First Steps
2016 To begin...
It all began in the living room. What?! Yes, the living room. Not very exciting, but stick with me.
As a 34 year old woman, I had reached a point where I'd started to ask myself "What are you going to do with your life?" Working in retail and various minimum wage jobs since leaving school had left me with a tired, beige sort of feeling. Something must be done!
I had a few ideas already. I'd start in Scotland - a place I've been in love with for some time - and perhaps over the next few years I'd work my way down. Using holidays to go off and work out what lit a fire in me, I suppose?!
The second, and most important factor was, it had to be in the countryside. After a bit of research, Wwoofing seemed like the ideal choice.
Subscription purchased, I set about making a list of my favourite hosts. World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms aka Wwoof (https://www.wwoof.org.uk/) offer hands-on experience on organic farms, gardens and small holdings. Hosts offer bed and board in exchange for work and experience. This can vary from fruit picking to permaculture principles to bee keeping. Great!
I whittled it down to 5 favourites, then swiftly threw that idea out the window and applied to about 30 hosts. "Go hard or go home" and all that.
In the next few days, I received about 6 or 7 responses from hosts who were brave enough to take me on. I took a shine to one in particular, a place in Aberdeenshire called Ashmore. After a phone call to Sarah, I was all set and my 2 weeks of Wwoofing was confirmed for June (2016).
On the day of departure I had the usual pinch of nerves in my stomach, but I was excited. As the plane took off and the land fell away, I felt liberated, as though I'd just been released out of the starting blocks and I wondered why I hadn't done this sooner.
The plane descended from blue skies into grey clouds. I collected my suitcase and made my way to the train station. At the other end I was met by someone in a florescent yellow hat and searching expression which matched mine. It really is very strange to to picked up by someone you've never met before, not to mention having no idea what they look like, but hey, that's all part of the adventure.
The journey back revealed that Dave, the wearer of said 'fluorescent hat' was another volunteer. He and his girlfriend Hannah had been at Ashmore for a few days and were planning to going on to hook up with friends later on. We arrived to the hustle and bustle of the off-grid property not too far from Huntly.
The next two weeks were everything I wished for. I helped out in the gardens, did a bit of cobbing and hay making. Learnt about compost toilets. Was shamefully shown up when I failed to keep up with a man, twice my age, in pursuit of bees moving out of their hive.
I even went to a great little festival (https://www.facebook.com/events/1790216684562439/) with Sarah and her sister Ally.
Not to mention the brilliant tour of the Cardhu distillery (hic).
I will always look back on my time spent there with a great deal of affection, I met such a lot of genuinely lovely people. And I'm very happy to say that the Ashmore folk and I still keep in touch.
I was on the right track... As soon as I arrived home, I turned on the computer and began to look for more hosts for the next trip. One host, from the previous batch, had asked if I would be able to help with lambing. I emailed her again and asked if she would need anyone next year...
The answer was yes! What had I let myself in for?
It all began in the living room. What?! Yes, the living room. Not very exciting, but stick with me.
As a 34 year old woman, I had reached a point where I'd started to ask myself "What are you going to do with your life?" Working in retail and various minimum wage jobs since leaving school had left me with a tired, beige sort of feeling. Something must be done!
I had a few ideas already. I'd start in Scotland - a place I've been in love with for some time - and perhaps over the next few years I'd work my way down. Using holidays to go off and work out what lit a fire in me, I suppose?!
The second, and most important factor was, it had to be in the countryside. After a bit of research, Wwoofing seemed like the ideal choice.
Subscription purchased, I set about making a list of my favourite hosts. World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms aka Wwoof (https://www.wwoof.org.uk/) offer hands-on experience on organic farms, gardens and small holdings. Hosts offer bed and board in exchange for work and experience. This can vary from fruit picking to permaculture principles to bee keeping. Great!
I whittled it down to 5 favourites, then swiftly threw that idea out the window and applied to about 30 hosts. "Go hard or go home" and all that.
In the next few days, I received about 6 or 7 responses from hosts who were brave enough to take me on. I took a shine to one in particular, a place in Aberdeenshire called Ashmore. After a phone call to Sarah, I was all set and my 2 weeks of Wwoofing was confirmed for June (2016).
On the day of departure I had the usual pinch of nerves in my stomach, but I was excited. As the plane took off and the land fell away, I felt liberated, as though I'd just been released out of the starting blocks and I wondered why I hadn't done this sooner.
The plane descended from blue skies into grey clouds. I collected my suitcase and made my way to the train station. At the other end I was met by someone in a florescent yellow hat and searching expression which matched mine. It really is very strange to to picked up by someone you've never met before, not to mention having no idea what they look like, but hey, that's all part of the adventure.
The journey back revealed that Dave, the wearer of said 'fluorescent hat' was another volunteer. He and his girlfriend Hannah had been at Ashmore for a few days and were planning to going on to hook up with friends later on. We arrived to the hustle and bustle of the off-grid property not too far from Huntly.
The next two weeks were everything I wished for. I helped out in the gardens, did a bit of cobbing and hay making. Learnt about compost toilets. Was shamefully shown up when I failed to keep up with a man, twice my age, in pursuit of bees moving out of their hive.
I even went to a great little festival (https://www.facebook.com/events/1790216684562439/) with Sarah and her sister Ally.
Not to mention the brilliant tour of the Cardhu distillery (hic).
I will always look back on my time spent there with a great deal of affection, I met such a lot of genuinely lovely people. And I'm very happy to say that the Ashmore folk and I still keep in touch.
I was on the right track... As soon as I arrived home, I turned on the computer and began to look for more hosts for the next trip. One host, from the previous batch, had asked if I would be able to help with lambing. I emailed her again and asked if she would need anyone next year...
The answer was yes! What had I let myself in for?
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