Identity Development through Volunteer Tourism : A qualitative study of WWOOF volunteers’ identity formation

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Department for Studies of Social Change and Culture

Identity Development through

Volunteer Tourism

A qualitative study of WWOOF volunteers’ identity formation

Identitetsutveckling genom volontärturism

En kvalitativ studie av WWOOFares identitetsarbete

Linnea Börjars

Course 758G47. Spring 2012

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Abstract

Tourism is a fast growing phenomenon. As every person has a different motivation to travel new and alternative forms of tourism are continuously developing. Depending on form of tourism and the tourist’s motivation to take on a certain trip, the experience has a smaller or bigger impression on the individual.

This study examines what influences volunteer trips can have on identities, focusing on volunteers in the organization WWOOF, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. To understand the development of identities, theories about identity work have been researched. The material derives from a participant observation and 14 semi-structured interviews that mainly were conducted in Oregon, USA.

The analysis of the results reveals four main themes for how the individuals’ identities have changed and what factors that have caused this change. These themes are perceived change, cultural exchange, significance of place, and differences between WWOOFers and other tourists. The study shows that travels, in this case volunteer trips, affect individuals in many ways.

Rèsumé

Le tourisme est un phénomène en pleine expansion. Chaque personne a un motivation différent pour voyager, donc des nouvelles formes et des formes alternatives du tourisme se développent continuellement. La forme du tourisme et le motivation du touriste déterminent l’effet du voyage sur l’individu.

Cette étude examine l’influence des voyages bénévoles sur les identités des bénévoles, avec un foyer sur les bénévoles dans l’organisation WWOOF--World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (Occasions Mondial sur les Fermes Biologiques). Pour comprendre le

développement des identités, il faut rechercher les théories d'identité. Ces matériaux dérivent de l’observation participante et 14 interviews semi-structurées, la plupart qui était menée en Oregon, aux États-Unis.

L'analyse des résultats révèlent quatre thèmes principaux pour comment les identités des individus ont changé, et quels facteurs ont causé ces changements. Ces thèmes sont les changements perçu, l'échange culturel, l’importance de l’endroit, et les différences entre les bénévoles de WWOOF et des autres touristes. Cette étude montre que les voyages, en ce cas les voyages bénévoles, touchent les individus dans plusieurs façons.

Sammanfattning

Turism är ett snabbt växande fenomen. Eftersom varje person har egna motiv till att resa utvecklas ständigt nya och alternativa resformer. Vilket avtryck resan gör på individen beror på vald turismform samt turistens motiv till att åka på en viss resa.

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilka influenser en volontärresa kan ha på individen, med fokus på volontärer som reser genom organisationen WWOOF, World Wide

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tillämpats på materialet. Materialet kommer från en deltagande observation och 14 semistrukturerade intervjuer som övervägande gjorts i Oregon, USA.

Analysen av resultatet visade på fyra teman för hur volontärers identiteter påverkats. Dessa var upplevd förändring, kulturellt utbyte, platsens betydelse och hur volontärturisterna skiljer sig från andra turister. Studien visar därmed på att resor, i detta fall volontärresor, påverkar individen på flera olika sätt.

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Acknowledgements

First of all I would like to thank my WWOOF hosts Andrea Davis and John Madsen for making my participant observation a fantastic and memorable time, and for putting me in contact with other farms and thereby reaching more informants. I also want to thank all the volunteers who have shown interest in my study and been willing to help by sharing their stories and experiences.

Special thanks to my supervisor Josefina Syssner for dedicated feedback all through the process, and to Emelie Bouvin, Sara Svärdsén Sporre, and Ulrika Petersson for their company and support during the writing process and for all good food.

Finally I would like to show my appreciation to Breanna Draxler, Anders Melin, Kristin Knudson and Ludvig Linse for valuable proofreading.

Linnea Börjars

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5.2 Perceived change ... 19 5.2.1 Personal change ... 19 5.2.2 Environmental awareness ... 20 5.2.3 The WWOOFer ... 21 5.2.4 Concluding remarks ... 22 5.3 Cultural exchange ... 22 5.3.1 A diverse exchange ... 22 5.3.2 Life pace ... 23 5.3.3 Sharing knowledge ... 24 5.3.4 Concluding remarks ... 25 5.4 Significance of place ... 25

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5.4.1 A healthy place ... 25

5.4.2 Simple life ... 26

5.4.3 Contradictory identities ... 27

5.4.4 Concluding remarks ... 27

5.5 Perceived differences between WWOOFers and other tourists ... 27

5.5.1 Experiencing culture ... 27

5.5.2 Social interactions ... 28

5.5.3 Connection to the place ... 29

5.5.4 Outside the tourist bubble ... 29

5.5.5 Alternative tourism ... 31

5.5.6 Concluding remarks ... 32

6 Final conclusion ... 33

6.1 Future research ... 34

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“You get the knowledge that they give you and they benefit

from your muscles and your brain”

- Chris, WWOOF volunteer in Oregon

1 Introduction

This chapter begins with a historical review of volunteer tourism and the organization WWOOF, which has a special focus in this study, followed by aim and issue as well as limitations of the study.

Tourism is a fast growing phenomenon that creates opportunities for people and cultures to meet. New and alternative forms of tourism are continuously developing as every person has a different motivation to travel, sometimes even various motivations within the same trip (Sin, 2009). As we now live in an experience economy tourists want to be an active part of the experience instead of just watching (Cloke & Perkins, Crouch & Desforges in Sin, 2009), something that Benson (2011, p. 14) calls a participatory travel experience. Many tourists ask for memorable and unique experiences. Within some forms of alternative tourism there is an urge to go to non-tourist places, to spend time with locals at the destination, and to contribute to the local community in some way (Benson, 2011, p. 14). A relatively new phenomenon is to travel as a volunteer and to offer one’s manpower to small scale farms in rural areas and receive free food and housing in return. There are both tour operators and non-profit organizations that offer volunteer vacations (Brown, 2005, p. 479). Already in 1987

McMillon listed 75 such organizations and in 2003 the number had increased to 275. Brown (2005, p. 480) explained that the projects offered can include: agriculture, archaeology, community development, conservation, construction, education and teaching, environmental protection and research, technical assistance, historic preservation, medical and dental assistance, and work camps. One of the organizations creating this kind of opportunities is WWOOF, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, which is studied in this report.

WWOOF started in 1971 by offering a weekend trip to a rural English farm for urban citizens interested in the organic movement. Soon it became clear that there were many of the city dwellers who were longing for some time on the countryside. Likewise, small scale farmers were happy to get help on the farm. Working weekends on organic farms became popular as it opened an exchange between host and volunteer. Farmers had practical experience of self sufficiency and could provide guidance for a more sustainable way of living for the urban citizens. In 2000 a name change took place as the present name Willing workers on organic farms caused confusion and misunderstandings as the word work was associated with migrant workers. World wide opportunities on organic farms as it has been called since then, is established in over one hundred countries for volunteers wanting to try the life of an organic farmer in different places, all over the world (WWOOF, 2011).

