working on an organic farm overseas ... any experience?

[slowtrain]

Hello,

I'm looking into the WWOOF program (worldwide organization of organic farms). Has anyone pursued this? I have watched many youtube videos featuring the pros and cons of WWOOFing. I'd like an aspies' perspective, or a viewpoint from someone who is very introverted. I have traveled quite a bit through Asia and enjoyed doing the solo thing. My budget, this time however, is quite limited.

Although WWOOF looks generally appealing as I enjoy gardening, I'm very concerned about (unspoken) social obligations. I've lived alone off and on, and with close family. As such, I've developed a solitary lifestyle outside of work--which I enjoy. I tend to eat alone and go as I please without informing anyone if it's a walk around the neighborhood or a dog walk. I feel the stress of trying to communicate with a host family-- having to let them know my reasons for taking solo evening walks or dismissing myself from social events or not wanting to partake in a group event (such as day trips or sight seeing), may be perceived as rude. I'm very quiet and prefer to be left alone. And I'm also uneasy about group meals three times a day--just the thought of sitting through an hour of anything with people for three times a day is making me very uneasy. When I traveled in my early 20s, I'd eat breakfast very early in hostels, and leave on my solo adventures. I was much more interested in hiking and visiting historical sites, than meeting people. I fear this mindset may clash in a home stay environment.

If anyone has experience with WWOOF or any type of work exchange abroad, please let me know the social aspects. Again, I'm not new to travel, but new to staying with a host family in a work-exchange situation. Thanks in advance.

 

[Streetwise]

Hello,

I'm looking into the WWOOF program (worldwide organization of organic farms). Has anyone pursued this? I have watched many youtube videos featuring the pros and cons of WWOOFing. I'd like an aspies' perspective, or a viewpoint from someone who is very introverted. I have traveled quite a bit through Asia and enjoyed doing the solo thing. My budget, this time however, is quite limited.

Although WWOOF looks generally appealing as I enjoy gardening, I'm very concerned about (unspoken) social obligations. I've lived alone off and on, and with close family. As such, I've developed a solitary lifestyle outside of work--which I enjoy. I tend to eat alone and go as I please without informing anyone if it's a walk around the neighborhood or a dog walk. I feel the stress of trying to communicate with a host family-- having to let them know my reasons for taking solo evening walks or dismissing myself from social events or not wanting to partake in a group event (such as day trips or sight seeing), may be perceived as rude. I'm very quiet and prefer to be left alone. And I'm also uneasy about group meals three times a day--just the thought of sitting through an hour of anything with people for three times a day is making me very uneasy. When I traveled in my early 20s, I'd eat breakfast very early in hostels, and leave on my solo adventures. I was much more interested in hiking and visiting historical sites, than meeting people. I fear this mindset may clash in a home stay environment.

If anyone has experience with WWOOF or any type of work exchange abroad, please let me know the social aspects. Again, I'm not new to travel, but new to staying with a host family in a work-exchange situation. Thanks in advance.

You are not physically a child so you have yourself to answer to
Never did it ,I visited a kibbutz in Israel- Israeli Jews are very open minded and some are very extrovert so if I did it I'd end up spilling the fact that I couldn't live with a family

 

[Alaska]

Hello,

I'm looking into the WWOOF program (worldwide organization of organic farms). Has anyone pursued this? I have watched many youtube videos featuring the pros and cons of WWOOFing. I'd like an aspies' perspective, or a viewpoint from someone who is very introverted. I have traveled quite a bit through Asia and enjoyed doing the solo thing. My budget, this time however, is quite limited.

Although WWOOF looks generally appealing as I enjoy gardening, I'm very concerned about (unspoken) social obligations. I've lived alone off and on, and with close family. As such, I've developed a solitary lifestyle outside of work--which I enjoy. I tend to eat alone and go as I please without informing anyone if it's a walk around the neighborhood or a dog walk. I feel the stress of trying to communicate with a host family-- having to let them know my reasons for taking solo evening walks or dismissing myself from social events or not wanting to partake in a group event (such as day trips or sight seeing), may be perceived as rude. I'm very quiet and prefer to be left alone. And I'm also uneasy about group meals three times a day--just the thought of sitting through an hour of anything with people for three times a day is making me very uneasy. When I traveled in my early 20s, I'd eat breakfast very early in hostels, and leave on my solo adventures. I was much more interested in hiking and visiting historical sites, than meeting people. I fear this mindset may clash in a home stay environment.

If anyone has experience with WWOOF or any type of work exchange abroad, please let me know the social aspects. Again, I'm not new to travel, but new to staying with a host family in a work-exchange situation. Thanks in advance.

Yes, I did WWOOFing. I do not think the social apects of it will exactly bother you, but understanding things about it might be a little bothersome.

Quite a few people actually use the program to get a cheap servant out of it and may treat you disrespectfully. Some do not want to feed you well because they are cheap, and others have been victims of WOOFFers who had voracious appetites and ate everything not nailed down, so will lock up their food.

