本文转自蚂蜂窝

目前的换宿和国际义工组织大概包括:

WWOOF http://wwoofinternational.org/   World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms

最早的换宿网站,知名度很高,着重于有机农场。这个网站是一个network一次收费,而且不同的国家可以看到都是一个相对独立的网站、组织,对wwoofers的要求也都不尽相同。

对于澳洲来说,18到80岁(我的妈呀,80了还折腾啥),身心健康。然后要求每天4~6小时的农场工作来换食宿。会员费用是75AUD一年(只有澳洲一个国家哦, 其中5 AUD是国际运费)赠送保险,里面有一本host的目录。以前论坛上说两个人一起的优惠些,我其实没有找到。。。目前wwoof不都是有机农场了。澳洲很多都是organic farm but not registration. 或者是nearly organic farm.这个网站上还卖volunteer的指导书,host的指导书,wwoof的T恤。大家可以参考选购。

这个网站知名度很高,在海外分公司同事面前一提,美国的基本都知道这个。欧洲差一些。但是helpx是基本没人知道的,当然他们也没用农场也不想去打工旅行。所以也是人之常情。wwoof收费贵一些,一个国家一年的会员资格。你如果想去其他国家还需要另外缴费。Helpx就便宜许多。

HELPX http://www.helpx.net/ Help Exchange

按年收费。20欧元两年。木有任何邮寄的东西,都是在网上操作。也不包含保险。这是个英国发起的网站,目前的network包括澳大利亚,新西兰,欧洲,美国,加拿大。剩下的统称international,我查了一下,斐济塞班岛什么比较冷门的也还是有的。这个上面有很多whv的host,除了中国以外,其他国家的whver的可选择性还是不少的,起码有新西兰和澳大利亚两个国家。所以很多农场主都写了we can sign your 2nd year visa.这个和咱们一点关系都没有。

另外,helpx有许多种catalog,organic farm stay, non-organic farm stay, homestay, B&B, young hostel, coffee shop 还有好多其他的。种类比较多,可能wwoof上也有但是我没有研究过。而且里面可以找到付钱的工作,后文详述。

IVHQ http://www.volunteerhq.org/ international volunteer hq

这两个国际义工旅行的组织就比较坑爹了。首先发达国家一个没有。义工嘛可以原谅。不过大家要记住,我们的目的是旅行并不是做苦力,之所以选择这些机构是因为我们穷,负担不起一个正常的花费中等的行程。所以需要沙发客、换宿。这些都不是很舒服的方式。当然我们也想帮助别人,其实呼吁大家在旅行的途中去保护当地的环境。不乱扔垃圾,不抽烟。节约水电。题外话了。

收费拿巴西为例,4周的program费就高达1030USD,这还不包括279USD的注册费,然后某些时候你还要自己出钱食宿。简直是太吓人了。而且4周的义工对于咱们来说是一个体验,对于当地的孩子呢?真的是好事吗?

GAPPER http://www.gappernet.org/ gap year

一个由中国留学生创建的网站并注册了公司,相对来说便宜点。具体项目具体收费,大家可以参考他们的网站。项目和地点都不固定,貌似是什么时候有了什么时候面试。

注 签证

所有的这些都不是你办签证的理由。 你办的依然是旅游签证(除了whv是一种单独的签证以外),所以如果你的host愿意协助你,给你邀请信,提供担保你可以考虑和签证官说实话,我就是去做helper/wwoofer然后穷游这个国家。不过这样真的好吗?不消费,然后利用他们的资源,还劳动。而且很有接受工资的可能性。

我们本来就是亚洲人,第三世界国家。我们穷是众所周知的,所以我认为给签证官一个这样的合理怀疑是不好的。即使wwoof越来越知名,相信对于签证官也不陌生。但是他们是否只相信德国、英国的学生在毕业季来临的时候面临着迷惘和彷徨需要放下一切来旅行,然后思考人生呢?然后中国的我们可能是为了滞留,拿工资。所以建议大家还是按照正常的旅游流程,做个行程单,一板一眼的来申请签证吧。至于申请好了去干啥,我的行程我做主。

申根签证最多停留3个月,而给你的日期取决于签证官,所以做行程的话日期一定要对应上。比如你要去做1个月的换宿,那么行程就做4周。

澳洲一年单次或者多次,一次三个月。所以行程随便做。

新西兰一年多次和两年多次,参考澳洲。

所以总结来看,澳洲和新西兰的签证很适合去换宿。因为停留时间常也比较flexible,美国基本普及了机械化。而且澳洲有美丽的大堡礁、大洋路等等,新西兰有霍比特人拍摄地(萤火虫哦),也都很适合旅行。其实我下次想去比利时做helper,一直忘不了布鲁日的运河、教堂还有我亲过的那只青蛙。现在想大吼一声:王子在哪里~~哈哈

