This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tim Winkler, a recent graduate from Germany taking a gap year to travel. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Two days after submitting my master’s thesis in April, I bought a one-way ticket for a gap year. I knew I would never have the chance to do something like this again.
I had completed a master’s degree in teaching at the University of Hamburg in Germany.
I set a budget of $10,800 to travel for the entire year, intending to find volunteering projects on sites like Workaway to keep costs down and explore countries in a new way.
Other than a short trip to Bangkok, I had never been to Asia. I was curious about its cities and had friends who lived in South Korea. So, after spending a month in Japan, I decided to fly to Seoul.
Initially, I had difficulty finding a host as few projects were available. But eight days before I headed to South Korea, a host texted me, asking, “Hey, are you still free?”
He needed volunteers for his chestnut farm on the outskirts of Cheongyang, a village two hours from Seoul. He was also able to host me for two months.
I replied: “Yes, I am. Very much so.”
I didn’t know what to expect on the farm
It was a nice working atmosphere and there was no pressure to finish tasks by a certain time. We went out to do some weeding between the chestnut trees.
I was fortunate to form a strong relationship with my host and his family. It wasn’t like he’d just give orders; we were really living together.
I lived in his house, and the accommodation was basic. It consisted of a room with a bunk bed and another room with two air mattresses for two other volunteers to stay in.
On the farm, we had rice for every meal, every day. At first, I was worried that after a week, I’d think, “I’ve had enough rice. I can’t see rice anymore.” But that wasn’t the case, and I enjoyed every meal.
There was no set schedule on the farm
The crops and animals don’t care that it’s a weekend. So you’re there every day of the week.
There was no set schedule. Every two or three days, we would leave the house very early, around 5:30 a.m., sometimes even earlier, to start picking a crop called gosari, a type of fern commonly used in Korean side dishes. This would take four or five pickers around four hours.
Every other task was dictated by daily occurrences on the farm. For example, we would go to the farm and see that the goats took down a fence. So, on that day, we would rebuild part of a fence. On another, we’d decide to spread some fertilizer because of the amount of rain.
We worked seven days a week most of the time. But whenever we had a trip in mind, such as going to Seoul for two or three days, we’d ask the host for time off.
Our host always arranged the trips for us and even offered to cover the costs of our meals and tickets to events or museums.
Meeting people in my age group was hard
The village I lived in was very small, with less than 100 villagers, most of whom were in their 60s. I wasn’t able to make any local friends my age.
However, I enjoyed working outdoors and having variety in my tasks. Also, working with animals was fun.
I appreciate that I got to know the locals much better by living with them. I experienced their day-to-day life, which was much more valuable to me than just visiting a country as a tourist.
As I continue on my yearlong trip to places like Spain and Scandinavia, I intend to find projects that will also help me to save costs.
I saved at least $2,100 by working on the farm
That amount was about the same as how much I had spent during my month in Japan.
After my trip ends in April next year, I’ll return to Germany and become a full-time teacher.
As a teacher, I plan to prepare my students for life in this increasingly globalized world. I hope to transfer the knowledge gained from my experiences in other countries to my future students.
