Where it began… What Is WWOOF

What Is WWOOF: A Beginners Guide

I wanted to start here, with a beginner-friendly guide to WWOOFing that really tells you how it is. For myself, the WWOOF site is where, seven years back, it all began. While I can no longer recall who told me about WWOOF, I do remember it was in passing. Some kind stranger saw something in me that pointed to this alternative travel tool, which eventually led to my first six-month adventure jumping farm to farm across the West Coast. What’s important to note, and often left out in the recalling of this first whimsical tale, is that before I started my travels there were months of planning, learning, and rejection that came first. Back in 2016, accessible information on WWOOF was still scarce. As I prepared for this post, I searched on the internet once again for blogs, posts, and books that a modern WWOOFer might have access to. To my surprise, while better than before, it’s still pretty meek. In this post, I’ll lead you with me, and talk you through what it takes to WWOOF. We’ll cover what WWOOF is (the site), and what the application process looks like, and give you some tools I wish I had at the beginning of my own WWOOFing experiences. 

WWOOF (The Site)

Like everyone else who first heard about WWOOF or WWOOFing, I was lost. The general public’s first reaction seems to be the same, a pause, and then, “Like, a dog?” No, not like a dog, though, you may meet many. WWOOF is the abbreviation for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. A mouthful of a name, so take the abbreviation with stride. Once you start WWOOFing you’ll find yourself explaining what you’re doing to nearly everyone you meet. We’re talking strangers, friends, family, the shoe salesman selling you that new pair of Doc Martins (that you will regret on the farm), the friend of a friend who just had a breakup and needs to go snuggle some sheep. I do mean everyone. It’s an experience people gravitate to, grapple with, and don’t usually know exists in the first place. Talk about it folks. Pass the information along when you have it, you never know, you might run into them again one day on a strange little farm far, far away. 

So let’s get you to the knowing. 

At this time, WWOOF USA is the only site and string of farms I have personal experience with and know the best. Someday I hope to WWOOF outside of the USA, but for now, I have no experience with international travel and can’t speak to using other WWOOF platforms. When you first search the WWOOF USA site, you’ll be taken to their homepage that reads Live and Learn on Organic Farms in the USA. You’ll have a couple of tab options, offering insight into “What is WWOOF?” and “WWOOF in the USA.” According to WWOOF itself, “WWOOF is a cultural and educational program focused on sustainable agriculture.” They outline that WWOOFers will help their hosts with work on the farm (for about half of each day), and be offered accommodation including housing and meals during the visit. It’s important to note that WWOOF never calls itself a “work exchange” directly on their site, but this is how I will be referring to WWOOF and other programs that offer this type of non-monetary live-work exchange, throughout my blog. WWOOF at its core is simply a tool that aspiring travelers, farmers, student farmers, and anyone seeking a unique experience, can use to connect to farms all across the world. All of the farms connected to WWOOF are asked to be organic farmers, but that is often not true in reality. It’s a great opportunity to learn a wide range of agricultural experiences outside of traditional education systems but does not solely attract folks who are aspiring farmers. It is important to note that signing up for WWOOF is signing up in some form to work at farms and homesteads. If you’re thinking at the end of this post something like, “Wow, I have no interest in farming but sure would love to travel through work exchanges,” sit tight. Later this week, I’ll have another post that outlines my experience using Work-A-Way among other smaller platforms. You can leave the mucking to someone else, but for now, back to WWOOF. 

So the setup is this. Whether or not you have a membership to WWOOF USA, you are still able to view a good amount of host pages through the “Hosts” tab at the top of the site page. This is free, and available to you right away. When you click on the tab, you’ll be sent to a page with hundreds of farms listed that have a little photo, where they are located, the name of the farm, and a log of how many WWOOFers/reviews the farm has had. You have the option to put filters on (at the top) to more easily search through the list of hundreds of hosts. Often a future WWOOFer might want to travel to a specific state or will have a specific skill they are interested in learning. You have options right away to thin out the masses by finding farms that only relate to what you are hoping to find. If you’re like young me, you might have no idea at all. You might have zero experience in farming, traveling, or anything alike. That’s totally fine, and at times can even lend to a better experience searching. You might discover interests you never knew existed. Maybe you never considered cheesemaking, natural leather tanning, or modern shepherding. Maybe you’re excited to find out that states you’ve never visited offer beautiful, strange new climates and environments. Maybe you don’t know what you want, or maybe you do. Both beginnings are great in exactly what they are, beginnings. Start wherever you are, and don’t trip too hard over what you don’t know yet. That’s part of the adventure. 

