My Workaway Horror Story
I never thought I would be writing this blog post about my experience with Workaway but I feel like it’s about time for me to share my horror story with the world. Workaway, for those of you who are not familiar, is a global online platform that allows volunteers to connect with hosts for work exchange opportunities around the world. The volunteer work is done in exchange for free room and board provided by the host. After getting out of an abusive situation at home, I was forced to be homeless in order to protect my sanity and sense of self. I didn’t know where I was going to go after I left since all of this happened in the middle of a pandemic. So I did what any other woman would do and went online to look at my options. One day, while I was on Reddit discussing my situation in a post, one redditor recommended that I try Workaway. It seemed like a great idea at the time since I was living off of my savings bit by bit. If I were to work somewhere in exchange for free room and board that would be more financially feasible. On top of that, I didn’t really have any “friends” I could live with and no one in my extended family would help me. So I did the unthinkable and created a Workawayer account to find a local host. Looking back, I can’t really blame myself for making this decision… I was desperate. But as of right now, all I can do is share my horror story with you all in the hopes that it never happens to anyone else.
Where I Ended Up
With a thorough search, I narrowed down my Workaway host options to one man who lived in Olustee, Oklahoma, Steve. He was the only host taking last-minute volunteers during COVID and his response time was very prompt. But, I will admit, I was really skeptical at first. I’ve never been to Oklahoma before and I had no idea where Olustee was!! If you look at the map I attached, Olustee is a town in Jackson County, Oklahoma that’s southwest from Oklahoma City.
Making the biggest mistake of my life
From what Steve told me via email, Olustee was nothing like NYC, it was more on the countryside. The only reason why I followed through with the exchange was because of the reviews. Steve had multiple 5-star reviews from many Workaway volunteers all over the world. In fact, I even messaged one of his past volunteers and he had nothing but nice things to say about the man. He enjoyed his stay with Steve and as a gift, Steve actually gave him the keys to his second house in NYC. Steve usually gives them out to all of his volunteers in case they need a place to stay in NY. So, in all fairness, everything on Steve’s profile checked out, I even video chatted with him over WhatsApp to gain some further insight on the area. He told me I would have my own private room and that there would be two other girls who were coming at the same time as me. I was beyond hopeful, but I was also worried about the diversity of the town. He told me that he’s had Workaway volunteers from NYC who were of African descent before. In fact, I even saw one review from one black girl on his profile and she was completely satisfied with her experience. So I’m guessing you’re all probably wondering how my first Workaway experience ended up being a nightmare. Well… it turns out Steve, my host, and a couple of the other volunteers I lived with were NARCISSISTS! However, Steve was more of a CODEPENDENT NARC!
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
If you’re not too familiar with narcissism you probably won’t understand why that’s such a big deal. But to me, my host and the other volunteers could have easily been Satan themselves. A (codependent) narcissist in my opinion is someone who suffers from narcissistic personality disorder. He or she has an inflated sense of self-importance where they must rely on other people to meet all of their emotional and self-esteem needs. The cause of narcissistic personality disorder is unknown but I believe this disorder originates from the devil himself. To start off, when I first met Steve, he seemed pretty sketchy at first. I guess it was probably because he looked like any other redneck from the country.
How the toxicity started
He picked me up and two other female Workaway volunteers, Rachel and Erica, at the Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport with another woman by his side. I thought it was his wife at first but it turns out she was just another volunteer, May. When we were all in the car, for some reason, May started to gossip about the other volunteers we were going to meet at his place. It made me feel kind of awkward though. I mean… why are you talking so badly about people that we’re going to have to live with? It’s cowardly and it’s also very rude. And the funny part is… Steve didn’t even try to stop her. He allowed May to continue to gossip about his other volunteers with no objection. What kind of host is that? This obviously should’ve been my first red flag but… I pretty much just landed in Oklahoma. Where would I even go next?
Having no bathroom on-site
When we arrived at his place, Steve showed Rachel, Erica and me to our rooms. Rachel and Erica shared one room while I had another room to myself. In fact, even though Steve told me I would have my own private room, out of nowhere he randomly said that I might have to share if more volunteers come. Which…. isn’t really a huge deal to me.. but why say one thing to me before I arrive and then something completely different after? Well.., if it couldn’t get any worse, the house Erica, Rachel, and I were living in had NO bathroom!!!! And when I mean no bathroom… I’m talking about the fact that when Steve built the house he FORGOT to build a bathroom.
Please tell me how you can build a house without building a bathroom??!! The public bathroom itself was also shared by 8+ people including the volunteers. So not only did we all do our business there but we also had to shower there. Can you imagine?? I had to wake up every morning at 8 am in my TOWEL to walk across the street to take a shower. My host also had no boundaries whatsoever. I feel like there were multiple times where I just wondered if he had diarrhea of the mouth. He would constantly talk to all of the volunteers about how his ex-wife left him for another man. Like… hello.. we don’t need to know this! And if you thought that was the worst part… you’re mistaken. Things definitely started going downhill my second day in Olustee. Steve needed help painting one of the rooms he was building so he asked Rachel, Erica, and I to do the task. Although I didn’t have any experience painting, Rachel and Erica did, so I figured they would all just teach me what I needed to know to get the job done.
