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3 Jul 2025
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Description
😃🌿Welcome to our peaceful off-grid home in the countryside, with sea views, 10 km areal distance to Odeceixe Beach.
Are you motivated to support us, still catching up with jobs after the devastating bushfire in August 2023? Workawayers have already helped us rebuild a bedroom in a new space, which includes a room with a simple kitchen for Workawayers. 😃
We’re a friendly couple in our 60ties & 70ties from Switzerland and Germany. Due to some health limitations, we appreciate energetic, self-motivated helpers. Our 95-year-old dad will be living with us starting September 2025. He doesn't need any particular support yet. We also have a rescued dog who enjoys the freedom of a safe, loving space.
♻️Living sustainably, we value respect for nature and resources—so minimal waste and mindful use of water and electricity are essential.
🚐 Best suited for those with their own means of transport - and if you don't travel alone, so you can enjoy free time together. It's well-accessible with any vehicle, but not connected to public transportation.
Still, we can also give you a lift on average a couple of times a week to and from São Teotónio (a 20-minute drive away), from where the bus goes to the beaches or to Lisbon or Lagos.
The direct dirt route to Odeceixe Beach is passable with an ordinary car in just 20 minutes. In wet seasons, the road via São Teotónio is safer, and our home is well accessible via that route with any vehicle, including large vans.
We enjoy a peaceful countryside life, working outside, walking our dog, and spending time with friends. We prepare healthy meals for lunch and enjoy your company throughout the day. Jeannette works as an English coach, and Herbert is a retired software engineer. Our 95-year-old dad will be living with us as of September 2025.
Are you kind, open-minded, and honest in your communication?
Are you proactive? Do you have a love for nature and dogs? Are you happy to take on a variety of tasks? Do you make an effort to avoid wasting food? Do you like to keep your space tidy and clean?
Also, do you appreciate when everyone is mindful and respectful of others in shared spaces on our property?
If that sounds like you, you are very welcome here! 🤗
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Self development
Sustainability
Pets
Farming
Plant care
Music
Nature
Cycling
Languages
Gardening
DIY & crafts
Carpentry
Animals
Architecture
Art & design
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Welcome to our peaceful home in nature in Alentejo, Portugal, just north of the Algarve. ☀️🌳 You’ll be surrounded by Medronho and Cork trees, wildflowers, and a regenerating landscape after the fire. Enjoy nature, learn about herbs for cooking and tea, and take in the sea view (10 km areal distance to the sea).
We love exchanging knowledge and learning from our Workawayers and are happy to share what we know!
🌿 What You Can Learn (though it's unfortunate that few people show a desire to learn this):
💚Explore local trees, fruits, and vegetables.
♻️Learn about solar energy, water filtration, and grey-water systems. Are you interested in how sustainability connects to water, electricity, and heating without relying on public supply? 🤓 We welcome individuals who appreciate this and seek to understand these systems.
👨🌾Gardening, permaculture, composting.
👨🍳Cooking and baking – Swiss cakes, Portuguese dishes, and fresh garden produce.
🚜Meeting local farmers when we buy eggs and fresh milk.
What you can enjoy:
🎹Playing piano or 🏓table tennis.
🐸Swimming in our rainwater-fed lake (still needs stairs for easier access), or in a nice bigger lake 10 minutes walk away.
🥗 Food & Meals:
We eat fresh, healthy meals with lots of veggies, salad, and fruit. We occasionally enjoy wine, local meat, and fish a couple of times a week, but we also cook vegetarian meals. Vegans are welcome, but you’d need to cook those meals, as I have little experience with vegan cooking. On warmer days, we can sometimes grill together.
We provide all the food. Lunch is our main shared meal (between 1–3 p.m.), while breakfast, supper, and snacks are self-served. Weekends we don't always cook but you get all necessary food and you have a kitchen area.
🌙 Evenings:
You can enjoy the peaceful countryside here or go to the beach or a place of your choice or the next café 10 minutes drive away. We are a bit quieter and sometimes withdrawn in the evenings and often go to bed early.
😊 Atmosphere
If you love quiet nature, simple living, sustainability and cultural exchange and dogs, we’d love to welcome you! Mutual respect, tolerance, kindness, honesty and open communication are key to a great experience here.
💚
Help
We need various forms of help. If you enjoy working with nature, have skills to share, wish to learn new ones, are proactive, and physically fit, we would love to have you!
