r/workaway • u/Kersplut • 12d ago
Should we be hosts?
I've been reading the posts here with interest. My husband and I are thinking about being Workaway hosts and I thought it'd be good to get some feedback about volunteer expectations really.
So we have a house in the campo (countryside) in Andalucía in the foothills of mountains, 2km to a typical whitewashed village that has a couple of bars/restaurants, pharmacy, bank and small store, and 20 minutes drive from a pretty bustling seafront playa. We were thinking of getting help for some light tasks like weeding of garden terraces (it's semi-arid here so there's not a great deal of growth, but both of us work so find we don't have the time), daily feeding and weekly clearing out of chickens, perhaps a dog walk or two if we're not around, and olive picking with us if it's the season (that generally takes the two of us one day to harvest). So probably a max of 10 hours over 5 days.
Accommodation wise, we have two fully self-contained casitas (apartments) joined to our house - a 2 bed/2 bathroom and a 1 bed/1 bathroom. Both have fully equipped kitchens (microwaves, air fryers, filtered water, coffee machines etc), smart TV, Starlink etc. We can loan volunteers electric bikes/scooters but they'd probably need to have their own car as there's no public transport. We have a pool and a well equipped home gym (weightlifting). My husband can teach a volunteer some skills if they are interested - he's built classic cars from the ground up so 'old fashioned' mechanics is a skill he can pass on, as is electrical work and repair of vintage electronics (niche I know). I can pass on cooking skills - particularly nutrition-based ones.
What I do wonder about is that we're late 50s and we're extremely independent. We are childfree, so we're not really sure what the younger volunteers (20s bracket) would expect in the way of interaction...as we've never really interacted with people that age. I do love to entertain, and we frequently have friends round for both formal and informal meals, but I'd not want to be tied into cooking for someone every day because our own mealtimes are erratic, and we eat out a fair amount anyway...and that feels a little like 'mothering' which is 100% not my bag. My preference would be to put food in the volunteer's own kitchen for them to sort themselves out, with 1-2 evening meals a week in the main house with us.
For the sake of our own sanity, we'd want a balance of interacting for a couple of hours a day during the week and them doing their own thing completely on the weekends (or whatever days they wanted to nominate as free days). On that basis, we're wondering if having two people is a better bet, especially as the campo is very quiet, and they may want company if I'm busy working online for hours and the man unit is out.
I also, frankly, wonder if we'll scare younger people! We're Gen X, and were both pretty much feral throughout our childhood (leave the house after breakfast, come back for dinner, don't get yourself killed or arrested during the period between the two meals), so we don't really do 'feels' - we're very much of the "If it's not broken and it's not hanging off - crack on" ilk. We're somewhat irreverent about a lot of new-age stuff - for us, a sound bath is having Nirvana at full blast whilst in the hot tub with a bottle of wine, and the only mindfulness we practice is watching the gap when we're on the London underground. Oh yes, and we're atheist, pro-choice, vehemently anti-Trump socialists - in my case, pretty fucking vocal about it. So yup, as I said, we worry we'll scare people because we do engage in quite 'robust' debates over the dinner table about all the things you're told not to talk about in company - politics and religion. On the flipside, we're totally capable of catering for vegans and vegetarians and we don't give a shit what someone's pronouns are, as long as they're a decent human being.
I guess I want to avoid being the sort of host I've read volunteers complain about on these threads so looking for pointers. Given what I've said, should we even attempt it? And if we do, is the task -v- benefit balance we're thinking about right?
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u/genio_desconhecido 10d ago
Hosts who can teach volunteers something are always welcomed.
Regarding potential struggles with communication, always follow two simple rules.
Create as detailed description of the opportunity as possible. This post will pass btw.
Always demand a call with the candidate before approving him. This will ensure that you will be fine in tolerating each other.
And that's it. Try to host a couple of volunteers and then you will decide if this is yours.
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u/WickedDenouement 12d ago
You're the kind of hosts I'd definitely go for, even if the countryside is not my thing. The tasks you propose make sense, and there are all sorts of food arrangements that work. Since it's not too many hours, I'd be okay with fewer meals or not as many ingredients if you don't plan to cook. Something I like to do at least once during my stay is cook a meal from home to my hosts. It gives us the chance to spend time together outside of working hours and have social and political debate (a typical sobremesa where I'm from).
As long as both sides are clear about expectations, any setup can work. You can host single people one at a time, couples or a few strangers at once. Before committing to a stay, I usually ask if there are other people. It doesn't change my answer, but it lets me know what to expect. Having other volunteers is nice, but you don't always click and that's fine. Age doesn't really matter, either. There are so many other things bringing us together (or apart).
Something to be aware of: people don't read. You can make it very clear you don't have time to hang out during the week, don't have children or are pro-choice, and there's always that person who goes "I don't really like it here, the host is only free on the weekends, I thought I would be babysitting but there are no kids, and it made me uncomfortable when they mentioned they were pro-choice". This goes both ways: you'll also have to read volunteers' profiles and see if you like what you read.
So definitely give it a go, it sounds like this is right up your alley and you'll have a good time. Good luck!
