Hi there, hoping this finds someone that is looking for an adventure!
Admin, if there are other forums where this should be posted, I would love it if you could please help me out there. I've disappeared from permies for about a year now and kinda forgot my way around. 😅
I'm a 30 y/o female living in an isolated location in southern Chile and looking for help on my homestead. I used to be fairly active here on permies, but my life has been pretty chaotic over the last year so I kind of went silent for a while. In April of 2022 construction was finished on my A-frame house here on my 5-hectare plot in the middle of the rainforest. I love my place and am determined to live this lifestyle (financially I have no other options, anyways) but I am getting overwhelmed with everything I need to do to make it work. I have lived without hot water for all this time, without heating for the majority of this time, I do not have an adequate septic setup, have no refrigeration, and need to build a woodshed to store my supply of firewood for the rainy winter that is coming soon. Emotionally I am in a difficult place, as this is my dream but I am tired of fighting an uphill battle all the time.
I would love to have someone come and stay for a couple of months to work on these projects with me. Not everything has to be permie-acceptable, I just need solutions for now. I would pay for all food and obviously any of the project expenses, but I can't offer much more than that financially. Someone would need to be willing to rough it a bit for a short time while we get things done, but hopefully we could get hot water and other things fixed right at first to make living a little easier.
I do have a job off the property that I need to devote time to, so hopefully someone wouldn't mind getting left alone on the property during the days that I have to be away. Again, it is an isolated area, but there are 2 neighbors nearby who would provide transport and help in case of emergency. I have electricity via a generator and there is cell service, albeit intermittent at times.
I am open to learning other languages, so fluency in my languages isn't absolutely necessary, although basic spanish or a willing to learn it is a must (so that you could move around here on your own). I speak fluent english and spanish and would be happy to tutor you in either. It also seems relevant that I love the culture here and am not tolerant of racism/negativity towards it.
Something else that I can offer in return for your hard work would be an exchange of knowledge. I have studied natural medicine for about 15 years, researched permaculture for about 5, and am also fairly knowledgeable in other elements of alternative living. I am close to the artesanal brewing industry here, so if you are interested I can hook you up with folks who could help you learn about making beer and hard cider. Ecotourism is big in this area, so you'd have plenty of chances for hiking, boating/kayaking, camping, and exploring and learning about nature in whatever way interests you.
I have 2 small children (ages 5 and 9) who are with me every other week. We are recently transitioning to gentle/connected parenting, so most days there's a lot of chaos, noise, and emotions swirling around! They are homeschooled at this point so the days when they are with me are pretty intensely kid-focused. I plan on doing as much of the work 50/50 as I can, but when the kids are around I prioritize their needs. These might be times when you would prefer to focus on your own interests, take nature hikes, or explore the surrounding region.
As I stated earlier I plan on paying for all of the food, but our diet is pretty varied. We are omnivores and eat a combination of what is nutritious, economical, and convenient. Anyone who has special dietary considerations would need to bring/buy what they need for themselves and cook separately if need be. I have a gas cooktop and an electric oven, plus a wood-burning stove and the option to cook outdoors over an open fire.
I guess it goes without saying that you would need to be able-bodied and fairly fit to work well for this job. It is a 700-meter uphill hike to get to the house, and I don't have a car so it's necessary to walk about 500 meters to get to the nearest bus stop. We cross a river by boat to arrive at the property, so hopefully that's not an issue for anyone! We are isolated but not remote, it is about 10 minutes to get from the house to civilization.
I am hoping for a single/unattached person, not for romantic purposes but mostly because of space concerns and lack of resources. I would prefer working with a woman, but I am open to talking with anyone to see if we'll be a good fit. I don't see a reason for an upper age limit so long as you're physically fit enough, but I do think it's important that you're at least 18 in order to avoid any complications traveling.
To be more precise, the projects I would like to complete are:
Connecting plumbing for hot water (mostly done already)
Building a woodshed
Small fencing projects
Prune fruit trees and fell dead/sick ones
Clear brush
Fell trees and chop/split firewood
Build a simple bedstead
General cleanup and organization, in the house and around the property
Interior and exterior painting of the house
Building small basic furniture (tables and shelves)
I think that with both of us motivated to get things done, a 2-month stay would be a reasonable amount of time to finish most of these things. I would reserve the right to terminate the arrangement before that time if personality conflicts become unworkable, or if other significant problems arose with the situation.
So I guess that's about it, I woke up this morning determinined to get things turned around here, so I really hope to find someone willing to help me out! Thanks for reading this far, please get in touch if this sounds like something that interests you!