Wherever people go and whoever they meet during travels they are affected somehow. In order to begin to understand what broader meaning WWOOF experiences have in volunteers’ life stories, it is important to examine the impact travel experiences have on identities.

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2 collected through ethnographic methods, specifically participant observation and

semi-structured interviews.

Travel motivation can be different among people choosing the same form of tourism. Even the same person can have diverse goals and ambitions with one trip. It can be shifting between being a world saver providing manpower to the local community and partying on the beach with backpackers (Elsrud, 2004, p. 31; Uriely, Yonay and Simchau, 2002, p. 535). Brown (2005, p. 480) suggests two forms of volunteer tourism depending on mindset: the “volunteer-minded” tourist devote most of the time on his or her vacation for volunteer activities while the “vacation-minded” tourist is offered to partake in a shorter project at the destination where they get to meet locals.

Identities are ever changing as they are challenged and recreated in unique situations and while meeting different people. For tourism researchers it is interesting to analyze what tourists think of themselves in different situations. What do they want to achieve with their travels? What happens to their identities throughout the time traveling? What effect do certain events or people encountered have on the way in which tourists see themselves? How are they different when they come home? In this study WWOOF volunteers are asked to reflect on how they think their identities have changed throughout their time as a volunteer and what influences have caused these changes. These findings can be used to inform the larger questions of whether or not traveling to a foreign country with the intention of being a volunteer working for food and board is a form of tourism.

1.1 Aim and issue

This study aims to examine identity work through travels focusing on volunteer tourism, specifically in the organization WWOOF.

● What role does the WWOOF experience play in the volunteers’ life stories?

● In what way do volunteers perceive that WWOOF creates opportunities for cultural and social exchange that influence their identities?

The study will provide an analysis of the broader meaning of WWOOFing as it relates to volunteers’ identity work. How have the respondents experienced that they have changed and how are they predicting to be different after WWOOFing? What is the significance of place when it comes to who volunteers think they are and who they want to be? WWOOF as a cultural exchange is also examined. The study will analyze how the volunteers see themselves in comparison to other types of tourists and locals, as well as how they label themselves.

1.2 Limits of the study

This study focuses on WWOOF in the Corvallis area in Oregon, USA. All small scale farmers have their unique challenges and opportunities which affect the experiences of volunteers. Although the area is not representative of all WWOOF experiences it is an ideal location for this kind of study. Oregon has 85 WWOOF farms and is a popular destination for

WWOOFers (WWOOF-USA, 2011). Volunteers in the Corvallis area can in the interviews refer to previous WWOOFing experiences from other places. To add credibility and anchor the data from Oregon farms three interviews are done within a Swedish context. The study

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3 will seek to understand what role the WWOOF experience plays in the broader context of volunteers’ lives. The study has a particular emphasis on identity work and how it is affected by place, people encountered and situation.

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2 Literature review

In this chapter previous research on volunteer tourism with a focus on identity work is presented. I will look into differences and similarities between previous research and this study regarding methods, theories and results. The four areas considered are what affects the experience, women’s identity work, how volunteer tourism differs from other forms of

tourism, and motives for volunteers.

There is a huge variety of perspectives that can be applied on the phenomenon WWOOFing. The amount of recent research on volunteer tourism and volunteers mirrors the increasing interest in an expanding niche (Wearing & Ponting, 2009, p. 255). This was confirmed by a Google search, which yielded 77,200 hits on “volunteer tourism” on October 26, 2011 (Google, 2011).

2.1 What affects the experience

“Volunteer tourism – experiences that make a difference” by Wearing (2001) is a study examining the experiences of volunteers in the Santa Elena Rainforest Reserve project and what impact it has on their creation of social value. The way it creates a foundation for the volunteer’s self and identity is explored by analyzing their narratives from a grounded theory perspective.

Urry (in Wearing, 2001, p. 79) claims that all tourists have their own idea of what’s being experienced depending on their previous social experience. Social position, preferences, values and beliefs are personal characteristics that Hamilton-Smith points out to have an impact on the experience (in Wearing, 2001, p. 82). It is also stated from a number of

researchers that social background, personality and attitude play a role in what way the tourist interpret the experience (Wearing, 2001, p. 81). Also, the structure and operation of the volunteer organization affects the experience. As volunteers travel with the purpose of assisting in the local community they differ from most other tourists and they see themselves as alternative tourists (Wearing, 2001, p. 80).

Wearing’s (2001, p. 123) view is in line with the approach of this study, that since volunteer tourism is socially constructed, the experience gets its meaning from social interactions with others. The volunteer role differs from the role the individual is taking on in everyday life. While an individual’s experience can impact his or her identity, others can also contribute to this identity formation. When the acts of the volunteer are interpreted by others the individual is redefined (Wearing, 2001, p. 123). In interactions between volunteers or between

volunteers and people from the local community the physical place gets a social value

(Wearing, 2001, p. 125). There is an exchange of influences between the parts that affects the self and identity.

2.2 Women’s identity work

According to Wearing (2001) women’s experiences of more adventurous tourist activities are shown to bring emotional, physical and psychological benefits. Women of the post-industrial society are searching for alternative forms of tourism because of its contrast to the role women are expected to fulfill at home (Wearing, 2001, p. 86). People go to natural areas in

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5 their search for being recognized as adventurous, Wearing argues (2001, p. 86). Central to tourism motivation is the desire to escape from everyday life at home and search for meaning, according to Iso-Ahola (in Wearing, 2001, p. 93). Wearing argues that an experience affects the formation of an individual’s values and therefore also their sense of identity. In a tourism experiences cultural stereotypes can be challenged and alternative methods of forming identities can be introduced to the individual (Wearing, 2001, p. 87).

Egeland (1999, p. 73) have a similar reasoning when she examines backpacker trips as expressions for, and a part of, identity projects of young women. Their travels are not only taking a geographical dimension in this study but also mental. The author investigates what gender roles women are “escaping from” when deciding to take on a backpacker trip and what they wish to find in themselves when being away from the everyday routines at home.

Nowadays individuals have the opportunity to choose their own ways and directions in life to a bigger extent than before, something mentioned as a cultural liberation by Ziehe (in

Egeland, 1999, p. 79).

2.3 How volunteer tourism differs from other forms of tourism

In their work, McIntosh and Bonnemann (2006) examine how a WWOOF experience is different from a farm stay at a commercial farm. One dimension of WWOOFing that makes it unique is the personal meaningfulness of the visit. In-depth interviews with visitors in New Zealand show that spending time at a WWOOF farm together with hosts and other visitors has encouraged personal growth, to see and understand oneself better and to live one’s ideals (McIntosh & Bonnemann, 2006, p. 94).

