How to: Travel for Free (or pretty damn near it)
Is it possible to Travel for Free ( or pretty damn near it!)? Shelley Seale and Keith Hajovsky seem to have the knack down pretty well. (Although, update 2024 – their book is no longer available – so you can check out Nomadic Matt’s book instead!) Together they travel all over the world for next to nothing and this week they are sharing some of their insights with this awesome guest post. They’ve recently released the 2nd edition of their resource packed book, Travel for Free (or pretty damn near it). Read on to see how you can travel for free…
Can you Travel the World for Free?
We do – here’s how!
by Shelley Seale & Keith Hajovsky
Are you tired of the conventional wisdom that says that you have to spend a lot of money to travel the world? Well, it’s not true. In spite of the general consensus that you have to be rich to travel extensively, I will let you in on a little secret: not only is it possible to travel very cheaply, it’s also possible to travel completely for free.
The secret lies in completely discarding conventional “wisdom” about travel, and opening yourself up to creative possibilities. There are a few “mindset” rules that will help you shift gears into traveling for free, or very near it:
· Money is, by far, not the primary requisite for world travel.
· You will sacrifice either time or money to travel, and you have to decide which. The more time you’re willing to spend on planning and being resourceful, the less money you’ll part with.
· Flexibility is key; the more open you can be about where and when you travel, the more low-cost and free opportunities open up to you.
· The longer you travel, the less expensive it becomes.
· The slower you travel, the more meaningful it becomes.
· Where you travel matters. It’s easy to spend months in low-cost countries in places like Central America and Southeast Asia, for less than what a two-week vacation somewhere like Europe would cost.
First, we should preface exactly what we mean when we say “travel for free.” We mean, traveling in a way that we spend the same, or less money, than if we had simply stayed home. There’s no way to live entirely for free anywhere, without spending a penny – at least not as far as we know! But using the various methods that we cover below, we often travel for weeks or months at a time for far less money than we would have spent if we hadn’t gone anywhere at all.
Now let’s look at seven of the specific methods that we use – and so can anyone else – to travel for free:
1. Frequent Flyer Programs. They may be getting a bad rap lately, but there are still plenty of opportunities to reap their rewards if you know how to play the game. Pick the right program and take advantage of all the ways you can earn miles, from credit cards to things you use anyway such as banking and utilities, and you can earn free tickets faster than you think. Credit card churning is the best way to rack up a lot of miles quickly, and we earn over a hundred thousand miles each year doing this. You have to know the ins and outs, and little details to watch out for, to do this right; all of which we cover in detail in our book, with lots of good advice on how to play this game to win.
2. Low Cost Airlines. All around the world, regional airlines exist that offer some of the most amazing deals. By knowing who they are, subscribing to their e-bulletins, and keeping up with their deals, you can often find flights where the only thing you have to pay for is the airport taxes.
3. Trains, Buses and Ferries. Don’t overlook alternate ways to travel. In keeping with the “slow travel” philosophy, if you have the time to spend utilizing these transportation methods, you will save huge amounts of money. In many parts of the world, traveling by train or boat is much more accessible and done regularly.
4. Ride Sharing, Biking and Walking. Don’t even assume that the only way to get somewhere is by vehicle. When driving by car, you can often save huge amounts of money, or even get a free ride, by sharing the journey. Biking and walking are usually free too, and the United States as well as many places around the world offer incredible journeys by foot or bicycle.
5. Hostels, Homestays and Couch Surfing. Once you arrive at your destination, it’s not necessary to spend big bucks on a hotel. Staying in a local’s home is usually very cheap and sometimes even free, and hostels aren’t the dirty dorm rooms that they used to be. These types of accommodations have the added benefit of much more interaction with the people who live there. Many people, ourselves included, also rent out our own homes and use that money to fund our travels.
6. Home and Hospitality Exchanges, House sitting and Caretaking. Often overlooked by most travelers, exchanging homes or guest hospitality is one of the easiest, and most interesting, ways to get completely free accommodations that I’ve every come across; I’ve done it more than a dozen times. There are also many opportunities for caretaking other people’s homes, pets, businesses or land for free accommodations.
7. Monasteries, Farmstays, Camping and other Creative Lodging. There is an almost endless choice of options out there for cheap or free accommodations, from staying in a monastery or convent for just a few bucks, to bartering your work or volunteer time in exchange for a place to stay and sometimes even meals as well.
8. Working as you Travel, Crowd Funding and Bartering. While some people live below their means and save a bunch of money to then go travel with for a period of time, others craft businesses or work they can do on the road, or work as they travel in various jobs along the way. Bartering skills you have for free accommodations or other travel, as well as crowdsourcing donations to fund your travel, can also be wildly successful methods to get you out in the world at an incredibly low cost.
Besides these specific methods that we discuss in detail in our book, How To Travel For Free (ordamn close to it!), there are so many ways to get creative about traveling. From taking a sabbatical from work or combining job training or educational studies with traveling, seeing the world doesn’t have to cost very much. In fact, it can often be done for far less money than the cost of staying home and paying all those monthly bills.
So, in the words of Mark Twain, “Throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
About the Authors:
Shelley Seale and Keith Hajovsky are the authors of the book HowTo Travel For Free (or damn close to it!). This 110-page book, now in its Second Updated Edition, is available as a PDF download, softcover print book and Kindle version. In the book, Seale and Hajovsky outline all the details of the above methods and more; providing examples, personal accounts, and hundreds of websites and resources that you can use to travel for free, as they have.
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Great tips! Wish I was 18 again with nothing but time and a good camera. Great post!
Well, if you can’t be 18 again, might as well embrace 30 – it’s only up from here. At least at this age group maybe then you can get a house and swap it! We are thankful to Shelley and Keith for this great post.
Wow, a guest post! And from another accomplished world traveler. Looks like sound advice for economical long or short term travel.
Thanks. Shelley and Keith run a great site. I love reading their Friday Travel Dreaming post.