Graham (27)

Volunteer since
2016

Speaks

Last seen online
more than 6 month ago

About me

First, a little bit about my trip. In June of 2015 I graduated high school. After that I worked my tail off for my dad's company working construction and renovations for about 7 months in order to save up for the trip of a lifetime. In total I will travelling Europe for 4 months. One of those I would love to spend volunteering at a hostel or farm etc. outside of the Schengen zone in order to not exceed the 90 day travel limit.
I'm a fun loving guy who gets along with almost everyone. Basically as long as you're not annoying or rude we'll get along just fine I'm pretty easy going and don't let much phase me.
In highschool I was part of the band program. I played tuba and trombone in school and I sing and play guitar now for fun. Music is a big part of my life as I love the joy and stress relief it brings to me and those around me.
As I already mentioned I worked construction before coming on this trip. As my dad has been working in that industry since I was born I've picked up many skills throughout my life. I'm always tinkering and improving things around me. I'll mention more of the skills I've learned more in depth in the skills section below. However the short version is that I'm a handy man at heart and anything that I don't already know I pick up quickly.
For my entire life my family has lived on am acreage outside of Cochrane, Alberta, Canada. Although it was not a full working farm we did have livestock and pets that needed taking care of. On a regular basis I would need to feed and water donkeys and chickens, as well as a dog and cat. The chickens would need eggs collected every day and their coop cleaned out regularly. Therefore I'm no stranger to hard work and getting my hands dirty.
Near the end of the last school year we decided to buy a 3D printer. This flipped everything that I knew about creating things upside down. That complex 3d shape with multiple curves and angles now took a few hours in front of a computer and another few to print, whereas before out of wood or other materials it would have taken days and days of work. With the help of this new technology I'm currently in the process of designing and testing an anti-lock brake system for a bicycle. The system is entirely mechanical and uses many gears and cams that would otherwise been impossible to make out of wood or other materials. Here's a video, although it's not yet finished because it's hard to work on something from across the world.
https://youtu.be/VCM4KPNmgkk
Some cool programs I've done:
CISV, stands for Children's International Summer Villages, is an international peace organization dedicated to educating youth by getting different people together from around the world to talk about global issues such as sustainable development, human rights, conflict and Resolution and diversity. In the Last 5 years I've done 4 camps internationally in Norway, Canada, Greece and Sweden. CISV has taught me a lot about leadership and getting along with people who have different viewpoints and perspectives from me. Without a doubt it has changed my life for the good.
SHAD is a program for high achieving high school students in canada. I attended it in July 2015 and It taught me lots about design and critical thinking. It's also where I came up with the idea for my anti-lock brake system. We were asked as a group to come up with a solution to a question; "how can we get people to play outside more." while that I'd a fairly broad subject we were supposed to narrow it down to one specific issue. My group chose to address the issue of cycling safety in winter, specifically dealing with snow and ice.
Hobbies:
-Bike riding, both cross country and road.
-Riding my dirt bike
-Downhill skiing
-Water skiing and wake boarding and other boating type things.
-Playing guitar and singing
-Building and tinkering with everything!

Preferred location

I'm currently on my gap year and traveling Europe for 4 months. In order to get around the maximum 90 day travel rule in the schengen zone I plan on spending a month outside of that zone. Instead of just touring around I think it would be fun to volunteer at a hostel or farm etc and get to know the locals a bit more.
My time frame for travel is really up in the air as I'm only planning about 5 days in advance for this trip. I can tell you however that I'm planning on spending 2 weeks in Italy until mid may and then head east through Slovenia and Croatia. And up through Bosnia. Croatia and Bosnia are the two countries I'm most interested in as they're more or less encounte and friends have recommended both of them. If you are a host in another country but also outside of the schengen zone let me know. I'm not really that picky.

Skills

I worked construction for 7 months before coming on this trip but I've been around that sort of "fix it and make it better" my entire life. The work that we did was a wide range of things. We built two garages from the ground up which includes framing and standing the walls installing the trusses, roofing, siding, interior finish. (insulation, vapour barrier and dry wall, including tape and mud) We worked on many interior projects like kitchens and bathrooms, from little touch ups to entire renovations. The most interesting project we worked on though was subcontracting for a guy who does huge timber frame trusses and beams on enormous multi million dollar homes. This requires a high level of precision as all the timber is fit together with wooden pegs and must look fantastic. Although I was working for my dad there was times when he would need to run errands and leave me to do my thing. I therefore have the ability to work on my own with little to no guidance and still get the job done.
Outside of construction I also feel that I'm a fairly good leader. CISV has taught lots about that.
I have rebuilt the engines and carburetor on two dirt bikes and a boat and therefore have a fairly good grasp on basic mechanics.
My experience with my 3D printer has taught me about computer aided design.
I love to tinker and build things. I really enjoy working with my hands and problem solving.

Additional info

I am not a smoker, don't have a drivers license, I am not a vegetarian and I have no allergies.