Working for Room and Board

A different way to see a country and stretch the budget 

Within two weeks of arriving in Dublin, I got a job offer for a hospitality position. I was excited, this was what I had come to Ireland for – something different (I’ve worked plenty of customer service jobs, but never hospitality).  

However, due to how the visa system works in Ireland (stupidly), it was not to be. I was gutted…for about an hour. Then I got to chatting to someone at the hostel I was staying in that week and she told me about the amazing platform; Workaway (not sponsored, just a fan). 

Workaway

For a smallish fee, you can sign up to Workaway as a host or a traveller (Workawayer) and the platform facilities communication between the two parties. Both hosts and Workawayers set up profiles. 

On the Workawayer side, you say what skills you have, where you’re travelling, what your interests are. A bit like a profile on LinkedIn but less corporate.

On the host side, you say what accommodation you offer, what work you need doing and if food and/or pay is provided. 

Hosts look for a wide variety of work, like childcare, gardening, farm help, elder companionship, and housekeeping to name a few. Unless a host is paying, they’re not supposed to require more than 5 hours of work a day, 5 days a week. A few offer payment but most places just  offer a room and food. Some hosts only want one Workawayer at a time, others (the more commercial places) take up to ten at a time. 

County Kerry

The platform offers amazing opportunity to try all sorts of different things that I never would have considered trying in my normal life. A chance to taste test a potential new career field for a week or six. 

My first placement was with a family in County Kerry, helping with childcare a few hours a day while their dad was travelling for work. 

I was there for six weeks, and for the first two, I was trying to get my bearings and get the hang of living with a family. Once I settled in though, I had a really good time. There were two kids, seven (S) and three (E), and my main duties were to look after E while S and her mum went to the stable to ride their pony. There were also times when I entertained both kids so their mum could get some stuff done or I helped with household chores. 

The kids were delightful, and it turns out I do, in fact, have a lot of patience – as long as the people I’m dealing with are under the age of twelve. We played the same game – lets call it jumping ponies, where the girls pretended to be ponies show jumping/racing and I commentated the events – every day for most of the time I was there, sometimes for hours! 

My host was really good about giving me opportunities to explore the local area. They live in the countryside, somewhere between Kenmare and Killarney, so the only place I could get to on foot was the local tavern/shop, about a 40 minute walk each way. Every time the family went somewhere, they took me with. Sometimes, like when we went to Killarney to meet some friends at the play park, I went to explore by myself. Then there were times like when we all went to the beach for a walk, and the zoo, and to S’s pony riding competition. 

Not only did I see parts of County Kerry I never would have gone to if I’d been traveling Ireland in my usual way, I got a taste of country life. I never thought country life would appeal to me – too muddy. But you know what? It’s not half bad! 

Another assumption I had always made about myself was that I didn’t want to work in childcare. For all that the kids were delightful, I was right all along, looking after other people’s children is not for me. But now I know for sure! And I never have to wonder about it! 

Also, I stumbled across this abandoned church, which was creepy and so fascinating. I was half convinced that when I crossed the threshold, I’d enter a fairy kingdom. As far as I know, I stayed in the mundane world, which is a relief – I would not survive a fairy tale. 

Other highlights from County Kerry were some spectacular views and this stone circle from way back when where I am 100% sure humans were sacrificed to pagan gods. 

County Kilkenny

Once I started getting placements, I decided to try get placements in a different county each time. 

My second placement was about a twenty minute drive from Kilkenny the ‘city’.

My host was a woman who works for one of the big US tech firms based in Dublin and I was one of four Workawayers she was hosting at the time.

 Her house was a beautifully renovated farmhouse – like, Home&Garden magazine worthy. I’ll be fantasising about her kitchen for a long time. 

The Workaway tasks involved gardening, feeding the hens, collecting eggs, walking the dogs and painting a couple of benches. 

My host’s gardens had been devastated by a recent storm, so a lot of our gardening work was tidying up the mess, but we did also get to do some planting. 

We were lucky with the weather, with very little rain. Mostly, the harshest weather we had was a few chilly mornings. Mostly, we had very temperate spring weather. 

I really enjoyed the gardening. I’ve done gardening before (I dug my own garden at my house) but it turns out, a couple of hours of gardening is a lot more fun if you’re not trying to fit it around your weekend chores after a long week of the corporate grind. 

I found being outside for half the day, every day, is incredibly refreshing for the soul. My back hurt, and my nails are absolutely ruined despite the gloves, but I felt so, so good. 

