Ken & Barbara

Australia
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Profile information

Travel information
We are currently
Travelling
Our next destination:
Italy - from Nov 2023 until Dec 2024
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Description
My name is Ken Grant, originally from Scotland. I have experience in many different industries. I have worked in construction, tourism,security and have experience driving trucks and operating heavy machinery.
I love travelling, hiking, motorcycles and meeting people.
I am prepared to work in any job, if I haven’t done it before I will learn quickly.
My name is Barbara, originally from Italy. I have experience in teaching Italian and French (managed my own language school in Australia), tourism (worked as tour leader in different countries around Europe and South America), hospitality (worked in hotels/cafes/restaurant) sales and retail. I love traveling, I am very passionate about foreign languages and cultures. I am curious and eager to learn from others therefore I am happy to be involved in any field.
Interests
Dancing
Winter sports
Van life
Water sports
Sustainability
Carpentry
Sailing / Boating
Pets
Outdoor activities
Music
Mountain
History
Gardening
Events & social
Cycling
Cooking & food
Beach
Animals
Videography
Photography

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Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
German: Beginner
Portuguese: Beginner
More details about my language interests
This workawayer has indicated that they would be interested in sharing their language(s) or learning a new language. You can contact them directly to discuss this.
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Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn
We're interested in:
Eco Projects
Art Projects
Some knowledge of:
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Being an elderly companion
General Maintenance
Life at a Farmstay
Animal Care
Able to teach about:
Hospitality/Tourism
Languages
Teaching
More details about your skills
Ken- ability to work independently, problem solving skills, good communication skills, friendly, easy to work with, outgoing personality.
Barbara- positive attitude, willingness to learn, problem solving, communication, ability to work under pressure, leadership, decision making, adaptability.
Age
60 & 53
What else ...
We are a couple.
We have been enjoying Workaway in many different countries in the past few years and are planning to continue doing so in Italy for about a year till December 2024.
Whilst on our travels we have spent 2 months in Nepal volunteering with children at Child Welfare and Eduction (CWE), 2 months in India volunteering at Tibet World in McLeod Ganj, about a month in the ‘Stans’ exploring the nomad life.
We also spent 2 months in Norway working on a potato farm near the Artic Circle. Ken was driving the harvester and Barbara was sorting and packing potatoes. The last three summer seasons we have been workawaying in a beautiful remote place in the Scottish Highlands helping our host Sylvia who has become family to us.
We are looking forward to similar experiences where we get to meet, live and work with the locals.
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
  No
- Special dietary requirements
  No

Feedback

27 Oct 2021

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Good Scottish cuisine in one ...)

We spent over 3 and a half months at the restaurant and guesthouse in Kinlochbervie. It was an amazing experience, the location, the people, the work and the food. We had a good video call with Sylvia before we arrived and made an instant connection and when we arrived we were more than happy with the reception. Sylvia is a beautiful person always… read more

(Excellent )

15 Oct 2021

Left by host for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

Barbara and Kenny were lifesavers for us the last 3 and a half months. They are such a lovely couple full of life and fun. They fitted in so well with us and all our staff and family and we all are missing them already. Bringing lots of skills and happy to try all tasks and learn new things. They managed to visit a lot of the local area and see… read more

(Excellent )

16 Aug 2021

Left by host for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

I hosted Ken and Barbara in June 2021. I would highly recommend you to host for several reasons.
They are really nice people, easy going, clean, interesting to talk to. They are hard workers and they commit themselves to the job (quite impossibile skill to find on work away). They are funny but they don’t dance as good as me. Ok I take it back,… read more

(Excellent )

25 Jun 2021

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Stay with me in an old ...)

We had a fantastic time with Giorgio (Joe). We had a good chat before we arrived and worked a few things out. He was honest from the start and asked about our expectations regarding his workaway tasks ect. We, Barbara and I ,are both very interested in the culture, history and people from the areas that we visit and this workaway was going to… read more

(Excellent )

17 Jun 2021

Left by host (Help with gardening and ...) for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

Ken and Barby are two very positive special people. They fit very well with the concept of workaweiers. We spent 10 very nice days in their company where they helped us with all kinds of jobs that were to be done. Thanks for everything and have a nice trip

(Excellent )

30 May 2021

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Help with gardening and ...)

What a beautiful family. We had organised to stay with Isacco, Barbara and family for two weeks but due to a last minute cancellation from another host that left us stuck we had to ring him up one morning and ask if we could come 2 weeks early, actually if we could come that day, " No Problems " he said. That's actually how he handles most things… read more

(Excellent )

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27 Oct 2021

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Good Scottish cuisine in one ...)

