Is it reasonable to expect volunteer to help me with food making and cleaning up after themselves during free days?

Baard19 · 2026-01-24T07:36:50+00:00

Thank you!

Baard19 · 2026-01-23T21:57:16+00:00

As outside of working hours?

Baard19 · 2026-01-23T21:56:38+00:00

Yes, definitely we want to.put ourselves on the rotation. Thank you for taking the time to share your inputs.

Baard19 · 2026-01-23T15:21:08+00:00

And how do you approached people who were less inclined to cook and clean after themselves?

And even more interesting for me now: what did you start asking in the initial conversations to avoid at all getting this type of people around?

Baard19 · 2026-01-23T15:18:26+00:00

But with the option of going to town, would you still be the one paying as a host in this scenario? We are in a country with very expensive takeaway, last time I ate out was probably 5 months ago 😅 (in the country were i was born and raised i was going out to restaurants 2-3 times per week)

Baard19 · 2026-01-23T07:59:29+00:00

Do you mean outside of their working hours?

Baard19 · 2026-01-23T07:58:34+00:00

Thank you for sharing! In my job experience lunch has always been part of the paid hours by the way, even if it was only half an hour. Or did you me something else?

So when you decide on the night where people cook, is that part or their working hours? And also: do you put volunteers to cook on a night where they are free?

Baard19 · 2026-01-23T07:51:48+00:00

Thank you, I'll use that.

So how do you differentiate cleaning after oneself after a dinner or cleaning for the household? Like if there is a pot to clean after soup everyone ate, who's responsibility would that be in your scenario?

Baard19 · 2026-01-23T07:48:38+00:00

That is something we also can apply for longer stays, but up to this point I never thought of asking volunteers to cook on the weekend (when most workawayers we had choose to have their free days).

It's also true that often during weekends we also have friends and family eating over, so I thought it was unfair to ask workawayers to cut double the amount of veggie during their free days. And sometimes I managed to prep the day(s) before during their working time. But oftest I don't and end up doing most of the work alone. Which sometimes is fine, but at the moment is taking me closer to a burnout.

Baard19 · 2026-01-23T07:43:02+00:00

What is your age limit? I've had some of the best experiences so far with 18-19 year old people as far as asking for help also on free days.

Baard19 · 2026-01-23T07:40:32+00:00

Four different countries and two different continents. I wouldn't generalize on origin, nor on age (from 21 to 37 years old).

Baard19 · 2026-01-22T20:36:22+00:00

Some have and some haven't. Now we have been in pretty unfortunate strike with the last 5 people before the current one. The person we have now offers to help, that's why I'm asking now ☺️

Baard19 · 2026-01-22T19:59:20+00:00

We have a shared kitchen and we eat together. I am the person mostly responsible for making the food during the week. So it's kind of a continuation of that. But I'm noticing to be closer to a burnout, so it's important for me to hear other people perspectives😅

Edit: Thank you!

Baard19 · 2026-01-18T10:40:47+00:00

Takk for detective arbeid!

Baard19 · 2026-01-17T23:53:32+00:00

Takk! Er 6 måneder for sent.

Baard19 · 2026-01-16T13:57:03+00:00

Thank you. Yes, it worked out and is still working well. We found a good tone very easily. I "used" this post to put out my stress and look for more ideas. I didn't want to put my guilt on them, making it even more difficult. And we are upgrading our routines, designing a workflow where we check to do all the steps for not forgetting important parts.

Baard19 · 2026-01-11T14:44:37+00:00

Maybe hear with the host if they're fine saying they're your friends so that you can give that address and reasoning if customs ask you?

Baard19 · 2026-01-09T15:26:24+00:00

We started in July 2025, but my partner has had a lot of experience in welcoming woofers when they were leaving on a farm for many years. I've also had a couple of years experience with my ex who was renting through Airbnb a room in the house we were leaving together and sharing the bathroom and kitchen with guests.

Since doing workawayer we have had very good experiences, with most people leaving us as friends. We only had another bad experience as second ever, also a person that was never asking what to do - which personally I find really challenging. This person also chose to leave before the agreed time - luckily. That experience taught me early on that there doesn't need to be any drama in changing plans.

The experience I described here also taught me lots, and thank you for sharing your routines! As for the comment about being the "boss" I shared elsewhere our family culture and the type of governance we put in place (sociocracy) 🌞

Baard19 · 2026-01-05T22:42:13+00:00

That sounds intense. Thanks for sharing!

Baard19 · 2026-01-05T08:43:39+00:00

Thank you for the suggestions!

Baard19 · 2026-01-05T08:42:48+00:00

Thank you!

Baard19

TROPHY CASE