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

My first months in European Wilderness Society

1 week 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

1 month 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

2 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

2 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....

Taking the office into the wild

4 months agoZiva Alif2 min read1 comment

For me, the lockdown was happening at an incredible speed. All the new measures the government announced one day after another – not only in Austria, but also in my home country Slovenia – meant that the first few weeks seemed like months. Never before have I seen our lives transform at such a high speed. One day, I was working in the office, hanging out with friends and saying how the Corona panic is overexaggerated. Three days later, I was not able to leave my home anymore. Read more about how our other volunteer Jonas and the rest of the team experienced the lockdown. As such....

A turbulent start to the Covid-19 lockdown

4 months agoJonas Sommer4 min read1 comment

Last time you heard from us, the world was still a different one. We were in the midst of the skiing saison, the busiest time of the year in the Lungau. We enjoyed the slopes, great weather and busyness that the tourists bring with them. My last skiing trip before the shut down Until the beginning of March, we thought we would have a regular winter. That would mean skiing until easter, going to the office almost every day and enjoying the first signs of spring together. As you can read in my last post, I had big plans for March. But as you know, everything turned out very differently. First....

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