Travel differently,
connect globally

Language(s) I would like to learn : Spanish

Germany

Spain

gardening & permaculture, wildfoods, ancestral skills,meditation, herbalism, horses, wildlife, music

Japan Mt Fuji Language immersion camp

Language exchange & cultural exchange 🤝📚 (Italian, English). Nutritionist 🥗. Kids & gardening 👧🌱. Help with daily tasks 🧹. Love nature, animals 🐶. Looking for volunteering in Italy.Jul

Hi I'm Claire, recently retired and excited to travel slowly enough to get to know each place, interact with people and participate in the culture and the landscape before moving on. I'm a lifelong learner with broad interests, and in my career in US national parks I worked in botany, ecological restoration, firefighting, wildlife conservation, search and rescue, safety/risk management and more. I value being active and productive, and I also enjoy occasional quiet time in awe of a natural landscape or reading a good book. I like to examine situations from diverse perspectives, looking for the possibilities for positive outcomes. Some past projects that have given me a great feeling of satisfaction: My work with two endangered animal species, California condors and Mojave desert tortoises, combined hard days outside tracking and monitoring them, and collaborating with other organizations, agencies and the public to protect them. I got my degree in wildlife management because I really enjoy observing animals in the field. From these two projects I realized that I also find great satisfaction in working with others to find and test solutions to complex problems such as overcoming barriers to the recovery of endangered species. I lived in a tent on a mountain for several months, trapping migrating hawks as part of a long-term research study. It's not easy to look for hours through a slit at an empty sky with the cold wind blowing directly into your eyes, and I learned that I am motivated by the potential for a hawk to appear in the next moment, the potential of getting more data so we can better understand these splendid animals. I deeply value the friendships that came from living and working together in a small group in far-from-cushy conditions. I did an 18-day backpack in India, followed by a homestay in a remote village. I helped my host family with harvesting grain, trying to carry it on my head and leading the oxen to crush it under their hooves. Together we weeded garden plots with sticks. It was a valuable lesson in using what's available, a stark contrast to my everyday consumer life in the US. What truly makes me happy is actively participating and contributing while pushing my own comfort zone and learning something new every day. I love rock climbing and glacier travel because stretching my boundaries keeps me in the present moment, and both teamwork and individual effort are required to manage the risk wisely and succeed. The same is true of immersion in cultures other than my own; it's a profoundly rewarding experience of growth and learning. Those are exotic examples, but rest assured that I also find mindfulness in the rhythm of simple repetitive tasks and satisfaction from a job well done.

Spain

Language(s) I could teach : English, Spanish

I enjoy being outdoors and getting my hands dirty! I'm happy to help with everyday tasks and to learn new things. I'm just looking for more practical input and meaningful connections! :)