Wilderness Diary

Diary of European Wilderness Society Volunteers
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Volunteering at European Wilderness Society

Hi! We are writing from Tamsweg, Austria, where the European Wilderness Society is based. While Rebecca was the first volunteer, who wrote the earlier blog posts, the rest of us volunteers have taken up her mantle to keep this blog going. Here we write about the personal aspects of volunteering life and the adventures we get up to. In the office we each have differing roles but as a team we are all focused in helping each other, in order to meet the mission of making Europe wild again. Here you’ll read about our adventures in the mountains alongside office work and trips further afield.

Our destinations

Adventures in and around (and through) Tamsweg

5 days agoTimothy Sung4 min readAdd comment

Hi! It’s Tim here, the newest volunteer on the team and I’m excited to share with you a few little snippets from the start of my stay here in Tamsweg! I’m originally from the UK but made my way here from Freiburg in Germany after spending a year out there. It’s been about 2 months since I first arrived in Tamsweg from Freiburg. After a (delayed) train journey that took over 24 hours and included 4 changes, I was looking forward to relaxing a little during my first few days here. However, little did I know that my journey had not quite reached its conclusion. After....

Chasing adventures in Tyrol

2 months agoJulia Ramsauer4 min read1 comment

When I imagined my first days at the European Wilderness Society, I imagined a completely different scenario. It involved an office, finding my way around town (or should I say around village?), and slowly getting to know my new colleagues. Reality, however, turned out to be so much better. I am a very spontaneous person. Thus, when my boss-to-be asked if I wanted to join the team in Tyrol the next day, instead of waiting for them to come back to Salzburg, I didn’t think twice. I didn’t know at all what to expect from the trip, only that we would work in the mountains, supporting the work of....

My first months in European Wilderness Society

3 months agoGIntare Tamulyte3 min read1 comment

At the moment I am volunteering through Interreg Volunteer Youth program. On the official website it says that: “Interreg Volunteer Youth” (IVY) is an action to offer the possibility to young people aged 18-30 to serve as volunteers in cross-border, transnational or interregional programmes and related projects. Being solidarity and volunteering at the heart of IVY, this initiative is part of the European Solidarity Corps. This means that every European Union’s citizen (and some partner countries outside EU) aged 18-30 can volunteer abroad....

New beginning in Tamsweg

3 months agoGIntare Tamulyte3 min readAdd comment

Hello everybody and anybody reading this post! My name is Gintare, I am from Lithuania, and this is how my new adventurous life in Tamsweg starts. 🙂 My relationship with European Wilderness Society has started back in March – I was supposed to start my volunteering from the 1st of April. But, as we all know, Corona and lockdown happened, and I wasn’t able to come to Austria. Nevertheless, I stayed connected to EWS team via zoom. As for many people, fully transferring into virtual life was quite new to me. I got to know the team and Tamsweg via 2D screen, virtual tours and many photos....

Finishing up in Tamsweg

5 months agoZiva Alif3 min readAdd comment

My 12 months as a European Solidarity Corps Volunteer with the European Wilderness Society have finished and it was again time to pack up my bags and move to a different place. The time in Tamsweg has really flown by within this exciting opportunity to work in nature conservation and live in the beautiful UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Lungau. In summary, this year was truly full of opportunities for learning and personal growth, skiing and hiking and regular dinners with the team. The last few weeks in the Lungau passed in the spirit of finishing my tasks and transfering them to my colleagues....

Corona-time Mid-term Training

5 months agoZiva Alif2 min readAdd comment

In the middle of March, between the 16th and 19th, I was supposed to attend my Mid-term Training. I was already looking forward to spend a couple of days in Salzburg, meeting and sharing my experience with other volunteers. Yet, unfortunately, Corona arrived and instead, I went into quarantine. I soon forgot about the Mid-term, believing I’d still go to Salzburg after Corona is over. However, Corona lockdown lasted longer than I expected, so our training also had to be adapted. Two weeks ago, I therefore had an online training instead. 10 participants and two trainers gathered on Zoom....

  • 6 Volunteers so far
  • 7 Countries visited
  • 120 km Kilometres hiked
  • 30 + Diary entries