r/workaway

I'm preparing for a year of slow travel, and I'm hoping to do some workaways on the way. I'm excited to have an open journey ahead with not too many plans, and don't want to overschedule my trip. How far in advance do you need to apply to a workaway?

I've heard some horror stories from people and part of me wonders if it's possible to visit a workaway in person before agreeing to it, which would mean applying quite last minute/when I'm already in the country (while knowing it may well fall through & being ready to just stay in a hostel & make alternativ plans). New to this so all advice welcome. Thank you!

I recently uploaded a video about what was probably the wildest Workaway experience I’ve had in 8 years of traveling, all while crossing Africa by motorcycle.

Part 1 – Fundraising and helping him get home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDjGIRxVm-A

Part 2 – Finding out who he really was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0ihRarYb6g

I arrived at a small farm project in The Gambia where a local woman was building a sustainable garden and guesthouse. She was also involved in environmental and educational initiatives in the community, and even helped manage a women’s football team. Honestly it sounded like the perfect place to slow down for a while after months on the road.

The plan was simple: help on the farm, rest a bit, and enjoy having somewhere to call home for a few weeks.

Instead… I only spent about a day and a half actually doing farm work 😂

She introduced me to the first guest staying in her new guesthouse. He was in a wheelchair, had a very complicated story that kept changing, and something about the whole situation felt off from the beginning.

Long story short, instead of farming, I ended up spending the next 6 weeks helping fundraise for him, arranging documents, trying to get him a new passport, and eventually helping him get a flight home. The woman running the project had already been feeding and housing him for over 2 months because she didn’t have the heart to throw him out.

Fortunately we only spent money on the flight for him, the rest went to helping the woman who hosted him.

We never heard back from him when he arrived back in the Czech Republic. Then about a year later… we discovered he was actually a wanted criminal back in the Czech Republic 😳 He was eventually arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison for scamming an elderly pensioner out of more than €200,000.

Still one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had while traveling. What stayed with me most though was seeing people from completely different races, religions, cultures, and backgrounds all come together to help someone they believed was in need. Even if it didn’t end up being the perfect happy ending we expected, justice was eventually served and a lot of genuinely good people still helped where they could.

I am struggling with getting good hosts.

My last hosts were absolute abusers, everyone left earlier because they were giving little food, and were demanding that the 5 hours were intense working hours on their construction site.

They kept saying everyone was slow and taking too many bathroom breaks and drinking water breaks.

They gave little to no safety equipment and the site was super dangerous. We were moving heavy furniture up/down a goats path I almost fell with a 50kg wardrobe.

When I asked for more food at lunch and more safety, the host freaked out and demanded I leave earlier.

The volunteers were absolute the best, made real connections, struggling together to endure the host and its conditions made a strong bond. But unfortunately they can't review my real character on workaways. Only the host that was abusing me.

And now other hosts want reviews from other hosts... I can easily find 6 volunteers as a reference but not one host

Hello, I am new to workaway and would love to read y'all's experience. How many hosts do you contact at time? How many hosts do you usually have to contact before you get an offer? Anything that really helps you get offers? Feel free to share any useful tips!

Also I feel like I don't have much relevant experience and much to offer, how do I get around that?

Hii everyone! I’m planning to volunteer for 3 months this summer, and it’ll be my first time volunteering through Workaway. I’ve sent messages to many hosts, and now I have to choose between 5!!

How do you choose hosts? Based on what preferences? How do you filter them?

And how can I nicely say that I chose another host, while keeping good ties in case I don’t end up liking the host I chose and would want to continue with them later?

Curious: how long does it actually take you to find and land a Workaway placement?
I’ve been reading a lot about the platform and one thing that keeps coming up is how time-consuming the search process is scrolling listings, filtering, messaging hosts, waiting for responses…
How many hours per week do you spend on this? And how long from starting the search to actually confirming a stay?

I'm going to be all over Europe from September through Spring. I'll be on farms a lot but will also be spending time in some cities. I'll be trying to avoid snow through winter but am expecting rain. What shoes could yinz recommend for this wide range of weather that would be suitable for both farm work (waterproof, can get dirty and sustain wear & tear) and city activities (walking a lot, a bit more presentable looking)? Is it more reasonable to ask all that of one shoe or to lug around a second pair? I'll take blundstone recs but am particularly interested in any other ideas as well!

