travel journal : going with the goats

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i'm going to go meet this handsome goat!

missy's travel journal.

i'm an adult that doesn't want to pay rent, nor live at home forever. i also want to experience new places, try new stuff, and meet new people. i'm currently using workaway to do this all for free! minus some gas expense of course. workaway connects volunteers and hosts, the former offering a helping hand in exchange for a room and food. my first stop is an organic dairy farm just before the georgia boarder (4 hours away). after that, i plan on moving west to several different hosts in several different states. my goal is to make it all the way to california! i'm using this thread to collect my thoughts on the subject, store some photos, and have something to look back on way down the road. i'm terrified! :]

current host: organic dairy farm along florida's boarder.
travel dates: may 1st - june 1st

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checklist
i've got a lot to do before my departure!

[ ] have my grandpa fix up my car
[ ] sell my amazingly adorable, yet unreliable, old fastback
[ ] buy a new car, and not spend all my savings
[ ] get more comfortable driving so i can finally get my licence
[ ] paint my host a goat for a good first in-person impression
[ ] buy a gps so i don't have to use my phone? maybe
[ ] make a kickass roadtrip playlist
[ ] quit my job
[ ] pack

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pack list
everything i need to bring. i'll add to it as i realize i'm forgetting stuff.
note: i have no idea when i'm coming home, so if i forget something, i'm going to have to buy another.

shirts/tanks (x5)
long sleeves (x3)
shorts (x4)
pants/sweats (x4)
jackets (x2)
poncho
pjs (x2)
undies (x5)
bras (x3)
socks (x5)
belt
boots/walking shoes
normal shoes
flip flops
doggy flats
sunglasses
some jewlery
sun hat
warmth hat
gloves
scarf
bathing suit
cover-up

toothbrush
toothpaste
floss
deodorant (x2)
shampoo
conditioner
body wash
bath towel (x2)
razor
tweezers
nail file
hair ties
bobby pins
brush
lotion
tampons/pads
tissues
sunscreen
aloe for burns
lip balm (x2)

cellphone
cell plug charger
cell car charger
portable charger
earbuds
laptop
laptop charger
mouse
mouse pad
drawing tablet
camera
polaroid camera
film

wallet
money
passport

book (x3)
blanket
umbrella
flashlight
snacks
drinks
mints
gum
journal
sketchbook
watercolor sketchbook
colored pencils
pens/pencils
watercolor set
brushes
deck of cards
reusable water bottle
first aid kit
beach towel
snorkel & mask
flippers
bags for garbage

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phone call worries

my host calls tomorrow at noon to talk to me, and i can't stop thinking about it! phone calls make me so anxious. i'm just to awkward on the phone; i never know what to say. last time we emailed she said "you sound like you would be a great fit and the timing is perfect also :)." so i'm not sure if that means i'm mostly accepted, or she's still going to interview me and decide? i've already filled out a long ass farmstay form and sent it to her. i just want to be prepared for it, but there's no way i can be. i just really want this to work out. i also have some questions that i need to ask.


• how many other volunteers are there?
• are working times set, or are there tasks that need to be done freely at any time (with scheduled feedings of course)?
• is there anything specific/odd that i should bring?
• how many goats and chickens do you have? 👀

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officially going

i'm 100% going to the farm now. the phone call actually went a lot better than i would have thought. it got to around 12:45, and i was getting really worried, so i looked back at the emails to see if i had missed anything. it was never stated who was going to call who, but she was at a craft show, so i assumed it was going to be her calling me. i had to go to work soon, so i called her and got my questions answered (besides the last one, which i couldn't work in). i'm even more excited now! i also talked with my manager to let her know that next month would be my last.

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what am i thinking

i have like?? less than a full month before i leave, and i still have barely driven. it gives me terrible anxiety and i really hate it, but i know that it'll be better to finally get my license. i'd really prefer to have my own car and room to tag a bunch of stuff along, rather than take a bus and only have a few bags. i don't want to have to resort to doing that just because i won't get my ass behind the wheel.