The power relationship of mass tourism – where locals are servants of the western visitors – is causing self-destructive identities, claims Wearing and Ponting (2009, p. 263). They point out a Third space where social value and identity can develop in absence of the self-other

dichotomy. Not constrained of a dominating hegemonic culture the third space is a place where hosts and tourists can interact and learn from each other with an open mind (Wearing & Ponting, 2009, p. 263). The authors (2009, p. 263) states that culture is seen as something ever changing by influences from anyone taking part of it. Hosts are reflecting, educating and interpreting as visitors are part of the re-presentation but not intruding on the culture.

2.4 Motives for volunteers

Lo and Lee (2011) examine the motivation of volunteers from Hong Kong and their perceived value of the experience. Focus group and personal interviews were conducted to explore what kind of trip the person had partake, how it was done and the reason for attending in volunteer tourism. Five motivations were found to participate in volunteer tourism: cultural immersion and interaction with local people, desire to give back, seeking a shared experience and an educational opportunity, religious involvement, and escaping from everyday life. When it comes to perceived value the volunteers mentioned six things: changed view of life, relationship enhancement, personal development and growth, broadening horizons and gaining memorable life experience, and influence on future career, studies, and life direction. Also factors affecting the volunteer’s decision to participate in such tourism in the future were

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6 examined. Time, financial ability, safety and health issues, the arrangements and scale of the volunteer tours, and the reputation of the organizers were important factors.

The motivation of tourists who take part in volunteer activities on their leisure vacation and the impacts of that experience are examined by Brown (2005). The material is collected through focus groups and in-depth personal interviews to get an understanding of attitudes instead of quantitatively measuring them. Brown (2005, p. 494) stresses that the volunteer vacationers, that they call them, have motives from both the altruistic volunteer tourist and the mass tourist. The authors see a temporary satisfaction in contributing to the local community and an enduring effect from it in a developed self and strengthened relationships with family members. Shared interests and values with others in the travel group and interacting with locals leads to mutual understanding and friendship. The authors suggest that this hybrid of tourism forms can constitute a new successful market segment.

The article by Sin (2009) is based on 11 interviews and a participant observation in South Africa with students representing “Action Africa” from a university in Singapore. The result in this study reveals, in contrary to other studies on volunteer tourism, that the volunteer experience not for certain has lead to substantial change in value system, social

consciousness, or has motivated the individual to volunteer again. Many of the interviewees see their activity as “international service-learning“, a way to learn about needs in the society by participating in solving them, rather than volunteer tourism. This puts personal

development in focus instead of the ability to contribute to a positive change in host communities. What a volunteer tourist takes out from his or her experience depend on the original motivation, the context in which the volunteer work took place, the kind of project, contact with the local community, and what other volunteers were involved. To live outside the tourism bubble means meeting locals and see how the identity is affected in a

heterogeneous place. To be, do, touch and see, instead of just seeing, is what modern tourists ask for (Cloke and Perkins, Crouch and Desforges in Sin, 2009).

This overview indicates that studies with similar approaches using similar methods can end in various results. For example, when it comes to motives for volunteers, a number of articles challenge the traditional understanding of volunteer motives as only altruistic. Sin (2009), as well as, Loo and Lee (2011), and Brown (2005) show results of motives that tend towards being more centered on the self. For example, the informants mention motives in the form of personal growth and meaningfulness, learning, broadening one’s horizons, and to gain a memorable life experience.

The volunteers in these studies are of western nationalities and their volunteer trips are directed south. This is probably the most common pattern when it comes to volunteer work. The reason to why volunteers in my study reveal self-fulfilling motives can be found in the relationship between the home country and the country visited. When people from the north travel to another country in the north, or within his or her own country, the power relation between the tourist and locals are not as uneven as it can be between people in the north and the south.

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7 In similarity to this study Wearing (2001) examines how volunteer experience constitute the foundation for the volunteer’s self and identity. While this study is limited to experiences from WWOOF farms, McIntosh and Bonnemann (2006) examines the differences in experiences between WWOOF farms and a commercial farm stay.

Two authors shed light on women’s identity specifically. Egeland (1999) and Wearing (2001) both discuss how women take on adventurous trips to get away from the role a woman is expected to fulfill at home and instead find an alternative identity. Egeland states that backpacker trips can be an identity project for young women. This study has no special interest in any of the sexes, but strives to mirror the experiences of a similar amount of men and women.

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3 Research design and methodology

This chapter covers the methods used in this study and a discussion about validity and potential sources of error.

In order to collect data for this study I used the ethnographic methods including interviews and participant observations. Ekström and Larsson (2010, p. 48) state that participant observations are good complements to interviews since people have a tendency to do things differently than they say they do. In the authors’ view, the combination of the methods sheds light on what people do, the meaning of their actions and how they reason.

In addition to a 17-day participant observation at Kings Valley Gardens in Oregon, USA, interviews were conducted with volunteers working at the farm. By doing a qualitative study volunteers’ experiences of WWOOFing can be mapped and examined. The overall aim is to examine what role the WWOOF experience plays in the volunteers’ life stories by analyzing how they talk about their experience.

3.1 Participant observation

To get a better understanding of how a WWOOF farm operates I lived at Kings Valley Gardens and participated in the daily duties for 17 days during the summer of 2011. The specific farm was chosen based on its good reviews on the WWOOF website. According to Ekström and Larsson (2010, p. 30) the researcher can get access to the field and be let in to the private sphere by participating in activities. By participating in the work as a volunteer while doing my participant observation I gained acceptance as a researcher.

When people heard about my thesis work they were eager to facilitate my data gathering by offering their time for an interview or suggesting others to interview. I do not directly describe my own personal observations of the experience in this study, but my participation served as a foundation for my understanding of the WWOOFing context and helped me determine what questions to ask my interviewees.

3.2 Interviews

A total of 14 volunteers were interviewed. Seven interviews were conducted face to face at Kings Valley Gardens, six of which I had also encountered and observed at the same farm. Four interviews were done on the phone with Americans and one with a Swede. One Swedish respondent was interviewed face to face in her home in Sweden. Two volunteers I interviewed twice. The interviewees were between 18 and 30 years old, of which 5 were male and 9 were female. Twelve were from the United States and two were from Sweden. Interviewees were chosen from among the fellow volunteers during my stay, through the Kings Valley Gardens farmers’ network and through interviewees’ recommendations of other volunteers.

Most of the interviews were conducted in July, a busy month on farms according to the farmers. With that in mind, interviewees were contacted beforehand and asked to pick a time for the interview. This was done to reduce the time pressure and other disruptive elements as Lantz (2007, p. 73) recommends. In line with Palmer’s (2001, p. 305) recommendations the interviews were kept as brief as possible to not take the respondents away from their duties for too long. All interviews were carried out individually. To make the interview situation as

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9 comfortable as possible it was held in a naturalistic environment as Palmer (2001, p. 305) also recommends.

