Travel Story: WWOOFING In A Pandemic
It’s a warm Saturday morning, at the farmers market just outside of a town in McCall, Idaho. People are split 50/50 on the need to wear masks and social distance in this state. At the famers market, masks are required by all who enter, and the booths are separated by 6ft, with lines painted in the grass designate where to stand.
The market was busier than ever on this Saturday afternoon, and spirits are high among the shoppers as they lined up to enter. The main entrance is watched over by a tall man with a short white beard. I asked him about the mask policy, and he told me “I know most of the people who come to the market. They are longtime friends of mine, but If they don’t have a mask on, I tell them to bad and walk them right to the exit. They got to be smarter these days.”
I smiled, nodded my head and walked back to the Weiser River Ranch booth where I was working. Our line had grown and I could see Jamie and Alex needed me to get back to help. I replaced my mask strap to my ear, took a deep breath, and returned to my post of selling fresh picked raspberries, and a variety of frozen meats.
How did I get here? Why was I in Idaho selling raspberries at a farmers market? Well, I was WWOOFING (world wide opportunities on organic farms.) during a pandemic.
Four weeks earlier I was sitting in my apartment in Los Angeles on June 1st of 2020, in the third month of the pandemic and my 36th birthday. Over the past three years at this exact time (my birthday) I have started backpacking solo in south America, and it has become a new passion, tradition, and love of mine.
Since of course I am not doing any traveling, my creative and adventurists self still longed for something different.
Many years ago I looked in the idea of WWOOFING and other work away programs that get you out on the road and traveling. These programs can be a really safe alternatives to backpacking, and a great opportunity to see the world, learn new traits, and meet new people.
With the pandemic surging in Los Angeles, I circled back to the idea of WWOOFING. My passion for adventure came out of my love for the outdoors, so I figured time alone on a farm, working with my hands would bring me so much joy and growth. The commitment to WWOOF came easily this time, as I signed up for the website and began a search for a host.
My search was mostly in Oregon, and slight east into Idaho, since both states felt like a doable drive for my 2006 Acura. After some emails, I found placement on a ranch in Southern Idaho, near the Oregon border. The town was called Council, and the ranch was name Wieser River Ranch, and that was all I knew as I merged onto the 101 Freeway headed North, just a week later.
WOOFING is a simple program to understand. In exchange for your work, you get housing, food, and if you are lucky a crash course education in farming and sustainability. For me the real exchange was meeting new interesting people, and getting to explore a new place in a unique fashion. When I arrived, I was worried that because of the pandemic there would be no other volunteers on the ranch with me. I was lucky to find out that the ranch had two housing options, and so I met Alex, who was in Idaho all the way from Wisconsin. We sort decided that we could not social distance, and still hang out and work alongside each other. So we agreed to trust that each of us were being safe before arriving to the ranch, and that was that. With WWOOFING today you have to feel it out with the other vounteers, and see how they feel about the pandemic, and make sure you respect the boundaries that they may require.
There was certainly some other adjustments to the normal setup due to the pandemic, but the real core of the program was still intact with the new guidelines. On most farms group meals are a big part of the experience, helping to prepare and cook meals for the volunteers as well as with the owners of the farm. These group dinners are a every night happening in most cases with WWoofing, but with Covid, it was more of a once in a while thing.
Most nights Alex and I would find ways to get creative when cooking a meal for just the two of us. Since we lived on a ranch that sold fresh meat, we would do these day long meat marathons, in which we eat meat for all three meals, including beef jerky as a snack. This is WOOFING in a pandemic 101, working all day picking raspberries, all the while eating copious amounts of fresh beef. I can’t complain.
Most days are spent working on the ranch. For us this meant picking raspberries, being sent off to help dam a river, and watering the garden or doing irrigation. It was not back breaking and I grew to like doing most of the tasks daily, like letting out the sheep and bringing them back in at night. I was lucky to have Alex, who showed me how to do things, and we also shared the work load and become a really dynamic team while at it.
On our time off Alex and I would ride the ATV’s around the massive property, do epic day hikes in the nearby National Forest, or just sit out by the river watching the stars at night.
Hot days we would escape to local reservoirs and lakes for a much needed cool down. Being from Southern California, I am always looking for water and good place for a swim when on the road. Idaho has no shortage of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs that are accessible to the public and a great way to beat the heat. Sometimes we would just sit in silence listening to the wind in the tree lines, and the dock swaying over every small wake. For me, it felt like we sat there in our own little bubble, sheltered from all that goes on in the world, and then I would realize I have not thought about the pandemic In a really y long time. It was almost like it never happened, and the whole things was a bad dream.
Other days we would return to McCall to work the farmers market again. It was here that I would get reminded of the ongoing pandemic that plagues the country. People wearing masks, signs asking to observe social distancing, and empty restaurants not allowed to do indoor seating. Not everyone agrees with the restrictions, and the over by the lake you will find hundreds of people beating the heat by the water, no masks, no worries. I was happy to see that at least the most popular business in town was taking strict pre cautions. Ice Cream Alley, a town and tourist favorite had social distanced the line, masks are required even when outside, and the eating area to gather is closed. So grab your delicious scoop of Huckleberry or Pistachio and go. Leave it to an ice cream shop in the middle of summer to be the one to get through to people about the importance of public health…Go Figure.
All things considered, I was having a lot of fun, and the time on the ranch was started to make me feel like life was normal again. WWOOFING for me was the perfect program to jump off my road trip from, and ultimately I achieved what I wanted to get from it. I have stories that are legendary and make me smile each time I think of them. Most of all, I made friendships with some amazing humans ,who gave me hope that everything in this crazy world will be alright after all.
Go find your adventure, live life and make it a story worth telling. Stay safe.