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26 days later??

whoa, i planned on keeping this updated pretty regularly, but a lot has gone on since my last post.

on the 24th, one of my regular customers gave me this really cute, old brown leather bag for my trip. she said she used it during her travels and that it's been all over the country, so it really meant a lot to me that she'd just decide to give me it. i'll definitely be bringing it. the 25th was my last day! i really didn't think that i would get emotional when i first decided to leave, but i spent the entire day trying not to cry. luckily, we were really busy and i was training a new employee, so most of the day it was pretty easy to keep my mind off of it. joe, someone who's spent the last month training for his own store, came in today and brought panera, cookies, and cupcakes for everyone, since it was also his last day. everyone gave me a hug throughout the day, and the lady who gave me her bag came in specifically just to say goodbye. she gave me a hug, told me i was a beautiful person inside and out, and i almost cried because of it. one of the girls i enjoyed working with the most, mary, came in for lunch and gave me a gift and a card. i was in the back with everyone and i opened the card, but decided not to read it because i knew that it'd make me cry. she told me it was okay, and that i could open it when i got home, so i did. she wrote me a really nice card and gave me a leather-bound journal (which matched my new bag, funny enough). everyone also signed a card that my manager bought, which she also included a $50 giftcard from her. when i was leaving, she gave me a hug, told me i was like a daughter to her, and that i was always welcome back. i also got to bring home 8 donuts, since joe accidentally ordered 68, instead of 6 or 8.

then wow, i had to awkwardly stand outside after saying goodbye to everyone, because great, my dad forgot about me. what a day to leave me there. once he finally did pick me up, the first thing he asked was "did you hear about your car?" of course not, i'd been working all day. my mom drove my fastback that day, and halfway to dropping aydan off, the metal bar that keeps the tires straight snapped. my baby's no longer drivable. i'd finally gotten comfortable driving it, and had decided to drive it up to the farm alone, and now it's broke. great. another thing to be sad about.

yesterday, i went down to take my driver's test in my older brother's car. once in the car with the instructor, the first thing i did was miss the road that he told me to turn on. what a terrific and nerve-racking way to start! then halfway through, after i'd backed up the required 50 feet, i tried to move forward with the car still in reverse. but i passed!! and my picture isn't nearly as terrible as the one i had on my permit. so now i have my license, but no car to drive!

i bought a greyhound bus ticket for $60 instead. 13 hours! that's crazy. i'm leaving the 2nd around 9:20 pm, and i won't get there until 10:30 the next morning. that's going to hell. less than a week and i'll be gone.

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late again

wow? i meant to make a post every day once i got here, but that definitely fell flat. i've been here for 10 days now, and this is my first day off.

my aunt sold me her old, 2004 toyota matrix with 170,000+ miles for the amount she would have traded it in for, so i didn't take the bus after all. i did spend almost $1,000 though, which i did not want to do. $600 cash for my aunt, $85 for title transfer, and $300 for a new licence plate, along with all the fees. it made be feel super grown-up for going down to the dmv and paying for all of it, which was a weird feeling. my grandpa also bought a new $100 battery for the car, so i paid him back for it, but my grandma gave me that back, along with $50 for gas money. he also checked out the car pretty thoroughly for anything that may be wrong. nothing was found. so, now i've got little over $5,000 left for whatever i'll need. aydan helped me clean my car, inside and out, the day before. right before his bed time, i asked what he wanted to do for our last 20 minutes together, so we ate popsicles and watched an anime.

the drive up actually wasn't as bad as i thought, despite it being my very first time driving alone. i packed everything up and painted my goat very, very last minute. i left just after 10am with a tearful grandma saying goodbye, stopped by my old work to say goodbye and fill up on gas, and got to the farm around 3:30pm. i quickly learned that nobody even remotely follows the speed limit out in the country. after several people illegally passing me, i found myself going 60+ in a 45mph zone, with a car still tailgating me. how nice! there were so many wildflowers covering everything, and i found myself swerving out of my lane to look at them. but there was only one truck i was by for the last hour, so it wasn't a big deal.

