Puglia - Workaway 5

Every time we start another Workaway I get a bit nervous. Will we like them? Will they like us? Can we find it! Will there be a double bed! Is the work hard? What will the food be like...

Along the way we have encountered a few little challenges like bug bites, vague work instructions, dodgy bedding, fierce dogs, and a couple of snakes. But we've always worked it out, done useful stuff, and had great experiences. (The gaps in between assignments help too, when we go back to stay with our daughter's beautiful family in Rome.)

Today is the last day of our latest Workaway, in Puglia. We have been based in a pretty country house,  near San Vito Dei Normanni, in the deep South of Italy. It's painted a traditional dark rose colour. 

Our job has been to help with the almond harvest

Me with Diana, on the roof terrace 

The hosts are friendly, generous and interesting. This is the first time in many years that they have done the almond harvest. Diana is a lawyer, she lives mostly in Bari, but loves coming back to this place where she played as a child. Her daughter Noemi speaks English, which is a great help. They have BnB rooms here; we've been staying in a nice room with our own bathroom.

Almond harvesting might be a bit like quidditch.  You whack around in the air with a long stick at the tree, dodging the falling almonds. Occasionally you catch one. Then you sit around together for hours and chat while you skin them and sort them.

Mario and Sergio tree whacking 

We have afternoons off and have explored Lecce, Alberobello, Ostuni and Polignano. Lots of good local knowledge hints and suggestions from the host family.

Alberobello

The home-cooked meals have been terrific, worthy of a whole separate blog post in fact! So we needn't have worried, it's all been a great success. After another spell in Rome we look forward to Workaway number 6.

Lizzie

Basilicata, Italy, Workaway 2

Our second Workaway has started, and we have settled into B&B Apricot:
http://www.apricotlucania.com

This region (Basilicata) is flanked on the north-east by Puglia, on the west by Campania, and on the south by Calabria. If you picture Italy as a boot, we are located on the instep, near the Ionian Sea.

In May, this area is warming up from its gentle winter. The earth is fertile in this valley and there are trees laden with ripening oranges and lemons. Our host Alessandra is clever, kind and interesting. She gives clear instructions and leaves us to get on with jobs like staining the outdoor furniture, trimming hedges, weeding, whitewashing and minor repairs. We are helping her get ready for the onslaught of summer visitors that come for the nice beach nearby  (Italian, mostly).

Our days are like this: we get up at 6.30am and make ourselves an orange juice. After breakfast, we start work at 8, making sure we are plastered in mozzie spray. It's beautiful here; surrounded by apricot orchards, old olive trees, gentle hills. There are dogs and cats playing around, and a big chicken coop in an old building with 3 hens and a rooster (that crows at 4.30 am!). At midday we pack up and go inside for lunch. Alessandra uses local ingredients, lots of vegetables. Every day there is something new to try, typical of this region. And fresh bread and red wine.
 
After a couple of hours rest we usually go for a walk, in order to work up an appetite for dinner, and to explore. Policoro is 5kms away, not very pretty, but there is a great museum on the way, and a good gelato shop.

This area has Greek connections. In about 400BC it was populated by Trojan refugees, then more Greek settlements were established in the south (including Paestum,  Naples and Bari). They were overrun by the Lucanians,  then the Roman culture sort of absorbed them. Basilicata was called Lucania until about 11 AD. Then I think it was named after a Byzantine emperor, called Basileus. Funny that, I thought it was something to do with the herb!

One of the best parts for me, each evening, is the conversations at dinner time. We practise our Italian, and hear stories about the family, the apricot business, local legends and history - and recipes, of course. Tonight we're having some sort of potato-based focaccia bread.

Lizzie

Italy, again...

It's 20 years since I first visited Italy; our kids were 12, 9 and 6 years old.

My parents had emigrated from the South, to NZ, and we were keen to see what they'd chosen to leave behind, and how it had changed since their childhoods. It was fun discovering it with our own children, back in the nineties.