Being Gaslit and Emotionally Drained
As we started painting the room, Steve wanted to paint the door with acrylic paint so that we could use the latex paint afterward. However, as I was painting the door, I got some of the paint on my palms, legs, and fingers. And the WORST part about it was…when Steve saw what had happened to me he told me I couldn’t rinse it off with water. I was shocked! He should’ve told me this earlier before I started painting. I had no idea acrylic paint would take longer to get off my body. If I knew that earlier I would’ve been more careful with the paint. But here’s the part where narcissism makes its appearance. Out of nowhere, Erica, one of the other volunteers, chimes in and says “Well… I remember him telling us the acrylic paint would be harder to get off” and I told her “Well.. I don’t remember him saying this to me” and then Rachel goes “I think he only told me and you Erica”. Erica starts to have a fit “Well, I remember him saying it to ALL of us”.
After that was said, I knew deep inside that Erica was gaslighting me. Only a narcissist takes pleasure in making sure you doubt your memory for their own benefit. This was my first incident of narcissism during my time there and it surely wasn’t the last. Once I was done painting the door, Steve wanted me to finish up the corners and the edges of the walls. It didn’t look too hard at first but while I was on the ladder painting Steve started to highly disapprove of what I was doing. All I remember was him constantly shouting at me every time I tried to paint. It was uncomfortable and yet so emotionally abusive at the same time. By the time we were done painting, it seemed like I was the only one who was oddly tired all of a sudden. I didn’t even have the energy to socialize or eat afterward. It was like my body was this close to fainting and at the time it didn’t really make sense to me. But now, looking back, I can definitely see how my host was an energy vampire and a narcissist at the same time.
While he was emotionally abusing me he was slowly feeding off my life source like a battery. This is the reason why I felt so drained after I was done painting, without realizing it, he took something vital from me. And so, as a result, I needed to take the space I needed from everyone to recharge. Steve wasn’t happy about this at all. By missing lunch and dinner, he couldn’t drain me anymore, and I wasn’t going to let him. In fact, when I was fully recharged in the evening, I thought that things would change somewhat between him and me. However, when I went to go ask him a question, he still had that same stern demeanor towards me. I even remember him shouting at me again and slamming the door in my face. What a nightmare! Honestly, I wish could stop there but it just continued to get worse.
Going grocery shopping with the devil
The following day, my host, Steve, decided to go grocery shopping. He wanted there to be more food in the house since Rachel, Erica, and I just arrived. We went with him in his car so that we could all get the food we wanted at Walmart. I know this might sound weird but it was really hard for me to walk around with them at the supermarket. They all gave off this really negative energy that repelled me. In fact, once I got some groceries in my own cart. Erica wasn’t too happy about that. She actually told Steve not to pay for some of my groceries because there was already some similar food in the house. Honestly, I should have expected that. Erica, like any other narcissist, was super nosy and obsessed with what I had in my cart. I should’ve never went with them to the supermarket in the first place. It was only a matter of time until my boundaries started to get crossed.
Having my boundaries violated
As we were all driving back home in the car, Steve started to ask me some personal questions about my family. As a domestic abuse survivor, my family was the last thing I wanted to talk about so I did what I could to set a boundary. I remember Steve asking me “have you called home to talk to your family?”, I told him “no, I haven’t” because honestly, I didn’t want to call them. But of course, he pushed again, “are you sure…. you can use my phone?” and I said, “no that’s okay I’m fine”. However, when you tell a narcissist “no” they’ll try again until you’ve reached your breaking point. For the last time, Steve said “take my phone now” and I just got so triggered. Rachel and Erica were even encouraging him at that point. I ended up bursting into tears on the ride home. I didn’t want to talk to Steve, Rachel, or Erica, they were pretty much nonexistent to me.
Mocking Black Lives Matter
The racial climate in America was also not in my favor while I was in Olustee. Since I was the only black volunteer, I was the only one who was deeply affected by George Floyd’s death. The Black Lives Matter movement had enough of the racial injustice. Their uproar led to several protests and riots that a couple of the white volunteers disapproved of in the midst of everything. I even heard Erica mocking black people right outside Steve’s house as I was washing the dishes in the kitchen. The windows were open and her voice was not quiet. I remember her saying “oh you don’t know nothing about oppression” in a mocking way. It made me feel uncomfortable but also confused. If they hate black people so much why are they trying to be so friendly with me? But then again, it’s definitely possible to have white friends who are lowkey racist. Implicit racism is just as serious as explicit racism.