由于收费便宜,我果断选择helpx

Helpx 技巧

一言以蔽之:as detailed as possible 哈哈

首先你付费之后,可以上传两张照片,一张简易露出你的五官,是近照。而另一张建议是动态的,比如你在和动物玩耍,你在劳作等等。 这是我的照片,原谅我把自己涂黄了。

然后你可以填写的资料就有一些基本信息,电话啦 email啦 年龄啦等等。下面这几个是需要填写的比较长的部分。你可以详细的介绍你自己,同时提出自己抽烟或者讨厌抽烟,对动物过敏,吃素等等。

Option 1: tell host about you(这里填写自己的基本信息 我写的很长。分为了概括、自我介绍、我想给host的话。附原文)

▲Brielfs:Non-smoker, fancy in kids and animals, good cooker(for Chinese courses),vegetarian(In my opinion, eating is not that important so being a vegetarian doesn’t mean I’m a pain in the ass. So it is not exclusive,I can cater myself easily and also be able to cook meats for hosts.)(我吃素,但是不介意别人吃肉)

▲Self-introduction:I’m currently located in Beijing, P.R CHINA. I haven’t been graduated (the last year of postgraduate). My major is criminal law and I work for PV industry which attracts me by the method of making the world better. Being a vegan more than 6 years. Quite open-minded and never judge people. A good cooker and super fan for animals. LOVE coffee, movies, reading and traveling.I will travel with my 8 Donald duck books. (最后一句因为亚航的行李限制,估计做不到liao)

▲Words I want to tell hosts:I don’t care to make my hands dirty which means I’m happy to do outdoors and farm work. I may not be able to lift extremely heavy stuff but willingly to do it in more turns. The reason why I joined helpx is to escape from mondern life few months. So I don’t mind if your farm/house can’t reach internet or cellphone signal. I just want you to know I’m a very happy and easy-going person who has lots of travel experiences and holds conversational English. So if you provide a place to live, 3 meals a day or raw material to cook, then I’m willing to exchange with 20~30 hours work per week.(其实就是想逃避一下现实生活,不用智能手机,慢慢的网速或者只能打电话,太阳能发电等等。所以才想去澳洲。)

 

Option 2: Reference (这个就是写出你以前做helper的经历,我是没有滴,相信大家大多数都和我一样。)

No, I haven’t been a helper before.But I’ve been travelling to Thailand, South Korea, Tibet, countries in Europe and other beautiful places. An experienced tourist and easy to adapt to new circumstances. (一个表决心的文)

 

Option 3: Companion wanted(你需要同伴吗?我不知道有多少人像我一样是一个人,因为这么大岁数的人都工作了,有几个时间能协调到一起?就算能,咋能有一个一致的目的地呢?所以我是一个人,但是我不介意和不认识的人搭伴。在这里写上你对companion的要求吧。)

I’m glad to have companion. Either boys or girls. My next destination would be Australia QLD at Jan,2015. Better near Brisbane as I have a classmate there. I plan to live a tech free life couple of months with animals, plants and kids. Looking forward to your message.

Option4: Feedback(这个得回来了再写)

当你编辑好了之后,猛戳你的profile,会有一个next destination(s),这个其实你注册的时候就让你选了。因为helpx是20欧元两年,你可以在两年期间随便修改你的network,所以在这里不要犹豫,我当然选澳洲啦。

这里要写详细点,一开始我只写了个我要在2015年1月去澳大利亚,然后都是我自己去联系host,并没有人主动联系我。后来我修改的就像淘宝关键字一样,然后就有很多人主动给我发邮件。例如Australia, Jan, 都是关键字,然后Queensland QLD我分别写了全称和简写。然后也列出了一些城市的名字比如布村,黄金海岸等等。

 

如果大家想搜一些关键字(例如paid,偷偷地)

Step1,点击你要去的国家,例如澳大利亚

Step2,选择区域,输入关键字

可以在search item上输入你要输入的关键字,然后选择区域,category就是farm啦 home或者B&B等等,一般我都不选就是All,然后photos最好选上with photos only,如果一个host连照片都不上传,是多么不靠谱的一件事啊。Video没有必要,然后我一般也选上reviews,多少总得有点评价吧。然后排序按照最后更新排序。搞定。

是要仔细阅读host的喜好的,请看这个host写的,有点长

Our emphasis is on your privacy as your accommodation is not in the house with us.

