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Workaway – A Unique Travel Experience

Cathy Laurenzi — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 20:28:59 +0000

The Travel Sage

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Workaway – A Unique Travel Experience

Do you love to travel but have the need to travel cheap? When you travel, do you enjoy meeting locals? Do you ever dream about living in a different country for a while to immerse yourself in the culture? If so, consider joining the “workaway” community.

What is Workaway?

Workaways are a type of exchange where the host offers free room and board for an agreed amount of time in exchange for some type of assistance from the workawayer. The most well known site for these types of exchanges is workaway.info. There are alternative workaway sites, but workaway.info is the one I’ve used (both as a workawayer and as a host), so that is the one I’m going to focus on here.

How Workaway Works

Both hosts and workawayers create profiles on the workaway website which include photos. The hosts’ profiles contain a description of where they live, the type of help needed, and information about the hosts themselves, including what languages they speak. The workawayers’ profiles include general information about themselves, their interests, and their skills. There is plenty of space provided to share as much as you want about yourself and I think it helps a workawayer to get accepted if they take the time to write a good and thorough description of who they are. Hosts profiles are free, and at the time of this writing, workawayers pay an annual fee of $59 for individuals or $69 for a couples account. (Couples accounts are for any two people wishing to travel together, not necessarily couples.)

Before any profiles are published on workaway.info, they are reviewed by the website’s staff, but background checks are not conducted and identity verification is not mandatory. However, the site does offer optional ID verification for both workawayers and hosts at no additional charge. Anyone who is ID verified will have a badge on their profile.

Typically, it’s the workawayer who makes the initial contact by reaching out to hosts that they are interested in. Although not as common, it is also possible for hosts to search for workawayers and make the first contact. As a workawayer, it’s very easy to search for hosts based on location, but I’ve found that the search filters for types of work don’t work very well.

The type of help that hosts advertise for can be just about anything (although if you help them in a business, they are supposed to pay you something). I’ve read hundreds of host profiles and I found that the following are the most common types of requests, at least in Europe:

Building and renovation projects.
Childcare
Elder Companionship
Permaculture projects.
Help with gardening and housework.
Assistance with a foreign language.

I noticed that the majority of workawayers on the site are young (mostly 20’s and 30’s), so I was a little concerned that I’d have trouble finding opportunities, since I was 56 at the time I joined workaway. But, thankfully it hasn’t been a problem. Workaways provide a great opportunity for people of all ages, including seniors, to volunteer abroad. I think you just need to be realistic about whether or not you fit well with the needs and desires of each host before applying.

The reason I joined workaway was because I wanted to experience what it’s like to live in Italy. But I decided to do a workaway in the U.S. before trying to find one in Italy. There were a couple reasons for this. One reason is that the hosts and the workawayers review each other, and I wanted to get a good review on my profile before applying to well-reviewed hosts in Italy that may be competitive. The other reason was that I wanted to do my first workaway closer to home in case I hated it. Well, I’m glad to say that I didn’t hate my first workaway experience in Vermont. In fact, I enjoyed it very much, but I did discover there are some important things to consider.

Harvesting Garlic

How to Ensure a Good Workaway Experience

1. Scrutinize the host’s profile. In addition to reading the entire profile multiple times, pay attention to the details (or lack thereof) in the photos. Two young Italian women who my husband and I hosted recently had a pretty bad experience with a host before coming to our house. Although they said that the woman was very nice, the living conditions in the house were horrible. The photos on this host’s profile were kind of odd. Most of them had a very narrow field of view. For instance, one photo showed a plant and a small part of a fence, another photo showed an empty hallway, and there were no photos with people in them.

2. Read reviews carefully. I find that if a host is really nice, workawayers are reluctant to give less than a 5-star review, even if the experience warranted it. (This is also true of Airbnb hosts/guests.) So read each review carefully and critically, looking for any hints of criticism. The host profile includes both reviews they receive as well as the ones they give. Be sure to also read the reviews that the hosts have given; from those, you can gain a lot of information about what the host is expecting from their workawayers. Also, if you see that the host’s profile includes a lot more reviews that they’ve given than ones they’ve received, that can be a red flag! This was the case with the unpleasant workaway situation I described above. The host had given out six reviews but only received two, and one of those reviews was from someone who had stayed on their boat, not in their house.

