Christina & Matthew

Travel information

We are currently

Activities we are interested in:

2024 ~ we're back home in the UK house & pet sitting through the Summer

Description

Hello we’re Chrissi & Matt, together 16 years (married for 5). In 2021 we had an 'it's now or never' moment…packed up our home & life in the UK, with the aim to travel for the next few years while we're still healthy and able to. We have since travelled to 25 new countries by road trip in Europe, with our self converted campervan & backpacking around Southeast Asia.

We joined Workaway to assist our travels and have very much benefited from our generous hosts and eye opening experiences so far, in fact we would say they’ve been life changing! Meeting new people and learning how different communities & cultures work, has been part of the exposure to a new way of life & how we now think.

Please see our photos for examples of completed Workaway's in the UK, France, Croatia, Slovenia & Japan:
- Building a stone base with wooden support log store
- Collecting & chopping firewood with an axe ~ also learning to use an electric chainsaw
- Plastering & rendering exposed stone walls
- Building a stone wall surround for a pool
- Creating veg beds, weeding & mowing grass (learning to drive a ride on lawn mower)
- Odd jobs i.e. fixing a lawnmower & boxing in bathroom pipe work
- Adding metal window supports to the frames
- Assembling furniture & getting a holiday home ready for guests
....house/ dog/ chicken sitting!

It is so rewarding to help realise other peoples goals with them, by helping get a few jobs done so it frees up their weekend & holidays, so they can go out and live a bit more in their own time.

We very much appreciated our hosts generosity, also being introduced to their friends & families, which added to the whole experience meeting new people. We’re very grateful of being encouraged to go out and explore, immersing ourselves as ‘a local person’ and showing us places we would never have gone to as ‘tourists’, it really added to our experience in a way which is hard to put into words and ‘thank you’ doesn’t seem enough!

We're enthusiastic and driven, but also caring & compassionate. We’re both passionate in conservation of the environment & animals, keen to learn more and expand on what we do/ don’t know already. We would love to make a difference in the world, no matter how big or small, whether it be in a local community, or on a wider scale.

We are flexible with our diet and are happy to eat vegetarian if required by hosts, we will eat anything kindly provided! If we sound helpful, please get in touch, we look forward to speaking with you & assisting with your projects :)

Interests

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent

More details about my language interests
I would be interested in teaching English

Find a language buddy

Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn

We're interested in:  

Charity Work

Art Projects

Languages

Eco Projects

Animal Care

Life at a Farmstay

Hospitality/Tourism

Teaching

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Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

DIY and building projects

Helping around the house

General Maintenance

More details about your skills

Chrissi - my career started as a Designer of Footwear & Accessories, gaining a BA Honours Degree in Footwear Design, then a decades worth of experience working in the UK Fashion Industry.

In need of a change, I began retraining in Floristry, Covid impacted further training opportunities, so I took the leap and set up a Floral Design business for Weddings & Events. I really enjoy creating Bouquets, through to larger Installations, working with the beauty of nature and appreciating its form and design through my work.

A big focus and passion is to be as seasonal & sustainable as possible. I like to build relationships locally with growers & suppliers instead of transactional wholesale. Using flowers grown with care and attention, is far more satisfying, opposed to imported materials. I have worked with both fresh flowers and foliage and also dried - naturally and chemical free.

A creative background has developed my digital design skills (using Adobe programs) for creating logos & branding, business cards etc. also building a website and social media profiles for gaining customers and also taking on Freelance work for other Florists/ Floral Designers alike, who need assistance for large scale work.

Matt - I’ve worked in the Water Industry for 15 years, in a mixture of operational and engineering roles, asset management for Clean Water Distribution and Water treatment, also gaining a BSc Honours Degree in Environmental Science.

An accomplished 'DIY'er (home improvements), I have enjoyed renovating our home & garden over the last few years - painting, decorating, tiling, bathroom fitting, plumbing, woodwork, use of power tools, cementing in fencing & installing garden beds. I’m not afraid of getting stuck into a project and willing to give anything a go!
*See collage photo showing my work on our property in the UK so you can see my skills - please take a look.

2024 I signed up to short courses in Welding & Plastering to learn the basics and would love to build on these skills with further opportunities.

I’ve also assisted with weekly feeds for those in need locally and more recently volunteered with a local National Trust property (UK) as part of the Ranger team, learning skills in woodland management and outdoor maintenance which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.

We’re really keen to expand on the skills we have and learn from our Workaway hosts, as well as getting to know you :)

Age

34 & 37

What else ...

Hiking through hills & mountains, but especially coastal paths!
Camping and the outdoors, nature, animal wildlife & birds
Visiting places of interest and cultural significance, learning about history in the local area/ country
Adventure - we’re definitely not pro’s but we love to try new activities - surfing, paddle boarding, kayaking etc.
Food - we love to cook a variety of meals ranging from meat & fish based dishes, to vegetarian & vegan recipes, BBQ and baking!

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies

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  Special dietary requirements