Syssner (2011, p. 72) suggests that qualitative interviews are preferable to surveys to capture peoples’ identities and self-perception since, in an interview with an open structure, the interviewee can talk freely and give more complex and nuanced answers than in a survey with defined answers to chose from. For this study interviews were conducted in what Lantz (2007, pp. 30, 33) calls a semi structural way, to let the interviewee talk freely from themes.

Following this structure, a framework for the interview was built and focus was put on the respondent’s subjective experience. The aim was to gain insight into the interviewee’s

worldview, values and way of thinking; which are all meaningful characteristics for the study. Follow-up questions were asked to make statements clearer as Lantz (2007, p. 33)

recommends.

The respondents were initially informed about the cause and aim of the study and how his or her information was going to be used. This was done to build up openness and trust between researcher and respondent as Lantz (2007, pp. 57, 69) explains. The respondents were never asked if they wished to be anonymous but were for ethical reasons given new names in the report. They were asked to introduce themselves by name, place of residence, what WWOOF farm he or she has stayed at and the farm’s main crop or produce (Lantz, 2007, p. 58). An interview plan with topics that emerged from the review stage was presented and used as an aid to navigate the interview (Lantz, 2007, p. 56; Palmer, 2001, p. 304). Questions were formulated to evoke the respondent’s experiences; how a phenomenon is given meaning and the context around it (Lantz, 2007, pp. 46, 54). Questions were translated and reviewed by an English native speaker as preparations and a critical view of the interview plan are of high importance (Lantz, 2007, pp. 59-60). See appendix 2 for questions asked to volunteers.

Using ethnographical methods means that I as a researcher am the tool used to collect data. The qualitative investigation was therefore dependent on me and it is certain that the data collected would be different if another researcher would have done the same study. According to Ekström and Larsson (2010, p. 49) the presence of a researcher should not affect the

processes that shape relationships in a studied context. Lantz (2007, p. 65) though points out that there is always a mutual influence when people interact. It is important to stay scientific in the role as an observer in the middle of a field even though gaining trust and confidence is fundamental to getting reliable data, Ekström and Larsson point out (2010, p. 46). As they suggest, I needed to cut ties and take a step back from my WWOOF experience to conduct the analysis (Ekström & Larsson, 2010, p. 48).

Possible drawbacks on using an ethnographic method are misunderstandings during interviews and observations. As my native language is Swedish and most interviews were done in English, language barriers might cause misunderstandings. As the observation was made in a foreign culture the understanding of the small details, facial expressions, jokes, and silence may be lacking. For the interviews done on the phone I did not get any other

information than what was said and the intonation used. To have an outsider’s view can also be beneficial as I can see things more objectively than someone from within the culture. I do

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10 to some degree have a pre-understanding and preconceptions about the culture; how things work and how people think and act. Preconceptions can easily affect the analysis; it is easier for me as a participant observer to see what I expect to see which Ekström and Larsson (2010, p. 45) as well as Elsrud (2004, p. 70) made me aware of. The context (personal, social,

cultural, economic) that I come from influence my work from the start to the end, a perspective on the qualitative study known as situated knowledge (Elsrud, 2004, p. 70). I strive to not evaluate but to understand from an inside perspective and to be as reflective as possible throughout the whole research process (Elsrud, 2004, p. 70; Lantz, 2007, p. 46). Making notes of what is being observed and not so much of what I have experienced in the situation is important to analyze the data objectively (Ekström & Larsson, 2010, p. 47).

All interviews were recorded on tape and lasted for 14 to 37 minutes. To rely on notes from an interview is problematic as they can be distorted. Recording is essential to prevent

simplifications, unconsidered assumptions and unconscious hasty conclusions of the material, founded in pre-understandings and caused by the time pressure created by only taking notes (Lantz, 2007, p. 106). Some respondents can feel uncomfortable being recorded and therefore act in a constrained way but I did not see any such tendencies when collecting my data (Lantz, 2007, p. 74).

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4 Theoretical framework

Here the theoretical framework identity theory will be presented as well as the social constructivist approach that is used in the study.

Identity work is used as the theoretical framework to analyze the contents of the interviews and observations in this study. When theories are applied to real-world data it can be

understood and interpreted in a larger context (Ekström & Larsson, 2010, p. 45, Lantz, 2007, p. 52). By applying identity theory to the material patterns can be seen in how volunteers talk about themselves in relation to their WWOOF experience. Identity is not something that exists in itself and can therefore not be discovered by the individual. However, identity is something ever changing that is developed over time. Various identities are prominent in different situations, when encountering diverse people or when at varied places. I have utilized a social constructionist approach for studying these ever changing identities.

4.1 Social constructivism

By approaching identity work through travels from a social constructivist perspective, this study aims to examine the meaning of the context in an individual’s identity. According to this view the reality is socially constructed through interactions between people instead of being fixed. Here follows my understanding of the perspective, inspired of Searle (1995), Wenneberg (2001), and the work of Berger and Luckmann (1991) that was met with great success when it was initiated in 1966.

According to social constructivists reality is socially constructed through human activity. This perspective stresses the importance of culture and context in the way people understand the society that creates their worldview. Meeting people with unique understandings of the world while traveling can challenge the worldview that an individual has held up to that point. According to this perspective, the way humans see the world is culturally and historically characterized, consequently identities and worldviews are ever changing and differ over time.

As people’s worldviews including behavior and needs are created and maintained through social interactions, also common truths are spread that way. Criticism is directed towards the presumption of the existence of one truth, one natural state of everything. Constructionists want to reshape these assumptions and create alternative ways of looking at the world.

Social constructivists claim that identities are created through social processes. When the identity is formed it can be sustained, reshaped or challenged through interactions with others. Traveling individuals can change their views on identity and belonging as a result of meeting people from other social contexts. Social structures affect the formation and maintenance of identities.

In this study, my aim is to identify what role the WWOOF experience play in the volunteer’s greater life stories. As reality is created through interaction between people as well as between people and society, there is no universal truth. All experiences are subjective. Every person has his or her own world of reference which means that things get a distinct value and meaning depending on the person. For an individual who has grown up at a farm the WWOOF experience differs from a city person who has never been out in the countryside.

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12 Because all experiences are different depending on the individual’s previous experience, they cannot be compared or generalized. My ambition is, from an outsider’s view, to try to gain understanding of volunteers’ experiences. I take on an emic perspective, to understand my informants and their life world, what they do and how they think.

4.2 Identity theory

After reading literature on identity formation and identity work by Egeland (1999), Elsrud (2004), Hammarén and Johansson (2009), Eriksen (2004), Stier (2003), as well as Syssner (2011), I have compiled what I consider to be the most relevant features of identity theory. Here follows a presentation of the theoretical approach that will be used in the analysis of this study.

