Travel For Free, 11 Ways to do it

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A lot of people think that to travel the world you need to be rich, win the lottery or something similar, but that’s not true. The tour companies, hotels, and media make you think like that. In reality, you can travel the world for cheap and even for free.

In this post I’m going to share with you 11 ways to travel for free, and for some of them, you can even get paid.

So, let’s get to the fun part, shall we?

Post updated in 2018.

1. Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is a hospitality service and social networking website. In other words, basically, local people let you stay on their couch or sometimes even a private room for free. Yes, that’s absolutely true and absolutely awesome.

I love Couchsurfing not just because it saves you a lot of money but you get the chance to stay at locals and get to know more about the culture and the life from someone who lives there. Your host can even in most cases show you around, share a lot of knowledge or cook a dinner for you. But you have to be grateful, you cook them a dinner, help with the cleaning, buy them a beer.

A lot of people use it just for the free accommodation, but it’s a lot more than that.

Be aware that there is also a hidden sex surfing part of it. Some people use it just to hook up. Choose your host wisely.

2. Hitchhiking

Well, everyone knows what hitchhiking is. There are more and more people travel this way, and more and more people open to take you. To get a ride universal sign is to stand on the direction that you want to go and thumbs up.

When you decide to hitchhike safety is very important. If the driver gives you a bad vibe then just don’t accept the ride.

For hitchhiking tips check Hitchwiki.

READ NEXT: Hitchhiking in Malaysia

3. Camping

I loOOove camping, the outdoors, nature. Camping is another way to save money on accommodation. The only thing you need is a tent, and a hammock, or sometimes just a hammock is fine. In some countries like Iceland and Norway camping is allowed everywhere which is absolutely great, right?

In Bulgaria, you can put your tent wherever you want, and you won’t even be charged for that. This is one of the most amazing things to do in Bulgaria for free.

Camping in Tusheti, Georgia

4. Volunteering

Although some volunteering programs want you to pay, there are a lot of programs that are completely free. The only thing that you’ll need to pay might be the transportation.

When you volunteering you usually get free accommodation and free food.

This is also a great way to meet other like-minded awesome people. This summer I was volunteering at Ambaritsa hut (Stara Planina, Bulgaria). I meet wonderful people there with which I still keep in touch. And it was a great week spent in the mountain.

I went as a volunteer again this year, in 2018. Another beautiful week with beautiful people in a beautiful place with tons of good vibes, positive energy, and blueberries, of course.

Тhe mission of this year’s festival was to raise funds for the restoration of the cargo line leading to the hut and retirement of the horse Borko.

The only way to get to the hut is after 3 hours of walking. At present, everything from food to building materials reaches the hut on the back of Borko.

If you’re interested to visit the festival in the future, you can follow Ambaritsa hut Facebook page for updates.

5. Work for accommodation

A lot of hostels all around the world will let you stay for free in exchange for some work. It can be cleaning, painting, or whatever. A lot of backpackers have done this.

To find hostels that accept volunteers on such a basis, you can simply ask or just Google search.

6. Workaway / WWOOF

Workaway – Organizations, and people around the world looking for people to help them with different kinds of tasks. Some are looking for people to help them with farming, some are looking for people to babysit their kids. It can be a lot of things. The basic arrangement is working a couple of hours a day, a couple of days a week in exchange for food and accommodation.

WWOOF – World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms is a database of organic farms owned by people who are willing to provide food and accommodation in exchange for volunteering work. It’s a very popular way to travel for free.

7. Free attractions

Every city has free attractions. Do your research and visit these free attractions. A lot of national museums, libraries, monuments, and etc are free. A lot of museums and other monuments and attractions are free on certain days of the month. So if you do your research, you can take advantage of that. Parks, some festivals, the opportunities are endless.