So you’re scrolling through the beautiful (and sometimes a little odd) host photos, and find one that catches your eye. Click on it! You’ll be brought to a page dedicated to that farm. At the top of the page is where you’ll find other photos from that particular farm. It’s usually a good first step to take a look at the photos and see if you have any immediate connection to the place. The photos won’t tell everything, but they’ll tell you more than some hosts will in their descriptions. The truth is not all farmers are that tech-savvy, so descriptions can be a little ruff around the edges and brief. Next, check out the host description for information regarding daily life on the farm, tasks, expectations, and more. The host will choose some “learning opportunities” to highlight under the description, as well as: methods used, mentoring opportunities, host type, accommodation, meals, and length of stay available. Perhaps the most important part of their page in at the very bottom, where you’ll find the host reviews. When I talk to folks about choosing farms, I always stress that looking to host reviews is one of the best ways to ensure your experience is one you want to have. On many of the farms i’ve worked, there has been a distinct mismatch of information from what was in the listing, to what I experienced on the farm. Reviews (when available) help give an accurate representation of the farm in the current time period you’re going to work for them. Tasks, community, weather, and lots more change drastically with seasons, as well as with a farm or homestead’s age. Some farms are just starting out, and while they have dreams of big shiny accommodations, may pitch you in a tent for the first several months while building better accommodations. Other farms might filll up their best accommodations and expect that you’ll be flexible in a way you might not feel comfortable with. A hack I’ve come to use, is to first and foremost, to read the most recent farm reviews. Second, look at the reviews for the farm you’re interested in, that were reviewed for the season you’ll be WWOOFing. Also important, and maybe a little overkill, skim all or a significant portion of the reviews. After a bit, you might start to see a pattern of reviews that feed into buzzwords to warn other WWOOFers of tension with hosts, bad accommodations, or other worry factors. These indirect warnings help the WWOOFers leave a review that won’t outright make them risk losing a recommendation from that farm or cause them to retaliate with a bad review for themself. On the other end of things, some folks are not good WWOOFers, and may get or give a bad review themselves even on the best farms. Some bad reviews are warranted. I have met folks on farms (I will later write a post on work-exchange safety) who are delusional about what they expect farming to be. I have also met many hosts who are not interested in providing fair accommodations, realistic work schedules, or an emotionally and physically safe work environment. Take extreme reviews (when they are far, and few between) with a grain of salt. And best yet, trust your gut. 

Getting a WWOOF Membership

At this point, there is not much you can do to move forward with your dreams of WWOOF until you pay the entry fee. In another post, I will go into a few tips I’ve learned over the years to get around this barrier, but for the sake of this intro post, we are moving forward the classic way. To do this, you’ll go to the top right button on their homepage that reads “Sign Up.” This page with start with a typical sign-in option, asking to use an email, password, and birth date verification. After signing in, you can press “I want to go WWOOFing” followed by a page of agreements you must agree to before moving forward. These agreements are everything from stating that you have insurance to agreeing that you are at least 18 years old. When I first signed up, this page looked pretty different, but I think WWOOF has done a pretty good job making requirements more public than they have been in the past. After the page on WWOOF agreements, you’ll make it to the pay page! Woo. Almost done. The pay requirement is $40 for an individual membership, and $65 for a joint account, both of which will last one year. On this page, you will also have the option to buy additional insurance through a program called Volunteer Card at $79 per WWOOFer. Once you’re through this page, you’ve done it! Congratulations. You are now able to freely roam the WWOOF site, search for the perfect farm, and begin your journey for real. 

Applications and Communication with Farms

Chances are you’ve been searching for hours, eyes seared raw from the blue light of your screen, and what seems like a lifetime later, you find what you think is the perfect place. You can’t handle the excitement. Your shaking. Not only is the farm someplace incredible, the reviews are good, and the accommodations seem more than reasonable. You start dreaming of long warm days pillowed by bonfire nights and market mornings. You start planning how to scrounge the money together. You feel like you have to act fast. You start looking at flights, trains, and gas mileage. But first, you write an inquiry to the hosts. 

I know that this is one of the most intimidating parts of the WWOOFing process. I remember the feeling of the first time I applied to one of these “one in a million” feeling farms. I remember the fear I had of writing the wrong thing, coming across right, and trying to snag what seemed like an impossible opportunity. When you first reach out to potential hosts, It’s important to make sure you’ve read through their entire listing. Many hosts will slip a phrase or word to put into your inquiry to ensure they can sort through folks who are actually interested in their farm and those who are copy/pasting inquiries to lots of places. Back when I started, I felt like I didn’t have a whole lot of cards in my favor, so when I went to fill out my own bio on the WWOOF site, and my “applications” to the farms, I mostly referred to my passion for learning, growing, and trying new experiences. It’s important to note that inquiries can range from extremely casual to very formal. Some farms have their own questions on their page, so make sure to check before sending anything in. It’s always good to reference parts of the farm bio throughout your application and tell them why you are interested in their farm compared to others. Below, I will lead you through a simple step-by-step process to send a decent application. 