Dealing With Narcissistic Entitlement
After days of grey rocking, Rachel, Erica, and Steve, they finally voiced out their frustrations at me at a group meeting we had on a Saturday. This group meeting wasn’t really optional but at the same time, I knew I was going to regret going. Rachel and Erica started attacking me because apparently, I don’t say “good morning” to them. OMG, are you kidding me??? Why would I want to say “good morning” to you, you’re toxic!! If you’re upset over two words I didn’t say to you then you are definitely a narcissist. On top of that, Rachel and Erica were also annoyed at how I don’t help them with the dishes or clear out the dish rack. First of all, I WASH MY OWN DISHES! If you need help washing the dishes you should’ve just opened your mouth and told me directly. That meeting overall was practically an ambush for me and Anastasia, another volunteer. We were the only two called out because we could see through everyone’s else narcissism. In the end, I walked away from that meeting feeling attacked because of their sense of entitlement.
Relying on a toxic tarot card reader
Out of all of the volunteers in Olustee, I was really close with Anastasia. Like me, she is also a domestic abuse survivor and she came to this Workaway to get away from her family. Although we bonded over our past trauma, Anastasia started to exhibit narcissistic fleas that made me uncomfortable. For example, one time in conversation she told me that Steve was a member of the Freemason society. Knowing this by itself explains his narcissism and his energy vampirism. The freemason society is a cult but Anastasia started gaslighting me about it. Since she had trouble trusting herself, she wanted me to doubt myself too… but I wouldn’t let her. She was also a tarot card reader which contributed to the issues I had with her. Because of my faith, I know that reading tarot cards can give you demonic power. She was aware of what I knew but it didn’t stop her from doing it. Besides that, even though her fleas were toxic, I still needed Anastasia if I was ever going to get out of Olustee. I don’t know how to drive and Workaway doesn’t provide any assistance for uncomfortable Workaway experiences.
A Cultish Workaway Experience
Although we were both truly unhappy at Olustee, Anastasia and I were willing to wait it out as long as we could. However, it didn’t take long for Steve to threaten to kick us out. Apparently, Steve went to Anastasia’s room one afternoon and told her that we needed to leave because we were “not happy”, according to him.
He couldn’t control us emotionally so in his narcissistic mind what fun would we be to him? Although, when Anastasia told me this I was a little taken back. Where would I even go? I didn’t even have a plan. All I knew was the worst was yet to come. This Workaway experience was definitely a cult.
A fake truce
As hours go by, Steve was so angry at us I could tell he was boiling on the inside. He wanted us to speak to his friend Zoey so that we could sort this out. Anastasia was fine with leaving but she needed more time so that she could find a Workaway placement. We both didn’t have anywhere to go and yet I was the one who was so desperate to stay. At this point, my only way to stay was to comply. Zoey wanted me to work it out with Rachel and Erica so I told her she could schedule a meeting with all of us. However, this wasn’t my first time compromising with a narcissist so I wasn’t too excited to speak with them. In our meeting, Rachel and Erica pretty much played the victim role while I was the villain. But, in my opinion, the worst part was having Zoey be on their SIDE. It was like out of nowhere they were able to turn Zoey against me. The conversation was more of a three against one while Anastasia sat there quietly. Also, the way, Rachel and Erica, spoke to me in that meeting, was truly demonic. Erica would even have these weird temper tantrums every time I gave her direct eye contact. It was like she was a toddler trapped in a grown body. Rachel, on the other hand, had an immense demonic presence around her. It was surely evil. But.. long story short, the meeting that we had didn’t really solve anything. It was only a facade for what happened next.
Workaway Racism At Its Finest
One evening as I was listening to worship music in my room, I overheard Rachel, Erica, and Jeremy, another volunteer, talking in the kitchen. Erica was complaining as usual but for some reason, she was extremely loud about it. She said “OMG Anastasia, YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT YOU’RE EAVESDROPPING. LIKE, I CAN SEE YOU. I had no idea what she was talking about as I was listening inside my room but it sounded like she was upset at Anastasia for eavesdropping. I just don’t know when it happened and why. Then all of a sudden the worst thing happened. I overheard Rachel tell them “WHEN IS THAT PIECE OF S*** GOING TO LEAVE?” and Jeremy replied, “IT’S LEAVING TOMORROW”. By far, I knew that was the most racist and traumatizing thing I have ever heard in my life. My body didn’t know how to react to it so it started to shake uncontrollably. I didn’t know how to calm myself down but it definitely felt like a brutal demonic attack. I couldn’t even listen to the other racist things they said next. All I remember was shaking uncontrollably as I put my earbuds in my ear. I never thought that traumatizing moment would scar me to this day but it still does. It’s racial trauma and that event by itself gave me racial PTSD. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight so I waited for hours until Rachel, Erica, and Jeremy left the kitchen.
