Detroit Adventures

We are very confident that we can provide a great cultural exchange and learning opportunity for the right candidates if he/ she is looking for:

*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ Learning English/ Cultural and Language Exchange: We have guests coming from around the world. Staying with us would mean you will be part of it! Jenny is an avid language learner (fluent in 4 languages, leaned 7 and right now learning Spanish) and Alex is a native English speaker with a "West Coast" accent (and also learning some Spanish). If your goal is to improve your English or pick up some new languages, we are very happy to help. There is a free English class in the city we can connect you with and we will provide further opportunities for daily practice and self-learning methodology for you to get fluent as quickly as possible. :)

* Gardening: Have thought of starting your own garden? A few years ago we purchased the property next to our house and we've turned it into a really cool urban garden! The garden provides us with a HUGE amount of food throughout the year and we are happy to share our insights and experiences (both success and failures) with you.

* Being with kids: Perhaps you have considered pursuing a career in education, but aren't sure if you like working with kids? Staying with us will give you an opportunity to spend time with our toddler (James - born September 2021) and find out if working and playing with kids is something you enjoy!

*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ A great place to contribute: Volunteering with us in Detroit gives you an authentic lense to local issues that the city is facing - something that an everyday traveler doesn't get to experience. Beyond that, staying and volunteering with us means you will meet people from all over with diverse socio-economic background. With active participation and mindful reflection, we believe the volunteering experience can be fulfilling and educational.

*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ To understand a fascinating city and possibly identify his/her own opportunity: Detroit is undergoing so much improvement and it’s an amazing city to be in right now. Since we’ve started hosting, we have guests from around the world who have come here for a conference or a field trip and have fallen in love with the city and eventually decided to buy a house, fix it up and "start" their life here! It’s an exciting time to be here in Detroit and who knows? Maybe you would want to start something here too!

Hi everyone, Jenny & Alex here! After taking a pause in hosting workawayers since COVID, WE ARE BACK! ABOUT US We moved to Detroit in 2013 after living in Asia for 5 years. Alex is originally from California and Jenny is from Hong Kong. We met through an internship in Germany. 6 years later, we fell in love while road-tripping through Spain. Alex has a background in tech start-ups in NYC and California while Jenny worked in marketing for L'Oréal in Hong Kong & Germany. We LOVE to travel and have lived and adventured throughout Europe and Asia extensively. In 2013 we decided to move back to the US and thought we would end up in California but when we heard they were tearing houses down in Detroit we decided to check it out. As any open-minded traveler knows, a good place can often be distorted by the media so we decided to do a road trip to see the city for ourselves. After driving through Detroit we fell in love with the city! People here have a lot of heart! There is a spirit of resilience and you can feel the energy as the city rebuilds. OUR HOUSE We live in a big house (a mansion built in 1925) with a fascinating history! The place itself was once a family home but was later converted into a hospital and was eventually abandoned. After buying the place we’ve spent the last few years bringing the place back to life and it’s been our dream to host travelers from around the world. A lot of progress has been made and even more amazing friendships have been built over the last few years. OUR NEW CHILD In September 2021, a new member joined our team - our son James was born! Having a positive impact on our society and hosting travelers for a deep travel experience have always been dreams of ours. We believe through a deep travel experience and the cultivation of friendship with diverse people, we can all better understand one another and we can all become better global citizens. We are excited to have James with us to experience this adventure and we’re now ready to host travelers from around the world again! OUR MISSION With James joining us, we are ready to host again with an updated mission: We want to recruit volunteers to help the local community focusing on food security and education for the future generation. WHO WILL HAVE A NICE EXPERIENCE Ideal individuals are those who are interested in or have previous experience working with children. We are also looking for people who have experience gardening as well as working with food. From our 5 years of hosting experience, if you are learning English and plan to stay for a few months, you will probably have the best experience. Depending on what type of traveler or group you are (solo traveler, couple, family, etc.) we might have capacity but please inquire for details.