Time to Get to Work!

For many people, travelling in their motorhome is a vacation from their "real lives" — their jobs, busy social calendars and the general daily grind that many long to escape. They may take off for a weekend, a week or two in the summer, or maybe even a several-month tour before returning to their normal routine, refreshed and revitalised.

We, on the other hand, have chosen to make our camping-car our home — our "real life," at least for a year or two. And while we love the freedom, spontaneity and adventures that our camping-car life provides, we are keenly aware of what this nomadic lifestyle lacks: community. So we've often found ourselves craving an escape from our "daily grind", which, to be fair, looks suspiciously similar to a vacation from the outside. So, how do you escape "vacation"? You find work!

If you haven't heard of Workaway or Wwoof, I strongly recommend you check them out. The basic tenet is a trade of work for room and board. But rather than being simply an exchange of goods for services, these platforms provide an opportunity for cultural exchange, language learning, new skill development and — drumroll please — community.

Over the last 9 months we've signed up for 3 such work-stay experiences. Since Ash and I both love being outdoors and working with our hands we've sought out these kinds of stays. Each has been enriching, fun and soul-filling in its own way:

• Helping cut and lay tile in a barn-to-boulangerie renovation in Bretagne
• Shovelling a year's worth of sheep sh*t to give the sheep a fresh and clean pen on a farm in Croatia
• Helping complete the construction of a large wire-framed mammoth in the Mid-Pyrenees

With our hosts and other workawayers/woofers, we've shared traditional meals of galette de sarrasin, enjoyed home-brewed apple cider made from the local harvest, and helped to make and drink the "vodka" of Croatia, Rakija, from fermented prunes.

It feels impossible to distil these experiences into a paragraph, and even harder to emphasise how impactful they have been. We are so grateful for the insights we've gained into different lifestyles and cultures, and the strong bonds we've developed with both hosts and fellow workers alike.

So I say to you: whatever your "real life" may look like, if you ever need a break, give one of these work stays a go — you won't regret it!