Being Racially Gaslit
When they were gone, I texted Anastasia to tell her about what happened. We decided to meet up at the public bathroom so that we could talk about it. However, all of that shaking from that trauma made me want to pee on myself so I told her I would use the bathroom first before we could talk. Anastasia was really appalled by their words when we talked. She told me that after dinner, Erica was talking to one of her friends about me over the phone. Erica apparently told her friend that I had a “thick” wall and Anastasia overheard everything. However, it didn’t take long for Anastasia to gaslight me again. I remember her saying “are you sure what they said was racist? I mean… if they said that to me I wouldn’t think so”. “Well yeah… you’re not black Anastasia”, I said in my mind. The last thing I needed was to argue with Anastasia. She was my only way out of Olustee. So that night, we made a promise that we would leave first thing in the morning in her car. I even packed up my things that night and made our reservations at a hotel near Elk City. We both knew this time would come but I guess we didn’t expect it to happen like this.
The Day I Left
The next morning, as we were about to head out of Steve’s place, it seemed like the only people who were awake were Anastasia and me. Which in my opinion was oddly weird. Usually, Rachel, Erica, and Steve were the early birds of the day but that morning they were nowhere to be seen. They were most likely hiding like the punks they were. All of them were extremely racist and I was ready for any sort of confrontation. But unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Anastasia and I left that morning with our heads held high excited to write our reviews.
My Workaway Review
Writing my Workaway review for Steve was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I was very open and honest in my review and I definitely wanted the Workaway staff to see it. After submitting my review, it didn’t take too long for Workaway to get back to me. They wanted to apologize to me over email about what I went through during my time at Olustee. My review also wasn’t that detailed so they wanted me to expand a little further on the racism I experienced over there. I basically told them everything that happened with Steve, Rachel, Erica, and Jeremy. All of their profiles were immediately suspended from Workaway and that was end of story.
Is Workaway legit?
Although Workaway took action when I reported all of them for their racism, I still believe the platform is very flawed to this day. Here are a few reasons why I would never recommend Workaway.
#1 Workaway’s Review System Sucks
As I mentioned earlier before in this post, I did look at Steve’s reviews on his Workaway profile and each one had 4 to 5 stars. How am I supposed to know if these reviews are even legit? I even reached out to one of his past volunteers and he had no red flags for me. But apparently, from what I’ve heard from Anastasia, who was volunteering there longer than me, she said that some people were afraid to leave negative reviews because the host could see them. Workaway should have a BLIND review system but they don’t. How is a volunteer supposed to be informed about a host if they don’t see a mixed version of reviews?
# 2 Workaway Provides No Support for Workawayers
If you’re unhappy with your experience, Workaway won’t do anything to help you. You would have to come up with your own escape plan if you want to leave. Because of this lack of support, it made it 10 times harder for me to escape. I was in the middle of nowhere and I didn’t know how to drive. Workaway should at least provide volunteers with some kind of temporary housing if their experience doesn’t work out.
# 3 No Background Check on Hosts
Workaway also does not perform any background checks on their hosts. Are you kidding me? Do you not care about the safety of your platform? By performing background checks on the hosts not only does it make the platform more credible but it also ensures the volunteer that Workaway is safe.
# 4 Most Workaway Experiences Were in the Middle of Nowhere
I’m not sure if this was because I was looking for a host in the middle of a pandemic but… a lot of the hosts I tried to reach out to last-minute lived in the middle of nowhere. And when I mean middle of nowhere I’m talking about a non-urban space. I’m from New York City, so it would’ve been nice to volunteer at another city. If I had volunteered at another city, it would’ve been a lot more easier to develop an escape plan.
# 5 Workawayers Have to Pay
Last but not at least, I had to spend $44 dollars to become a member on the platform. So I essentially paid $44 to be traumatized in the middle of nowhere. LOL! How come Workaway hosts don’t have to pay to be on the platform? They’re literally getting free labor from you. Monetize it.
Final Thoughts: Is Workaway Safe?
Overall, after reflecting about what I went through in OK, I do not think Workaway is a safe platform for Black Indigenous People of Color. If there are other narcissistic racist people on their platform it will never be a safe space for black and brown people! Workaway needs to take better action to ensure that BIPOC volunteers and hosts feel supported and heard.
All in all, I hope you guys enjoyed reading about my Workaway nightmare from hell. What did you guys think about my story? Have you had a horrible experience with Workaway? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below. 🙂
Love this post? Pin it for later!
Dear Jade,
I’m actually beyond exhausted to tell my story today. But I was beyond happy to come across your post.
Though I’m from another part from the world it was so alike.
Luckily my very first (last minute and lots of other similar things with your story) workaway this week was dogsitting (on an semi off grid farm in yes some abondened place and yes for an (older) white (self absorbed) man and expat.
And yes some red flags but I believed the only two reviews he got …
anyways I’ll maybe do the story on another day, but the day he got back he turned out to be a f* nightmare.
So this morning I sneaked out very early catching two buses to a city going to a hostel.
on the bus I got a message commanding me beyond rigid things – as he did not realise yet I was gone – that was the moment I started to shake and my heart was bouncing realizing I made the right choice.