We currently have vacancies in December.

Assistance is required with putting up wire for a goat fence and helping remove branches and foliage from trees we have had cut down.

Please read my listing carefully all the way through before emailing me as you need to be aware of the kind of work you will be doing.

Please request specific dates when you contact me as I also rent out the cabin to paying guests and need to organise my bookings.

We offer great, private accommodation and food in return for 20 hours/week outdoor work (regardless of weather).While the work is hard, the accommodation is great! We also expect you to clean the cabin really well before you leave to ensure it is left as clean as you found it. This is not counted in your work hours.

There will also be work assisting with the landscaping around a large swimming pool which we’ve just installed. There will be lots of planting and mulching to be done. There will also be some digging and concreting work if you have construction skills.

We always like to welcome people with building or fencing experience and who can use a chainsaw safely.

WE DO NOT NEED HELP WITH LOOKING AFTER ANIMALS, HOUSEWORK, COOKING OR BABYSITTING.

We want help from people who are prepared to do outdoor work that requires physical labour and who don’t mind getting their hands dirty!

Accommodation is for COUPLES ONLY (no individuals please).We usually take people for two weeks but we are flexible.

Your OWN TRANSPORT is essential if you want to do any sightseeing.

PLEASE don’t request a placement if you don’t have a car unless all you want to do is work, swim in the pool, read books and watch DVDs, as you will be stuck here! Although I have to say that many of our previous helpers like hanging out in the cabin so much that they don’t bother doing much sightseeing!

Helpers will be housed in their own luxury cabin (interior shown in photos) with open plan bedroom/sitting area with TV & DVD player, large bathroom, deck with small kitchen, with fridge, microwave, small oven, electric frypan etc.

The large solar-heated swimming pool is now available for use but there is still lots of work to do, paving around it and landscaping.

Your accommodation is fully self-contained, completely separate from the main house and not over-looked by anyone so it’s very private and romantic!

Pre-paid wi-fi access is available at a basic cost so you just pay for what you use.

DVDs are available on loan from the hosts.

Bird life, kangaroos, wallabies, goannas etc abound.

You will be provided with all your food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You prepare your own breakfast and lunch and have them in the cabin.

Sometimes a prepared dinner will be delivered to your cabin, sometimes you will have dinner in the main house with the hosts and sometimes we will provide you with the food and you cook your own dinner.

The emphasis here is on your privacy and you having the flexibility to do your own thing.

We find it difficult to cater for vegetarians unless you are prepared to cook most of your own meals.

The hosts are a couple in their 60s with 5 grown up kids (no longer living at home) and 14 small grandchildren.

We have two goats and lots of native animals so you will see possums, kangaroos, wallabies, birds, large goannas etc.

Unfortunately, we cannot provide second year visas as we are not remote.

We think this place is paradise but it’s really nice to get help from willing workers.

我删去了地点信息,总结来看这个host提供的床和屋子非常豪华,原谅我不付图片了,但是他也说了需要hard work,然后如果你想去sightseeing请准备自己的车。但是这里也有游泳池、DVD等所以大部分的helper都喜欢lounging在这里。如果没有车的话出去是很困难的。host写的很明白了,不需要看小孩、看宠物、做饭和家务。如果这个时候你给他写信的时候再提出类似的问题说明没有好好看他的陈述。人家需要couple only,一个人的除非找到伴否则不要去给人家写信。

这个host显然不是我的style,所以我果断摒弃了。因为我不想要太辛苦的工作,也不想要那么豪华的住宿。而且我要去出去玩,很多host都会列明我可以顺便lift你去城里,或者你可以骑我的摩托车/自行车。如果性格不合的话,还是寻找下一家吧。

 

关于抽烟

大部分的host都是要求non-smoking,或者写了我不抽烟,但是我不介意你抽,只要不在屋子里就行。所以大家注意一下这个规定。或者有的农场主就直接说我们家是抽烟的,希望你不要介意。

关于吃素

这个是我的问题,我见过的几个hosts写着No vegetarian please 都please了弄的我也很惆怅,也有几个因为我吃素拒绝了了,虽然没说是这个理由但是也能看的出来。为了诚实我已经在我的profile里面写了我是个素食主义者,后来反而有很多veggie的家庭因此联系我,希望我去做很好吃的中国素菜。

投其所好

比如有孩子的家庭你可以多谈他的孩子,有宠物的家庭就表达一下你对宠物的喜爱。但是一定要真实因为时间长了是装不出来的。我是非常非常非常喜欢小孩和狗的,所以我看见孩子和狗本身就开始激动,话匣子打开了请原谅我。哈哈

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    感谢分享!