Live, learn and grow
You spent years creating a home, bringing up
a family and/or building a career. Now you’re
free of all those responsibilities, but you don’t
feel ready to be ‘put out to pasture’. That’s why so
many people discover fabulous second careers in
their later lives, or why they discover travel with a
purpose. There are so many great travel options, such as
doing voluntary work in interesting places, backpacking,
or travelling somewhere to learn or teach – and the
strange thing is that, traditionally, all these things have been
lumped together as ‘youth tourism’. Until, that is, someone
actually bothered to look, and noticed that a large percentage
of backpackers and long-term travellers have grey hair – or This February’s Workawayer of the Month is Daniel – a
no hair. It’s the grown-up version of a gap year. venerable greybeard who sold his house and car after 52 years
of regular employment, and has been travelling the world for
There are great organisations like Workaway where you can nearly two years. He says that some hosts specifically choose
spend anything from a few days to a few months staying on him for the grey hair on his profile pic, as it indicates a certain
farms, in homes or in communities doing ‘jobs’ like building, maturity and experience. Well, duh!
decorating, gardening, fruit picking, cooking, accounting,
child minding or animal care in exchange for accommodation Another way to keep travelling for quite a while is Teaching
and food. Wwooffing is similar, except that it is only on English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). If you
organic (or near organic) farms. If you think this sounds like can read this article with ease, you’re halfway to a TESOL
something you should do when you’re younger, think again. qualification. It’s a great way to integrate into a community
for a few months, to meet the people who actually live there
and to offset your travel costs. You won’t get rich doing it, but
you may break even – and that’s a good thing, because then
you can carry on doing this for a long, long time, spending
a few months in a chosen destination before moving on.
Become a vagabond. www.workaway.info,
www.wwoof.net, www.tesol.co.za
Swap Team
You have two fabulous assets – lots of time and a lovely home
– so use them. Home swapping is a great way to live like a local
in what could be a very expensive destination for an extended
period without breaking the bank – and you don’t need to pay
a house sitter, either. It’s really simple. It’s literally swapping
houses – and usually cars – for a few weeks or a month. You
could probably swap your house on a lovely coastal, wildlife
or golf estate for a home in New York, Paris, Berlin or London,
and splurge on theatre, shopping and restaurants, or a beach
house in Cypress or Seychelles. Or, hey, another golf estate
with a different course. www.homeexchange.com,
www.lovehomeswap.com
Jennifer Stern
62 | www.estate-living.co.za