Hello Dear Readers,

Julia here. Tomorrow is a very exciting day: I’m flying back to England and can stay for good (actually, until I extend my visa in 2.5 years)!

To catch you back up on my life:

• The situation: I left England in mid May because my six month tourist visa was ending.
• The problem: I couldn’t apply for my Partner Visa until late August and didn’t want to be long distance with Jess on separate continents for 5 months.
• The solution: I stayed in Europe until the end of July doing two Worldpackers volunteering experiences so Jess could easily visit me before heading back to the US until October.

Which brings us to the present day.

​My first Worldpackers host was in Milazzo, Sicily, where I cleaned the guesthouse for a few hours in exchange for free accommodation and breakfast.

​The second host was in rural Sweden at a historic hostel village where I did a mix of housekeeping, dishes in the kitchen, and random maintenance and gardening tasks.

Both of these experiences were SO different and really drove home how important it is to know what kind of experience you’ll enjoy before committing to volunteering.

So let's do a little comparison so you can see how these situations vary, and maybe it will help you decide on a host if you’re interested in volunteering as well.

Location

🍋 Sicily: The guesthouse was in Milazzo, a decently connected city that was full of shops, restaurants and beaches. On one of my days off, I walked 5 minutes to the port and took a ferry to Vulcano, one of the Aeolian Islands.

🌲 Sweden: Located in the tiny village of Tivedstorp, a 3 hour train ride from both Stockholm and Gothenburg, plus a 40 minute drive from the nearest train station in Läxa. There was nowhere to go from the village, so I didn’t leave for the entire 5 weeks I spent there.

Workload

🍋 Sicily: The amount of cleaning depended on how many rooms were booked, so some days I worked 1.5 hours and some 3.5. We were also expected to check in guests in the afternoon and evening, so there were no set work hours. Sometimes guests arrived very late.

🌲 Sweden: There was a set schedule that I received the day I arrived. Shifts were always 5 hours long with an hour break halfway through for lunch or dinner. If I was on a cleaning shift and finished early, the owners would find something else for me to do. Once your shift was finished, that was it.

Community

🍋 Sicily: There were only 2 volunteers total. This was perfectly fine for my first week as I got along great with the other volunteer. The second two weeks were not as fun, as the new volunteer and I did not have much in common. It was fine at the end of the day, but it did take away from the experience a bit, especially because you are sharing a small room and bunk bed.

🌲 Sweden: There were at least 6 other volunteers and multiple local Swedish staff living and working at the hostel. There was a great sense of community, and all volunteers were personally interviewed by the owners as a vibe check. Even if I wasn’t best friends with everyone, it was never uncomfortable.

These were my first Worldpackers (or any volunteer exchange) experiences, so I kind of thought about these things, but didn’t fully know what to expect.

There are ABSOLUTELY pros and cons to each style of host and experience, but at the end of the day I definitely preferred the more structured hours and schedule in Sweden, along with the company of multiple other volunteers.

I also struggled a bit with the volunteers being the only people available to guests for all but 2 to 3 hours out of the day in Sicily. The owners handled all bookings and messages from guests, but once guests arrived at the guesthouse, they were kind of our responsibility.

There were no local Sicilian staff besides the owners.

Some guests, rightfully so I think, were a bit put off by random American and Australian girls essentially running a guesthouse in Sicily. I think I would feel the same.

Sweden was the complete opposite. The owners lived on site, and volunteers worked in tandem with multiple Swedish staff. No volunteers worked with food, did check ins, or handled any bookings.

Of course, the volunteers still helped ensure the hostel ran smoothly, but it was in no way our sole responsibility and there was ALWAYS Swedish staff to help.

It’s up to you if that sounds like an issue, but personally it felt a bit like the volunteers were taking work away from locals in Sicily.

I did not feel that way in Sweden at all - the owners consistently struggled to find enough local staff because they were so remote!

Side note: This post isn’t sponsored and doesn’t benefit us in any way! My Worldpackers membership has actually lapsed as I don’t see us volunteering any time soon.

I just wanted to give you all the long promised update on where I’ve been and share these insights with you in case you want to volunteer as well!

It was an amazing way to meet locals and get to know some off the beaten path places I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise.

I still think volunteering can be a fantastic way to travel on a budget, but my experiences have made me much more selective about what I'm looking for.

This was a long one, so I’ll leave it at that. Next week’s newsletter will be sent from Dorset in England!

Julia