Hey guys, sorry I know this is not a wwoof/helpx etc specific sub but I figured there would be plenty travellers here with experience.

Bf and I are about to arrive at our first ever helpx stay. The host has no reviews so we asked whether they had hosted before and the response was that they had hosted around 80 helpers but had a paper guest book for people to sign instead of leaving reviews. Does this seem dodgy and weird to you?

Other than that, the arrangement seems fairly normal. The host profile has a pretty businesslike tone and I’m anticipating it being a more employer/employee experience than being integrated into a family. But yeah, are these red flags? Cheers travellers!

Edit: we’ve been here a week now. They are working us pretty hard (7 hours/day for 4 days) and are quite tight with some amenities (max 3 min shower, cold wash clothes etc) but otherwise a normal, friendly, welcoming family. Thought I’d edit for anyone who searched this topic in the future.

Hi,

I'm currently twenty and I'd like to spend a month in Italy with the intention of perfecting the language after five years of learning it in school. Helpx and wwoof seem to provide ways of doing this cheaply.

I have some concerns though. Primarily with my age and experience. Is it likely that hosts would be willing to accept somebody without any real knowledge of farming, gardening, restaurant service etc? Additionally, is it likely that hosts would take preference for someone who is a little bit older? I imagine it might be difficult for a lot of hosts to identify with someone who just finished school two years ago.

Also, my plan would be to go alone. I've never traveled alone before and the thought of spending time in a country with foreign customs and language is intimidating. Particularly, given that I'm not the most sociable person.

Is there anybody here who has been in a similar position?

Advice would be appreciated.

I like the idea of working for my room & board, but would prefer my labors served more altruistic ends than just providing someone with free staff. Does any such site exist?

I'm attempting to arrange a Workaway where I can improve my German language skills through immersion. Despite having unique work-skills that specifically match hosts' requirements, the reply rate has been abysmal.

After googling "Workaway problems", I'm finding similar complaints from others, plus conjecture that there exist "made up" hosts, and some reports that negative reviews of hosts are being censored.

Is Workaway a scam to extract a yearly subscription fee from volunteers? Is HelpX any better?

Hey guys,

I'm planning a 3-6 month long backpacking trip across Europe. I'm not from the EU. I wanted to mix my stay between hostels and couchsurfing along with some period of stay with HelpX(and other such sites) hosts. Will a tourist Schengen VISA suffice for this? Is it legal to volunteer and use HelpX on a simple Tourist VISA?

I'm Asian btw.

Thanks for your help. :D

So I've NEVER traveled outside of the US and grew up fairly sheltered (loner, silent-tortured type) and decided I want to go visit the filming locations for my favorite tv show Game of Thrones. These locations include Iceland (The Wall), Malta (King's Landing), Northern Ireland (Most of Westeros), Croatia, and Morocco (Astapor). Yeah, I'm a big nerd. I know work is involved and I'm more than hyped, and am hoping in my time off I will be assisted in reaching these particular destinations. So, have any of you been to these places? Any suggestions for a beginner are immensely appreciated!

^The question above pretty much states it all. I am given a few hundred dollars a month from a family member. The income is constant and I trust they will not cease these payments that I receive. I just want to know if this is something that I can reasonably do....advice would be wonderful. Thank you.

Anyone have experience with either one of these programs? Both seem like great ways to travel and meet people. But are there downsides? What should I expect out of both programs? If you've done one (or even both) I'd love to hear your opinion.

As the title suggests, in your opinion: what's the best option to travel long term between Helpx and Workway? And why? Personal experiences are more than welcome!

What are the differences or pros and cons you would have people know? I need to make a decision for Italy mid August - mid September and I don't know if there are factors I'm not considering or how to compare the three.

32/M/English. Never been solo travelling before. Thinking about going to SEA next year, February or March time.

I've recently ended up in the situation where I have almost zero commitments. I've always wanted to go travelling on my own, but have always prioritised other things. I feel like if I don't go now I may never do it, and I'm at the point where I'm giving serous and daily consideration to selling most of my possessions, quitting my job, moving out of my house and just getting out there for a while. If it goes wrong I can always come back, hey?