the closer i got to the farm, the more anxious i got, after having been surprisingly calm on the way up. pulling closer to the house, two large pyrenees ran beside my car, barking the entire way. once out, they were very nice and wanted all the attention that i could give. turns out, julia, the farm owner, thought i was coming the next day (since that's when my bus would have arrived). it was shockingly not super awkward to arrive early into a stranger's home. she called down one of the long-term volunteers to show me to the double-o (where the volunteers stay). it was everyone's break so, not knowing what to do, i sat on the floor with an old retired pyrenees, annabelle. i wasn't expected to work that day, but i tried to help out anyways, just to get familiar with everything. they showed me where to move the peanut (a type of hay), how to scoop up the pens, clean the waters, drive the carts, feed the goats, feed the horses, collect eggs, clean eggs, and probably a ton of other tasks that are escaping my memory. after, we ate dinner together, something i had been super nervous about since i was a picky eater. i didn't enjoy it, despite it being well made, but i ate it anyways out of respect. back at the double-o, all the volunteers played card games together for one of their last days. i was already tired and scratched up from half a day's work. kitten slept with me on my first night though, so that made me feel better about everything.


last minute painting i made for julia


annabelle! what a sweet, old, lazy girl


kitten, my new love

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exhausted, tired, but never bored

i keep alternating between "damn, i'm so tired, dirty, and sweaty; why did i do this to myself?" to "wow! i love all these animals; i'm so glad that i'm here." it's a lot of work, and i'm exhausted and sore at the end of every day, but i think that i like it here? i'm not really sure how to tell, and it doesn't seem like i have that much time to think it over. i certainly enjoy my free time a lot more than i used to. everyone's super nice, even julia when i mess something up, but there's always this anxiety that tells me "they don't like you as much as the others." but that's almost certainly just me overthinking their actions and my own.

there's so many animals everywhere! 6 pyrenees to guard over things (dora, lbj, apollo, tigger, adelle, athena) 1 retired pyrenees (annabelle), 3 other rescue dogs (boo, jake, lilli), 3 rescued cats (stella marie, jonah, kitten), 3 horses (joe, jet, coal), and around 50 goats (only know about 10 of their names so far hah). most of them are super sweet, and even those that aren't, they're not mean at all. although yesterday, when i wasn't paying attention, one of my favorite goats were gently chewing on my fingers, but then suddenly jerked her head forward and chomped down on my pinkie. it bled everywhere. but other than that and a dozen bruises were the kiddos jump up for attention, no harm done. :')

i thought it'd be cool to look back on this when i go to my next location, so i wrote a basic, every day schedule. this is only for the outside work though, as i haven't been here long enough to do the inside chores, like milking goats and making cheese. i did help make soap and lotion the past two days on my evening break! the times are just approximations, as it often takes less time if we're going quick or more time if we have additional chores.


6:35 wake up and get ready
7:00 quick meet up in dairy room, go over extra chores
7:20 load up cart (medicine bucket, coastal, peanut, grain, baking soda, mineral, and appple cider vinegar)
7:30 feed horses
7:40 mom and dairy pens and dairy chickens (feed coastal, peanut, and grain, refill baking soda and mineral, clean all waters and add apple cider vinegar, give medicine if needed, change gate so dairies can go in the pasture and moms/babies can go in the courtyard, let chickens out, feed, clean nests, and change water)
9:00 all pastures (weanies, juniors, junior bucks, bucks, seniors, chickens (same chores as above))
10:15 breakfast break
11:00 scoop all goat pens and pastures
12:30 noon check (refill coastal and bedding, change water if needed)
1:00 evening break (for the hottest part of the day)
5:00 scoop moms and dairies again
6:30 load up cart
6:20 mom, dairies, and dairy chickens (same as above and collect eggs)
7:00 all pastures (feed coastal, peanut, and grain, refill baking soda and mineral, feed chickens, collect eggs)
8:00 eat dinner (normally together - everyone has their day to cook)
8:30 bedcheck (only 2 people - check coastal and bedding, rescue confused chickens, lock chickens in their pens)

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getting buff

this morning when we were going over the things we needed to do, wayne (one of the farm owners) looks at me and begins with "i don't mean to embaress you, but..." and in my head i was thinking "oh god, what did i do wrong." "you've really toned up since you've been here. i noticed when you were holding lilli at the table last night. you've got some real definition." and i just kinda laughed and said thank you. i've never been strong or muscled (and i'm still hardly so now), so it was really funny and flattering. just over two weeks here and it's actually made a difference. so although i've gained a few pounds when i was hoping to loose a few, i don't mind swapping fat for muscle.