World travel is cheap and easy. In fact, with a little practice and effort, you can travel the world for free.
1. Embrace the Simple Joy of Travel
Travel frees you from the grind of daily routine. You will explore new places, meet new people, try new foods and learn things about the world — and yourself — that you never imagined were possible. The joy of new experience is the most wonderful thing about travel — and new experiences are free. Walk the streets of a city. Stop and chat with a local. People watch in a public park. Climb to the top of a hill and watch the sun set over the ocean.
2.Keep Your Needs To A Minimum
People need fresh air, healthy food, clean water, exercise, creative stimulation, companionship, self-esteem and a safe place to sleep.
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All of these things are simple to obtain. Most of them are free. For fresh air, go outside. For exercise, take a walk. For creative stimulation, go somewhere new. For companionship, make a friend. For self-esteem, turn off your TV, breathe deep and open your spirit to the basic goodness of the world.
Things like food and shelter are much cheaper once you get outside the United States. See 5 below for ways to obtain food and shelter for free.
3. Go Slow
If you live in New York and want to take a 2 week vacation to Africa, it will be very difficult (though not impossible, see number eight) to travel for free.
Indeed, as long as you believe that time is money, you will spend money all the time. Time is not money. Time is free. You have all the time in the world.
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Instead of buying a plane ticket, catch a ride out West, or remodel an old sailboat, or just hop on your bike and ride away from town. The slower you travel, the less money you will spend.
4. Leave Your Possessions and Obsessions Behind
When you travel, you don’t need to pay rent. You don’t need a car. You don’t need an oven, a washer-dryer, electricity, Cable TV, a gym membership, a sofa and loveseat or a closet full of clothes. You don’t need a suit and tie to wear to your job because you don’t need a job. You don’t need to worry about paying the bills, because there are no bills to pay.
You are free.
5. Trust People and you will Receive Free Food and Lodging
Many people are willing to open their homes to travelers, and they will give you a free meal, too.
CouchSurfing and WWOOF are two phenomenal online networks that help travelers connect with local hosts. CouchSurfing members are willing to give travelers a place to sleep for a night or two. WWOOF connects travelers with organic farmers who want to trade room and board for an extra hand.
6. Learn a Useful Craft or Skill
If you have a skill, such as cooking, animal husbandry, massage, musical ability or basic carpentry, you can barter for free food and accommodation as you travel.
Universally appreciated skills like cooking are best, though niche skills that are in high demand, like website design, are also useful. Native English speakers can often travel the world for free by teaching language classes in each destination they visit.
The slower you travel, the easier it will be to work out a mutually beneficial arrangement with a local community or host.
7. Get Out of the City
Although it’s possible to travel for free in a big city, it’s damn difficult.
Go to the country, where people are more relaxed, food is plentiful and there’s ample room for one traveler to lay out her sleeping bag under the stars.
8. Find A Job You Love That Entails Travel
If you need an income in order to pay off loans or support a child, find a job that calls for extensive travel. There are millions of jobs available in the global economy that demand travel.
Of course, some jobs are easier to love than others, and much work that involves travel also involves the destruction of local ecosystems and traditional ways of life. Avoid unethical work if at all possible —it is bad for your health and worse for your soul.
9.Embrace Serendipity