And why you should do it
Work exchange is a simple term and you can probably deduce on your own what it means. In this post I’m going to talk about It in accordance with international travel, but don’t forget the benefits work exchange has in your home town or right next door. Working for free or reduced salary is something widely over looked in the United States (where I was raised) but is understood and used to the full advantage of both parties in other countries (Switzerland being one great formal example with what they call “apprenticeships”) In the USA I think the common conception is “why would I work for someone else for experience and guidance when I could just start from the beginning on my own and go through trials and errors the same way but for my own enterprise?” and I think this is not only beautiful and something near and dear to the “American spirit” if you will, but it completely turns a blind eye to other, enticing, enriching and beautiful points of work exchange.
But Im not here to talk about the “Common American Conception” because that’s never really been my thing. I was raised around it, I understand it and am grateful to it for creating a foundation for the man I am today but I can say with complete certainty that when I found out around 12 years old that I could travel the world for practically free by working nearly any job you could imagine for a local business while getting to live and work amongst local people in foreign countries… I had no objections, no worries about my “own enterprise” (maybe to my own detriment) I was simply overwhelmed with the fire of possibility, moved by the winds of opportunity…. I knew from that point that this was going to be a corner stone of my development as a young adult and I only had to get through school then everything was open to me.
I phrase it like this because many people don’t feel like things are open to them at 18, they believe they need more education, more this, less that.. usually more money, less reliance on their parents, more confidence, less homework something like this, I think this is all wonderful and if you are doing what excites you and gets you out of bed ready to live, play, create and love then power to you my brother and sister! But I know this is usually not the case for an 18 year old or, lets be honest, or a 25 year old college graduate or a 30 year old new parent with a blossoming corporate job or even a 55 year old thinking about retirement. I think its common to think and believe things only open when you have the “keys” (money, beauty, success, born with “it”) and I’m not here to drizzle my privilege on you like a “golden shower” I acknowledge that as a young white male American (particularly, in my opinion, the passport and US dollar) I had a lot open to me that may be more tightly shut to someone born and raised on the other side of the world. While I am here to acknowledge that point because its the right thing to do, allowing this condition to hold YOU back or let my words be any less real or meaningful to you would be an absolute pity, in my personal opinion.
The only “keys” I believe we need to open doors of opportunity are as follows…. Passion.
That single thing is enough to open the world to you. How much do you believe in what you believe? How beautiful is the dream you dream? How much meaning is in the things you do that you deem meaningful?
Let’s try not to forget that and to not discredit until we’ve personally embodied and seen for ourselves. Once you do, you can tell me I’m ridiculous if you feel that’s the case and we can talk about it, I’d be more than happy to.
So, on to work exchange.
I spent years doing work exchange all over the world.
My first was working in the best, small wood fired pizza joint you’d ever find in a small town called Sasayama, Japan. I lived with a beautiful and gracious family who took me in as their own son and worked me like slave in their restaurant where I cleaned, took orders in Japanese, made soups and salads and became close, close friends with Shiro-San my stoic and endearing host who only lifted his fingers in the morning to pray in front of his clay homemade pizza oven and after only to then make his special, locally famous pizzas which I would cut and serve with a “Meshiagare”. His wife Yuko, who I will never forget leaving me a note in my home that I found on coming back from my first day of work in their shop that said “welcome home, hope you enjoyed your day and here’s a treat for you” with a red bean paste packaged cake. This gesture, amongst millions of others throughout my life, always came back to the universal truth, human is human. Anyway, she always cooked us the most delicious meals and we always shared stories, cultures and ideas over our dinner table circled around the convection stove in the middle with noodle soup quietly bubbling.
When I wasn’t working, they took me with along on their daily lives, I learned of their religious practices, I learned of their disagreements with neighbors, attended wedding parties of their relatives, was even invited to the onsen once a week to join Shiro in his one day of relaxation… Onsen culture has my heart to this day.