Luckily there was a very early (and
about the only one besides one in the evening) bus and if that one didn’t show up, google maps told me they had bolt service.
Though I’m sure he is a white supremacist I’m white myself, so I’m sure he does it to everyone who does not go along with his asshole behaviour. Like you say, they can’t control you and they hate that.
After the message I blocked him on WhatsApp and I put my workaway profile offline cause I became too scared not knowing exactly what to do.
I read some of your replies and will check the other site(s). I will read more tomorrow when I’m mentally in a better place.
what a nightmare it must have been to be stuck in a pandemic with the creepy asshole type.
Big virtual hug.
Hi Lhena! I’m so glad to hear you got out of there safely. Disappearing is honestly the best way in my opinion. He doesn’t even a deserve a goodbye. But yeah, I think I wrote this in a previous comment but Worldpackers seems to be better since they do offer to pay for a hostel stay if something goes wrong. Workaway unfortunately did not do that for me.
Hi Jade, I am so sorry to hear about this experience, I hope you have been able to have some wonderful travel experiences in the years since this workaway trip. Lol as soon as I read “Oklahoma” during your intro I was like oh okay here we go, i know where this is going…
I found your article doing some research on workaway… I am a 24-year-old Black Brooklynite and I really want to use Workaway as a means of traveling for long durations for a cheap cost. I’ve been to Bali, Singapore, Tokyo, and Iceland in the last year and a half, and though these experiences have been some of the most special gifts they’ve been quite costly. I want to keep my travel momentum going without having to be put in a financial pocket afterward so this is how i came to consider workaway.
However, being a black traveller I always like to do my due diligence when considering where I am going and with whom. As a traveler, I do think racial curiosity can be harmless but racial animosity is not. In my research, I usually find that practically none of the workaway reviewers of BIPOC and neither are the YouTube channels that tend to talk about their experiences. I read your story and I cant help but to feel discouraged at the same time I still really want to travel with the benefits of what Workaway offers. So my question for you is, in the years since this experience do you have any alternatives? Any other means of traveling for cheap you’d recommend? Worldpackers?
Your reply would be a huge help to me as I am looking to hit 2024 off with a boom!
Thank you.
Hi Hunter, thank you for your kind words! Yes, instead of Workaway, I highly recommend Worldpackers because they will cover your stay at a hostel for one night if something goes wrong which Workaway unfortunately does not do. :/
I am so SORRY to hear about this nightmare WorkAway experience. I have had three nightmare experiences and not one good one, though I know of people who’ve had fantastic experiences. My sense is that there are more bad hosts than good ones having read so many horrible stories. I was actually assaulted, police involved and while I was hoping to have a positive WA experience, they not only cancelled the host but they also cancelled me. I should go back and see if the host is back on there — wouldn’t surprise me considering all that I’ve read. There should be a class action suit against WorkAway. I’d be IN.
Hi Perrin, I’m so sorry to hear you were assaulted on Workaway. That sounds awful 😞. Yeah unfortunately I just stayed away from that site.
Hey Jade 🙂
I hope you’ve had much better experiences since xx
Reading through this, I wonder if this is a challenge given to you by God, I at one point went through situations with narcissists, when I finally confronted the situations with these people and stopped letting them have hold of me, they stopped coming. God gave me these situations and sent these people to me as a gift to show my own strength. Once I had shown this strength to myself, I now no longer and it’s been many, many years now, come into contact with these people as this is no longer a challenge for me.
I do however now have another reoccurring situation and it’s something I’m not sure how to deal with and I know until I find the answer it will keep on coming. It’s hard to deal with but I’m thankful God is giving me this challenge and very much looking forward to the day I overcome it.
Reading how much you were surrounded by this energy as well as the previous times that you explained, I very much wonder if this is your challenge sent to you by God as a gift to show your own strength, GOoD luck, and I wish you all the best for your future travels and experiences 🙂 Stef xx
Hi Stef!
Thank you for your message. This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently.
I feel like I’ve kinda gotten used to seeing myself as a victim from the moment I grew up in a dysfunctional household.
As a child, I felt helpless and I thought there was nothing I could do to change my situation.
But now, as an adult, I’m starting to come into my own power. In fact, I realized that I don’t have to be a victim in my own life. This means that when people mistreat me I don’t have to tolerate it and when people cross my boundaries, I can give consequences.
And those consequences, I might add can mean emotionally distancing myself for the person or leaving. Because at the end of the day, toxic people want you to believe that you NEED them, when in reality, I have always had everything I needed.
