[From my Workaway profile, May 2018.]

I commenced volunteering full-time in 2013. I have assisted at 51 locations around Europe. I am not a tourist, and I don't treat hosts like hotels. I like to help people and learn new things.

Recently:
I have worked as a luxury guesthouse gardener/handyman for the last 18 months in Saint Tropez (and Marbella). I will be returning there in September 2018.

Suitability:
I am mature, respectful, and tidy. I adapt to your lifestyle. I don't smoke or drink alcohol or use drugs. I have no criminal record. I am fit and healthy with no medical problems (except car sickness). I have private global health insurance. I have a sleeping bag and work boots and gloves, but I do not carry a tent in my backpack. Hosts say they like me because I am "uncomplicated".

Past:
I lived in the centre of England, in a small city named Derby. I worked with finance computer systems for the National Health Service. In 2013 I quit my job and sold all my possessions. Now I own only a backpack of clothes and a laptop computer. I started using WWOOF and HelpX, but Workaway is superior. I've often been passed on from hosts to their friends, using the same standard regulations of 25 hours work each week in exchange for food and bed.

Manner:
My university degree is Artificial Intelligence, so I like to eliminate human labour. For example, my favourite is to organise cluttered sheds or attics so that things are easy to access. I write instruction books for future volunteers so that you don't have to repeat everything, and I have constructed stairs in hills so that people can walk more easily. I prefer to make it easy for people to do things themselves instead of me doing it for them. I try to be ethical. I have volunteered at an immigrant community in Spain for three months, and self-funded a month at a Syrian refugee camp in Greece. I prefer to travel by land instead of flying, for environmental reasons.

Hobbies:
If you worry that your location isn't very interesting, or that you will have to constantly entertain me, then know that I have no problems entertaining myself when housesitting alone for up to 6 months. My hobbies include:
* Genealogy research: https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Mills-Family-Tree-7869
* Moderation of a discussion group for 30,000 volunteers and hosts: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OrganicFarmVolunteers/
* Language practise.
* Calisthenics.
* Modern board games such as Catan / Dominion / 7 Wonders. (More sociable than computer games.)
* Donating blood. (Spain and France won't accept English blood.)
* Visiting local amenities to add their details to Google Maps (I am ranked a "Master Trailblazer").
* I do NOT enjoy music, so please leave me at home if you go to see your friends play.

Food:
I eat everything. I have no allergies. If we don't eat together then example meals for me would be breakfast muesli, lunch salad wrap, and dinner pasta. I don't drink tea or coffee, only tap water. I know that hosts love volunteers to cook for them, but honestly I am bad at it, so I will try making some things, but I suggest that you have low expectations.

Current Goals:
* I am visiting a cousin in Geneva in May.
* I am travelling in the direction of Paris because I need to collect my Estonian e-Residency from the embassy there.
* I want to practise speaking French. I speak some, but I am bad at listening, because I only practise talking with the cat, and he does not respond!

Contacting Me:
Calling my UK telephone is expensive, so please email me. I reply to all messages. I always leave objective feedback about my hosts, to help manage the expectations of future volunteers. My Facebook page contains my recent activity: http://www.facebook.com/philipbroughtonmills

Please do not overestimate my competence based on the number of hosts that I have helped. Each host has different jobs, so I have tried most things only one or two times. I am not a professional. Also, I have learned that good tools help a lot, for example, I cannot cut a tree using a blunt saw. Many hosts give me a list of jobs and then trust me to organise my own time, but I am also happy to work as an assistant alongside a host.

Garden/Farm Experience:
* mowing lawns, strimming
* weeding, pruning bushes, débroussaillage of trees, bonfires
* sowing seeds, transplanting, installing irrigation, mulching
* firewood chopping and stacking
* harvesting vegetables, trimming, weighing/packing veg boxes
* milking goats and cows by hand, collecting eggs

Renovation Experience:
* painting internal walls, varnishing wood
* concreting fence posts, repointing patios, plastering walls
* trench digging, levelling ground
* high work on ladders/scaffolds/roofs
* straw bale building

Domestic Experience:
* housesitting pets, plants, and pools
* housekeeping: bed making, bathroom & kitchen cleaning
* furniture assembly
* serving hot drinks, pot washing
* fixing computer problems
* online business promotion

English-Teaching Experience:
* TESOL certified.
* I speak clearly, without slang.
* Taught immigrants for 3 months, conversation classes for 1 month, and tutored three children aged 8-14.

I have NO experience of:
* plumbing, electricity, tiling
* driving (I'm a devout pedestrian)
* childcare

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'd like to try Couchsurfing as an alternative to hostels when I'm making journeys that take more than a day.

Interests

• board games
• genealogy
• volunteering
• wwoof
• calisthenics
• workaway
• ted talks

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Primer, Southland Tales, Melancholia.
TV: Sense8, Steven Universe, Judge Judy.
Books: Superintelligence, Atlas Shrugged, Tim Ferriss.
Music: I don't like music.
Games: The Witness, Portal 2, Deus Ex 2000.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've been backpacking around Europe since 2013.

Teach, Learn, Share

If you're interested in trying volunteering so that you can travel for free (living with local families away from tourist centres and working mornings in return for food and a bed) then I can give you all the advice you need.

Countries I’ve Visited

Denmark, Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Scotland, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bulgaria, England, France, Greece, Spain