Syssner (2011, p. 60) points out that identities can be created and analyzed on three levels: individual, group, and societal. Identity work is the ability people have to affect their own identities, and there are many.

4.2.1 Identities as narratives

Narratives is used when an individual creates his or her identity by finding coherence between unrelated events, experiences and feelings from everyday life and fitting them into the greater lifetime continuum (Elsrud, 2004, p. 39). Using a special discourse the individual actively creates a story about who he or she is, or wants to be. An individual’s acting has a meaning in the moment it is performed, and an additional meaning afterwards. Through the way in which the same individual tells a story about what he or she have done, the person provide an explanation of himself or herself. How the narrator explains the act and what he or she chooses to emphasize through the story, allows the individual to contribute to the understanding that other have about who he or she is. In this way, the individual has the power to control his or her own identity and also to create a sense of continuity in the individual’s biography (Elsrud, 2004, p. 39). Other possibilities an individual has to express who he or she is are through clothes, work, music, friends, travels, etc.

Elsrud (2004, p. 41) suggests that individuals create and recreate their identities through narration, by way of telling stories about their lives. The stories have their basis in cultural and social material so there is a clear link between the individual and societal structures. When studying narrative what is told can be analyzed but also the social and cultural context of the narrator.

According to Elsrud (2004, p. 40) telling identity narratives come with social benefits. For example, the individual has the opportunity to position himself or herself how they desire in relation to others and to society. These narratives can involve everyday events, other people or oneself. Through written or spoken language we express ourselves and our values, intentional or unintentional. Sin (2009) states that “Thus the “self” is continually performed both externally to one’s audiences (friends, relatives, and other people one comes across) and internally to strengthen one’s self-identity”. When the self-perception correlates with how other people see the individual the identity is strong and distinct because the two sources of identity confirm each other.

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13 Further, Elsrud (2004, p. 103) describes place narratives as stories about places that are based on travel myths and some facts. Qualities of the place give meaning to the narrator’s identity and are important when the narrator wants to distinguish himself or herself from other

travelers. By learning about sustainable living on an organic farm in the country a person can be making a statement about their perceived or desired identity as an environmentally friendly person. The way the WWOOFer talks about the place afterwards or what stories there already are about the countryside has a huge impact on the identity and how other see the narrator. Stories about volunteer work were by the informants in Sin’s study in South Africa “used to perform a ‘self’ suggesting that he or she was a conscious and worldly tourist or individual” (2009).

The interviewees in this study talk about how nice it is to work with your body instead of sitting in school or in an office all day. To do WWOOFing is relatively hard work, especially for a city dweller’s body that might be used to more sedentary work. The WWOOFers have found that long walks and stretching helps the alleviate soreness one gets after picking strawberries and digging out weeds for a while day. The WWOOFers have also found that eating nutritious food has made them feel healthier. These stories are what Elsrud (2004, pp. 104-105) calls body narratives, and they are a part of the formation of the identity, as well as place narratives.

According to Elsrud (2004, p. 96) acts and narratives have their roots in a common shared structure to get meaning and to be understood by others. These grand narratives or

manuscripts derive from the historical, social, and cultural context and create an

understanding about reality. Travel mythologies are socially created in this context and seem genuine and objective to the tourist as they are reproduced in travel magazines, books and other media. Elsrud (2004, p. 96) holds that when a tourist travels to a foreign place he or she has a pre-conceived notion of the place visited which evolves from these grand narratives and seem real to them. Volunteers who have lived their whole life in a city have their idea of what a farmer’s life in the country is like. When WWOOFing prejudices and expectations can be proved wrong or right. For international volunteers WWOOFing is a way to get insight into rural life in another country.

4.2.2 Identities as procedural

Identities are based on experiences, affected by social obligations and created in interaction with others. Although relatively stable, they are usually recreated, challenged, and changed over time (Syssner, 2011, p. 62). Egeland (1999, p. 74) means that identity is not a thing that can be discovered and uncovered. The individual needs to be engaged in his or her identity work; thus identities are not pre-set by tradition, family-ties or place of residence (Elsrud, 2004, p. 39). “Identity is not given or static but rather experienced as a dynamic and time-dependent outcome of an ongoing creative process” says Elsrud (2004, p. 95). Also Egeland (1999, p. 75) is explaining identity as something that is managed and developed in the meeting between people. Thus identity work is never completed.

Syssner (2011, p. 63) describes symbolic interactionism as a theoretical perspective where identities are seen as social constructions that are affected by social structures. The social

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14 structures are also affected by the individuals who act in them. Syssner (2011, p. 63) means that in that way, the society is not separated from the humans living in it but created in relation to it. That is an explanation for how identities can be recreated depending on the context, which will be examined in this study.

In addition to society, certain events can have a huge impact on identity. Syssner (2011, p. 71) means that so called key events, that has a transformative nature, is an example of that.

Continuous events, that helps create a feeling of continuum in the life story, is another

example. A life crisis caused by an accident, a death in the family or simply getting older can dislocate the identity but aid in overall personal development. Recurrent trips, for example, a family’s yearly trip to the Canary Islands on fall break, can also have a formative result on the identity. For some of the interviewees in this study the WWOOF experience can be seen as a key event that has made a huge impact on their identities. It is important to know this in order to understand the informants’ reflections about how they are different after their time at the WWOOF farm.

Besides individual identities, humans go into and step out of roles depending on who and what they encounter. These interactions can also help define one’s identity. Eriksen (2004, p. 48) and Syssner (2011, pp. 63-64) hold that roles have to do with social class, profession, economic situation, age, family composition, etc. Roles limit people’s opportunities to act freely as they are bound by conceptions of how to act and behave. When ascribed to a role the individual becomes “someone”. The individual can either live up to and follow the expected patterns of behavior or refuse to do so. As roles are associated with scripts, interaction becomes easier when one can predict what to expect from a person in a certain role. Being a volunteer comes with certain social obligations, (Eriksen, 2004, p. 51) but also privileges, which will be discussed later on.

4.2.3 Identities as relational

Identities emerge in relation to other individuals and their expectations. Individuals can join and associate themselves with groups if they share the same interests, goals, values and experiences (Eriksen, 2004, p. 54). The prerequisite for the existence of us is that there is another group to distance the group from. It is about distinctions and divergence: a communal identity is created and perpetuated by the sense of we in contrast to the others. The

demarcation must be maintained to retain the value of belonging. Eriksen (2004, pp. 53, 54, 56) means that the larger the threat from the outside, the stronger the sense of community. Hall and du Gay (1996, p. 5) describe the internal homogeneity as a constructed form of closure. The desire to belong is strong, as well as identification with others in a group. In this study volunteers talk about themselves as members of a group of travelers who differs from more traditional tourists. Their motives to travel as well as the chosen destination are different. Eriksen (2004, p. 10) states that not all can be let in and not all can be left out in these groups. For example, as Eriksen (2004, p. 55) and Syssner (2011, pp. 61, 67, 69, 70) point out categories organized by skin color are almost impossible to escape from.