I’m flying to Mexico City in September and planning to travel down through Belize, Guatemala… onwards until I run out of money - aiming for Panama. I’m planning on doing workaways/staying in hostels.
Any advice on a route to take?
I was thinking of spending a bit of time in Mexico City (possibly doing a work away for a few weeks) as it’s so big.
I also want to see Belize as I heard it’s got great ruins.
Apart from that I’m looking for ideas so any advice/suggestions/tips are really appreciated:)

USA citizen here currently in Florida. 29 M, unemployed with a comp sci degree. I have zero friends, no confidence, and feeling stuck staying at home with my toxic family who are in a constant doom loop of watching the news without actually wanting to move out of here

Only heard about workaway today and sounds like it might be a good opportunity to get away for a bit!

Is this a good program for Americans looking to travel within the US? Or is it more geared for international folks? Going overseas would be nice but I've always wanted to live in California so thought this might be a good way to get out there without too much commitment

Currently waiting for the AI bubble to burst so I can go back to being a regular old programmer lol

Curious to hear your thoughts! Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, I can post elsewhere if that's more appropriate

I'm thinking of volunteering through Workaway. I'm Spanish, but my English isn't good enough to feel comfortable speaking it. Even so, I'd like some feedback on your experiences and if you'd encourage me to do it.

Also, I'd like to ask about countries you'd recommend for this!

Hi im 17 and want to study in Spain for college so i thought it would be a nice idea to go and do some volunteering in Spain this summer to help with my Spanish and have fun this summer outside my country iv tried to see workaway but it says hosts can only accept 18 plus volunteers and i cant get in contact with them unless i pay i will be traveling with a friend maybe more so if you can help me out that would be really nice

Hi everyone! I’m Italian and I’m considering doing a Working Holiday abroad. I’d really like to use the experience to grow professionally in the non-profit/humanitarian/social sector rather than doing the more typical hospitality jobs like bars or restaurants.

I already have some volunteering experience with vulnerable groups and I’m interested in work connected to NGOs, community projects, youth work, international cooperation or social support services. My goal is to gain experience that could actually help my future career in the third sector.

For those who have done a Working Holiday, which countries do you think are best for this kind of path? Is it realistic to find opportunities connected to NGOs or community organizations while on a WHV? I’d also love to know if there are specific cities, programs or organizations you would recommend looking into.

Thank you!

to preface this: i’m autistic and as always i’m unsure on how to navigate a social interaction.

i’ve contacted a host a month ago and introduced myself for a possible stay in july. they said it was too early to plan so i said no problem i’ll reach out again.

in the mean time i’ve read a lot of tips on this sub and ppl said to not visit hosts who expect you to work 7 days a week. at first i didn’t mind that the host required this as they have lots of horses. however i thought about it and due to being neurodivergent it might be good to have a day off completely. also even though i have years of experience riding horses, this is would be my first workaway experience and it’s stressful enough as it is i don’t think i want to ride horses this time around and the host has stated that they’d like someone to ride the horses. so it might not be that good of a match at least for now.

well now to my question: do i just say it doesn’t work for me anymore even though i wrote an enthusiastic first message? do i come up with an excuse? do i say maybe in the future?

and more importantly i’ve found two new hosts with good reviews who i both think would be an actual good fit. can i write them both a message? what do i do if they both agree? is it normal to decide after or should i pick first and only message one host?

i especially struggle bc i write my first messages eagerly so the host knows that im really interested and hard working (which i am). its just so strange to then decline after being so eager initially.

i’d really appreciate help on how to handle this situation, sorry if its obvious.

hi, i just arrived at my first work exchange ever at a social hostel and im intimidated somehow by other volunteers. i haven’t met some of them but im worried they are already in cliques/ i have to handle a lot of fake nice / mean girls around. i dont know why i have this irrational social anxiety but everything is going to be fine right? just want some people to share more about their first experiences first time joining groups of volunteers.

I'm at a homestay workaway in North Carolina that I'm having a negative experience at. But at the same time, it's not objectively horrible. Still, I'm considering leaving early because I feel uncomfortable and treated like a second-class citizen here, rather than a guest. I'd like some opinions on the situation and to know if this is normal because this is my first Workaway experience.

I am only in NC until May 20th, and then I fly out to CA to start a new summer job. My host knows this. I was staying with my own family before I started this volunteer job, but my home life was incredibly toxic, and so I had to get out of there. I can't go back. My host also knows this, but it seems like she's not very empathetic or considerate of that fact because she doesn't see me actively falling apart over it.

When I arrived at this Workaway, the host was very nice and so was her family. Her current au pair picked me up and took me to their home. I started work the next day, and my host almost immediately seemed to be breathing down my neck making sure I'm working enough hours a day, which makes me feel surveilled and judged. It's also odd because the host told me my work hours are flexible, yet if she sees me taking a water or snack break, she'll almost always approach me physically or send me a text to passive aggressively get me back to work. On top of that, her ad said I would be working 10-20 hours a week, and that's what I agreed to. But now, she suddenly expects 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. And half the time, it's manual labor, like pulling weeds and assembling furniture with bare hands.