The chickens were fun, especially when they came to investigate the holes we were digging for the plants. Walking the dogs was a nice way to end the work day and I started thinking…maybe I should trade in my townhouse for an acre or two…

Of course, my feel good vibes were probably helped along by the food this host provided. An absolute feast for every meal. It was spectacular. I’ve never eaten that good. In her profile, she describes the food she provides as ‘simple Irish cooking’ but I beg to differ; there is nothing simple about planning and putting together that many dishes. On the weekends we even got homemade breakfast muffins! 

This host was also good about making sure we had plenty of time in Kilkenny, the ‘tiniest big city’. It counts as a city only because it has two cathedrals – there is nothing about its size that would lead you to think it’s a city. Thanks to my host, I had plenty of time to explore, including admiring the impressive castle and walking around its grounds. We were also in town for St Patrick’s day. We saw an American marching band perform, watched the parade and I rode the ferris wheel. 

I didn’t necessarily click with my fellow Workawayers, but we got along fine and the two weeks I had in Kilkenny were very enjoyable. 

County Wicklow

Did you know Ireland has hills? I had heard the rumour, but Kerry and Kilkenny had led me into a false sense of security and I forgot! Right up until I was walking up one of those hills with all my luggage – thank goodness I’d already sent my suitcase home! 

Normally, a host will offer to pick up a Workawayer from the local bus or train station. But this time, I wasn’t being hosted by a family or individual. This time I was working in a non-profit youth hostel. A very remote hostel. In the middle of the Wicklow mountains. Obviously, I didn’t pay enough attention to the location. There’s a forty minute walk from the closest bus stop, which would be fine if I had been expecting it and if I hadn’t been wearing my big coat on what turned out to be an unseasonably warm day with hands too full to take the coat off. 

But I made it to the hostel in one piece, where I was greeted by friendly faces and a bed in a dorm. 

There are between eight and ten of us Workawayers. Our job is housekeeping – changing sheets, cleaning bathrooms and the kitchen, mopping floors. It’s labour intensive but usually only two or three hours of work a day. In this placement, the work is the least of the experience. 

The view from the hostel is – as the Italians in the group would say – am-MAZE-ing! There’s a river down the lane, and so many hikes and lakes that even I got worn down and did a hike – on purpose! 

Without luggage, the walk to the bus stop doesn’t feel as long, so regular trips to Bray (the closest town with a supermarket) was on the cards – partly because the is the only placement I’ve had where food isn’t included in the deal. 

Between the isolation, sharing rooms and the team bonding work, the Workawayers all grow quite close. It’s not at all cult-ish, I promise! We hung out together a lot (sometimes just to hide from the guests) and usually eat our meals more or less together. We go for walks, runs and hikes in ones or twos. One group trip to Bray resulted in some of us (me included) having a very quick swim in the freezing Irish Sea. Another trip into town led to a game of Lasertag where someone (not me) ran into a wall and chipped their tooth. We even had a big Easter celebration that included an easter egg hunt (big eggs were ‘hidden’ for me to find so I could participate).  

The intentional, 26km hike I did in the mountains was with a fellow Workawayer. The accidental, 10km hike I did up the Bray Head I did alone – but the view was great (once I got a lookout the pics I took anyway). 

The hostel I’m staying at, Knockree, has a sister hostel who also takes Workawayers in Glendalough where we had the option to go spend a night or two on our days off to explore that part of Wicklow. I, intrepid traveller that I am, took advantage. The location is lovely, of course, but the weather was crap (pretty much the first really bad weather I’ve had since getting to County Wicklow) and the absolute best part was having a room to myself (not that my roommates are terrible to live with, and I’m not just saying that because they might read this). 

Time moves differently at Knockree. My stay was for a month and I never felt overly busy or rushed, nor did I ever get bored, but when the roster came out for my last week I was caught off guard. It feels like no time has passed at all. 

Again, this is a part of the country I probably wouldn’t have seen and definitely would not have experienced so thoroughly if I’d just been passing through and hadn’t spent the month exploring

And here’s the requisite abandoned church – although it does seem like this one is being maintained to some degree. 

More experiences to come

I’ve had overall good experiences with Workaday, but I have heard some horror stories. There is always that risk if you’re going into a stranger’s home for an extended period of time. In saying that, I would still recommend it to anyone who is wanting to travel long term on a tight budget. Turns out most of your expenses are transport, accommodation and food, so if food and accommodation are covered…

I’ve still got a few more placements lined up, and I’m looking forward to them and to seeing different parts of Ireland’s countryside. I will continue to look for those picturesque abandoned churches and keep my mind open to new experiences. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find out my undiscovered passion is beekeeping. 

Those couple of acres back in New Zealand are sounding more and more appealing…