Identities can be manifested through consumption. What an individual buys, eats, and wears signal what he or she likes, values, and how much money the individual can spend. Bourdieu

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15 (in Eriksen, 2004, p. 78), Hammarén and Johansson (2009, p. 35) say that there is a strong connection between social class and consumption habits which is socially constructed. Group identities can be expressed through lifestyles. People with greater financial assets can develop certain expectations for consumption and thereby a distinct pattern of consumption than others. Taste and style are shallow and short-lived ways for individuals to express themselves and these are changing as the fashion is changing.

“By defining what we do not belong to, we also define our own belonging”, says Syssner (author’s translation, 2011, p. 66). Also, Hall and du Gay (1996, pp. 4-5) says that “identities are constructed through, not outside, difference.” They continue to describe that identity is constructed in relation to the Other and what it lacks. This often creates a hierarchy among groups, where the included individuals are seen as better and superior to the excluded, Syssner continues (2011, p 66). This happens in the heterogeneous group tourists, as well. Some tourists deselect certain destinations because they consider the places to be too touristy. They don’t want to be identified as mass tourists (Syssner, 2011, p 66). By distancing

themselves from the masses and going to destinations considered less touristy or by using another form of tourism, for example volunteer tourism, they adopt the identity of an alternative traveler which they find more sophisticated. A desire to belong is crucial for identification with a group, summarizes Syssner (2011, p. 67).

4.2.4 Identities as multiple and contextual

Identities are complex as well as multifaceted, and individuals can create and shift between different identities depending on situation and surroundings. Hall and du Gay (1996, p. 4) describes the complexity of identities, “identities are never unified and, in late modern times, increasingly fragmented and fractured; never singular but multiply constructed across diverse, often intersecting and antagonistic, discourses, practices and positions”. They continue to describe the importance of being able to handle different identities and prevent to be associated with only one (Hall & Gay, 1996, p. 24). As the modern business world is more complex and requires a more flexible work force than during the industrial era, traditional identities such as man, and woman, and the features traditionally associated with them are nowdays more difficult to ascribe to individuals. Also, as global migration is becoming more common and widespread, people can ascribe themselves either to their nationality of origin, their new nationality, or both.

Contradictions and fragmentations can emerge within an individual’s identity, especially when they are outside their comfort zone or daily routine (Wearing & Ponting, 2009, p. 257). Syssner (2011, p. 69) sheds light on how even an environmentally friendly person can travel by plane being aware of the environmental consequences caused by the action. Further, in a certain situation a vegetarian can feel comfortable eating meat. Socially and politically concerned people can, by way of staying at an accommodation that is owned by a multi-national company that does not support the local people, contribute to an economic leakage. They can justify this because they are on vacation they do not feel responsible for their actions.

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16 How the life story is told is dependent on the audience. Syssner (2011, pp. 70-71) believes that many aspects of travel affect the identity: the choice of location, how the person prepares for the trip, what activities he or she partakes in on the trip, and what experiences the person chooses to share with others upon his or her return.

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17

5 Findings

In this chapter the results of the study are being presented and analyzed in the light of identity theory. First we will look into the motives of the volunteers to take on a trip through

WWOOF, followed by four sections about how the volunteers experience that they have changed and the influences that have caused that.

There are just as many reasons to travel as there are travelers. This could be seen in the respondents’ answers to the questions “How did you get the idea to be a WWOOF

volunteer?” and “What made you decide to become a WWOOF volunteer?” In this section I will explore the many motives volunteers have to WWOOF which will show that volunteers from north who go to another northern country have more self-centered motives than

volunteers going south. In accordance with Brown’s (2005) result of an investigation of the motives of volunteers in developing countries, the volunteers’ motives in this study are not of an altruistic character. Instead many of the motives are of a personal nature; for example, to learn how to farm, to develop the self, to experience new places and to travel cheaply. Their help at the destination is not the difference between life and death for the locals. Instead, the main characteristic of volunteer work in the north is the exchange between volunteers, or between volunteer and locals. The section ends with a discussion on how WWOOF creates opportunities to travel for long and gain knowledge without being a burden on the volunteer’s pocket.

5.1 Motives for WWOOFing

My first informant, Charlie, decided to explore the lifestyles, people and weather in a part of his homeland that he is not yet familiar with, the American West Coast, through WWOOF.

I was using WWOOFing kind of to test out Washington and test out Oregon and see what cities I liked and how I liked the weather and the people. ‘Cus I’d been to the east coast and the cities over there that I like but I know that the West Coast is an entirely different world or least part of the US. It’s very different. (Charlie, 2011) The differences he talks about are the mindset and the environmental friendly ideas that are not as radical on the West Coast as they would be on the East Coast. For example he mentions the compost bins that cities on the west coast pick up.

A class about food systems and how to be accurate involved in growing food gave Catherine a direction for where she wants to be in life. She decided that WWOOFing would be a good thing to spend her energy on and that it would be the absolute best place for her to start, as the organization was being referred to in many conversations with friends who had done it.

The 240 hours Laura is spending working on her WWOOF farm is an internship for her agricultural major. She wants to work eight hours a day and learn a lot about how things work in the whole process. Her experience is that work is harder and more boring if she does not know the reason for the job and if she does not get the bigger picture.

Jordan is another positive voice for WWOOF. He thought it was the greatest idea ever when he heard about WWOOFing as he has always been wanting to farm but did not know how to

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18 start up a farm or a garden. “I’ve really been getting into being able to grow all my own food and sort of be able to be self sufficient, live sustainably and everything. I didn’t really know where to begin.” He thought it was a fantastic idea when he found out that he could gain a lot of experience and see how other people did it through WWOOF. In contrast to Jordan, Eliza grew up farming at her family’s farm in Oregon. She was always surrounded by WWOOFers and said that “I’ve always kind of wanted to be one”. In Spain and Ireland she got to

experience farming under other conditions than at home.

Peter has had an idea about going to someone’s land and work for them in exchange for food and board. He was lamenting the fact that such a good, simple, honest thing didn’t exist until he found out about WWOOFing. Christine though, knew about WWOOFing through being in the environmental movement, and knew that was something she wanted to do when she started traveling. She had done work exchange before, in Spain and Israel through another organization, called Work Away. Also Patrick has travel ambitions and has only heard good things about WWOOF. He expresses that “traveling and doing work trade seems like a nice move to make for me right now” as he likes being outside, working the land and eating good food.

