Affordable Bicycle Travel as Volunteers » Japan Akiya Restoration » Ōmishima, Imabari, Ehime

Описание: We met some new Swiss friends recently! They were passing through our area on their very long travel adventure, and asked if they could visit for a few days. They have some great insight about "slow travel": visiting many countries, volunteering, and making their budget last for as long as possible. They don't have a set date to return home! They often spend time working on farms, or doing renovations, in exchange for accommodation and food, using volunteer sites like Workaway and WWOOF. We really enjoyed chatting with them, and thought y'all might appreciate this kind of information as well!

Vickie and Nils are from Switzerland, where many languages are spoken, but English is not their first language. I think they did a fantastic job communicating in English for this video. Their newsletter is written in both French and English :)

Vickie & Nils Instagram:   / vadrouillards  

Vickie & Nils Newsletter: https://vadrouillards.substack.com/

Workaway: https://www.workaway.info/

WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms): https://wwoof.net/

最近、スイス人の新しい友達に会いました！彼らはとても長い旅の冒険で私たちの地域を通りかかったので、数日間滞在してもいいかと尋ねてきました。彼らは「スロー トラベル」について素晴らしい洞察力を持っています。多くの国を訪れ、ボランティア活動を行い、予算をできるだけ長持ちさせるのです。帰国日も決まっていません！彼らはよく、Workaway や WWOOF などのボランティア サイトを利用して、宿泊と食事と引き換えに農場で働いたり、リノベーションをしたりしています。私たちは彼らとのおしゃべりを本当に楽しみましたし、皆さんもこのような情報に感謝するだろうと思いました！

Vickie と Nils はスイス出身で、そこでは多くの言語が話されていますが、英語は彼らの母国語ではありません。このビデオでは、彼らは英語で素晴らしいコミュニケーションをとったと思います。ニュースレターはフランス語と英語の両方で書かれています :)

* * * *
Like this video? Here's some similar content!
• "Cleaning the 'Pickle Room' & Guesthouse Garage":    • Cleaning the 'Pickle Room' & Guesthouse Ga...  
• "Unboxing Belongings Abandoned for Decades":    • Unboxing Belongings Abandoned for Decades ...  
• "Unboxing Four Guest Rooms":    • Unboxing Four Guest Rooms » Ryokan Akiya T...  
• "Unboxing the Kitchen":    • Unboxing the Kitchen » Ryokan Akiya Tour »...  
• "We Bought Another Akiya, Abandoned for 40 Years":    • First Look at our Second Abandoned House! ...  
• "We're Buying a House, Abandoned for 10 Years":    • Buying an Akiya in Japan » Empty for 10 Ye...  

* * * *
Subscribe »    / @bentonhomestead  

Stay With Us » https://www.airbnb.com/h/bentonguesth...

Shop Honey + Retro » https://bentonhomesteadjapan.myshopif...

Shop Vintage Records » https://www.discogs.com/seller/benton...

Japan Real Estate Consulting » https://www.bentonhomestead.com/consu...

Photo Blogs » https://www.bentonhomestead.com

Support » https://www.buymeacoffee.com/bentonho...

* * * *
Videos covering commonly asked questions:
• "Startup Visa to Business Manager Visa Complete Process"    • Startup Visa to Business Manager Visa Comp...  
• "Abandoned House to AirBnB » Process, Expense, Return on Investment":    • Abandoned House to AirBnB » Process, Expen...  

Videos covering our second house (the former ryokan):
• "Abandoned Items in our 1940 'Ryokan' Garage":    • Abandoned Items in our 1940 'Ryokan' Garag...  
• "Unboxing Belongings Abandoned for Decades":    • Unboxing Belongings Abandoned for Decades ...  
• "Unboxing Four Guest Rooms":    • Unboxing Four Guest Rooms » Ryokan Akiya T...  
• "Unboxing the Kitchen":    • Unboxing the Kitchen » Ryokan Akiya Tour »...  
• "We Bought Another Akiya, Abandoned for 40 Years":    • First Look at our Second Abandoned House! ...  

Videos covering our first house (now Benton Guesthouse):
• "From Abandoned House to Guesthouse":    • From Abandoned House to Guesthouse » Ōmish...  
• "Remodel Finishing Touches: Phase One":    • Remodel Finishing Touches; End of 'Phase 1...  
• "Responsible Akiya Cleanup":    • Responsible Akiya Cleanup » Rural Japan » ...  
• "Sorting Items Left Behind":    • Akiya Renovation » Photo Slideshow: Sortin...  
• "We're Buying a House, Abandoned for 10 Years":    • Buying an Akiya in Japan » Empty for 10 Ye...  

* * * *
We are two foreigners living in Japan! We received a Startup Business Visa, which then earned us a Business Manager Visa. This essentially allows us to sponsor our own residency in Japan via our small business: Benton Homestead. We have an akiya-turned-guesthouse, small honeybee and natural farm, and consulting. It's been challenging but nothing is impossible!

Japan has an estimated 10-12 million 'akiya' abandoned houses, and we've purchased two of them! The first house was purchased for ¥1 Million ($7,500 USD) and abandoned for 10 years, which we've now renovated into Benton Guesthouse. The second house was purchased for ¥2.8 Million ($18,000 USD) and abandoned for an estimated 40 years. This one was a former 'ryokan' inn, and came with two pieces of nearby farm and forest land, sitting unused longer than anyone can remember.

I previously had no interest in creating a YouTube page or even really sharing our story beyond our friends and new neighbors. But the whole time we've spent immigrating to Mexico, immigrating to Japan, navigating the visa process, purchasing real estate as foreigners, incorporating a business, and settling in to life as foreigners, I quickly realized the information I've been looking for is not readily available. So, I'm making the exact kind of content I wish I'd had when I began. I’m documenting everything in hopes of helping others on a similar path.

* * * *