3. Ask a lot of questions ahead of time. Most hosts like to do a video call before accepting someone. If they don’t ask for it, you should insist on having one. You’ll want to make sure you are comfortable talking to your host. Don’t ignore any negative vibes you might get during the call. Make sure you fully understand what to expect from your accommodations. The cabin I stayed in at my first workaway didn’t have running water or AC, and I went to the bathroom in a porta-potty outside my front door. This was pretty well described in the host’s profile, but if your host’s profile isn’t clear, be sure to ask very specific questions.

Downstairs Interior of My Cabin

Also, make sure you fully understand the type of work you are expected to do and the hours you will be working. Ask questions like, What time does work start?. Do we get breaks? What time do we usually finish in a day? The host profile might say no more than 5 hours a day, but when you get the fine details, you may find that it adds up to more.

If you won’t have a car, be sure to ask about transportation. Not just how you will get to the host, but also, how you might get around on your days off.

Ask about meals if the host’s profile wasn’t crystal clear. Will the host provide all of your meals? Will you have to prepare them or will the host cook? Will everyone in the house be expected to eat together? If you have dietary restrictions, be sure your host understands them up front.

4. Be realistic about your capabilities. If you are someone who typically spends most of your day sitting indoors, then you are going to be exhausted if your host is asking for 4 to 5 hours of help in the garden every day. Trust me. I learned that lesson.

5. Once you are committed, go in with an open mind and try to stay positive. Keep your expectations low and focus on meeting new people and learning about different ways of life. Your workaway might be everything you hoped for and more, but realistically, new places and experiences are seldom exactly what we imagine they will be.

There was another workawayer already there when I arrived at my first workaway on 50 acres in the country. She was a young woman in her 20’s from New York City who told me she was a country girl at heart. Apparently, she had done one other workaway on a horse farm and had found that really enjoyable. Well, I think the expectations she formed from her first workaway, made her miserable when she arrived and found a totally different situation. She even had a bedroom in the house with a bathroom right next door, so I’m not really sure what she found so objectionable. But after about 3 days she made up an excuse and left.

During that same workaway in Vermont, I struggled at first with not having a bathroom in my cottage. As promised, there was a port-a-potty right outside my front door, and my host kindly had it emptied before my arrival. Well, I learned that port-a-potties smell really bad right after they’re emptied, and the smell is magnified in sunny 90+ degree weather! I tried to avoid using it at all costs, which during the day was fine because I was allowed to use the bathroom in the house which was about a 10 minute walk up a hill. But when I had to go in the middle of the night, that walk really wasn’t feasible. And even after the smell subsided, I wasn’t comfortable going into the port-a-potty with no light.

Exterior of My Cabin Which was Part of a Garage/Barn

So, I improvised. I repurposed a 32 ounce plastic container that I’d brought with me to use as a pee cup. It took some practice, but I eventually got pretty good with my aim! Then in the morning, I’d throw the content over the steep incline adjacent to my cottage. I hope that story didn’t scare you away from doing workaways, but that is an example of why you should really think through what you’re getting into, and keep a positive outlook.

Despite unexpected hot temperatures, exhausting work, and bathroom challenges, I really enjoyed my first workaway experience. I got to take in a little of the Vermont local culture, I learned some new skills, but most importantly, I met some great people! And two years later, I met my goal of doing a workaway in Italy. Actually I did two workaways back-to-back for a total of 3 ½ weeks in northern Italy.

Outdoor Summer Concert in Brattleboro, VT

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Celebrity Apex 7 Day Cruise of Norway

Cathy Laurenzi — Mon, 19 May 2025 15:16:44 +0000

The Travel Sage

Celebrity Apex 7 Day Cruise of Norway

Heads Up: This page includes one affiliate link, which is marked by an astrick “*”. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. But rest assured – my opinions are my own, I would never recommend something I haven’t or wouldn’t purchase for myself.

