The Holbergs

To experience and explore Denmark: The place where most happy people live ha ha just joking. DK has been awarded The happiest place on earth but since I am a therapist I do see a lot of unhappy people. Anyway. We live in a tiny country so it is easy to see many places and neighbour countries. Because we as a family have lived a lot of different places (7 different countries) and we are open to meeting international people. We would love to hear about your culture and though we are introverts ourselves, we enjoy chatting a bit over lunch or dinner. If you like nature, countryside and calm living then you should come here. Except sometime it is not quiert here as we have teenagers... so sometimes we have teenage fights etc. but its all part of the experience and you can always go into your room.

We are not a typical Danish family though. I would say we are more international. I am adopted from South Korea and Sven is from Germany. We have 2 teenagers: Isabella and Alexander and our dog Foxy. We are easy going people but both introverts and very busy so you need to also be independant and selfdriven as we have crazy periods where we work all the time. If you are very social and need to be around people all the time then this is not a good place because we are so busy ourselves. We will have time to chat during lunch and dinner but we don't have time to be social more than that. There is no stupid question in this house and if you dislike something please come and tell us so we can change things for the better. Working hours are 5 hours a week and 2 days off. It is mainly a housekeeping position because tasks are mostly cleaning and cooking but also other easy ad hoc tasks will need to be done like garden work or "babysitting" our teenagers if we are not home. Copenhagen (the capital in Denmark) is 1 hour away by train and you can borrow a bike to go to the beach (5km away) or to Næstved town (5 km away). If you like nature then you will love our place as we have forest and beach very close. If you want to see how other volenteers found their stay here pls. check them out here or under video gallery: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ5jUAvFdjItUFD2g4VIFv9htPiiAHTq5

Top Host
This host receives a lot of worldpackers and has a high average rating.

All experiences

Join our international family and explore Næstved, Denmark

Gardening Child Care Animal Care

Næstved, Denmark

Reviews

4.5
(27 reviews)27

Staff & Host

4.5

Hours & Tasks

5.0

Hostel

4.0

Learning & Fun

4.5

Germany

5

The Holbergs are a great, friendly and lovely family with a cute dog! I felt very welcomed in their home. I had a mix of daily tasks like cleaning and laundry, so I never got bored. While volunteering with them, I learned new skills like mowing grass. Also, I figured out that cooking can be fun. I learnt about Danish culture and also improved my English. I felt safe as a solo traveler there. Especially Pernille, the mom, was so helpful and supportive. Not far from their house is a lake and also a beach. I definitely recommend volunteering with them! They made my first volunteering special.

about 2 months ago

Pernille replied

Emilia is such a fun and great soul. She was very open about her life as an influencer and about her life in Angola and Germany and we learned a lot about that. She was also super open to trying new things like cooking and we really enjoyed having her around. She is also a wiz to SoMe so she helped with that as well. She has a good energy around her and we can definitely recommend her.

Austria

2

Even though I left earlier and it wasn’t exactly as I expected, it was still a valuable experience for me. The surrounding area was really beautiful with the Fjord just down the street and the beach not far from the house. Although I was provided a nice room and place to live, I didn’t quite feel at home. I rather felt like a stranger doing their housework and sometimes even longer than the 5 hours. Nevertheless, I'm grateful for my time and the experience there.

2 months ago

Pernille replied

Unfortunately we cannot recommend Sandra as she left early because she told us she was homesick. She is not open or very engaging and prefers to sit in her room all of the time. We asked her several of times if she was ok and if the tasks were ok and always she smiled and said yes and then she wanted to leave suddenly. Maybe she is extremly introvert or depressed. Or just does not know how to express her feelings. The tasks were easy (cleaning and cooking) and should not take longer than 5 hours but she is either very slow or too detailoriented.

United States

5

The Holbergs were very welcoming and I enjoyed my time spent with them! The tasks were very straightforward - I was sometimes asked to redo certain tasks or do things in addition to what was listed for me at the beginning of the day, but this was always communicated clearly and respectfully

3 months ago

Pernille replied

Jessica is an amazing young woman. She did all the tasks very well and she was very nice to have in the house. We learned a lot about Florida and Texas and she was a very good at exploring the local area and getting us fresh strawberries from the field nearby. We highly recommend her and wish her well in becoming a Doctor.

United States

2

I felt more like a cleaning worker than a guest. The main work included total house cleaning, cooking, gardening. This was more than what was initially agreed upon, and I often found myself working up to 7 hrs a day, instead of the agreed 5 hrs. This limited me, as Copenhagen is far away, 4 hrs round trip and transportation is $16. I practically spent all my time in the house. In addition, the host often asked me to do additional tasks after work hours, which further reduced my free time. The location of the house limits recreational activities, everything is far away and transportation for an

6 months ago

Pernille replied

Hi Andrew, we are sorry to hear that you feel this way because we disagree with your review and we wish that you would have told us your concerns while you were here in a more constructive way than as we had no idea that you felt this way. We have a different view of your stay and we dissagre with what you have written.

Peru

5

I really loved the time there ☺️ I’ve learned more about danish culture and even tasted it haha thank you for everything! Definitely i would love to come back someday

7 months ago

Perfect for you if you're looking for

Contact with nature

Rural

Contact with animals

Beach

Wilderness