Onsen directly translates to “Hot spring” but more closely means spa. You go into this calm humid building playing quiet soothing music that immediately puts you at ease, pay 10-20 usd and welcomed into a spa, for an indefinite amount of time, of warm and cold baths of all different colors, infused with countless different herbs and oils, served sake or tea on floating trays, and eft to your own devices to unwind and relax completely as per your preferred method. Mine was always the outdoor bath with very shallow warm water, here you laid on your back with the water only covering your stomach and part of your chest, you then proceeded to lay your head on the built in (and surprisingly comfortable) stone pillows built into the warm rock beneath you, gently being cradled into a deep rejuvenating sleep by the soft, soothing music and cold fresh air ticking your skin. In bigger onsens, you often heard the light snoring of the other men around in the same idyllic trance as you.. I couldn’t help but giggle at this, the idea of men lined up naked on their backs sleeping in shallow warm water listening to soothing music… just felt different than what I’d grown up with back in the USA.
I remember going for the first time with Shiro, getting in to the hollowed out rock hot pool, then being served cold sake as we watched the snow fall from resting cherry blossoms out of the wall sized window in front of us 10 meters high, in the gently scented, warmly humid room… that feeling of total contentment, the feeling of being mystified and amazed beyond belief that only weeks before I’d been home in the United States, finishing school, dreaming of something vague that could have resembled this if it’d had any form at all… realizing my life, a life, could be experiences like this, new, enchanting, eye opening, for as long as I had the passion to pursue a life of such.
I go into detail about this first work exchange experience to illustrate what a single month looked like, I only lived and worked with the Ikumas for one month. Then I left and hitchhiked to Tokyo, there I taught English in a private afterschool children’s program, worked as a yoga teacher for the “elegant ladies” class and worked on a farm project during off days. Here I had a completely different experience, just as exciting, just as new… this time I met many other volunteers who were from all over the world, we all lived, taught and enjoyed this experience together… then the next month…. I think you get the point.
I spent less than $1000 usd my first 3 months in Japan, this is what work exchange allowed me to do. I was fully immersed in culture, entertained and stimulated with a job, provided food and a bed, given the opportunity to learn new skills and share the skills I already had, see the world, live my dreams at the time for less than $500 a month.
Im not here to paint it as all “glits and glam” things didn’t always go the way I wanted or planned, I didn’t always get the best food, have the easiest day, have the kindest hosts… but that’s life… and to me there is no “perfect situation” we live and find ourselves in the now, what you make of this now is up to you, if we can’t find meaning and joy in everything then its often difficult to find meaning and joy in anything.
I continued like this for years, not always work exchanging but always having this as an option in my back pocket. I had longer term jobs, had more involved adventures, things that came up that occupied my time making it impossible to work exchange.
But here are just some of the other things I did:
Remodeled a woman’s backyard in Thailand building patios, fountains, gardens and pools during covid in exchange for my own apartment and scooter. (2 months)
Was a foreman for an airbnb development in Kenya (1 month)
Taught English at a nonprofit school in Tanzania (3 months)
Worked as a grounds keeper at a retreat center in India (1 month)
Built a bar on the roof of a hostel in Albania (2 weeks)
Bartended on an island more closely resembling paradise than anything I’ve ever seen in Cambodia (3 months)
Brought back to life a centuries old village in the hills of Tuscany to be used as a boutique experience hotel
(2 months)
Im telling you this not to boast, brag or say “look at what I’ve done” but to illustrate what’s possible. If there’s a job you’ve dreamed of trying but didn’t feel qualified or if there’s a place you’ve always dreamed of going but never thought you could afford, this is an amazing resource for you.
Check out some of these sites, (Workaway, world packers, wwoofing) start searching around, and if you see something that catches your eye, ask yourself… why not? Its easy to find reasons to say no, easy to say you’re living “real life” easy to say “what’s the point” and easiest of all “I can’t”… Im not here to speak for you, I don’t know your situation but I do know that work exchange has given me an over abundance of opportunities, put me in positions I wouldn’t have known how to get into otherwise and taught me more about the world, myself and human beings than any book, tour or vacation ever has.
With passion, all is possible.
Stay in light, stay in love,
Jay Bierschenk