(Excellent )

15 Oct 2021

Left by host for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

(Excellent )

16 Aug 2021

Left by host for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

(Excellent )

25 Jun 2021

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Stay with me in an old ...)

(Excellent )

17 Jun 2021

Left by host (Help with gardening and ...) for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

(Excellent )

30 May 2021

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Help with gardening and ...)

(Excellent )

18 Nov 2019

Left by host (Share your photo and video ...) for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

Barbara, Kenny and Mattia were like an autumn breeze, that arrived first of September and shook all of us to a new drive!! In other words they were one of a kind and the most hard working people I have seen in a really long time. On the first morning, they were up way before others and just kept asking more to do… Even though there is so much to… read more

(Excellent )

14 Oct 2019

Left by host (Stay on a farm just below the ...) for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

Really an amazing family!
Kenny arrived first, jumping straight into the tractor pulling the potato harvester the day he arrived. It is very clear that he has experience with heavy machinery, and handles the equipment with the respect it deserves, though efficiently and confidently! Kenny has also been a great help when any technical issues have… read more

(Excellent )

10 Oct 2019

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Stay on a farm just below the ...)

I arrived on 7th September on the first day of the potato harvest. I was a wee bit tired as I hadn’t really slept for two days travelling to Mo I Rana in Northern Norway.
I was driving the tractor under Ivars instruction, concentrating on driving and paying attention was made all the more difficult because of the amazing scenery, a view I was to… read more

(Excellent )

1 Sep 2019

Left by host (Help a family build a wooden ...) for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

Ken, Barbara and Mattia - they are a real five star helpers! And not just helpers, they have become our friends! Always happy, smiling, in a good mood and making jokes - what can you wish more? We are very thankful, that they came here! We had a great time and so much was done in our garden and in sauna - thank you guys so much!!! Hopefully we… read more

(Excellent )

1 Sep 2019

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Help a family build a wooden ...)

Sauna sauna sauna.... thanks to Kai and Jaanus now we know what is a real Estonian sauna experience! We spent 10 days with this happy family working on their sauna and in the garden. We enjoyed the work which was in a beautiful green environment.
We spent a lot of our free time with them swimming in lakes and bogs :) they took us to the local… read more

(Excellent )

23 Aug 2019

Left by host (Help around our little summer ...) for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

Barbara, Ken and Matia are five star workawayers - sincere, unpretentios, hard working, fun and friendly. I was astonished by the energy and commitment they all radiate. For one week we worked together to clean the ditch, cut the trees, burn the bushes and branches, split the firewood. It was a hard work that I could not finish for several years.… read more

(Excellent )

19 Aug 2019

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Help around our little summer ...)

What a lovely unforgettable experience on the Liv Coast in Latvia! Iveta is the number one host. She welcomed us into her house with open arms. We all worked very well together clearing a ditch, cutting timber and splitting firewood. It was a perfect balance of work and play.
Iveta always made sure that we had everything we needed and spoiled us… read more

(Excellent )

22 Aug 2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

Ken, Barbara and Mattia were great workawayers. When they arrived I offered Barbara and Ken to take a bath on fire for some beauty treatment. They smudged themselves with organic blue mud from our pond and recharged their batteries from their trip. The next day they all got out of bed and started doing the work around our house straight away. I… read more

(Excellent )

19 Aug 2019

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Help to decorate our place ...)

Imants was very kind to pick us up at Balvi bus station. He is a very warm, friendly and welcoming person.
We stayed at his cool property in the countryside. His house is old and needs a lot of work, after we met him and his children we really wanted to help out as much as we could. Most of the work was general maintenance and we could see that… read more

(Excellent )

21 Aug 2019

Left by Workawayer (Ken & Barbara) for host (Help our family with house ...)

We love this family so much that we had to visit them 3 times! Naveen’s communication was excellent. The accommodation and food was perfect. Naveen, Pooja and the boys treated us as part of the family. We did cooking classes, dancing and English conversation. We had plenty of free time and the whole family made sure we always had interesting… read more

(Excellent )

15 Aug 2019

Left by host (Help our family with house ...) for Workawayer (Ken & Barbara)

What an amazing experience with a beautiful family... They all r full of energy, love and joy and wherever they r going they r spreading it along with them. We had a wonderful time that we will never forget in our whole life and u guys r really an inspiration for us. We also want to be cheerful, caring and loving like u. And we hope u will have… read more

(Excellent )

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