How to Travel the World Without Winning the Lottery

After we revealed the truth of those articles saying ‘I quit my job to travel the world’ we seemed it was only fair to bust a few more travel myths. It’s 2019 now, most of us have come to the realisation that the world is a big place, and our time here is limited; therefore, travel has now become somewhat of a necessity. We NEED to travel! (Okay, maybe some of us are more addicted than others…)

However, the biggest travel myth to date is that you need to be rich to travel the world. Oh, HOW WRONG can one be. But, hey, we don’t blame those folks that talk of expensive travel, they probably haven’t been introduced to Workaway yet!
Along with our website, there are plenty of other ways to help you travel the world without winning the lottery, and here’s how:

Travel the World with Workaway.info

Oh, look it’s us! Maybe you already know how Workaway works, or maybe this is the first time you’ve heard about our website. In a nutshell, we provide a platform for enthusiastic travellers wanting to see the world and hosts in need of some help in their projects across the globe. We’ve got over 50,000 opportunities online from every corner of the world.

Literally you pick a country you’ve always wanted to go to and browse through the list of hosts looking for help. Fancy yourself as a boat watchman in the Bahamas? A school teacher in South East Asia or a winemaker in South Africa? (Yup, those are all real opportunities.) Well, you’ve come to the right place!

One of the best things about Workaway? It only costs less than the price of one night’s accommodation in a hostel for one full year’s subscription.

CouchSurfing


Gone are the days this was thought to be a creepy way of travelling. Couchsurfing is god damn cool! We ourselves have met so many amazing people through CS we could write a whole article on that alone! So what’s the crack?

Simply and honestly; free accommodation in people’s homes all over the world and a chance to experience their culture. How much does it cost? Nothing, nil, free, however you want to say it, you don’t pay anything to Couchsurf. You could stay on their sofa, in their spare room, or sometimes the whole apartment. The online community is full to the brim of worldly travellers just wanting to give back. Sign up on their website, create a profile, tell people where you are travelling and why and see who has a couch available in the place you’re off to. This has good karma written all over it.

SkyScanner

Ok, so flights are usually the most expensive part of the trip right? This is where you still think travel is expensive! Think again. We like to think of ourselves as somewhat of Skyscanner experts. You’ve got to be able to work the system, and when you do, expect huge savings. (We once got a flight from Hong Kong to Las Vegas for £175 — that’s a 19-hour flight halfway across the world.) Here’re our tips:
1. Be flexible with dates.
There is an option where you can select ‘Whole Month’. Do this and it will come up with the 30 days in the month and all the different prices for each day. It’s amazing how much money you can save by going on a different day.
2. Check out one-way tickets even if you want a return.
Use the same method with the ‘Whole Month’ and look at booking two separate flights. Sometimes it turns out cheaper than a return.
3. Book your flights on a Tuesday.
It’s been proven to be the cheapest day in the week.
4. Unclick ‘Direct Flights’.
Come on guys, you can do it, airport layovers aren’t that bad! Plus you can sometimes save 50%!

So, we’ve proved to you, you can live in exotic locations, eat amazing food and meet incredible people in exchange for a few hours of your help. You can crash on travellers sofas and if you’re savvy you can get cheap flights too. We’ve got you covered no? No? Ok, here’s a few more pearls of wisdom…

Teach English

Now with this one you can live for free AND get paid! By simply getting your TEFL qualification (teaching English as a foreign language), which you can complete online within 3 weeks, you can jet off to dozens of countries and get paid to teach. You don’t need a degree or even to be able to speak the country’s language. The only requirement is to be full of energy, adventure and have a passion for teaching. There are literally thousands of jobs all over the globe waiting to be filled by native English speakers. You can expect a fairly decent monthly salary, help with living costs and an exciting new adventure. Take a look here at jobs that are available now and start your TEFL course while deciding which country you want to conquer next.

Airbnb

Are hotels a thing of the past? Now, if you have to part with your money, you can stretch it further than ever. Fancy staying in an igloo? A castle? Or on a boat?
Well, you can with Airbnb. And most of the time it is cheaper than staying in a conventional hotel!

House Sitting

This one almost sounds too good to be true — but it’s not. As it says on the tin, you literally look after someone’s house while they are away and in exchange, well, you get to live there for free. It’s a win-win situation all around as the owners get peace of mind that someone will be watering the plants. taking in the mail and making sure everything is safe, and you get free accommodation. May we just add they are usually pretty nice places– all over the world! We are not going to sound too pushy here to mention again that there are in fact tons of hosts out there on the Workaway site who are looking for house sitters. There are also a number of other websites that offer equally amazing house sitting opportunities such as TrustedHousesitters, House Sitters America and Mind My House. Monthly memberships range from $20 to $60, but we think it is an investment, and if you add up how much you save in hotel rooms you are definitely saving A LOT of money!

Air Miles Credit Cards

Those flights you just booked; book them on an air miles credit card.
They give you miles for every £1 you spend and trust us they add up quick! Before you know it you’ll be getting a free flight. Trick all those ‘lottery winners’ by bagging yourself a business class trip all on the freebie miles!

Get a Travel Card

Who even pays oversea ATM fee’s anymore? We don’t! Get yourself a travel card where you load it with your home currency and then withdraw the country’s own currency that you are currently in– with no extra charge! Great if you are travelling to many countries in one go, and also to avoid carrying around too much cash.
We love ICE travel card— no ATM fees and great conversion rates! Whatever you do don’t use your own bank account, they will charge you so much to withdraw! You don’t need to do that anymore!

Lyft

The travellers’ alternative to Uber. You know when your friends post those annoying status saying ‘Is anyone driving from Manchester to Heathrow Airport at 1:47am on Monday evening that will give me a lift’. Erm, nope, of course we don’t know anyone doing that ride. But Lyft does! Effectively all it is is somebody with a spare seat in their car that is willing to let you tag along. It is not free, however there are no prices and ‘donations’ are required rather than set fares. It’s more relaxed than Uber and has proven a much cheaper alternative to taxis and trains. Just download the app and get travelling!

So there it is.. the truth’s out, the two words ‘travel’ and ‘expensive’ no longer go hand in hand. With these pearls of wisdom, an open mind and some hard saving we have no doubt there is a new generation of travellers on their way. The generation that gets to travel the world — without breaking the bank. So where are you off to next?

opportunitiesfree foodfree lodgingtravel the worldbudget travelsairbnbcouchsurfingaffordablecommunitybackpackingdreamvolunteeradventurelifestyle

About Alicia

Alicia helps run Workaway mission control in Hong Kong, she's also our marketing whiz and helps with design. She has backpacked, travelled and volunteered extensively in many different parts of the w... show more...

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