Also the two Swedish informants were using WWOOF as a means to travel. Both agreed on WWOOFing as the ideal way to travel. “How can I make this a good trip? Well, I’ll

WWOOF, then it’ll be a good trip” said Sofia. Lovisa who values the experience of everyday life talked about WWOOFing and travels as:

a way that fits me really well. So, yes, for me it’s probably the ultimate way and also that you can…it’s such a good mix of doing something you’re interested in, that you learn a lot from, and to meet new people, and see new places, and also be able to go to some city somewhere if you like. (Lovisa, 2011, author’s translation)

Lovisa’s reasoning is supported by Egeland (1999, p. 78) who also sheds light on how learning and development are reached by being close to nature and people on the trip.

5.1.1 A cheap way to travel

In contrast to other forms of tourism that requires significant travel funds, WWOOF creates opportunities and offers experiences for free. To live in a community with no need for money is a big difference to the home environment or a traditional tourist destination. Instead there is an exchange that is being made. The interviewees talk about how relieving it is to live in a community that is not money driven. Sofia says getting food, housing and half the day off instead of getting paid in cash for her job is a positive experience. “It was an easy life”, she says. “You didn’t need to think about money” she continues and points out that it’s not possible to live a life without money at home. Place matters for how you live and what you need to focus on. Jordan was really excited when he heard about how he could visit farmers and gain experience with no money being exchanged.

You bring yourself there and everything is paid for but you don’t have to buy any, you don’t need to worry about money at all when you’re there, and that’s really a fantastic

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19 idea I thought and just the coolest thing ever when I first heard about it… (Jordan, 2011)

As a WWOOFer Jordan expresses that: “You can travel for months and months and months and it won’t be a burden on your pocket”. Sofia conveys a relieving feeling for not having to think about money. “I would never have been able to travel for this long in New Zealand if I wouldn’t have WWOOFed”, says Sofia.

Sarah sees her WWOOF experience as an opportunity to not spend much money but admits that she spends a little bit of money when visiting the city of Corvallis for the Saturday farmers market. Aside from the changed relationship with money, a number of other, more personal behavioral changes were also noted.

5.2 Perceived change

Identities are not static but ever changing throughout the course of a life. Many respondents mention some kind of change in relation to the WWOOF experience which correlates with the theory about identities as procedural. The farm stay can be seen as a key event that changes the way the WWOOFer wants to live their life. Change can spring from an experience with people offering gifts without expecting anything in return, being in a surrounding where environmental awareness is widely spread and implemented in the society, or staying in a place with less disturbing stimuli resulting in discovering new sides of oneself. Even though it is hard to pinpoint how one is different after being on the farm, the WWOOFers can tell that the environment or meeting new people have had an impact on them and have made them want to change how they live their lives. Sometimes it is easier for others to notice and identify the change than it is for the WWOOFer himself or herself. This correlates with the fact that identities are contextual and relational.

5.2.1 Personal change

Living a communal life with generous individuals at the farm made a huge impact on Charlie. A whole community “baking cookies for you just because they wanted to” without expecting anything in return is something he has never experienced before. This friendly giving

behavior is something he wants to implement in his own life when he returns home. He also wants to “bring that positive outlook and put out the good energy and hope that people see that and maybe want to do the same”. For Charlie this single WWOOF experience plays a big role in the way he sees generosity and helping people out.

For Laura, who WWOOFed her first time after high school graduation, volunteering on organic farms is now a recurring way to spend her summers. WWOOFing has in that way become, what Syssner (2011, p. 71) describes, a continuous event that helps her create a sense of continuum in her life story. Friends and family were surprised when she went to the UK for WWOOFing. They were astonished that she took on a big adventure like that, when she in high school “didn’t do much stuff or just go out”. Afterwards people knowing her told her that she was a different person than before.

I guess my mum was surprised that I decided to just pick up and go by myself to another country. And she thinks that was really good for me and that now I just, I’m more

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20 willing to do anything new without worrying about it or thinking that it’s going to be too scary. (Laura, 2011)

Laura stresses that the transformation from a timid high schooler to an unafraid globetrotter was noticed by her mother rather than by herself. The fact that she is WWOOFing again, even though it is in her own country, must indicate that she likes the way it affects her. Hannah also found a place to flourish through WWOOFing. She says that people carry around potential that never is let out, except in the right surroundings. Identities are contextual and at the farm she is able to discover and express qualities of herself that formerly “got buried by stuff in the city”. This is supported by Wearing (2001, p. 92) who says that spending time in nature can increase self-confidence as inner capabilities and emotions are discovered in the absence of disturbing surroundings.

It was good to be in a place and let that, the stuff I like about myself more come back out. It really let me flourish into being more of the person I like to be. Sometimes I get hidden when I’m at home. (Hannah, 2011)

Obviously these qualities of herself that Hannah finds away from home make her happier with herself. The question is, will she be able to stick with this new part of her identity when she is back home as she is now aware of it or is this identity bound to the context of WWOOFing? In Egeland’s (1999, p. 79) study about individual’s identity projects the author uncovers the same desire to find the “true self” among female backpackers. Many of her informants expresses that they are searching for a place where they get the opportunity to be the person they mean they really are in this period of life.

Eliza’s experience is that she is more independent since she got back from her WWOOF trip to Europe. It was her “first taste of freedom” as it was her “first time away from home” and she had to make all decisions herself. She did not have any clear expectations but wanted to have an adventure and made plans as the time went by. She found it a little scary to travel that way because she never knew where to go next, but it worked out for her and she can tell that she is different as a person now.

Sarah and Lovisa talk about how hard it is to see a personal change in oneself even thought they are certain they have changed. Sarah explains:

I’ve definitely learned a lot. It’s hard to, to tell how much someone’s really changed ‘cus they tend to project my current self upon my past self when evaluating who I am and who I was” (Sarah, 2011)

5.2.2 Environmental awareness

Lovisa sees change as gradual and relational to knowledge. Even though her ambition to WWOOF is not to start her own farm she learns a lot that changes the way she sees herself in the world. She thinks more about her environmental impact and what she eats now after WWOOFing, than in high school, when she had not been exposed to those kind of thoughts as much. Sarah is experiencing a bigger awareness of how much she drives her car. She is ready to cut down on one of her biggest interests, to see music, to cut miles in her car. She values the WWOOF experience as a positive one and says that:

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21 it has really helped me realized how much energy I use and how much trash I throw away when I’m not in the, an environment that really is conducive towards reusing, recycling and you know not having to drive a bunch of places. (Sarah, 2011)

In the future she wants to live someplace where she can compost and get around on bicycle.

A strengthened relationship to food is mentioned by a number of volunteers as something the farm experience has led to. As food is essential, eating local meals is a central part of the cultural experience for a person who travels to a foreign place. Sarah, for example, is

astonished by how much her relationship to food could change in just three weeks. She talks about the experience at the self sufficient Oregonian farm as something that is:

really gonna change how I eat food (…)I think it’s gonna change how much I

appreciate it, and I think I became so much aware of what I’m putting into my body and wanting it to be pure and good and wholesome and feeling better about what I eat and learning to snack on really healthy things. (Sarah, 2011)

The big contrast between fresh vegetables harvested from the garden and all the packaged food in the grocery store at home makes Hannah want to create less waste. Patrick says he’s now more mindful of the whole process when it comes to food. The WWOOF host Emily stays with is “really into good nutrition (…) and fresh vegetables and greens” so even if Emily was aware of sustainable cooking beforehand her “relationship to food is even more positive than it was before”.

