6. In a post on their blog, Cartell wrote that she and Dirnberger realized that their social media posts about their trip are not really telling the full story.
“Browsing through our blog posts and Instagram feed, it seems like we’re having the time of our lives,” she wrote. “And don’t get me wrong – we are. It’s bloody amazing. But it’s not all ice-creams in the sun and pretty landscapes.”
7. In fact, she wrote when they aren’t taking pretty pictures, they are doing “painstakingly hard and dirty work.”
So far, I think we’ve tallied 135 toilets scrubbed, 250 kilos of cow dung spread, 2 tons of rocks shovelled, 60 metres of pathway laid, 57 beds made, and I cannot even remember how many wine glasses we’ve polished.
You see, to come from the luxuries we left behind in Johannesburg, to the brutal truth of volunteer work, we are now on the opposite end of the scale. We’re toilet cleaners, dog poop scoopers, grocery store merchandisers, and rock shovelers.
Cartell included a link to the company they do the work through, Workaway. The company pairs travelers willing to do odd jobs with hosts in different countries who are willing to provide the traveler with food and accommodations in exchange for the tasks.
9. And even though they are doing back-breaking labor, Cartell wrote that at points, they have had to go without basic necessities:
Whilst visits to town with our new friends in Norway meant buying beer and bags of candy for them, we’ve been forced to purchase floss (because you only get one set of pearlers, right?) and nothing else. The budget is really tight, and we are definitely forced to use creativity (and small pep talks) to solve most of our problems (and the mild crying fits).
11. The lifestyle is also taking a physical toll on them, she wrote.
I am not at my fittest, slimmest or physically healthiest. We eat jam on crackers most days, get roughly 5hrs of sleep per night, and lug our extremely heavy bags through cobbled streets at 1am, trying to find our accommodation (because bus fares are not part of the budget, obviously).
12. But Cartell wrote that the challenges they have faced are worth it to have the experience of a lifetime.
“It’s like heaven for us,” she wrote. “Sure, wood needs to be stacked, and garbage needs to be taken out (it’s our version of a shit sandwich, as Mark Manson put it), but once that’s done, we’re free to explore, wander and be one with our meandering thoughts.”
Correction
This post has been updated to clarify the couple works in exchange for food.
This Couple Quit Their Jobs To Travel And Now Scrub Toilets To Get By.
