In Castillejos, Los Romanes, I work around 27hrs a week in exchange for a bed, food and company. You could say it isn’t financially the best deal – but actually I don’t give a shit. It’s nice to built walls, built floors, fix damaged chairs, burn garden waste and so on. And it teached me some valuable lessons.

I enjoy the fysical work and I enjoy to work outside, although it takes time for my body to adjust. Besides that, I have discovered some intriguing insights: the owner, Paul, of the ‘village’,- which is the collective name of the guesthouses all together isn’t bossy: ofcourse he helps me on my way to do what needs to be done, but I can do the tasks whenever I want how I want.

During my time off I have time to chill with the guests, at the moments there’s about 8 people in the village from Germany, Austria, Poland and France, I can do nice bike rides in the mountains, take big walks or just sit and read, write and follow the Olympics.

Never I’ve experienced a boss who gives me freedom and confidence. This gives me a great feeling overall, although there’s ofcourse some rough days and shitty jobs. 

This feeling leads to another thing that I have barely ever experienced during my former jobs: it increases my responsibility for the tasks I do. 

The opposite I experienced during most of my former jobs: there was too much pressure and I stood too far off the goals of the company: the perfect cocktail for me to underachieve.

Another ingredient that works well for me is that it’s different tasks everyday. It prevents me of getting bored.

It might sound like common knowledge, but to me it feels like a revelation. I worked, because I had to. In the future, when I start a new job, I will take the learned lessons into account to enjoy working time more and more…!