WWOOF

! had the best experience of my life WWOOFing!
Wonderful, kind, knowledgeable hosts teach organic growing techniques. Passionate with love of the planet & passing on skills & techniques.
I learned how to plant trees, make compost, grow food, feed and care for sheep, alpacas, chooks, pigs and cows. I milked for the first time of my life and we cooked several delicious dishes with fresh organic ingredients.
I also met other WWOOFers who became friends and with whom I travelled between Hosts.
I wholeheartedly recommend WWOOFing as a fantastic way to trave, meet local people, share their lives for a while and make lifelong friends.

WWOOFing is one of my favorite ways to travel because I get to see new places and meet amazing people, all while getting my hands dirty.

I stayed on a local farm in Port Angeles with host's Tammy and AJ. They were so warm and welcoming. It felt as though they were my family. We worked hard but we also laughed hard. We ate meals together and overall just enjoyed the experience all around.

I picked thousands of blackberries, fed chickens/pigs and used apples that had already fallen to make homemade applesauce (YUM!!). I love fresh produce and there was certainly no lack of that here. My favorite memory/feeling was how comfortable I felt after 5 minutes of being with Tammy and AJ. They truly made me feel at home.

10/10 will be back!

My host farm was located in the outskirts of Hiroshima, about an hour by bus on a winding mountain road, in a tiny, half-abandoned village of 100 people. While scrolling through several host farm profiles on the WWOOF Japan website, the family-owned organic cafe featured on one had me sold and I quickly messaged the host to see if he openings for my friend and I. The farm portion of our host "farm" was quite different from what we expected, as it was the family's personal gardens consisting of 3 rice paddies and a weedy vegetable patch. Although we spent some time in the fields weeding, the bulk of our time was spent helping out at the village's only cafe. Our responsibilities mainly included opening and closing the restaurant, food prep, serving customers, and doing dishes. Essentially we provided a huge help for all the tasks the single cafe cook didn't have time for.

Everyone's experience will definitely depend on their host farm, hosts, living situation, and location. Although my first time WWOOFing definitely blew my expectations out of the water and I was at times discouraged, I would definitely love trying out WWOOF again. Even if circumstances seemed less than ideal at first, I reminded myself I was there to work, not get pampered on vacation. You will be helping out people's real businesses and livelihoods, and in return receiving home-cooked meals and accommodations.

WWOOF-ing is seriously one of my favorite things to do, and I think New Zealand (with its welcoming, cheerful, and can-do attitude) has been one of my favorite places to do so.

WWOOF-ing is really what you make of it. You purchase a membership for minimal cost (I think NZ cost me about US$20 for a year membership) in order to access the contact info for hosts all around the country, and these hosts range from small subsistence gardens to wineries to sheep farms to orchards, to whatever. The hosts that you first contact don't always have room to take you in during your preferred days, but there are so many options it will be difficult to not have a place to go. During my time there I was able to work in gardens, help clean and repair boats, help shear sheep, pick fruit in an orchard, help my hosts run some of their rafting company tours, dig on the beach for food, work in a vineyard, and much more.

You get to learn so much about the country and the people by living and working with them--often times your hosts will practically adopt you and take you on outings to amazing places that are literally in no guidebooks (I've checked at multiple bookstores) or suggest activities or ways to get around. You also learn a lot about yourself and come away a stronger person for the experience.

If you have the time and want to fully immerse yourself in Kiwi culture, I would highly recommend WWOOF-ing. Once you're there, it's practically free, and you have a decent amount of free time outside of the hours you have to work that you can go exploring.

I think WWOOF-ing is my favorite way to travel. You get to stay with local people (and occasionally other traveling WWOOF-ers) and dive into and learn about the host culture. I always enjoy spending time with people and being useful, and I adore the outdoors, so this program is perfect for me.

The hosts will often place a great deal of trust in the WWOOF-ers that they host, and I was fortunate enough to live in a yurt next to a reconstructed 16th-century home in Wales, work in the garden, chase sheep around, and help with the transport and reconstruction of historical houses for an archaeological company! All of this took place in a gorgeous patch of farmland in central Wales in the company of people from Wales, France, Scotland, Singapore, Taiwan, and England.