Tracey Hay

My passions are: travel, cultural exchanges, meeting people, bringing people together & Cooking - with a capital C, I am a feeder, and an Organiser Designer with a strong interest in permaculture & alternative economies.

I went on my first overseas holiday at the age of eighteen, it was a package holiday in Spain, to my shame, but it was the experience which would change the course of my life. I found I had a passion for travel, for learning new languages and for tasting food from other countries.

For a few years I moved around; Jersey Channel Islands, Edinburgh Scotland, Bilbao, Pamplona, Malaga & Granada Spain. I also visited many other european countries on holidays; collecting stories, recipes, artifacts and friends along the way.

A couple of years ago I attended an Intro to permaculture course with James Chapman. Permaculture for me was like finding a home for all my ideas, putting them into one big pot, and giving the dish a name. I then went on to complete a Permaculture Design Course in Sintra, Portugal with TreeYo Permaculture. I wished then as I wish now that I had discovered permaculture long ago, but I also believe that all of my life experiences have lead me to this moment and add to my understanding of the permaculture principles and ethics.

For the last two years I have been focussing on organising, promoting and offering my administration skills to various permaculture teachers around Scotland and the UK. My most exciting projects to date have been organising the programme of workshops for the Permaculture Scotland Convergence, and Charles Eisensteins' trip to Scotland.

Why Slow Homestay?

I have hosted many homestay guests over the years. Language teachers who came to Edinburgh, and people from around the globe in my home in Granada. I have met the most amazing people, had some of the best conversations, felt humbled, inspired and touched by the sharing which has happened with what would seem like relative strangers. What I have found is that no matter where people come from, there has always been a common bond and that is that we are all human. The need to be valued, listened to, welcomed in a place when we are away from our day-day surroundings, and offered some advice and support in getting the most from our trip, is something we can all identify with.