If you want to travel the world, but do not have a big budget or a like-minded traveling companion to come with you, do not discard your travel dreams. Get creative with your travel plans and find out about innovative ways to travel. This ensures that you are able to travel alone cheaply, and also transforms your travel experiences for the better.
Volunteer
- Volunteering abroad can be a fabulous way to travel cheaply. It allows you to get to know some local people, while giving something back to the country you are visiting. Volunteer projects often provide accommodation and meals for their volunteers for a small, cost-price fee, meaning that you just need to pay for your transport to get there. It also provides a fundraising opportunity for your trip -- ask local businesses if they will make a donation towards your worthwhile trip or do a challenge like a bungee jump and ask family and friends to sponsor you. You could even travel the world by going from one volunteer project to another.
House Sitting
- There are plenty of innovative accommodation options across the world, meaning that you can cut out the need to stay in hotels and guest houses. A number of homeowners across the world will let you live in their home for free while they are out of town or on vacation. You can find adverts that homeowners have posted on websites, such as House Sit World (housesitworld.com), The Caretaker Gazette (caretaker.org) and House Carers (housecarers.com). In return for the free accommodation, you may be asked to take care of pets. CouchSurfing (couchsurfing.com) also allows you to find someone in the town you are visiting who is willing to give you a sofa or bed to sleep in during your stay, and this is a great way to make friends with local people.
Work and Travel
- Another method of affordable travel is to take on some casual work as you go. This could vary from teaching English and being an au pair, to fruit picking and bar work. Many casual working opportunities will be found when you arrive at your destination, where you should check local newspapers, look at any notice boards in the area and at hostels, or simply asking around at local businesses. Some hostels will also give you a free bed in exchange for you cleaning the rooms and communal areas. If you want to try to find something in advance, the Anywork Anywhere website (anyworkanywhere.com) helps you find out what job opportunities there might be in your favored destinations.
Local Transport
- Transport can be one of the highest costs of traveling. While you can't do much about the cost of your international airfare -- aside from shopping around for the best price and staying alert to promotions that airlines are running -- you can choose cheap travel options once you are in a country or continent. If you are traveling around Europe for example, there are budget airlines such as Ryanair (ryanair.com) and EasyJet (easyjet.com) that sell very cheaply priced tickets. When traveling in-country, take public buses and trains to get around instead of luxury tourist coaches and minibuses -- the price difference is often quite large. If there is a trip you want to do that is only accessible via a trip a tour operator runs, try to get a group together yourself so that you can all share the cost. Chatting to people in hostels is a great way to find others who are looking for exciting but affordable experiences.
