Volunteer on an Organic Farm

Be bold. Be cheap. WWOOF.

WWOOFing has been around for years and has helped generations of people live and travel on a shoestring. WWOOF originally stood for Willing Workers on Organic Farms, but has transformed into World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It works like this: You go to the farm of your choice and are provided a place to sleep, food to eat and new people to meet. In exchange, you make a civic contribution in the form of labor. Genius. Makes RecessionGirl’s heart go pitter-patter. Sounds almost free, but you have to foot the bill for your transportation of course.

The WWOOFing website can help you find local opportunities to get out of Brooklyn for a weekend or help you to cover costs on an around-the-world trip if you want an immersion experience. I know folks who have worked at vinyards in Italy, dairy farms in New Zealand and others who’ve picked olives in Greece. I helped make soap somewhere upstate New York last year and it was a very cleansing experience, ridiculous and sad pun intended. Don’t take my word for it. See how cheap and easy it is for yourself:

http://www.wwoof.org/northamerica.asp
http://www.wwoofusa.org/what.html

RecessionGirl Tip: As much as possible try to get a feel for the people you will be working for before you depart. While WWOOFing is generally fun, I have heard of some unfortunate stories where the host farmers were less than courteous and the living conditions would have provided a challenge for Sanford and Son. Exercise due dillegence and enjoy your open-air working vacation.

Be bold. Be cheap. Volunteer on an Organic Farm.