Some had lots of unspoken rules that even confused NTs.

Be wary of WWOOFing places way out in the middle of nowhere if you must depend on them entirely for transportation, because they then have you trapped to do whatever they want. Other WWOOFEers kept warning me about a pig farm that way in New Zealand. They wanted very heavy labor and really nasty work done, did not feed much or well, and would not take you back into town if they were displeased with you. I took their warnings and stayed away from that one.

It helps if you can ask other WWOOFers about places like that.

Most of the places you work are reasonable and treat you well, however. Some of them barely require any work and are extra nice as well. I felt that it was mostly fair and reasonable and enjoyed the WWOOFing as much as being a tourist. You can learn a lot more about the prople of a country by WWOOFing than only being a tourist.

 

[Chance]

I dabble in growing organic stuff, but this actually sounds fun on maybe a temporary basis...
I will look it up, but do they have like vacations where you can go do this short term, or ratings for these places somewhere online?

I like growing things... I grow golf courses for a living, so plants and grasses are kind of what I do, but I would like to get more into the food side also.

WWOOFers... what a name... makes me want to howl or something : )

 

[slowtrain]

Thank you for this information. This confirmed some hearsay I saw on youtube. I can see how the experience would be hit and miss.

You are not physically a child so you have yourself to answer to
Never did it ,I visited a kibbutz in Israel- Israeli Jews are very open minded and some are very extrovert so if I did it I'd end up spilling the fact that I couldn't live with a family

I think you bring up a good point ... I really should stop worrying about my introversion and how people respond to it. Also, the extrovert thing could definitely color the situation. I can picture myself feeling stress-free if others were somewhat loner-ish. However, when encountering extroverts, I tend to physically distance myself ... this may not go over well during meal time.

 

[slowtrain]

Yes, I did WWOOFing. I do not think the social apects of it will exactly bother you, but understanding things about it might be a little bothersome.

Quite a few people actually use the program to get a cheap servant out of it and may treat you disrespectfully. Some do not want to feed you well because they are cheap, and others have been victims of WOOFFers who had voracious appetites and ate everything not nailed down, so will lock up their food.

Some had lots of unspoken rules that even confused NTs.

Be wary of WWOOFing places way out in the middle of nowhere if you must depend on them entirely for transportation, because they then have you trapped to do whatever they want. Other WWOOFEers kept warning me about a pig farm that way in New Zealand. They wanted very heavy labor and really nasty work done, did not feed much or well, and would not take you back into town if they were displeased with you. I took their warnings and stayed away from that one.

It helps if you can ask other WWOOFers about places like that.

Most of the places you work are reasonable and treat you well, however. Some of them barely require any work and are extra nice as well. I felt that it was mostly fair and reasonable and enjoyed the WWOOFing as much as being a tourist. You can learn a lot more about the prople of a country by WWOOFing than only being a tourist.

Yeah, that's pretty disturbing. This confirms the darkside I witnessed on youtube. I can now see how the experience varies greatly depending on the host/management. I'll take your advice and talk to some WWOOFers (maybe through a forum). Do you by chance know of "day situations"? Like working for one day in exchange for food and then travelling onto the next destination (staying in hostels in between). I think I can handle any social stuff, or intense labor, in small doses (i.e. once or twice a week). I'll definitely avoid the middle-of-nowhere scenario ... thank you for mentioning the transportation issue; many details to consider.

 

[slowtrain]

I dabble in growing organic stuff, but this actually sounds fun on maybe a temporary basis...
I will look it up, but do they have like vacations where you can go do this short term, or ratings for these places somewhere online?

I like growing things... I grow golf courses for a living, so plants and grasses are kind of what I do, but I would like to get more into the food side also.

WWOOFers... what a name... makes me want to howl or something : )

I'm also drawn to the adventure/rugged aspect of WWOOFing. I first learned about it when I was staying in a hostel in Japan. I met this lady in her 20s-- she WWOOFed her way through Asia for 6 months, starting in India and heading east. It sounds like you can definitely turn it into a vacation depending on your funds. From researching travel fees, it appears the necessary costs include airfare, trainfare, busfare, ferry-fare ... and visa fees (Vietnam requires a paid-tourist visa prior to entry for most Westerners; whereas Japan, Taiwan, and S. Korea allow for 90 day visits for many nationalities). She would WWOOF for a month or so, and then spend a couple of days in a nearby city (hostel) doing all the tourist stuff. I'm currently situated on the west coast (US), and round trip tickets to SE Asia from here can be found for as low as $650 if purchased 2-3 months in advance. I had the opportunity to visit Hanoi in 2012, and the dollar goes much farther than in South Korea and Japan. You can stay in a hostel (dorm-style) for $6/night. So, the destination may determine the budget. Also, I imagine with your golf/grass experience you would be valuable to the WWOOFing community-- maybe leading to some payment. It seems a lot of people start out with zero experience, based on youtube videos and forums.