Cruising the Norwegian fjords has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember, but it kept getting put on the back burner untiI in July 2024 when a friend told me that she heard that Norway was banning cruise ships from entering some of the fjords effective January 1st, 2026. I immediately did some research and found that she was correct – beginning in 2026, all cruise ships would be banned from the Unesco-designated fjords unless they were zero emissions vessels. Well, since currently there are no zero emission cruise ships, I decided to book a Norwegian cruise for 2025. I learned that the stops of Flam and Geiranger were both in Unesco fjords, so I booked a cruise that included both of them on the Celebrity Apex, May 10th, 2025. The good news for future travellers is that in late 2024, Norway changed its mind and prostoned the ban until 2032. So it’s not too late for you to see these magical places!

Our itinerary was as follows:

Sat, May 10
Sun, May 11
Mon, May 12
Tue, May 13
Wed, May 14
Thu, May 15
Fri, May 16
Sat, May 17

Southampton, England
At Sea
Nordfjord, Norway
Flåm, Norway
Geiranger, Norway
At Sea
Zeebrugge (Bruges), Belgium
Southampton, England

Depart 4:00pm

1:30pm to 7:30pm
8:00am to 4:00pm
8:00am to 4:00pm

10:00am to 5:00pm
Arrive 6:00am

——- Leaving out of Southhampton, England, our itinerary included: Nordfjord, Flåm, and Geiranger in Norway; Zeebrugge, Begium; and 2 days at sea. ——-

Celebrity’s Apex is one of their newer Edge Class ships, and this was my first time aboard one of these ships. I was immediately impressed with the contemporary decor, and when finding our way to our room, it felt more like a hotel than a ship. I booked one of their new style of “veranda” cabins. The veranda can either be an extension of the room or if you close the folding doors and put down the massive window it would then feel more like a traditional balcony. Overall I enjoyed this design, but it definitely has it’s pros and cons.

My husband, Mark, and I took this cruise with my nephew, Will, and his girlfriend, Ia. Of course, the first thing that we all did when we got onboard was to drop our bags in the room and head straight for the buffet. And the buffet did not disappoint! I’ve been on a lot of cruise ships, and the Apex’s buffet is my favorite to date. Not only was the food consistently great with a huge selection, the size and layout of the food stations keeps you from almost never having to wait in line for food (except, of course, for the desserts and ice cream). In addition to that, the tall ceilings gave the space a much more open and contemporary feel.

We spent much of the afternoon napping and unpacking, but I managed to find some time to explore the ship.

Our first full day was at sea. Mark and I headed out of the cabin to explore the entire ship deck by deck; but we got stuck on deck 5 when we wandered into a Captain’s Club welcome gathering. (Anyone who has sailed with Celebrity before is in the Captain’s Club and that included us.) You don’t want to miss these types of events because they always include free drinks. (And we really needed the free drinks with the ridiculously high prices on the Apex.) We had received an invitation to the party but didn’t see it beforehand. This gathering was held in The Eden, which is an absolultely beautiful, multi-level space with all kinds of seating arrangements.

That night while we were at sea, we went to the first big show of the cruise, called Crystallize. I can’t say that I understood the whole crystal theme, but the performers did a great job.

The following day was our first port – Nordfjordeid, and our first venture into the fjords. Two years ago I had traveled into Milford Sound in New Zealand, and I was hoping the Norweigan fjords would compare favorably to that incredible experience. I got up early that day in anticipation of seeing some dramatic sights as we entered the fjord, but it wasn’t exactly what I had imagined. Yes, it was beautiful, but it wasn’t very dramatic.

The port of Nordfjodeid was quite small with not much to offer. From what I gathered, this port is not frequented by cruise ships nearly as much as other ports in the area. The town of Olden which is deeper into Nordfjord, seems to be a better stop with a lot more options. We opted to check out the Viking Museum. The museum features a replica of the largest Viking ship ever discovered. Although the museum was quite small, it provided a decent amount of information, but I felt that it lacked information about the viking ships and life at sea. Anyway, it was a nice enough visit but I’m not sure it was worth the $20 per person we paid for it. We spent the rest of our time in port, wandering through town, and of course the guys had to stop to try some Norwegian beers.

Our ship was in port until 8pm that night, but we were back on the ship by around 5pm. I made sure to get up early again the next morning, because we were traveling into a another fjord (Sognefjord) on our way to Flam. Well, this fjord was better than I had imagined! It got light very early, and when I woke up before my alarm went off, my view out the window while lying in bed was a rock wall. It was every bit as spectacular as Milford Sound in New Zealand. And it is a much longer fjord than in New Zealand which meant we got many hours of spectacular scenery both on our way in and on our way out.

