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Travel With No Money
Have you ever dreamed of spending your morning on a balcony of a hotel with the view of the Eiffel Tower while enjoying your much-needed macchiato and fresh-baked croissants?
Have you ever wanted to have an “authentic” selfie of the Statue of Liberty as your background?
Or spend your Sunday at a solemn mass at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague?
If no…then, why are you even reading this? Get lost!
If yes…then what’s stopping you?
After asking my twenty-seven imaginary friends, their universal answer was… Yes.
Money.
Author, I am just an ordinary worker with a minimum salary. How am I going to travel the world as pilots, Noachian sea captains, and multi-billionaire CEOs do?
Table of Contents
1. Law of Equivalent Exchange: Priorities and Sacrifices
You don’t need to be a pilot, a sea captain (or even Jack Sparrow), or own your company to travel.
You don’t need to have a million in your bank account to see the world.
Most of you must be rolling your eyes right now. Thinking: Jace must be in dreamland. I always am, but today… I am not.
How? How is that even possible?
Calm down, fellas.
Have you ever heard the Law of Equivalent Exchange?
Yes. It is from the famous anime: Full Metal Alchemist…and no, I won’t teach you alchemy or teleportation here.
“Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return…”
Yes, chaps, sacrifices. No. No. Not virgins. Not those poor lambs.
Come on! This is not fiction!
If you really want to travel…make it your priority.
If traveling isn’t your priority, you will always have some other things to spend your money on. Like the new release of the iPhone series…or the latest trend of clothes in your favorite mall…or…yeah…you’ve got it!
FOOD.
Chill! I know food is a necessity. It is actually more important than other essentials like clothes and shelter…but hey! You can survive without the Starbuck’s Caramel Cinnamon Latte you have every week, or without the Burger King’s Whooper for lunch!
Sacrifice, fella.
Save.
Look for a transparent jar, label it for travel and save the money you intended to spend on other things. Give up those non-priority expenses for a while.
2. House swap / Rent out your home.
“But look, I just work as a part-timer in a fast-food chain. I am still studying, I have a kid, and my money kept on mysteriously disappearing in my wallet. How am I going to save?” Blah- Blah-Blah.
Maybe you’re furious with the first part where I am telling you to save.
Like: “the hell Author! Your title is how to travel when I am broke AF means I am here because I am broke as fuck! Where will I get the money that I will actually save? You piece of little…”
Okay! Calm down! (How many calm down is it already? My imaginary friend is too hot-headed huh) I will actually share more tips, so stay right there and keep on reading. No, I am not begging for you to keep on reading…but…okay…okay…fine! I am! So let’s start.
House swap or rent out your home.
Do you have a house or a place you actually stay? (Okay, the place should actually be yours, and no one will stay there while you’re on vacation. Sorry, those who stay with their parents should skip this tip. Unless your parents will be comfortable and willing to accept complete strangers to stay with them.)
So yeah, this tip won’t work when you stay with your parents or someone else. Your place should be empty when you decided to travel. You can offer it to someone else while you’re away. It could be another traveler who will travel there in your place and looking for free or cheap accommodation
It is an excellent source of cash, or you can swap your place with someone…for example, you’re from the Philippines. You will travel to Australia, you just need someone from Australia who wants to go to the Philippines and you two will use each other’s place.
It may perhaps be too much hassle since you need to prepare your place for someone else (you know, securing your important things, clearing and hiding those porns, just kidding.
Not to mention how risky it is.
You might come home without your Venus Century Espresso Machine or your Meneghini Arredamenti Refrigerator because you trusted them to a stranger.
But well, you know, there are actually people who tried this and actually enjoyed it. Swapping works but for people with great places to offer…and those who can trust strangers their home (you won’t like to spend a vacation worrying about your house, don’t ya?)
A great place to stay?
It doesn’t mean a mansion in London or a beachside villa in Hawaii. It can be just a simple apartment in town. What important is, your guests are comfortable, and the places they wanted to visit are accessible in your area.
3. House sitting or pet sitting.
Do you want free accommodation on your vacation? (Of course, I know you do.)
Can you tolerate animals, or you’re actually a pet lover?
Have you heard of house/pet sitting?
House/Pet Sitting is the word itself…oops, nope, you won’t sit on the house or pet.
All you have to do is look for a home that offers house/pet sitting and look for their house or pets while they are away. You can stay for free, and some may also pay for looking out for their pets.
Why would anyone even leave their pets to a stranger?
Great question. As a dog-lover, I would never leave my dog to a stranger, but to some, leaving their beloved pets at home is inevitable.
Here are some of the reasons why:
1: Some pets, especially cats, are territorial, and they hate being moved to new surroundings.
2: Pet sitters can also watch over their homes. Their property is occupied, risk of a break-in is reduced (unless the pet-sitter itself is the robber. Beware!)
3: The pet owners might be going to a seminar, a retreat, or a place where they are not allowed to bring their fur babies.
4: No relatives available to take care of their house or pets.
5: Who would bring their pet snakes or tarantulas on vacation?
Here are some websites I found that offers house or pet sitting:
4. Work Overseas
You want to earn more and want a new job…a new environment…new people…new culture… Then why not work overseas?
There are plenty of jobs in the world where you don’t need a certain kind of degree or even experience.
You are a professional-whatever? So what? These jobs won’t be your long-term career. You’ll just take these jobs to earn money for your travel and travel at the same time.
