I didn’t win the lottery. No, not Euromillions either. I often get this question: how do I do it? How can I continue travelling, now 1,5 years and not run out of money? Do I have a secret stash of money somewhere? Do I make money on the side? (a favourite pastime of many Belgians). No, no, no.
It’s pure economics. Don’t earn it, don’t spend it.
Cutting costs.
First of course you cut costs. Accommodation is often very very basic. As are the places that you choose to eat – local shacks (they usually have the best food anyway) or DIY. It’s one of the things I often miss when I travel, my own kitchen! You can travel mostly to countries that are cheap to live in, or stay with friends you met along the way.By now, I know people from all over the world and have many many places to stay. Then if you know how to find cheap flights, it’s easy to travel around the world…
Cutting even more costs.
The other thing you can do, if you are really running out of money, is considering a work trade. In exchange for a few hours of work a day, you get free accommodation and sometimes also food. In Australia many people did cleaning in the hostel they were staying at for 2 hours a day and could stay for free. Other options are: working on a farm, doing reception work in a hostel, teaching English, building a website… Anything that you can offer as labour or service might work if you find the right host. And that is the beauty of the internet: now websites exist where hosts and potential workers are brought together. You pay a fee to become a member of the community; no money is exchanged between host and worker. You can do work trades of a couple of weeks or a few months. By doing a work trade you live with a family or in a community: you get to know people, learn new skills, and also experience the culture of a country. Only benefits!
Learning new skills… (and too many feet showing in this post)
Here are three work trade websites for bringing hosts and workers together:
WWOOF
The best known one is WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) – “woofing” is even a verb now, and “woofers” the people who do this kind of work trade. They have a large network of hosts around the world, and offer all kinds of work trade opportunities on organic farms. The sort of work you do on the farm can vary from milking cows to planting and weeding, making bread/marmelade/…
Workaway
The other large website is Workaway. Here you can find farm work and work trade opportunities in hostels, renovating people’s houses, taking care of children etc. They boast almost 22 000 hosts.
Yoga trade
The third one is a more specific one for trained yoga teachers: Yoga Trade. You can do a yoga work trade in yoga retreats around the world. Talk about working in paradise!
Of course, working only a few hours a day means you get the rest of the time to enjoy…