In turn, Sofia did not see herself as a farmer before her first WWOOF experience and was afraid to not know enough to feel useful at the farm. Inquisitive as she says she is, she quickly gained knowledge in farming and a strengthened self confidence came with the new

experiences. “When you’re in another country, there is, other stuff you farm, things that you have never seen here in Sweden, and another culture”, she says. Growing and eating new and different foods gives her perspective on food and what she eats at home.

5.2.3 The WWOOFer

Sofia describes a typical WWOOFer as someone with a “searching soul” who wants to try something new to see if it can bring anything new to his or her life. It can be people who are looking for another kind of life because they are tired of working 9-to-5 jobs. In that way the WWOOF experience allows people to take on another identity than they usually ascribe themselves in an urban setting.

Looking at identities as narratives show that there is a manuscript to follow for the volunteer. This manuscript is created from commonly shared beliefs and it consists of presumptions of how things are and how things work in a certain culture. The manuscript comes with

obligations but not all individuals are ready to do what is expected from them, based on this. Indeed, as every WWOOF experience is unique the manuscript is not valid at all farms.

I’ve heard of people, gone and be ‘oh it’s a good place to live, I’ll just work a little and stuff and I can relax most of the time’ and I’m sure there is some places which allow for

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22 that but I don’t think that’s really a good mindset to go into it with, and that’s definitely not how I look at it. (Chris, 2011)

The man that Chris encountered did not share his idea of what the manuscript for a volunteer consists of, which can cause problems between farmer and WWOOFer or among the

WWOOFers. Sin (2009) has a similar concern in her study about “the possible outcome that youths are simply making use of volunteer tourism to go on a cheap holiday and have no intentions to help host communities or engage in critical out-of-classroom style learning.” This when five informants in the study express that it is more convenient and cheaper to travel in a volunteer group than alone as a tourist. This shows that following the manuscript can facilitate interactions because people know what to expect. Still, what is expected from the WWOOFers differs from farm to farm but in Laura’s case her farm stay is nothing like being on vacation. “We are working eight hours a day, I’m, it’s not really a really lazy vacation. I feel I’m actually working.”

5.2.4 Concluding remarks

In this section we have seen that the farm experience plays a major role in the larger life stories of volunteers. After working on a WWOOF farm, many volunteers change the direction they take in life from that point on which supports the theory that individual are engaged in creating their own identities.

5.3 Cultural exchange

Meeting people from all over the world and learning how things are done or how people live in another community is highly valued among the volunteers who therefore emphasize WWOOF as the best way to travel. WWOOFing brings people from diverse backgrounds together and provides opportunities for them to gain new perspectives and influences from all over the world. For many WWOOFers this is a key event in their ever-changing identity. It is a long process from developing the interest in farming or in sustainable lifestyles, to

becoming a WWOOFer, to meet and learn from other volunteers and farmers, and to come back home and possibly implement fragments from the WWOOF life in the “old” life. In this part the volunteers reflects on how the cultural exchange affects their identities.

5.3.1 A diverse exchange

When it comes to the question about how volunteers see WWOOF as a cultural exchange the respondents get to reflect freely on the subject. This results in many unique interpretations. Something mentioned in several interviews is that WWOOF brings people from different places together (Peter, Hannah, Sarah) and that it is a great way to get in touch with local people (Lovisa, Sofia). Hannah points out that “by going to one place you get to experience a lot of different places” and refers to the diverse group of people at her farm (Oregonian, Minnesotan, Floridian, Swedish). “And we were able to do so much exchange. Our thoughts and ideas from our regions, whether it was related to food and farming, or whether it was related to just life.” Jordan points out the cultural exchange between people from different countries but also between the east coast and the west coast of the United States. For example he is interested in “the new developments” in Florida and refers to environmental ideas and techniques that have existed on the west coast for a long time. He calls the cultural exchange phenomenal. Sarah lifts the benefits in a constantly changing lineup when it comes to

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23 WWOOFers. Thanks to the “exchange between all the WWOOFers and their different ideas and backgrounds” she gets “a lot of really good, interesting influences in my life that I’m getting to learn from”. “It was a really nice way of getting different perspectives” she summarizes. “The more different they are the better, you know?” says Peter. He states that meeting new people brings a new dimension to his life. He points out the benefits in cultural exchange he gets from getting to know new people.

I really like meeting new people. (…) I think it kind of it gives me energy when I meet new people, actually, I get energy from that, definitely. And I get new ways of thinking, broaden my horizons and perspectives and it really make me feel good getting to know new people. (Peter, 2011)

As every community is unique Christine points out that you cannot expect anyone’s

WWOOFing experience to be the same as any other one. Laura sees WWOOFing as a very effective cultural exchange if the volunteer is able to live in the house with the host family. In that way it is easier to get immersed in the local life, and the language, and how people express themselves. One volunteer who has experienced WWOOF both as a volunteer and as a family member on a WWOOF farm is Eliza. Half of her time in school she was

homeschooled and worked at her family’s farm. “I didn’t get much socialization. When I wasn’t around kids in my own age it was nice having young people come to the farm instead”, she says. Her family enjoyed spending time with volunteers and she made good contact with the approximately 25 WWOOFers who have worked at the farm and she is planning to visit some of them. When Eliza was WWOOFing in Ireland she also got to experience how to connect with a foreign community and explore how life is lived there. She has played the fiddle since she was little and got really into Irish folk music which has a prominent role in the Irish community. This inspired her to keep up the fiddling at home.

5.3.2 Life pace

For Lovisa it is a cultural exchange to gain insight into a farmer’s life. Despite a time consuming job, as it is to run a farm, she experiences that the farmers have more free time because they prioritize differently than a person with a full time job or a student in an urban setting. They have time to farm, and for their families. After her trip to Spain with the main focus to WWOOF, Lovisa got inspired by the culture to play life by ear and to have a more laid back attitude towards traveling. She experienced that Spanish people, in comparison to Swedes, were more allowing towards behavior that breaks the expected norms. Even if she learned that life can be lived simpler than expected and that things can be done in another way than usual, it was harder for her to do that in Sweden. That may be the result of her particular experience in Spain and Sweden (since no cultural description can be universally applied to an entire place or people) but it also shows that Spanish grand narratives differs from Swedish ones and that presumptions about how to live and act are deeply rooted in cultural and

historical contexts which make them hard to change.

The sustainable way of life Hannah experienced as a WWOOFer on the Oregonian

Identity Development through Volunteer Tourism : A qualitative study of WWOOF volunteers’ identity formation