Back in the nineties I had a boss who we can call Pat for the sake of simplicity. Pat was living near Granville Island around Christmas time and feeling sad that one of her children would be away for the holidays travelling in Asia. As she walked through the market she ran into a young man wearing a backpack, buying food at one of the stalls. She got to talking to the fellow and discovered he was going to be in Vancouver away from home for Christmas for the first time in his young life. Pat invited him to join her family for Christmas dinner.

After the fire last year, and following health related issues, we fell far behind on all the chores that needed to be completed. There was no room at the top of the list for any more urgent items as everything needed to be done sooner, rather than later. Just the firewood alone waiting to be split was overwhelming.

My friend here on the island had decided to join a work exchange program where one can host travelers from anywhere in the world and, in return for room and board, the guests would work 4-5 hours per day, on mutually agreed upon chores. The program is called Workaway and you can host people to help you with everything from wood splitting to sheep herding; from childcare to housecleaning or window washing. These opportunities are posted for free by hosts all over the world and the travelers pay to have access to the host profiles. With accommodation being the most expensive part of travelling, the program enables visitors to visit countries they might not otherwise be able to afford to visit, in return for a few hours of labor.

We signed up in an effort to get some much needed help and make a healthy dent in our to do list. One is expected to write an honest profile about your house, the accommodation you will provide and the work expected. The travelers are also expected to write an honest profile about their skill set and what kind of help they can provide. With everyone hopefully being honest, you end up with a match and invitations are offered and accepted.

In the spirit of honesty for example, in my profile, I admit that cooking isn’t my thing but we are happy to stock the fridge and pantry with any reasonable items.

Our first Workaways arrived last week. They are an Austrian couple who have visited eleven countries in the last ten months and are now on their way home. They are loving the life here so much they have extended their stay for an extra week. Honestly, I think they are a bit tired from their travels and this is the perfect place to rejuvenate. They use our kayaks and bikes to explore the island on their off hours or sit on the deck watching for whales while sipping wine exchanging stories with us. In the meantime my garden has been weeded, a large pile of firewood has been split, the new fenced garden next to the workshop is almost finished, the cedar siding has been stained and we have been treated to three Austrian dinners.

We are so loving the experience that I searched for more workaways to come this summer. I was in the garden when I received a request from a couple in Lithuania and I wrote a lovely letter back explaining in detail what our life is like and emphasized that there are no stores or young people, etc. and then I pressed send. I checked the letter in my outbox on the program app and, what went instead of my intelligent sounding letter, was a letter that said “Thank you for the love”. What the actual hell? Needless to say, it didn’t work out with that couple.

We have arranged for two more groups to come over the summer, one from France and one from Germany. I think that will be it for this year as our chore list should be substantially reduced. We will probably plan accordingly for a workaway visit every spring. This program could very well be a game changer which allows us to stay here forever without killing E’s back.

The best part of the whole concept is the chance to invite the world to visit here now that we are unable to travel. Our Austrians, as I like to call them, have just been a joy to host and have added an air of positivity to our days.

As we visit with them over glasses of wine and bowls of chocolate covered almonds I am reminded of Pat’s words from the nineties. She wanted to treat the young traveler she met as she would hope her children were treated by the people they met when they were

on the road