Jade
Hey jade i found this story looking up bad Workaway experiences to make sure I’m not alone… I’m currently in the middle of France with a couple who seemed fine at first but come to find out the husband is a complete asshole and narcissistic it seems he finds joy in making you feel dumb for not understanding everything he does. He came up to me today and called me arrogant made fun of me down to the way I walk and asked if I didn’t enjoy being there and asked if I wanted to leave which really felt like him asking me to leave. I’m 18 traveling on a budget and already have tickets bought for 10 days away! Such a shitty situation you feel stuck. I’m sorry you had a awful experience as well. This definitely gave me courage to write a bad review when I leave because same thing I only saw 5 stars reviews before coming here. The work is not easy it’s harder work than my job I get paid for! I’m going to a next Workaway after which I think will be better. Thank you for sharing your story though!
Hi Ian! I’m so glad you found this post. You are definitely not alone. I was definitely traumatized by my experience in Oklahoma and it led to me writing this post.
Yes, please write a negative review about the host if you can. If I never did that they would’ve never taken down his profile. You deserve better so I hope you find better.
Hang in there Ian!
How nightmarish, I cannot imagine being stranded in rural Oklahoma with a bunch of cultish hicks
At first when I read this post I told myself “surely there may be nuances and biases to this review”
But being forced to call toxic family members by complete strangers, being gaslit repeatedly, overhearing racist remarks, being referred to as ‘it’ and so forth sounds terrifying
I can only imagine the panic attack you had, it’s a very “Get-out” type experience
As a minority I wouldn’t want to do any type of workaway it sounds highly sketchy to be completely honest
Hey Tanya!!
Yeah the overt racism was completely shocking honestly. Most of the time, people are usually covert about it but these volunteers did not care at all.
Of course, I know everyone’s experience with Workaway is different but this review is solely my opinion.
I just wouldn’t want another person of color to go through what I experienced!
Growing up with a narcissist parent I legit read your entire post word by word.
I’ve heard about Workaway for some time and thought once about joining the program, but from what I’ve learned about your terrible experience, I have to think twice about it. Had no clue why hosts would be so cultish and narcissistic in the first place.
Of course, it’s not exactly known how narcissism is developed inside a human’s brain, but based from my experience, gender roles and cultural beliefs does play a role in enabling NPD.
Thanks Dennis! NPD is still a disorder I’m constantly trying to research myself. It has affected my life in more ways than you can ever imagine.
I’m also really glad you’re choosing to think twice before doing Workaway. I feel like a lot of people don’t take in mind the bad reviews they have.
The anonymous for profit company “VEN ltd” owns the for profit website called “Workaway.info”, while along has profile on Wikipedia.org. The “Workaway.info” evades taxes and it does not provide a proof of payment/bill that must be issued and sent, via Workaway.info email at least, after a buyer (victim) has paid Workaway.info 12-month subscription non-refundable fee of EUR39 cash money as of 2022 to obtain a single worker profile hosted by Workaway.info. The “Workaway.info” does not include its business operating data that are required on its Terms and Conditions, Data and Privacy Policy.
Omg really?! Workaway sounds so scammy. I’m staying far away from that organization. :/
Hey! I’m so sorry this happened to you and I hope you’ve healed from this traumatic experience and are okay now!! I just want to say that you’re really brave and strong for speaking out! Thank you for speaking out. Not everyone can do that and I hope you’ll have peace and won’t have to deal with anything like this again. Clearly, Workaway isn’t reliable and honestly, they should do more than just deleting their profiles! It’s not fair for women of color, especially black women to go through these types of experiences over and over again. All of them in the house-hold (the host and the other workers) need to be held accountable for this! And if Workaway wants to continue their company, then they need to find a way how to protect black women.
Sending you love and virtual hugs!
Thank you Aurora! Your comment means so much to me. Sharing my horror story on the internet took a lot of courage on my part, but, I’m so glad I did it. What happened to me was awful and I’m still trying to find different ways to heal from it.
Your love and virtual hugs are very appreciated! ❤
I had the exact same experiemce with workaway! I was escaping from abuse and ran right into the arms or a demonic narcissist woman who drained me spiritually and emotionally. Who treated me like a thing, a tool and gaslit me constantly. I had to escape in the middle of the night I am SO SORRY why is it LIKE THIS?
Omgosh really!!! I feel like Workaway’s platform must be full of narcissistic hosts. I am so sorry that happened to you. I really hope you reported her to Workaway so that her profile could get suspended. I’m still healing from my experience but I felt like writing this blog post really helped me. I almost feel like running away from a narcissist can lead you into the arms of another one!! I think it’s just really important for all of us to just grow in spiritual discernment as we’re dealing with these people. This disorder is so demonic and I will NOT tolerate it from anyone.
It feels so terrifying to know how easily a vulnerable woman can be sucked into such a trap via Workaway. Narcissists and their extremely self-centered, cold-blooded, abusive, cultish behaviors can emotionally and mentally a target for the longest time without any mercy.
I’m so glad escaped before they devalued you to an extreme degree; those creeps spread misery wherever they roam — such envious, insecure cowards who project their internal chaos onto anyone nearby whom they can’t control.
This does, though, bring to mind questions regarding the integrity, or lack thereof, of the rating system of comparable platforms. Thanks for sharing so openly!