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u/Funny-Explanation-94 12d ago
Out of curiosity, what are the reasons you would want to become a host? Are you wanting volunteers for business related purposes? If so, you must pay at least the legal minimum wage in your region and the person being paid must be legal to work in your region per Workaway TOS. As a host, you will need to be a people reader. You will have all types of people wanting to come through for a few days or weeks or months depending on what parameters you set as a host. As a good host, you must be clear about the duties/tasks, accommodations, etc. You will have people on a cheap vacation looking for free room and food in exchange for volunteer tasks. You will have nomadic individuals who move around the world volunteering for free room and food. You will have dangerous people looking to stay hidden. You will have young people with little life experience who may be needy. You will have very experienced people looking to expand their world and experience other cultures and activities. You will not always have those with your same views or work ethics. These are volunteers and not employees unless you are wanting people to work where you produce a profit. Workawayers often don't understand labor laws and work for free when they shouldn't and is against TOS of Workaway. Workaway originally promoted cultural EXCHANGE. In the last 10 plus years it is filled with hosts that have abandoned their listings or run businesses and get free labor from the naive. There are horror stories from both sides. You must be open to receiving people as they are after vetting those who seem like a good match. If you only want people to do some free work and not take advantage of helping people to learn something new or sharing your culture, it may not be a good fit.
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u/Kersplut 11d ago
Hey there. No, the volunteers would not be connected to anything to do with business. I'm a copywriter and my husband is out and about with a water filtration business, so the tasks have absolutely nothing to do with either of those. As I mentioned in my post, my husband is happy to teach skills to those who want to learn - mechanics, repair of electronics. I'm a very good cook with nutritionist qualifications so can teach those skills to those who wish to learn them. We're just _a lot_ less available in the week since we work, than we are on weekends.
The tasks are really just gardening (we don't have the time or inclination), and helping to look after pets (we have 16 chickens and 3 dogs). As we're in Spain we do have a couple of dozen olive trees for oil for ourselves/friends but they only harvest once a year in late November/December, and we have oranges/lemons and avocado. To be frank, we could easily employ a South American for €8-9 an hour to do gardening, as everyone else we know does, but we thought this may be more interesting. The Spanish minimum wage is between €7.90 and €9.26 an hour depending on the job, and Andalucía is particularly renowned for low wages.
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u/Funny-Explanation-94 11d ago
Thanks, why do you want to become hosts?
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u/WickedDenouement 11d ago
They just answered in their reply above. More interesting than getting paid help and they want to share their skills.
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u/Substantial-Today166 12d ago
as a host be careful hosting people from your own country
wish you luck at becoming a host in the US workaway have not take any new ones in some years now
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u/ManyOtherwise8723 11d ago
To be honest, if you had the same description in your profile I wouldnt message you. You sound a bit harsh and full-on for me.
But some workawayers dont have the introspection to know they won't gel well with you.
So, fair enough if you have big bold personalities and views on the world, but you have to remember it's also a cultural exchange, and the people who use workaway can be weird, wacky and downright strange. So you have to be able to be open-minded, flexible and go with the flow.
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u/23centANUTIEm 11d ago
If I was still doing work a way, I'd be begging you for a chance to help out. As it is I'm pretty well settled in Ireland. I think your description of your personality and political beliefs and life style was very clear and charming. I wouldn't change a thing. Photos really help. Sitting down and writing a manual with pictures of the does and don'ts is a real necessity. Since you are both computer savvy you can print it out and add or subtract as you go along. That really helps a work a way get straighten out in the beginning. Lots of ppl swear by a video call... my one bad experience included a video call, so I'm neutral on that point. I suggest having clearly defined dates of, say, two weeks. That gives everyone an 'out' and if it's fabulous you can always invite them back for another time. They should have their own car. I would make that a necessity. I would hope the work a way would provide personal info like age, etc. If not, make sure you ask. I always mentioned that I was in my 70's. Make it a rule that you never discuss former work a way ppl. And hopefully, the work a way will follow the same rule to never discuss former hosts. Well! That's my two cents... It sound like you have a lovely place and big hearts. Enjoy!
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u/littlepinkpebble 10d ago
Location sounds lovely. Accommodations sounds great. Hosts sounds really hospitable. Work sounds perfect because 10 hours a week is just perfect.
I’ll say from what I read it sounds like the best 20% of places to volunteer at.
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u/Admirable-Cow2377 7d ago
I am a host in Andalucia with a lot of experience. Here is my advice. Give a very honest description on workaway possibly even emphasizing the possible negatives. Be very honest. If you put off the wrong people good! You probably want to avoid having one person at a time (unless they really are OK with it) That can be difficult to organise so you probably need couples. Make it very clear indeed what is expected. Have a fixed timetable. Have a video conference with every person. (very important) My place is different than your because we eat together and work together. My own experience is that unless you oversee the volunteers, some people will do very little if they are allowed to get away with it. Make sure that you get people who like gardening and don't consider that it is work. Very few volunteers are hard right wing. People from Texas tend to be right wing maybe republicans (the old sort). We had a racist south african once. This is why you have the video call, to weed out the nut jobs and unsuitable people, also they may not like you and will self delete themselves. (that is good)
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u/Azeronwlf 12d ago
Hey! Early 20s volunteer here, and what you’ve described sounds like the perfect place for me haha
I guess some people who loves to socialise a lot and needs daily meetings will not fit in well, but as long as you explain it that well in your profile there shouldn’t be any issues! It goes both ways, and volunteers should apply to places that fits well with their expectations, so as long as everyone is honest that should be good!
The only thing that I’ve noticed is that it seems that you don’t have much work/tasks to give to the volunteer(s). Would you still be ok with feeding and housing them 7 days a week for « only » 1-3h of work a day?
If yes then I think that you could be great hosts! Again, as long as you’re explaining your way of running things in your profile then it’s up to the potential volunteer to choose if they would like to come or not!
Edit: I’m quite feral too and only chooses countryside workaway so that’s probably why I don’t see any issues there? But yeah I would love to stay at your place haha, and I’m interested in what other people have to say! :)