This next thing is what really has me wanting to leave. Her old au pair came to visit yesterday and is staying for the whole weekend because their baby is turning one year old. My host told me this would happen when we FaceTimed to decide whether or not we'd be a good fit. But she made it seem as though me and the au pair would both have a private room in that event and that we'd both have equal rights to housing. She also suggested that we might just be able to share a room. That turned out to NOT be the case!

I am traveling with literally everything I own (two heavy suitcases, and several more heavy bags), and the day before this old au pair arrived, my host texted me that I should move all my things upstairs into the loft where there is no mattress (or even couch) and no door. She wanted me to assemble a new partition to give me some semblance of privacy up there, but I needed her help to complete it. She never helped me make it. She also said she would help me move all my bags upstairs, but she never did. I saw that coming because she never touches heavy things around here, even despite being bigger than me.

So then her old au pair arrived, and naturally, all my stuff was still in the room. I asked the host if I could ask the au pair if she'd be okay with sharing a room, but my host just got bitter and passive aggressive with me, mentioning again and again how "bad" she feels that the au pair doesn't have her own private space... Meanwhile, I'm literally relying on this Workaway position because I'm temporarily in-between housing. I just got out of a traumatic family estrangement and am technically homeless... She KNOWS ALL THIS, and didn't even consider how tone deaf it sounds to guilt me about this au pair having to share a space with me.

So then I wordlessly got kicked out of my room, and I spent last night sleeping on the floor of the loft, with nothing but pillows cushioning it and a heated blanket to keep me warm. One of the host's friends who she invited over yesterday helped set up a partition to give me some privacy from the rest of the house, and I really appreciate that. Her friend clearly felt sorry for me. But this set-up is pretty sad and kind of degrading. The whole family have private rooms upstairs and have to walk by me in order to leave their rooms. The partition is literally almost see-through. And last night, the cat kept coming up to me in my sleep and waking me up.

I genuinely feel like I'm being treated like an indentured servant--one step up from a slave. Because the host is nice enough on paper, but she also treats me like a potential freeloader who should be grateful for the bare minimum (food & housing) even though I'm doing all the work I agreed to do for MORE HOURS than I actually agreed upon. Her family and friends are even nicer to me, but there definitely is a hierarchy in the household where I'm being treated like an appliance rather than a guest. I already felt this dynamic, but it was made worse by the old au pair's arrival. She is treated as blood family--which I understand. I, myself, was an au pair a few years ago. Yes, I am a temporary stranger, but we're both still human beings and are owed basic decency. I was guilt-tripped out of even asking the au pair if it'd be okay to share a room.

I would bring this up to the host, but she seems to obviously have low levels of EQ and not care about me--just the labor I can provide for her. She would certainly accuse me of being ungrateful because they're giving me a roof over my head, free food, and immersing me in their culture. But all of that (apart from the cultural immersion) is LITERALLY part of the exchange for my labor! It's not some extra act of charity coming from the goodness of her heart. I've been quiet up to this point, even though there is tension, because if we get into a fight, I have nowhere else to go right now and only about $100 to spare between right now and my May 20th flight, so I feel stuck.

Please offer thoughts and advice. Is this sort of dynamic normal? Am I being dramatic? What would you advise I do in this situation?

Hey there! I'm heading to Brazil this Summer and I'm hoping to do some volunteering (through worldpackers, workaway or similar) whilst I'm there. Does anyone have any specific recommendations of experiences that they liked? Or just general recommendations for placed to go to? I'm not sure exacrly which parts of Brazil I'll travel to, but I have about 3 months and I'm flying into Sao Paulo.

Thanks :)

I’m 29 and feeling really lost trying to figure out what kind of travel I actually want to do. I know I don’t just want a standard holiday where I walk around sightseeing for a week and come home. I think I’m looking for something more meaningful - volunteering, conservation, farm stays, eco projects, hostel work, cultural exchange, something where there’s a sense of purpose and connection while solo travelling.

The problem is I genuinely cannot seem to find anything that feels right. I’ve looked into volunteering and Workaway-type things, but a lot of it either seems sketchy, exploitative, agency-based and really expensive, or it’s aimed at people who already live locally long-term. I actually did a Workaway before and had a bad experience, so now I’m second-guessing everything and struggling to trust opportunities.

I feel stuck because I really want to get out of my comfort zone and do something transformative, wholesome, outdoorsy, and meaningful, but I can’t seem to find the actual “thing.” Every time I think I’ve found an option, I end up doubting it.

Did anyone else go through this stage before solo travelling? How did you actually find meaningful opportunities abroad that felt genuine and safe?