Getting to Know Your WWOOF Host

The concept of staying in a total stranger’s house can be enough to deter some people from ever trying WWOOFing. When you factor in that you may be in an entirely different country and possibly speaking a different language to your host, WWOOFing can seem like a very daunting concept.

 

   I had purposefully chosen a country that was not too far away and predominately spoke English, in order to just dip my toe in to the idea of staying with a stranger. I was also fortunate to be staying with Sally who was very welcoming and naturally chatty. There are bound to be a few awkward silences, maybe something gets lost in translation and maybe you find yourself suffering from a tiny bit of culture shock. But that’s all part of the travelling experience.

  

   That being said, you don’t want to find you have chosen your host too quickly and now have a starring role in one of the travel horror stories your parents told you before you left home! There are some simple ways to avoid host horror-

      

    1. Number one is a no brainer; READ THE PROFILE. This seems so simple, but it is easy to get swept up in the holiday excitement and gloss over some red flags in the hosts bio. You need to be checking that you will be sleeping somewhere warm and safe, that you will be fed regular meals, how many hours of work will be expected of you and how many other people will be on the farm and staying in the room with you. If the profile does not cover these things just ask them in an email. WWOOFing is an agreement and you have a right to know that they will be keeping up their end of the bargain.

   

2. Inform them of any food restrictions, dietary needs and any religious or cultural beliefs that may affect your ability to complete a task. If you are a vegetarian, vegan, celiac, lactose intolerant etc. you must inform your host before you arrive, they can’t be expected to read your mind. Your own personal beliefs should not be an issue when WWOOFing, however if you think there may arise a situation where you are put in a position that contradicts your beliefs, it’s OK to say so. For example; I am Buddhist, and therefore I cannot be involved in any slaughtering or harming of livestock. I thought it was highly unlikely I would be required to kill anything, but I wanted to inform my hosts of this boundary, just in case.

    3. There’s safety in the sisterhood. If you are a woman travelling alone, you have likely heard more horror stories about lone female travellers than a bunch of girl scouts around a camp fire. If a host’s bio informs you that he is a man living alone, the chances are he is a wonderful guy who will treat you with nothing but kindness and respect. But it’s OK to be a little paranoid. Some WWOOF hosts will only accept WWOOFers of the same gender to them, others will only take two friends or a couple rather than a lone person. So it goes both ways. At the end of the day, if something doesn’t feel right in the emailing stage, trust your instincts and don’t do it.

    

      4. Take other people’s word for it. WWOOF.org does it’s best to ensure everyone’s safety and

positive experience by allowing WWOOFer’s to leave comments and reviews on hosts profiles. If a farm has six glowing recommendations from the previous few months, it’s a reasonably safe bet to say you will enjoy it too. If a farm has been listed for many years and yet has no reviews or has multiple bad reviews it should be avoided. However, do check when the farms were listed, they may be new hosts and so don’t have any reviews yet.

   5.  Get to know your hosts before arriving. As soon as your profile has been approved, you can start contacting hosts. The site advises that you email, phone or skype a little before committing to volunteer. This way you can get a feel for who you will be staying with, what kind of work you will be doing and how well you will be able to communicate, (if you speak a different language to your host.)

WWOOFing can be an incredible way to save money whilst travelling. It allows you to learn about sustainability, agriculture and the world whilst making sometimes life-long friends. But you do need to use your common sense with just a touch of savvy.

  For more information visit www.wwoof.org  and check out the forum and FAQ for more information and for the portal to the WWOOF sites for individual countries.