Depending on your skills, there are various potential projects available. Lots of this is still needed because of the fire in August 2023, and support is needed because of some current health issues:
- cutting firewood for winter
- pruning small trees that regrow after a fire
- support diy tasks with wood, simple furniture with pallets
- painting
- making a small fence
- help build an outside dry toilet
- gardening, land care
- cooking healthily (main meal at lunch)
- general support, organising, cleaning
- creative sewing (curtains, cushions, etc.)
- designing and any creative tasks if you are skilled
👒🥾🧴🕶️Important:
You want to be protected in the rough countryside, so please bring good clothes, good shoes for the countryside and garden, a hat, and necessary sun or rain protection. Watershoes are useful if you wish to enjoy swimming in the nearby small lake.
🐶Do you love dogs? That's great because we adopted an abandoned dog, a lovable female. Unfortunately, she's usually scared of new people and then barks, but she’s friendly, and a few workawayers made close friends with her within less than a week, which was great progress for her.
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Portuguese: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
Jeannette is an online English Coach. We are happy to exchange languages if you wish to improve your English or learn Swiss German or German. We are still learning a little more Portuguese.
Accommodation
Remote and Peaceful Stay in Beautiful Nature. Our place is off-grid but with stunning sea views (10 km areal distance away) and a mix of traditional and modern living.
We have a newly created bedroom in a shed with an attached spacious room and a kitchen corner plus an outdoor shower. A warm shower and dry toilet still need to be installed. But until then, you can use our separate guest bathroom, accessible in the backyard of the main house.
We cook a warm lunch daily in our main kitchen (weekend cooking vary); if you like cooking, you are welcome to take care of that. For breakfast and supper, you get food to serve yourself and you can use the Workawayers’ kitchen area.
You have access to (officially tested) drinking water.
🌿 Important to know
We live fully off-grid, relying on solar power and our well. Respecting water and electricity use is essential.
🌞There is no heating in the Workaway living area yet, so we won't take on helpers in the next cold season.
🚭 Not allowed on our property: smoking, loud music, drugs, or excessive drinking. Moderate alcohol consumption is acceptable—we enjoy sharing wine or beer occasionally.
💚🫠This is a quiet place and best for a couple who loves nature and tranquillity. Many younger volunteers without transport found it too remote and quiet after a few days, even with occasional lifts.
We'd love to welcome you if you enjoy peaceful countryside living and value nature!
What else ...
😎Free Time & Local Sights
Having your own transport🚗🏍️is ideal. Unless you like spending evenings alone it's best you have a travel buddy. It's well accessible with any vehicle.
Having said that, it’s also possible we can give you a lift to and from São Teotónio. Buses and coaches run from São Teotónio to Lisbon (about 3 hours) and Lagos (about 1 hour) to and to beaches.
If you’d like to explore more, you can work longer hours on some days and take 3-4 days instead if 2 days off on weekends.
🌿 ☀️Things to Do in Your Free Time:
🚶 Go for walks or runs in the peaceful countryside
🏊Swimming in a nearby lake. (Our lake is not settled with enough plants for this summer and has no pier or stairs yet.)
🏖️Going to nearby beaches (25+ minutes driving distance)
🎹Play the piano
🏓 Play table tennis
😎Relax on the roof terrace with a sea view ☀️
📖Read, 😎sunbathe, or have a glass of Portuguese wine or herbal tea from our garden.💚
We are a quiet couple and can’t entertain much in the evenings due to health reasons, but we’re happy to share our space and enjoy good conversations during the day.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
The mobile reception is at 4G within the area for the workawayers. If you have no mobile internet, we can offer you to borrow our hotspot and upload it at its current cost. We work part-time online. Unfortunately, our separate WIFI is not stable enough for several people to work online simultaneously.
Space for parking camper vans
Our place is well accessible also for big vehicles. There's a lovely space between the cork trees, with a sea view (10 km aerial distance to the sea), gorgeous sunsets, a connection to water and electricity (solar power) and a newly installed outside shower for warmer days. You can also use our separate bathroom, accessible from our house's backyard and our kitchen. We cook warm meals for lunch. For breakfast and supper, you can help yourself. We have a newly created covered outdoor space with a kitchen corner for the workawayers for breakfast and supper.
