Should I do a Workaway Program? Everything You Need to Know About Workaway

Looking to work short-term while traveling in exchange for free room and board? Workaday is a really good option to save some money, experience a version of travel that you normally may not have, and practice a new language.

So as long as you're willing to work a little bit and want a more authentic, longer travel experience, yes, you should do a Workaway program while traveling. If you aren't good at compromising, are traveling for a very short period of time (less than 2 weeks), and/or want luxury accommodations, then Workaway probably isn’t for you. You can find everything you need to know about Workaway right here in this post before you consider signing up and paying that fee (yes, there's a fee).  

What is Workaway?

Workaway is a website where you pay a yearly fee to have access to volunteer jobs that you can do while traveling. Usually the jobs include free room and board and at least one free meal (although frequently more). It’s up to the host, though, so make sure you read the posts to know what they’ll be offering you. You can also clarify with the host while messaging him/her. 

Essentially, Workaway is a way to pair you with hosts looking for workers. You can easily browse by country, region and/or keyword. There are slews of options in most countries in South America, which is where Ramone and I did two different Workaway programs. You can pick from hostels to breweries to farms to constructing a building. You can also decide if you’re okay with shared housing (hostels) or want a separate cabin or are okay with camping. As Ramone and I were traveling as a couple one of our top priorities was private lodging, but if I was to do this alone I’d probably pick shared housing. 

How Much Work Do I Have to Do?

Remember that this is a program that you do while traveling. The hosts are well aware that your top priority is exploring. Work hours are typically 5 days a week, and 4-5 hours per day, which still gives you plenty of time off. During both of our experiences the hosts were more than willing to shift work hours on occasion . 

However, if you’re not willing to work hard during those hours, don’t do Workaway. Or, at the very least, wisely choose the type of work that you’re doing. When Ramone and I volunteered on a farm, the ranch hand informed us that most of the Workawayers before us were unwilling to do manual labor (such as weeding, etc) and took forever to do even basic tasks like washing buckets.

If you signed up to work, then you should put in the work. How you act is also going to leave a mark on the hosts and how they view foreigners. 

How Much is Workaway?

As of July of 2019, here’s what Workaway charges for a yearly subscription (screenshotted directly from the Workaway website):

When Ramone and I did Workaway, it was a decent amount less: around $35 for a couple’s account. And that was less than two years ago. 

Workaway Pros and Cons

The Workaway Webpage

I like Workaway's feature that allows you to choose between a couple's account or a single account. Additionally, you can link your individual account to friends that you are traveling with to make the process even easier. 

Rather than going through any 3rd party person, you communicate directly with the hosts so there shouldn't be any miscommunication (although if you're communicating in a second language, there may be).

You can also see how hosts are rated. Although it's frustrating to message hosts and not get a reply, they do get rated on this. So, make sure you check out the reply rate and average reply time before sending over a message! And, keep in mind that they're working and internet can be patchy, so it may not be that they want to ignore you.

A nifty little thing also shows the host's availability, which is of course important to know. However, in my experience there are many hosts that don't consistently update this section. 

Tips to Finding a Host

 Finding a host is easy enough: You search and filter through what you're interested in, and then message the host. But here’s where it gets a little tricky. My first impression was that I should reach out to one host and see if he/she wanted to have us volunteer there. 

I realized quickly, however, that some hosts just don’t respond. Again, check out how the host is rated for this so that you know what you're getting yourself into. If the post is in English, you can usually assume that you can send a message in English -- however, the host may specify what language to message him/her in, and of course it may make a better first impression to message in the language of the country you're in.

The takeaway: Don't feel bad about reaching out to 4-6 hosts from the get-go, as probably not all of them will respond. Then, it’s a matter of figuring out which one you want to work for and coordinating schedules. It's not a big deal if you turn down an option if you do get a few replies. 

Some hosts are cool with scheduling in advance; others aren’t. I tried to schedule a month in advance, and it really just wasn't possible. So it’s okay to wing it on Workaway; you’ll still find something.

What Type of Host Should I Choose?

Figure out what you’re interested in and search for those options. List out what your priorities are. There are generally so many options that you can easily filter what you’re interested in. 

Here're some basic things you should consider, and rank them off of priority, as you may not be able to get everything you want:

Pucón was a short bus ride away; the bus came about every 25 minutes, although we were sometimes able to hitchhike into town as well. We were given a 30% discount at the restaurant our host owned, although it was slightly upscale so prices were not exactly cheap. 

Buses would stop at around 9:30 p.m., so we normally couldn’t stay too late in Pucón. One time we accidentally missed the last bus and had to take a pretty expensive taxi ride back, which we weren’t too thrilled about. 

Don Carlos and Ruth were amazing. They took us to Volcan Villarica, bought us apple chicha, and had a barbecue for us on our last day. Pamela also took us whitewater kayaking for free with her friend, which was a first for me. We also had ample time to explore Pucón and the surrounding area 

Our Experience in Peru: Volunteering at a Choco Museo

In Peru we volunteered in Ollantaytambo at the ChocoMuseo there, which is a foreign-owned chocolate shop and museum. They have locations throughout Peru. All the chocolate and coffee is harvested from Peru, and they partner only with farms that pay their workers fair wages. All of the workers (besides us as volunteers) were local Peruvians. 

