Supporting Our Travel Life: Worldpackers

When we first were looking to travel the world, we felt like we needed some guidance. The world is a big place so where do we start?

"Worldpackers is a collaborative platform that connects travelers with hosts worldwide, allowing travelers to volunteer their time and skills in exchange for accommodation and other benefits. It facilitates cultural exchange, travel on a budget, and opportunities for personal and professional development."

This sounded like a great start! Let's do some research and provide you with what i found:

• You volunteer your time in exchange for accommodation. Sometimes food and sometimes additional benefits e.g. Laundry/Pick up/ Local Discounts.

• There are a range of volunteer opportunities

  • Work Exchange

  • Schools & Social Projects

  • Farm Work, Ecovillages & Permaculture Projects

• There are 140+ Countries to visit

• They have a safeguard & support team that you can contact 7 days a week

• You can chat to travellers who have been at that exchange before through the secure platform to ask them how their experience was and any questions you may have

• Likewise you chat to the hosts through the platform so all it is safe

• Reviews are honest - You write a review at the end of your stay, as does the host about you, after both have been submitted then you get to read them. This allows honest first hand reviews

• Subscription varies depending on solo/couple and what cover you would like - 1 Year

• Looking at similar exchange sites, Worldpackers had overall better reviews in all aspects

To me these all sound like good points enough to give it a go! So we went ahead, paid the one time fee for the Couples/Friends Pack and away we went looking for our first experience.

Where to start? Well where do you want to go...

We wanted to start off in America, specifically Florida as we have friends there so that would be a nice start to the trip. Finding a farm in Old Town Florida that harvests & sells blueberries, Tumeric and Peaches sounded just the right thing!

We clicked apply, selected our dates of travel and then introduced ourselves. From there we went back and forth with the host making sure it was the best fit for everyone and we confirmed the trip. That was pretty easy. Then everything else was up to us - booking our flights, figuring out our transport to the farm ect.

It was nerve wracking turning up to a place you have never been before, where you be working and living for a while. It took a little bit of time to get used to the surroundings and living with other strangers, but those strangers quickly became friends. We worked the hours asked, which was 5 hours a day for 5 days a week and then the rest of the time was ours. We could go explore the town, beaches, Springs. Go kayaking, play volleyball or just relax on the beautiful farm in the sun. We couldn't have asked for a better first exchange! When it was time for us to head out, we took away a ton of knowledge, not just about the work we did, but also about the world in general. Chatting and swapping stories with the volunteers and our host really opened our eyes to different perspectives and opportunities out there.

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Starting our Worldpackers journey, we have been to 6 different experiences and we are not stopping there. It has been a great way to support our travel, providing us with accomodation, food and a different way of life that is exciting and fulfilling.

If you would like to start your Worldpackers journey, head over to their website & use the code ASH10 to receive $10 USD off your subscription

Click Here to check out Worldpackers