Can possibly accept pets
You can bring your pet with you if it's social with other pets. Our dog has always been social with other dogs. She has no experience with cats.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
My animals / pets
Kayla
7-year-old sweet, obedient female. Shy, scared of new people because she had been treated badly by a man before we rescued her. Sociable with all other dogs.
Feedback (12)
They are a warm, generous, and inspiring couple who brought so much energy, kindness, and good humour into our home.
Roni is an incredibly hard worker, always smiling and ready to help with anything. He supported us by digging in the garden for greywater collection, planting trees, raking huge… read more
We had the honor of getting to know you as people, learning from you, and being of service to you.
You are honest and good people, clean, tidy, punctual, just the way we like.
You took care of our food and everything we asked for with a big heart.
Dear Janet, thank you for the food and the cakes you baked. It was… read more
Both took on the demanding task of plastering with skill and precision, delivering professional and beautifully done results. In addition to their great plastering work, they also helped with woodcutting, gardening, and… read more
Kim and Arnie were with us for three wonderful weeks, staying in our accommodation container… read more
Photos
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(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(4.9)
Communication:
(5.0)
They are a warm, generous, and inspiring couple who brought so much energy, kindness, and good humour into our home.
Roni is an incredibly hard worker, always smiling and ready to help with anything. He supported us by digging in the garden for greywater collection, planting trees, raking huge… read more
We had the honor of getting to know you as people, learning from you, and being of service to you.
You are honest and good people, clean, tidy, punctual, just the way we like.
You took care of our food and everything we asked for with a big heart.
Dear Janet, thank you for the food and the cakes you baked. It was… read more
Both took on the demanding task of plastering with skill and precision, delivering professional and beautifully done results. In addition to their great plastering work, they also helped with woodcutting, gardening, and… read more
Kim and Arnie were with us for three wonderful weeks, staying in our accommodation container… read more
Jannette and Herbert have a beautifull Quinta and it was very interesting to us learned how to have a sustainable farm.
We enjoyed helping them with their garden, cooking, cutting wood and installed a solar panels.
They were very nice with us, Jannette cooks delicious! she shared and teached us amazing recipes.… read more
Camille and Gonzales were not only incredibly… read more
I wanted to express my heartfelt appreciation for your warm and caring hospitality. Jeanette, your culinary skills are exceptional, and Herbert, your engineering expertise is truly inspiring. Thank you for making us feel like a part of your family and creating such wonderful memories during our stay. Your beautiful home… read more
Łukasz was particularly skilled at cutting wood, and Agata was a master at restoring old furniture. We also appreciated their contributions to our… read more
Marco's gardening skills were impressive, and he tackled a number of challenging tasks with ease. In addition, his painting… read more
Angelika's passion for gardening was truly inspiring - she worked tirelessly and professionally to prune our… read more
Thank you for all again❤️
They are very kind, caring and generous and teached me a lot about gardening, cooking and solar energy. They made me feel like home from the first moment. My own tiny house space was really comfortable and I could also always spent time in the main house. We usually had… read more
Sabrina… read more
I felt very comfortable with both of you right from the start. I respected that you worked along side and gave good instructions. The fresh salat and herbs daily was such a delight... The meals, snacks and evening vine and exchange was nice… read more
Janet and Herbert literally gave us a home when we had nowhere to go.
There is a very nice container room with kitchen and an in-progress
dry toilet where Workawayers usually stay, but we were lucky enough to
stay in the guest room, which is more beautiful than many hotels… read more
They are particularly good at woodwork, they did hard work with digging deep holes and setting poles in the ground for the future dry toilet and… read more
Tereza is a warm-hearted, mature young woman, who is willing to work hard and well and we can still enjoy the result of many of her good jobs. She was great in garden work, cooking and baking,… read more
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback and the perfect description of the wonderful time we could enjoy with you and the great jobs you accomplished.
Alexandra and András are a very harmonious and happy couple, highly educated and yet with a modest attitude, interesting and lovely to chat and laugh with, great for… read more
first of all we would like to thank you again for the experience and the practical knowledge we have acquired and all the deep kindness and caring that you have shown toward us. It was quite a lovely and unique time we had there with you!
We spent there 3,5 weeks at Jeanette and Herbert’s place who are both really… read more
She was a great company in team-work as well as working independently, she did all the jobs really well, worked very hard and she made always sure the result was just what we were hoping for. She was a great support in cooking and… read more