Hey Amber!! Thank you for commenting. I truly didn’t know what it was like to be an horror film until I came to this place. It was like being surrounded by demons left and right with no light in sight. My only hope is that these people would just get the deliverance they need to cleanse their souls! Because when you’re dealing with a narc…you’re dealing with an absolute cult leader.
Wow I’ve always dreamed about doing a Workaway in Europe but reading through your post and comments is making me think twice! I totally agree with one of your commenters that profiles with only all 5 star reviews are a little bit of a red flag but gosh, you were so careful and did your homework so utterly thoroughly – it’s heartbreaking that it ended up badly for you in the end anyway!
Thanks Shafinah!! Yeah it’s really sad this happened on my first Workaway. I was hoping for the best but it just didn’t work out
Hello, I wanted to say I also had a difficullt experience with workaway and I wouldnt recommend it to anybody. Most of the hosts seem to be fake anyway and every year it get sharder. I think that someone should be checking the hotst, there is no control and even you have to pay to go there. Also, workawayers need to pay to join the website, is not good at all. I dont recommend this place to anyone really.
Hey Laura, I’m so sorry you had a bad experience like me. I’m hoping you at least reported the host like me. I would never want anyone else to go through what you did.
WOW! I had chills reading this. As a God-fearing female of color who also had a recent bad workaway experience that I believe was race-based(moreso anti-black female), I felt like I could’ve written this.
I stayed in a cult-like workaway program in Yonkers, NY over a year ago (it is an “international house” in an old Victorian house with many 5 star reviews )and I ended up being narcissistically bullied by the host. She gaslit and bullied me via whatsapp(but I rarely saw her in person as she worked full time.) Not to mention, they had multiple black cats and an oijua board in their house! She triangulated me against an arrogant black volunteer who the effiminate “golden child”. When I told her that he yelled at me leaving early after I finished cleaning my section of the park, she goes “I dont believe it. Hes never yelled at anyone the 2 years ive known him”. The funny thing is, after she continued spewing insults at me via text, I told her Ive studied “scapegoating” in psychology. After, she went quiet and began playing nice again right before I left. I also shared a room with the other volunteer (3 total including me) who, although didnt say anything bad to me, I could tell she had a very negative, awkward standoffish vibe like she wanted me to disappear so she could have her own room again. The other host , the narc’s husband , was very outgoing and friendly (though I couldnt fully trust him ). I also met a cool long-term guest who was informative and kind when I told him what happened, but overall I had to leave that demonic place!
Unlike you, I have yet to post the review. This was over a year ago. I wrote the review on my phone notes, but I had anxiety about publishing it. After reading your article. I thinkI may actually have the courage to post the review!
Thank you for sharing your experience. We have SO much in common and maybe God had me stumble across this blog for a reason!!
Dee I am so happy you stumbled across this blog post. God definitely wanted you to know that you are not alone and what they did to you was extremely demonic. I want to encourage you to post your review and report them to workaway. That host needs to be taken down and I would hate for another black woman to go through what you did. I am also happy that I finally met someone who knows all of the narcissistic terminology. I studied psychology too and it made me aware of all of the toxic relationships I had in my life. I hope to see you around my blog sometime soon. I truly do appreciate this comment. Feel free to message me if you need any support 😊
I’ve always wondered what these things were really like. I’ve not heard of the company you went with, but I definitely won’t be using them if I ever do this myself… Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hey Kerry, yeahh most people use workaway for budget travel but I obviously cannot recommend them.
Girl this is TERRIFYING. Thank you for sharing your experiences so others can learn from you.
Yes this was indeed the worst story I have ever told.
Yikes! What a terrifying experience. I’ve considered workaway, wwoof, and such in the past, but the potential of getting stuck in such a situation has always made me unsure. Glad you got out!
Yes me too!! It definitely felt like a GET OUT situation ?
Omg this is so horrible!! And unfortunately, I’ve heard similar from two of my other Black friends. DO BETTER WORKAWAY!!!
WHATTT!!! THAT’S RIDICULOUS. I thought it was just me honestly. ?
Wow what a nightmare. Sorry you had to have this experience, but thank you for being willing to share it. I’m glad to hear Workaway did take action after your review. It’s too bad that they don’t have a system in place to support during your experience.
Thanks, Elizabeth! It wasn’t easy finding the words but I hope it can inspire change in Workaway.
Wow this is quite a nightmare all around. Glad you were able to escape at least physically unscathed.
Thanks Amanda! My nervous system is still recovering though so I’m just praying for healing 🙂
This sounds awful. I’m so sorry for what you had to go through! He sounds terrible and it had to be so hard not having other volunteers you could lean on. I’m so glad you posted this review; usually I only ever see awesome Workaway posts and it’s so good to know ALL the information (like, seriously they don’t do background checks? Or provide support in a bad situation???)
Thank you Megan!!! I wish there were more horror stories out there on the internet. I’m hoping this post could lead to some kind of change!
