The Jet-lagged Journalist

When I did a work exchange on the Big Island of Hawai’i, I learned and experienced more than I could have imagined. The people I met along the way are friends I still keep in touch with and share some amazing memories with.

What is a work exchange? It is a trade-off between you and an organization. You will work for them in exchange for food, shelter, and sometimes money. Keep in mind some organizations have a minimum time you must stay there, whereas others you can stay as little or as long as you would like.

Some places you can apply for work exchanges include WWOOF, Cool Woorks, Workaway, and Worldpackers.

No matter where you go or which organization you go with, it is important to read the reviews and get in contact with someone who has been to that specific commune before. For your safety, learn as much as you can about the area and the people in charge of the exchange.

Personally, I wish I had stayed at a different commune; although I learned a variety of useful skills, the people who were in charge were not the best match for me. I met a few people working in other communes and when I visited them, I noticed quite a few things that were not great about the place I was staying. The farm I was at has since been removed from the WWOOF website due to too many unpleasant experiences with multiple different people.

The work you do varies from place to place. For me, I had many different jobs split between two locations. If you go through WWOOF like I did, you will most likely be working on a farm learning about agriculture; that is their mission at WWOOF. I worked on a ranch most days growing food, hunting, cooking, and tending to the animals. There was a sawmill on the ranch, where I did woodwork and operated a forklift. The owner of the ranch also owned an Airbnb beach house that I would occasionally work on; I would garden, do laundry, and landscape.

Where I was working, I would typically work five hours a day, Monday through Friday. As amazing as that sounds, I was at the will of other people creating my itinerary for the day. I could be up and ready to work at 7 am but not hear from anyone about what I was doing for the day until 11 am. Occasionally, my five-hour days would turn into eight-hour days as well. I don’t think many other places are like this, mine was just very disorganized.

One of my biggest tips is to either work on a commune with someone you already know and/or make friends around the location you end up going to. Of course, for the safety aspect, it’s good to have people you trust, but also for the adventures you’ll go on. I made some great friends there, and because most of them grew up on the island, they knew all the best places to go. I wouldn’t have made half of the memories I did without these special people.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me!