Do you feel called to help people? Do you want to see the world? Do you want to experience culture the ways locals do? Do you want to meet new people? Do you wish to do this all without spending a lot of money?
Work-trade/ work-stay/ work-away is for you!
Work-stays can be found on a variety of websites in almost any corner of the world.
In a work-stay experience you will usually trade around 20-30 hours a week of work in exchange for accommodation and 3 meals per day. Every experience is different and will offer different things, but this is the most common. Most experiences ask that you stay for at least a month but some will be okay with less or more.
It is amazing because you can probably find a work exchange for any passion that you have from construction, gardening/farming, education, mission work, customer service, cooking, art, conservation, etc.
To learn more about my work-stay experience in Costa Rica at Cascada Elysiana, click here.
I think that work stays are the best way to meet locals and learn how people really live. Some are better than others, but I really think it is a great way develop meaningful experiences, skills and memories by helping someone. I hope to do something like this at least once per year or every other year regardless of how old I am.
Great places to find work-stay experiences are on Workaway and Worldpackers!