Worldpackers: Gateway to Adventure on a Budget!
If you're traveling and yearning for an experience that combines natural beauty, outdoor activities, a creative outlet, and cultural exchange, Worldpackers might just be the perfect opportunity for you!
In this blog post, we'll dive into information about Worldpackers and how it has helped us have an amazing experience in the Blue Mountains, located in New South Wales, Australia. We were able explore the town of Katoomba while working to get projects done for our host. It felt so good to see the differences we were making, friends we were gaining in the process, and having such a welcoming host who truly valued our contributions made it worthwhile.
What is Worldpackers?
Worldpackers is an online platform that connects travelers, like us, with hosts around the world who offer accommodations and experiences in exchange for volunteer work. This unique concept allows us to explore new destinations affordably while immersing ourselves in local culture and gaining valuable skills.
How Does Worldpackers Work?
Worldpackers makes the work exchange process really simple. Here's how to do it:
Create a Profile: As a "Worldpacker," you create a profile highlighting your skills, interests, and travel goals. You must pay for an annual membership and dictate if you’re traveling as a pair or solo. Mason and I applied as a couple and the cost was $49 USD for a year!
Search for Opportunities: Browse through a vast database of hosts and projects in various countries. You can choose from a variety of experiences, such as working at a hostel, on farms, eco-projects, gardening, pet sitting, and lots more.
Apply to Hosts: Once you find a project that aligns with your interests, send an application to the host explaining why you're a good fit.
Connect and Plan: If the host accepts your application, you can start planning your trip. Discuss your arrival dates, responsibilities, and duration of your stay.
Start Your Adventure: Head to your destination, stay at your host's accommodation, and contribute your skills in exchange for lodging, sometimes food, and often, valuable learning experiences.
Benefits of Worldpackers for Travelers:
Budget-Friendly Travel: One of the most significant advantages is the savings. Instead of spending a fortune on accommodations in Australia, we are working for our stay, which drastically reduces our travel expenses if we were to come to here and visit on our own. In reality, it would have cost at least $80 USD per night for an accommodation.
Immersive Cultural Experiences: Traveling as a Worldpacker has allowed us to to immerse ourselves in the local culture. We are living with locals, eating their local dishes, and learning cultural differences.
Skill Development: Worldpackers offers opportunities to acquire new skills, whether it's learning to cook, developing gardening expertise, practicing your painting, or honing communication abilities there’s a guarantee you will leave having learned something.
Meet New Friends: By working with hosts and meeting other travelers, we are dropped into a social network. These connections can lead to new friendships, travel partners, or even job opportunities in the future!
Boost Your Resume: The skills and experiences gained through Worldpackers can enhance your resume. Some hosts may even offer to provide a reference for you!
Discover Unique Destinations: Worldpackers offers opportunities on off-the-beaten-path that one might not consider otherwise. We likely would not have picked to spend two weeks in the Blue Mountains if we didn’t coming across the job. It’s a great way to see towns that otherwise would be hidden gems.
What did we do during our time in the Blue Mountains?
From exploring the town to getting our hands dirty working, our days here were not wasted. When we arrived off the train to Katoomba, we were greeted by our amazing host and introduced to the three other Worldpackers we’d get to befriend and work with. We were all relatively close in age and our living arrangements felt nothing short of home. We were pretty lucky! After we got situated, our host chatted with us as a whole to discuss the big projects she’d love to have done. She was very clear that she was not a micromanager, that we all should contribute 20 hours/week as stated online, and was very encouraging that we make time for fun. Luckily, we all worked really well together and were able to accomplish so much in a matter of two weeks!
The tasks ranged from painting hallways, doing the trim, chopping down a tree, weeding the garden, painting a fence, and adding a mural to her backyard. It usually worked out that we would spend roughly five hours a day working and would have three full days off. Our host was flexible and pushed for us to go explore on days when the weather was nice. We were pretty spoiled to say the least!
Some of the big things we got done are listed below:
Entrance hallways were sanded, painted, and trimmed
Front garden weeds pulled
Back garden weeds pulled
Succulent garden weeds pulled
Front fence and archway were painted
Cherry tree was chopped down thanks to Mason
Branches and tree trunk were chopped and stowed away so they can dry out to use for the fireplace
A beautiful mural was painted
Mason replaced a deck railing, fixed the gutters from leaking, and handled a plumbing issue he found
I should mention that Mason took on these house projects as if it were his own home and our host noticed that instantly. It was amazing to see how quickly he would get something done. I think I got used to this in the past when he did house projects for our home in Kansas City but I was reminded by how appreciative others were of his work ethic. He’s a keeper, that’s for sure and I’m pretty lucky!
Outside of the house work, we got to share dinners with our host and new friends! We got introduced to Yorkshire puddings, an English roast, and goon! Of course we tried the Tim Tams and Vegemite as well and showed them green bean casserole, had lots of my homemade bread, and made them spicy margaritas!
Volunteering at this welcoming home in the Blue Mountains gave us a a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immerse ourselves in Australia's natural beauty, culture, and creativity. Not to mention, the accommodations were outstanding, the new friends were lovely, and the work was rewarding to see come together over our two weeks.
So, if you're traveling and looking to make a difference while exploring the world, consider Worldpackers! Head out to the Blue Mountains as Katoomba will now hold a special place in my heart!