1 – Teaching English
If you are a native English speaker, this job is definitely for you. This job is everywhere, the pay is excellent, it is easy, and some even offer benefits. If you are not a native speaker…don’t worry because you can still teach English as long as you’re fluent in it (you know…the grammars, pronunciations, etc. are all right).
2 – Working Holiday Schemes
These programs tend to be for young travelers, usually under the age of thirty. Most of the countries that offer these programs are Canada, England, Australia, and New Zealand.
The visa application is simple but comes with the proviso that you can’t work in one place for more than six months. Most of the jobs they offer are office assistants, laborers, bartenders, or waiters. The pay is never great, but it will be enough to support your stay for a while. Some may also give you a little extra money for a cup of Dulce de Leche Latte.
3 – Au Pair
Here is the overview of what an Au Pair is: You should be a young adult willing to work as a domestic assistant from a foreign country. You could be able to provide up to forty-five hours per week or up to ten hours a day of child care for a family. Should be able to live in with the host family for a year or extending. You should be able to perform childcare-related tasks or housework, again…it depends.
So yeah, if you are like me who hates children, well, don’t even think of being an au pair. You might be the next internet sensation who will be caught in the camera dribbling those sneaky brats.
4 – Crew a cruise ship or a yacht
You don’t need to be a sea captain to crew a cruise ship or yacht. There is a zillion…(okay, that’s exaggerated, there are millions of jobs that are available on cruise ships such as being a bartender, waitress, culinary staff, casino worker, entertainer, etc.
Crew jobs might not be glamorous. I mean, who wants to work for long hours, stay below decks (you won’t be able to meet those yummy businessmen and women! But there’s a chance…so…), and you won’t be allowed off the ship that often.
“Hey…I intended to travel in the first place!”
Gah! I know…I know…but you’re broke! Look at the brighter side! This is just another way to see the world on someone else’s dime!
Caution: If you have seasickness, motion sickness, or just fear the sea, look for another way! I think they only hire those who know how to swim, in case Titanic II will happen…I said in case!
5 – Tour Guide
So how to be a tour guide? Well…of course you should have some training and certifications.
There is this International Guide Academy in Colorado and many online options… It often has fees (of course).
Still, they guarantee the money back you paid will be back for you in your first couple of tours.
You should study and educate yourself in the area in which you will be working. (You will be providing assistance and information regarding the culture…history…and whatever your tourists wanted to know.)
So yeah…you should be ready for a lot of questions…you should know how to talk effectively (you should be convincing and looks legit, of course).
You should also have a sense of direction. LOL
5. Hitchhike | Carpool
Even it sounded dangerously risky…hitchhiking is a somewhat safe and reasonably common free way to get around destinations.
In a nutshell, you can get on board with someone going in the same direction, or if you have a car (wow…I thought you’re broke?), you can look for people to join you, thereby offsetting fuel costs (if they are not too thick-face not sharing a dime for your fuel, LOL.)
Unlike hitchhiking, where you will just thumbs up on the side of the road, carpooling requires some advance arrangement. (And since I have already compared these two, carpooling is safer than hitchhiking where you might hitch with some drug syndicates that will sell your kidney or ghosts…)
So…let’s go back, why does it require advance planning? You should advertise, or the carpooler should announce in advance of the departure for travelers who will go in the same direction.
Check their IDs, clearance…or whatever you wanted to check just to ensure your safety.
It is a great way to meet new people. You might even meet your soulmate!
Just kidding— but well…who knows, right? On the other hand, if you are unlucky enough, you might meet a psycho killer who will sell your kidney on the black market…yikes!
6. WWOOFing~
WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It is a vast network of non-profit organizations…all over the world (you read that right!)
You can go to nobble places: Argentina, Cameroon, Hawaii, Philippines, Australia, and the Netherlands, to name a few.
You can meet the locals and amazing people. Just don’t forget to enjoy and wear sunscreens!
7. Voluntourism
From the word volunteer and tourism, which means you can volunteer to something for tourism. You can teach English, or if you have a degree in something, you can also teach it to the locals.
You can volunteer to build schools or houses in a community, and you will have a place to stay as your compensation.
Here are some voluntourism sites: voluntousism.org, GlobalAware.org, and ProjectsAbroad.org.
8. And a lot more.
Wanderlust. (n.) A strong desire or urge to wander or travel and explore the world.
There are a lot more ways to travel even if you don’t have that much money. Like what I’ve said, you don’t need to be rich just to wander. Travel as much as you can, as far as you can, as long as you can because life is not meant to be lived in one place. The purpose of life, after all, is to live it.
They said when you are about to die, your life will flash before your eyes. How do you want it to be? A flashback full of the time you had a coffee in your office cubicle (but a lot of material things at home, and money) or a flashback full of your adventures?
What do you want to tell your grandkids as they listen to you while you sit on your rocking chair in front of your fireplace?
Is it the iPad that worth a thousand bucks?
All your time working?
Will they even listen to that?
Or do you prefer to tell them the time when you WOOFed in New Zealand and had a skydive after it?
Or the majestic feeling you felt when you watched the sunrise in the Grand Canyon?
You choose.
Live.
Taste life, experience it to the utmost. Travel far enough until you meet yourself.
Rester, c’est exister; mais voyager, c’est vivre.” – “To stay is to exist, to travel is to live” – Gustave Nadaud
This is J. Sinclair, signing out.
Von voyage.
