First experiences using WorkAway

Having recently finished working at English Cool Camp in Romania for two months, myself and Ailin had proceeded to spend a couple of weeks travelling around the North-West of Romania where we took in Brasov, Cluj and Oradea (a hidden gem that I 100% recommend visiting) on our journey. After an intense summer the break was necessary, and whilst we probably could have seen much more in this time, catching up on sleep often took priority.

However, after this period of rest we were ready to be more active again, as well as looking to spend less of our limited funds; which led us to WorkAway. WorkAway is an organisation that has been recommended to me multiple times by fellow travellers but, having always found it easy to find work through my TEFL qualification, I never really needed to use it. However, travelling as a couple can make it more difficult to find opportunities and, as such, now was the time to give it a chance.

We signed up with a couples account and immediately began our search for opportunities to volunteer - focusing our search on our next destination, Hungary. We had been warned that often there could be a low response rate and therefore that we should message many accounts in order to more likely receive a reply.

We expected it to be difficult to find a host willing to take in two volunteers on just a couple of days notice and as such we messaged five or six different projects looking for volunteers, with the expectation that we may need to message more in the following days. Within one hour we had received three replies inviting us to stay at their various projects in different parts of Hungary! My guess at the time - which was later confirmed by our host - was that as a consequence of the global pandemic and with very few people travelling, there was a dearth of volunteers and, consequently for us, far less competition for positions.

The first to reply had actually been my favourite of those we had messaged and we quickly agreed to start in a couple of days, giving us a little bit of time to explore Budapest first. After a two hour or so journey by train from Budapest to Kaposvar in the south of Hungary we were met by our host Cara, who drove us the remaining 20 minutes to the small village of Kaposhomok where she lived.

Upon meeting us at the station Cara immediately exhumed an air of high energy and friendliness. Born in the UK, she has travelled extensively and has now lived in her current house in Hungary for the past seven years. She shared her house with her two energetic and extremely sociable children Carey and Morne, as well as hundreds of volunteers over the years.

When she originally arrived there her land consisted of little more than empty fields of rather infertile soil but with the assistance of these multi-talented volunteers she has created a magical and extensive garden. Knowledgeable in permaculture Cara grows a lot of her own food here but one could also walk around the maze of paths and constantly notice new features, ranging from a fire-pit to a tree-house, to a homemade bus stop located at the very back of the garden.

During our time there the range of jobs varied extensively. Initially our work was based in the garden, doing manual labour such as weeding - which we actually found to be quite therapeutic. Upon learning of our experience working with children, Cara would often ask us to help with homework or doing some creative activities with Carey and Morne. On top of this, jobs ranged from assisting with social media channels for her company to reorganising a warehouse.

Through Cara we also had the opportunity to meet a whole range of new and interesting people; both other volunteers (such as Cate and Keeley, an Australian mother and daughter who have been travelling for over a year now to escape the strict restrictions in Australia) and other expats in the local area (such as Cookie, a real-life BFG - a man who never wears shoes, with hair past his knees and an unending air or positivity and calmness).

At her house Cara creates an atmosphere in which all of these people feel like a part of her family. Everyday we would all sit down together and enjoy dinner and at the weekends a few drinks too. The social opportunities were not just restricted to the house either and we had the chance to see more of the country during our stay, most notably the thermal baths in the nearby city and Lake Balaton - the largest lake in Central-Europe.

One final, memorable story from our time there that must be shared came during our last couple of days when the police paid a visit. Some seeds had been addressed to Cara’s house that were of a species not so popular with the authorities in Hungary and had been intercepted at customs. Fortunately they did not have a warrant at the time to search the property and they were kind enough to warn Cara that they would return the next week to do so. Consequently, the next couple of hours was spent pulling up certain plants and throwing them into the fire-pit… We left before they returned but as far as I know nothing more came of the situation.

This was our first (but certainly not last) experience using WorkAway and one that we enjoyed thoroughly. Whilst we only stayed with Cara, Carey and Morne for less than two weeks it certainly felt like more. We felt at home, learned new skills and met interesting people - all whilst saving money. If anyone is considering using the site - or wants to travel but cannot afford to - we can fully recommend the experience!

Posted: 10/10/2021
Written by: Tom Taylor (@tomtayloor)