So, here we are again, many visits later, but planning to stay a lot longer this time. We are starting off with a quick visit to our daughter Maria's home in Rome. This will be our base between Workaway stints. My parents have passed away now, but our first two-week job is in the Basilicata region, where my Dad was born. I've been trying to brush up my Italian on Duolingo - got up to 45% so far. Now it's time for the immersion test.

With her husband Eugene, Maria runs a business called Creative English
They have 2 beautiful sons. This whole blog is really just an excuse for a proud nonno to put these photos up:

Ciao,
Lizzie's Bloke
(guest blogger)

10 Steps to Workaway

Friends have been asking how we got started. It took a bit of time and research. Workaway seemed to offer thousands of hosts, and different jobs and categories. Here's the first 10 steps we've taken...

1. Join the website. Even if you never actually travel, it can serve as a sort of 'travel porn',  where you can fantasize about lots of different countries and work experiences. It costs  $US29  to join as a single and $US38 to join as a couple: https://www.workaway.info

2. Leave your job. Why work for money when you can work in exchange for things like places to stay and things to eat? Travel can be soulless and expensive when you are just hanging out on the edges, observing other people's lives and cultures. This way you can wade in and be a part of something.

3. Write a profile. Honest and interesting, saying what you can do with some recent images of yourself looking useful. For example, painting a fence, playing your flute, pruning trees, or taking part in a meeting.

4. Start checking out possible 'hosts'. Bear the distances between jobs in mind, and the logistics of travel between them. You don't want to waste time and money zigzagging backwards and forwards between Spain and Italy, for instance.

5. Read their reviews and comments. If every second guest comments on the remote location and hard work, avoid. If a host comments about too many people leaving after only a few days, don't go there.

6. Check the timing. The site listings show which months help is needed. Also, check out what the accommodation is - it can range from a separate chalet, to a caravan, to a room in a family home, or the west wing of a castle!

7. Write your prospects a short friendly message offering your help and saying what might be relevant to their situation. If it's an animal refuge, don't bother saying you are a raging carnivore and have a fear of dogs! Just offer 1-2 weeks; if it works out well, you might be asked to stay on.

8. Sit back for a month or two and wait for the offers to come in. We sent 30 messages, and got about 20 replies, and inquiries from people who just saw our listing. It takes time to get the dates confirmed. We have nailed 7 bookings over 6 months, and we have another 7 on the reserve list, in case we have a cancellation. 

9. Choose some good sensible work clothing if you are going for physical work. The majority seem to need gardening. I want to look like I've come to help, not like a tourist.

10. Start on some prep. We are going to be at an organic orchard business, so I'm reading up about biodiversity. We are making an effort to get fitter too, running round the local park. Most of the hosts ask for about 25 hours labour per week. I want some energy left, after the olive or grape harvests, to go out and explore. 

Lizzie 

From Suits to Boots

It's going to be an interesting transition. I spent Saturday afternoon trying out work/hiking boots for size and comfort. It was nice to do something real, and to think more about the changes ahead.

For the past 4 years I've donned a business suit and gone to work in an office - a very pleasant office, with views across Wellington harbour. Board papers, spreadsheets, policies and regulations have paid my bills.

But now, it's all going to be different. I'm trading my physical labour, and a bit of advice here and there, for accommodation and meals. I'm stepping into other people's lives and businesses, to offer my help. They are very interesting lives, in great places - Orange in Oz, Touzac in France, and Policoro in Southern Italy.

I'm going from indoors to outdoors, from cerebral to practical, from suits to boots...

Lizzie's Bloke (guest blogger)

Finally Started

Well, here goes...

This is the planning stage - 56 days around Europe from 9 June onwards for a couple of Kiwis leaving London to head homeward. We're a couple of 'shifty fifties', and we are preparing to start our adventure.We think we may be addicted to change, but then, what the hell!

Thought I'd start now, because after all, the excitement has begun already. We've resigned from the London jobs, and booked our return fares. Every Sunday morning we sit up in bed with our net-books on our laps and have a Flight-of-the-Conchords type meeting:

M - present

E - present

We are plotting a trip that starts in Paris, goes through Spain, then Portugal, then Spain again, then back through Italy. We finish off with a week in Sardinia, then its back to London to take that long flight to Sydney.

Lizzie