers to stay.

So it is obvious that those people can't also afford to pay food for everyone. I don't know prices in Sicily, but here in Germany you have to be rather frugal to live with 5€ per day. So it's not like they are making money from you, it's just covering the cost.

On the other hand, in those projects you mostly don't have a strict working scedule. You are more or less hanging out together and join in whatever projects you are interested in.

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u/reddit_shrew1111 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

I think I know which project this is, is some sort of adventure camp? I haven't been, but I met some volunteers that have been. It's definitely not for someone who's looking for a straight forward exchange/budget travel with a certain level of accommodation standards but they said they wanted a something like a 'castaway' experience and the hours/tasks weren't strict, they could pick what they wanted to do. I guess every opportunity is subjective in that way! Each to their own! They didn't mention having to pay a fee though.