WWOOFING It: Cheap Sabbatical Alternative to Shopping at Whole Foods

While some want their sabbaticals to be about extreme physical challenges like an Ironman Triathalon or solo circumnavigation, other people just want to get a wee more fit. We’re not interested in testing our body’s endurance, nor do we relish having our hearts jump out of our chests from fear (like when the wind starts blowing 35 knots on a night sail).

Erik, for instance, just wanted to factor in a small fitness element to his sabbatical goals. In his four-week sabbatical in August, Erik tackled an extreme renovation of his kitchen and bathroom. After 12-hour days slinging a hammer and walking around with an impressive tool belt, he didn’t get to the gym, as planned. But never mind, he’s 10 pounds lighter. And man-oh-man does he have a tan (which somehow I associate with construction workers, but Erik’s tan was from fishing in the Gulf last weekend). Anyway, he looks fit.

If getting healthy and fit might be a part of your sabbatical experience – yet tool belts don’t interest you and you’re not keen on a boot camp – I think, for sure, you’ll want to WWOOF. This means you might want to participate in World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.

Actually WWOOF means different things to different people. It might mean the organization just mentioned or “We’re Welcome on Organic Farms”. Whatever, there are many WWOOF organizations around the world, and organic farming is the primary activity. WWOOFers (the hosts and the volunteers) are brought together to make a healthier world.

It’s also possible to get fit and healthy. In his New York Times article, Matt Gross, the Frugal Traveler, describes his five days on a farm near Toulouse living in a quirky farmhouse with a library of French comic books and a Lamborghini (a Lamborghini tractor, that is).

Matt was up early every day pulling weeds, transplanting lettuces, carrying buckets of grain to feed the rabbits – all in the French countryside with the snowy peaks of the Pyrenees visible in the distance. (He goes on and on about the countryside sights.) Matt does not complain about the labor, the cost of this experience (next to nothing), or the food. “Oh I miss that chicken-and chickpea tagine with homemade harissa!” he yelps. What IS harissa anyway? (Sounds very, very healthy.)

Check Matt’s blog for details on his Grande Tour in frugal travel and his YouTube sighting to see his farm family and accommodations and watch him pick peas and carrots and make soup.

WWOOF-USA has over 700 farms participating – that’s a lot of farms, and about the only states without one are Louisiana and Mississippi. Just to make you curious, there are: 25 in NC; 17 in AZ; 33 in NM; and 32 in NY. And, if you’d rather have a cultural exchange, like Matt in France or even Slovenia, go here.

You won’t get paid to work. The host provides food, accommodations, and opportunities to learn, in exchange for assistance with farming or gardening activities. The duration of your visit can range from a few days to months or even years. The farms can range from a private garden to a commercial farm.

Think it’s for the young? WWOOFers range in age from teenagers to retirees. Good news, if you are taking your family on sabbatical – you can take your young kids. The word for the week will be “chores” and the time will possibly explode with teachable moments.  (Ask Matt. He learned a lot about picking spinach.)

Summary: Inexpensive; you can take the kids or do solo; you’ll be outside, eating healthy, learning about organic gardening; you can immerse yourself in another country and culture; and you’ll meet happy people and get fit.

Are you telling me there’s a downside to this? Oh, the chores – yeah, well, take along some Advil. WWOOF!

As of 2008, the following countries or states have their own WWOOF organization – Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Equador, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Hawaii, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Romania, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, and the United States.