Apply Now

Digital detox, hiking and camping off-grid in beautiful nature

5.0
(11 reviews)11

The experience

LGBTQ+ fam welcome! Food is not included, and there's no running water or fridge. You must love hiking, camping, and be communicative with me. I need helpers with youthful energy to carry cat food up the hill , trash down, and to help with simple maintenance tasks during summer: personal assistants, basically. I prefer hosting couples or friends traveling together. Mandatory gear: solid shoes for rocky paths, sturdy backpacks, and headlamps.

What you offer

2 hours of help per day

Animal Care: Help look after and take care of animals.

What you get

1 day off per week

Tent: You will sleep in a tent at a camping site.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Basic Internet Access: Basic speed internet for you to work remotely

Requirements

Intermediate English

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

I live on my land with a colony of around 20 cats from June through September while renting out my house in town to tourists. The land is about a 40-minute walk uphill from town, through a shady forest, and I need helpers with youthful energy who won't mind carrying supplies such as cat food up the hill on a regular basis, and carrying trash down. It's becoming too much for me, and I need help.

There are also some simple land maintenance tasks I need help with, such as path trimming and weeding, which can be done sporadically whenever you feel like it. There are no set hours for working: the assignment is mainly to help me get supplies up and trash down, which will become a part of your going up and down the hill routine. I'm good at planning, so it's not like you'll be on call all the time: I'll let you know what's needed and when, and you can organize your life accordingly. In my experience, especially when people come as a duo, it's easy for them to organize themselves to bring up one big load of cat food that will last for several days, so they don't have to do it every day.

You'll be tent camping in a shady grove near a tiny house, on a parcel of land about a five-minute walk from where I stay. We won't be far from one another, but far enough so we'll all have privacy. I'll provide tents and bedding, and the tiny house has solar power for charging, although no fridge. There's also everything you need for cooking at the tiny house, plus a rudimentary bush toilet.

This offer is about being my assistant, basically, and in return you get to live off-grid in beautiful nature on a gorgeous Croatian island. Season is four months, for me, so if you're a good fit and want to stay all four months, that would be great! Otherwise, there's a one-month minimum.




Activities & Shift

As mentioned above, carrying things up and down the hill is the main thing I need help with. A bit of land maintenance work would also be nice: you can do this whenever you feel like it, say for an hour at a time, no stress. I enjoy doing my land work in the evening, once it cools down. It's meditative and fun!

If any opportunities for paying work such as housecleaning arise, I'll let you know. I usually do this myself, alone, but if I feel I need help, that could be an opportunity for you.

I really prefer hosting couples, but will accept solo travelers if you seem like a good fit.

I had to select something on the form to create this offer, and animal care was the closest match. You won't actually be caring for the cats other than helping me carry cat food up and trash (lots of crushed cat food cans) down. The cats will mostly stay on the parcel of land where I'll be, but some may wander over your way too.

Rules

NO SUITCASES! You'll need sturdy shoes for walking on rocks, a sturdy backpack for carrying cans of cat food up as well as bags of dry food and your own food, and a headlamp for whenever it gets dark before you're ready to head back up the hill.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY. We don't need to talk all the time, but I definitely want you to be able to check messages in case I need you for something. I'm very organized, so as much as possible will be planned in advance. That being said, I work with tourists in the summer, and there are sometimes surprises.