If you are like us, chances are you are wondering if we can ever travel again! Disguised trips to grocery stores, friends’ homes, and a nearby park just don’t work anymore. As travel restrictions ease around the world, many of us are considering packing our bags and taking off again.
Aside from the pandemic, travel costs are another consideration for most travelers. We always recommend adding travel as a goal to your overall financial plan because travel can be costly. You have to pay for the plane ticket, hotels and food. But what about travel for free or with very little money? Sounds impossible, right? Not really!
There are many ways to travel for free with proven ideas that you should know if you want to save some money while exploring the world. This post explains how to travel for free (almost) using proven methods such as volunteering, credit card bonuses, or point reward programs. So let’s get down to business.
How to travel for free
Volunteer abroad
Volunteering is a great way to explore the world and bring something meaningful to your destinations. It is also a great way to save money on accommodation and food. There are several ways to find volunteer opportunities around the world:
1. Become a farm volunteer
One of the largest platforms for finding volunteer work on a farm is WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). WWOOF hosts all over the world. Select your country and register to find opportunities. You will learn about organic farming and get first-hand farm experience. In return, you will receive free room and board. It is also a great way to meet locals and forge lifelong bonds.
Opportunities on organic farms will require you to have dirty hands when planting, harvesting, composting, caring for farm animals, and more.
2. Volunteering in a hostel.
If agriculture isn’t your thing, you can also find volunteer work in hostels in exchange for free housing. Visit Worldpackers to find opportunities around the world and apply them. The work is diverse: from painting to helping in the kitchen and construction. Here are some interesting examples of publications:
Work abroad
3. Get a remote job
There has never been a better time to travel and get paid from telecommuting. Opportunities have skyrocketed as many companies that don’t normally offer remote positions are listening to what their employees want after the coronavirus. If you plan everything right, you can rent out the house and use your current salary to fund travel expenses instead.
When deciding to work remotely, keep time zones in mind. You don’t want to work in Asia on an American schedule.
4. Learn English
A time-honored way to fund a trip is to teach English abroad. If you are fluent in English, get a TEFL certification to make your job search easier.
While opportunities are everywhere, Asia is arguably the center of English teaching. Many publications do not require any experience, but you will make more money if you have teaching experience or a college degree.
5. Request an international transfer.
If you work for a multinational corporation with branches in other cities, ask your company for a transfer or look for travel opportunities for work. Usually employers cover the costs of flights and hotels for an official visit. For example, a good friend of ours lives in New York, but regularly travels to Asia to train local employees of his company.
6. Become a consultant
Working for a management consulting company is another way to get your company to fund your travels. Most consulting firms such as Accenture, Deloitte, and McKinsey require domestic and international travel. Opening hours can be long, but nights and weekends are yours to explore your destination.
As a consultant for ten years, Pry has traveled throughout the United States and Europe. This is a significant contribution to our success in achieving financial freedom in 30 years.
7. Working as an Au Pair
If you have experience with children and want to live in the same place for at least a few months, consider working as an Au Pair or Resident Nanny.
As an Au Pair, you will be paid for host family accommodation, childcare and / or assistance with cooking, cleaning, etc. You can use your free time and vacation days to travel around your host city or country using your wages fee. You earn.
There are many sites for finding Au Pair jobs, including Au Pair World and Go Au Pair.
8. Use your skills
Are you creative? Do you have tools at hand? Are you good at web development? Whatever your skills are, you can use them to make money on the go with sites like Fiverr and TaskRabbit. Here is a list of additional ideas online to help you fire up your juices.
Cash in travel points
9. Cash for free air tickets or hotel accommodation.
There are many credit cards with travel reward options that earn you points simply for using your card for day to day expenses.
You can get a card tied to a specific hotel chain, such as Mariott, or get a travel points credit card that allows you to use your points to pay for flights, hotels, lounges or car rentals. Most likely we used all travel reward cards. There are some great free options out there, but you’ll have to pay an annual fee to get the best rewards.
Why are we adding annualized cards to our list of free travel strategies?
Some cards give you enough benefits to eliminate the annual fee. For example, the Visa Infinite Bank Altitude Reserve card is one of our favorites. We pay a hefty $ 400 annual fee, but it gets canceled with a $ 325 annual credit for travel, food, or drinks-related purchases. Also included are $ 100 TSA PreCheck Credit and four complimentary airport lounge visits.
To get the maximum points, use one card for all purchases. Most cards also offer big signup bonuses and referrals to boost your points. Just make sure you don’t apply for too many cards, as this can damage your credit score.
Get Free Accommodation
10. Couch Surf
One of the oldest and most reliable ways to travel economically and meet new people is couchsurfing. This site marked the beginning of an initial community of travelers offering their homes for other travel.
Surfing on the couch is a great way to meet the locals and explore the city you are in, but due to the overwhelming demand from the hosts, finding a place to stay is not easy. Think of Couchsurfing as a dating app, not a hotel booking app. You will need to prepare your profile and go through verification (for a minimal fee). As with dating apps, you need to demonstrate that you are a real person interested in genuine connections and experiences.
Join the Couchsurfing community, attend and host meetings. Finally, just like this first DM, tweak the first message to the host. Make sure it is personalized and shows what you bring to the table. This way, you increase your chances of a match when you swipe right.
A quick Google search will help you find other home communities such as BeWelcome and GlobalFreeloaders.
11. Become a family member and a pet.
You may have heard of the sitter, but 99% of owners who need nannies are actually looking for a pet sitter. Therefore, if you are a pet lover, you can stay in a home away from home and take care of someone’s pets while they are away. The best part is that you get free accommodation and a home for yourself while the hosts are away.
You can find pet seating all over the world on sites like Trusted Housesitters or Nomador. Everyone has to get tested and there is a review system to weed out bad experiences. There is an annual fee for some sites, but this is usually paltry compared to what you would spend on a hotel.
As with couchsurfing, sitting with a pet is mutual compatibility. When addressing opportunities, make sure your profile is up-to-date based on your experience with pets, pets, and even handyman skills. Good posts are accepted quickly, so be prepared with pitch and recommendations.
12. Use your social network or alumni network
It’s not for everyone, but if you’re not shy about asking friends and family for contacts abroad, you can opt out of one or two free stays. Even if that doesn’t work, you will potentially have someone to hang out with when you’re in their town.
We have friends in London and a distant family in Dubai. Every time we visit, we stay at their house for about a week, saving a lot of money on housing in these expensive cities.
While we wait for the world to open up again, why not start your travel dreams? As you can see, there are many ways to travel for free or very cheap to see the world. Most of these ideas require getting out of your comfort zone and adopting unconventional travel options. If you are ready to do this, then nothing stops you from experiencing all that the world has to offer!
This post originally appeared on Savoteur.