Most passengers were sleeping through the incredible scenery.

We had booked the scenic train in Flåm that goes to the little mountain stop of Myrdal and back. If you ever do this, be sure to sit on the side of the train that you board from. The best views are from that side, and we made the mistake of sitting on the opposite side. Although we did have some nice views, they weren’t nearly as spectacular as on the other side of the train. The train makes two brief stops on the way to Myrdal, including one to view a gushing waterfall up close.

We were even treated to a surprise performance at the falls which really made the scenery more special.

Sailing out of Sognefjord was just as spectacular as sailing in.

The following day was our last stop in Norway – Geiranger. I had heard that this fjord was the best one, and it did not disappoint! We saw hours of amazing scenery passing by so close it was difficult to get photos. Luckily, our phones can take wide-angle shots. I was surprised at the huge number of waterfalls found throughout the Geirangerfjord. The first 2 photos depict the Seven Sisters Waterfall and the Suitor Waterfall which are directly across the fjord from each other.

For Geiranger we had booked a minibus tour to a view point called Dalsnibba through Get Your Guide. This place is closed in winter and apparently was not supposed to be open yet (it was May 14th), but it opened for the day because there was a cruise ship in town. Well, I can see why it isn’t open in the winter. As the road climbed up the mountain, our green surroundings turned into a snowy wonderland. From the town and the ship you could see that there was some snow on the mountain tops, but we were shocked at home much snow! I was also quite surprised to see that a few people had rented tiny electric vehicles (with no side windows) and drove them the 45+ minute drive up to the peak in below freezing temperatures.

It was freezing at the top but the views were spectacular!

I snapped tons of photos on the way back down the narrow winding road, all the while fearing for my life as our driver/guide was turning around to talk to us and constantly gesturing with his hands!

We made 2 brief stops on the way down to take photos, and then our driver offered to drop us of at the visitor center which was a little above the town. We were so glad we took him up on that offer, because the walk back to town from that point followed a gushing waterfall and offered great viewpoints.

Once we reached town Mark and Will had to stop for more local beer, while Ia and I did a little shopping. Then I hurried back on board for lunch in the buffet and to squeeze in a nap before we headed back out of the fjord – I didn’t want to miss the scenery. The following day was a day at sea. We mostly just chilled out, but of course I had to make time for some serious family board game competition!

After a day at sea, we arrived at our last port, Zeebrugge, Belgium. The city of Bruges has been on my bucket list for quite some time, and the port of Zeebrugge is only a 30 minute drive away. So I used Viator to pre-book us a roundrip shuttle from the port into Bruges*. (And I’m glad I did because I paid $35 per person, and Celebrity charged $75 per person to drop people off at the same location.) Anyhow, I loved Bruges even more than I expected to! Unfortunately, we only had a few hours in the city, so we booked a free historical walking tour with Legends of Bruges.

One of the things that we learned on our tour was that there are over 1,500 kinds of beer brewed in Begium, and Belgians take beer drinking very seriously. Every beer must be consumed in the properly shaped glass for that beer. If fact, just to be sure you don’t make a mistake, each type of beer has a coordinating glass with its label on it. It was this beer culture that immediately convinced Mark and Will that they had to come back to Belgium!

In addition to beer, Belgium is known for its waffles and, more importantly, its chocolate. Before shopping for chocolate, we made a pit stop at the House of Waffles which, according to our tour guide, had the best waffles in town. The entire menu was made up of beer and waffles. Mark opted for the savory Americana waffle which was essentially a BLT plus egg between two waffles. I opted for a sweet waffle with ice cream and caramel. And for those who wanted to take waffles home, next door was a very posh Waffle Boutique.

After completing the waffle experience, we only had a short time to shop for chocolate before we had to hurry to catch the last shuttle back to the ship. Thankfully, Celebrity had a wonderful surprise in store for us for the last night of our cruise. One of the stations in the buffet, was converted into a belgium chocolate smorgasbord!

For me, that chocolate was the perfect ending to an awesome cruise!

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