Our house has never been so clean, thanks to these great HelpX workers.

Sabine and Raphael cleaning the glass pool fence.

All the jobs I can’t bear to do, you know the ones that are outside the scope of the cleaner … they’ve all been done.

I heard about HelpX from a friend and finally got around to writing a host profile … and voila, the next week two of the nicest, hard-working French people, Raphael and Sabine turned up on our doorstep.

The way HelpX works is you provide accommodation and three meals a day, in exchange for 4 ½ hours work a day.

Each morning we put breakfast out at 8am. After they had eaten and cleared it away they started doing the chores. About 1230pm we made a sandwich for lunch then they were free to go for the rest of the day. They came back around 630pm to help with dinner. A couple of times during the week we went out for dinner, so I just left them some food and they were very happy to cook for themselves.

They like to know what’s required of them, so here are tips to ensure the arrangement works for everyone.

Tips

1. Here is the website link, HelpX. You are the host so write a description of your family, your home, the location and nearby attractions.
2. Be specific about the kind of HelpX you are looking for. For example, if you want people with initiative that are hardworking, say so. You can request certain skill depending on what jobs you want done. For example, gardening, painting, cooking or whatever. Tell them what accommodation you can offer. You can specify what you want; non- smokers or any other criteria. It is also important to include the dates you are wanting the help.
3. People will respond to your listing. If you don’t like the sound of them, just say no thanks, otherwise start a dialogue and ask questions.
4. If you don’t want HelpX or you are going away you just turn your listing off.
5. My friend who put me onto HelpX has had aver 200 or so and gave me these useful tips when choosing good HelpX.

• Older people, 23-year plus have more experience and are generally better
• Couples work well as they have companionship
• French people are the best
• Canadians, Germans, Europeans, South Americans are all good
• Having their own transport, provides them with greater flexibility

Our experience with Raphael and Sabine was excellent.

They arrived late afternoon and we showed them where they were sleeping then came downstairs for a chat and a drink. We talked about the jobs we wanted done and the routine. They like to know.

830am –  HelpX

1030am – morning tea

1045am –  HelpX

1230 lunch –  free to explore

630pm –  help with dinner

We never felt we needed to entertain them as after dinner they cleared the table, did the dishes and where happy to go upstairs and plan their trip. Internet is important to them. We offered them wine with dinner, but other than the first night they declined. We found them to be hugely respectful.

Give it a go. Not only will you get some of those least favourite chores out of the way, you’ll get to meet some interesting people.