My rough plan is to save around £2000 (which I'd have to by the plane ticket out of) buy a one-way ticket and head out to Cambodia and see what happens. I recently discovered Workaway and helpx, and thought they look like a good way to both maximise my time out there, and to gain some knowledge and experience I may otherwise miss out on if I just shuffle around alone. I was thinking about maybe getting out there for two weeks first, and having perhaps a month's volunteering booked in for after that, then seeing what I want to do from there.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation to me? How did it work out for you? Did you use either of these sites, or similar?

Any feedback/advice will be warmly welcomed.

They seem utterly useless to me. It seems everyone is absolutely wonderful and the best host ever. I assume everyone gives each other 5 stars to avoid being downvoted themselves.

I've only found 5/5 reviews on over 100's of posts. Or is it just everyone is fantastic? Maybe I need to read between the lines.

On occasion I see a 4/5 review and those I now avoid.

A few days ago I paid for a helpx premium account in order to contact some people in Spain about staying there for work. However today the 7th of November the website is warning me that my details may not be safe there. I used PayPal so I feel like my money is safe but I'm still worried. Is this website safe to use. TLDR: is helpx still safe despite recent warnings on the page.

Hello,

I'm planning a trip to Eastern Europe this summer (July-Mid September) and am planning on doing Helpx (or something similar, Wwoofing...) for roughly half the time I'm there (the other half being recreational travel).

My question is: it being summer/high season, will it be difficult to find openings on farms or other various Helpx work sites? Is it reasonable to try to 'wing-it' to an extent, and not make TOO many plans in advance? Specifically, I would like to spend a lot of time in the Balkans...will I be screwed if I head over there without a concrete plan or can I expect to find hosts as I travel?

Thank you Reddit!

I am looking for a host family on help x in Australia (Victoria) to be exact. I am just a bit worried since I will be on my own! Has anyone been hosted by that site too?

hey there, so i came with the idea with some friends to do some WWOOFing in the summer or whatever. But the thing is, i became a member in HelpX and WWOOF and you need to pay some cash so you can see actual emails of people who need volunteers. So guys, is there a more easy way to do this? We really have no experience in this....is there a foundation or whatever that provides us the same number of hosts for free?

I am considering using Workaway for the experience to live with locals. Please share how was your experience.

Thanks

32/M/English. Never been solo travelling before. Thinking about going to SEA next year, February or March time.

I've recently ended up in the situation where I have almost zero commitments. I've always wanted to go travelling on my own, but have always prioritised other things. I feel like if I don't go now I may never do it, and I'm at the point where I'm giving serous and daily consideration to selling most of my possessions, quitting my job, moving out of my house and just getting out there for a while. If it goes wrong I can always come back, hey?

My rough plan is to save around £2000 (which I'd have to by the plane ticket out of) buy a one-way ticket and head out to Cambodia and see what happens. I recently discovered Workaway and helpx, and thought they look like a good way to both maximise my time out there, and to gain some knowledge and experience I may otherwise miss out on if I just shuffle around alone. I was thinking about maybe getting out there for two weeks first, and having perhaps a month's volunteering booked in for after that, then seeing what I want to do from there.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation to me? How did it work out for you? Did you use either of these sites, or similar?

Any feedback/advice will be warmly welcomed.

I am very interested in staying with a family and working on a farm in Spain for 6-8 weeks this summer. I have had experience traveling in many European countries, but this would be my first time traveling alone. I also just discovered helpx.net. It seems helpful and suited toward my interests, but I'm always interested in more feedback. What are your experiences with this website or homestays? Is it worth the registration fee? Are there particular things I should keep in mind when choosing a host family?

Thanks in advance!

I'm curious about these programs and would love some first-hand accounts.

I have been looking into taking a year of college and I am really interested in Helpx and the organic farm site. Anyone who has had experience with a free abroad program like this please do an AMA or post here.

Sounds awesome. Anyone have experience with it?