What a story! So sorry it happened to you… It’s great you talk about it so other people won’t experience the same!
Yes I’m hoping more and more people read this story!
How unfortunate that you had such a bad experience with them! I worked in Berlin through Workaway and loved it! USeful to read about the review system though, had no idea!
I know there needs to be more awareness about this!
Sorry you had such a negative experience. I have friends who had great Workaway jobs – but I suppose there is always that element of risk it’s not going to work out.
Hey Hannah, I’m really glad your friends had a great experience on Workaway. I was however very unfortunate with the platform.
Wow I am so sorry that happened to you. That is so awful and traumatizing. Thank you for sharing this so others can avoid these type of situations.
Thank you Nicole! Your words are so kind 🙂
I am so sorry this happened. That racism, abuse, & narcissism is unacceptable. Like you say, Workaway has a responsibility to protect its users and they aren’t doing that properly. Thank you for sharing your story, I’m sure it’s tough to do but it will have impact. I’ve never used Workaway, but out of solidarity, you can be sure I won’t be using it in the future.
Thank you Erin!! I really appreciate your comment. It took a really long time for me to write this post but I’m so glad I did. I’m truly hoping it impacts many different hearts in the future ❤
Gosh so sorry you had to experience all this ???? as a sensitive solo traveller I’m always very cautious to get caught in the middle of nowhere (it’s why i didn’t do farm work in Australia)… had too much experience with abuse and narcissism as it is. this really scared me, i hope you’re okay now ????
Hey Cassie! Thank you for your kind words. I still have some trauma from the event but I’m healing day by day 🙂 I’m doing my best to stay away from narcs for as long as I may live!
Thank you for sharing the full story. And good that they got suspended! Some improvements would be needed for the platform.
Absolutely it needs to be safer for other POC
This is insane! I’m so glad that you got out of there, but this sounds like something out of a movie. I guess I wont’ be doing that ever.
Yes Lita! This was literally another Lifetime movie. I never want to relive this again 🙁
This is so horrifying omg!! So happy you got out of there. I cannot believe that there are so few regulations for a platform like Work Away. I would think that it would be super reputable and safe, but I see now that I was totally wrong. Thank you for sharing your experience!!
Yess me too! I can’t believe someone actually recommended this organization to me. What a horrible mistake!
Thanks for being so brave to talk about this experience. I’m so sorry that happened to you and you did not have supportive people around you throughout BLM. THANK YOU for writing about this and to make sure other people know of what could happen. This is so important.
Thanks, Rachel! It took a lot of courage for me to write this post and share my trauma but I’m so glad I did. Not everyone’s experience is glamorous on Workaway and I felt like it was about time for me to share my story.
Eeep Jade! I am glad you got out of that. I guess the scariest part is that you are stuck in the middle of nowhere, relying on people you that are horrible to you for any escape.
Also, I am pretty horrified that they could accept people from all over the place without any quarantine. One of them could easily have brought covid-19 in the toilet-free house. (Double eep!)
I hope you found somewhere safer since then!
Hi Josy,
Thank you so much for your comment! I’m in a safe place now, thank God! Looking back, we probably should’ve been quarantined at the time but Oklahoma had a low number of cases so no one in Oklahoma wore masks. At the end of the day, all I know for sure is that I’m never going back to that state.
I was glad to read at the end that all the culprits had their accounts suspended! I’m so impressed that you stuck it out as long as you did.
Your storytelling was very gripping too! I just wanted to keep reading.
Thank you Mackenzie!! I was thinking about writing a book about my time being homeless once day. Hopefully it’s a bestseller! Yes I’m so glad their accounts got suspended. If they weren’t I probably would’ve went to a media news outlet.
I am so sorry to hear of your experience! But good to share to prevent others from having the same experience.
Hey Keri, Yes, that is the goal with this post. I’m hoping more people will get a better insight into what they’re getting into.
Wow, what a story! I’ve actually thought about doing something like this, thanks for the heads up!
You’re welcome! I wish someone would’ve warned me honestly
Ugh this literally sounds like my worst nightmare – I probably would have left the first night to be honest. I’ve heard great things about Workaway so it’s interesting to read another perspective instead!
Honestly, I feel like I got so unlucky with Workaway. I wish things could’ve worked out better but it’s in the past.
I mean, girl!! Thank God, you’re outta there!! What a nightmare!
In fact those people should be exposed, humiliated and suspended. That is just absolutely unprofessional and narcissistic.
Please be careful of ONLY five-star reviews they are a hige red flag. And do not go out with people around whom you don’t feel comfortable. I wish you a better life after this hell and peace. I don’t want to see myself in this situation either, and I definitely don’t want you to experience something similar in the future as well. Please be careful amd always look out the red flags.
Oh yes, I agree! I think what really weirded me out the most was seeing narcissistic fleas in someone who was also abused by a narcissist. I guess some of us end up turning into them. 🙁