We were again responsible for getting there. We took a bus to Cusco, and then a van to Ollantaytambo, which wasn’t far at all. Once in Ollantaytambo, we just walked to the ChocoMuseo (they knew we were arriving, and Ollantaytambo is so small that it would probably be impossible to get lost) and then we were walked to where we were staying.

Where we stayed was about a 5-7 minute walk from the ChocoMuseo, and it was essentially on the roof, where the owners had built one room (the bedroom), a small bathroom and a small outdoor kitchen, which had a two-burner gas stove and a table, so no refrigerator. The bed was large (probably a queen) and very comfortable. 

The owners of this house were not the hosts, but rather our host paid them whatever amount per month to have the workawayers stay there. 

We did have to walk outside on the roof to get to the bathroom and kitchen, so they weren’t exactly grouped together. There was also a large industrial outside sink, which we used to hand-wash our clothes. We weren’t granted access to the owners’ washer, although we’re still unsure why. The roof had a clothesline, which the owners used as well as us to dry clothes. 

The biggest annoyance was the issue with hot water. Sometimes there would be no hot water for the shower. It seemed to have something to do with if they were using hot water in their house, but they always denied this. They did eventually replace a part, which helped it somewhat, but it was still shotty. So some days we either just didn’t shower or took quick cold showers. 

We worked Wednesday through Sunday at the ChocoMuseo, from 2:30 p.m. to ~8:30 p.m. We always stayed to help close, but I don’t think that that was required. We actually ended up changing our schedule, because the general manager also went on vacation while we were there, so she had us work everyday that week and then granted us more days off when they came back. We actually preferred this personally. 

Our duties involved translating in the shop for English-speaking guests; sampling chocolate; doing tours and chocolate workshops for English-speaking guests; and occasionally helping take orders in the café if needed. We weren’t there during peak tourist season, so it would get busy but not outrageously so. Work was pretty relaxing and we thoroughly enjoyed our co-workers. 

We also received an 8 soles lunch stipend on the days we worked (you can get lunches for 6 soles at the local restaurants), so we did have to foot the bill for most of our meals. We generally bought food from the market for breakfast and cooked ourselves, and then ate a late lunch and occasionally a late dinner if we were hungry again. 

Ollantaytambo was also a perfect home base for exploring the Sacred Valley. We were able to go hiking in the mornings (so many free day hike options) and then come back and work at 2:30 p.m. There were also restaurants and a few bars that we could go to within walking distance of our home, so we didn’t have to rely on public transit to get into a town or city. 

So again, the experience was definitely worth it. We saved so much money staying here for a month while traveling the Sacred Valley. 

What We Didn’t Like About Our Experiences

Our only main issue was with the owners of the place we stayed at in Ollantaytambo. They weren’t very welcoming and the issue with the hot water would’ve been less of an issue if our host wasn’t paying them to have us stay there. 

We loved everything on the farm, although I was taken off of washing the lettuce because apparently I wasn’t doing the best job at it. The lettuce would go directly to the restaurant, where they’d use it both in their meals and sell it by the bag. Washing lettuce picked directly from the garden is harder than it sounds, okay?? That, and I’d much rather be weeding anyway. But I’m still a little sore about that.

It can be a crapshoot going into an environment that you don’t know is going to be good or not, but absolute worst-case scenario you leave early. This isn’t ideal because you’re most likely screwing over your host, but if it’s unbearable then it may at that point be mutual.

Is Volunteering Through Workaway a Responsible Way to Travel?

 I think so. But I’m a little torn on this one. What I don’t I want to do is take away someone’s job because I can do it for free in exchange for lodging/food. That’s privilege at its finest when it comes to budget traveling.

Of course, the benefit of Workaway is that it makes traveling more accessible and allows for more of a legitimate exchange of information between residents and tourists. It allows for you to contribute, travel cheaper, and gain a more authentic experience. 

The best thing to do is to be selective about who you’ll volunteer for. It’s always better to volunteer for a local organization, rather than one run by foreigners. ChocoMuseo was practicing sustainable habits and hiring locals, but yes, at the end of the day it is a foreign-owned business operating within Peru. The farm in Pucón was built, operated and run by Chileans. 

At the ChocoMuseo, we provided English translation that the local workers seemed very happy about, so we felt like we were supplementing their job, rather than taking a job. Most of them didn’t know much English at all, and so it was stressful for them to have to try and communicate in English with tourists that sometimes wouldn’t even attempt Spanish (this is a whole different problem: see what I have to say about that). Whether you like it or not, when you’re in an area that’s run off of tourism, you need some English speakers around.

We also did get a lot of Spanish-speaking guests, and so it was good practice for both Ramone and I to speak Spanish with them as well. 

I would say to be very careful if you’re volunteering at a hostel: try and ascertain who the owners are, and also look up the hostel's reputation. 

There are also a decent amount of foreigners that post on Workaway looking for help building an eco-friendly house or their business or whatever else it may be. It’s up to you on if you want to support this or not. Again, you can pick who you work for.