1. Put in your dates, and note whether you are requesting flexible dates or concrete. This is important because sometimes farms won’t have the dates you want available, but you might want them to still consider you. WWOOF will have you request the dates through a calendar, but feel free to make it very clear what your other options would be in your application. 
2. Introduce yourself. I tend to start with a mini-biography at the start of the application. Let the host know who you are and why you’re applying. Maybe you’re an agriculture student who hoping to gain experience in hands-on farming. Maybe you’re someone looking to travel, and it seems like a great opportunity to live and learn someplace new. Whatever brought you here, let the excitement seep through. It’s important to let hosts know that you’ll be committed to the experience and that you understand it will be new!
3. Talk more about why you want to farm! Remember, even if you are more interested in the travel aspect of WWOOFing, you have to convince the host you’re down for farmwork itself. Try to make it very clear why this specific farm calls to you. Talk about what you are hoping to learn, and how you might contribute to the farm itself.  
4. If you have any questions for the host, this is a good time to ask them. Feel free to bring up any concerns, or information you’d want to discuss before deciding to work with them. 
5. End by re-stating your intentions with applying, and then wrap it up! You should be golden but make sure to do a bit of a spell/grammar/readability check before sending.

Here’s an example letter written from a made-up character, Emily,  applying to a goat farm in California. 

Example Letter

Dates Requested: June 1st through August 31st 2055

Dear Good Goat Farm, 

My name is Emily, I recently graduated from high school this spring, and am hoping to take a gap year before applying to universities next fall. I have a passion for taking care of animals and have been volunteering at an animal rescue near my home one day a week for six months. It’s been a wonderful experience and has helped guide me towards my goal of becoming a veterinarian. 

This summer, I am hoping to gain experience with farm animals, and have chosen your farm as you raise goats, chickens and dogs. While I am new to farming, I have a passion for learning and find myself enjoying taking on new tasks. I am excited to experience day-to-day life on a goat dairy, and am hopeful I may get to learn skills such as: giving the goats medicine & shots, trimming their hooves, and more. I believe that given the opportunity to work on your farm, I would leave with a substantial amount of skills that would contribute to my future education. It would also be a great experience to get to work at the farmer’s markets, as I am new to the customer service industry. 

While reading through your listing, I found myself wondering more about transportation near your farm. Do you have a shared vehicle still? I noted a few reviews that said you might. Otherwise, are WWOOFers able to get rides into town, or is there any public transportation? 

If these dates work for you, and you feel that would be a good fit for your farm, I would be so happy to work with you all this summer at Good Goat Farm. I think that my enthusiasm for learning, dedication to animal care, and team player attitude would make me a great match. I’m looking forward to hearing back from you.

Thanks so much,

Emily Baxter

So you’ve sent in your application. You feel good about it. You think, “God, how wonderful I’ve found the farm for me!” You keep your computer on, and anxiously check to see whether the host as seen or responded to your message every few moments. Suddenly, it’s been hours. It’s been days, only two, but, days. You keep looking at flights, begin a packing list, you research the tiny town where the farms are located to all ends. You try to find them on Instagram and other platforms. You search. And then, ping! The message is here, and it reads, “Sorry, I don’t have space currently. Thanks!” So all your dreams melt, and you probably panic and cry. You think “this was the one,” the big adventure of your dreams, but the truth is, it’s not. Your dream farm is more likely seven or eight reject letters away. And that’s okay! Something no one tells you, in the beginning, is that making WWOOF connections can be difficult, unfruitful, and mildly egomelting. You might write the perfect letter to four perfect farms and they might all say “Try again in a couple of months.” Or worse, they might just never respond. This particular issue is one to keep in mind when looking at farm profiles, as there is usually a “response rate.” This will clue you into what the normal response time for a host looks like, as well as may just discourage you from applying with certain hosts. I like to look for hosts who have a high response rate, so I’ll better be able to engage with them. If I have questions, it’s much more likely a host that has a good response rate will let me know in a timely manner, and that I won’t have to wait weeks for question responses and clarifications before applying. At the end of the day, it’s important to trust yourself in finding a farm that feels like a good fit. It may take a while before your search ends up in something tangible, but it will eventually happen. 

In Conclusion…

WWOOFing might be something you want to do if you’re looking to travel on a budget, gain an experiential education in farming, try something new, meet new friends or make connections, and more. Once again, WWOOF isn’t the only site available for folks hoping to navigate the work-exchange scene, so stay tuned for posts on other options. I hope that this beginner’s guide to WWOOFing has encouraged you to look into the WWOOF site, and to begin planning an adventure of your own.

I also wanted to site my source, the WWOOFUSA site, find it through this link! https://wwoofusa.org/en/