Traveling for Free?

Hello people,

Haven't been on the site for a while and thought i'd check back in.

My saving for a world trip has been going well but i'm now in a position where i could realisticaly start looking at buying a property. My Travel saving money would go nicely as a deposit for a flat. And considering i'm only 21 - owning a flat in london is very appealing!

The problem being i don't want to give up on traveling.

So i've started to research whether or not it is possible to travel the world for free (or incredibly cheaply). I figure hitchiking will go a long way to lowering travel costs and then use busses and trains in countries with much cheaper travel options. Then when needing to cross water hopefuly trade passage to anther country for work whilst on-board.

As far as accommodation is concerned i'm thinking a mixture of camping/sleeping out under the stars and the use of websites like couchsurfing. Resorting to using cheap hostels when needed. Also trying to use friends in various countries to put me up when possible.

Then for entertainment i figure free museums/art galleries and a mixture of wandering the streets, enjoying natural beauty and attempting to meet random locals. All of which shouldn't cost much, if anything.

Food is a whole different ball game. I guess when staying with friends or people from couchsurfing, meals will be available - what other ways are there of getting free food? Will locals in many places be willing to feed a hungry traveller? Will this become the main expense?

As you can see i'm in the early stages of deciding if it is a viable option to travel for free or very close to it. I have no problem with going a day or two without food here and there or not finding accomodation. But do you think it is possible? Will it be an enjoyable experience still?

Any information or websites that may be helpful to me are more than appreciated.

Cheers. Reply to this

Thought i'd add a little more as i'm bored at work at the moment!

I'm a pretty social person who loves meeting new people. I think i'd enjoy being a guest (during the couchsurfing) as i'm not a fussy person and get on well with most people (i also don't mind putting in the effort to be a good guest). Have others used this method much/at all?

I also have no problem sleeping in a sleeping bag or in a tent - so i'm hoping i don't face many issues with sleeping arrangements - although i expect i will both want a break in a hotel/hostel occasionaly and will be unable to find a couch or plot of land occasionaly?

Travel will be interesting. I don't have a problem hitchiking - i'm over 6 foot tall and can handle myself so think i could deal with any bad situations that arise. I'm also fairly street smart and tend to realise when things are not right (i avoided being robbed in Amsterdam when friends of mine ended up having all there money taken). Anyone with any hitchiking experience who could give me advice of countries that are god and bad for hitchiking, and what sort of lengths of times you may end up waiting around for in between lifts etc..?
I have never done any hitchiking so this would be a totaly new experience for me.

I'm thinking food-wise i could buy cheap bread etc and make sandwiches fairly cheaply - which would cut down my fod costs. Reply to this

nothing is free in this world unfortunately, but the ideas you've got so far will certainly reduce your costs.

btw, couchsurfing was not started to provide free accommodation for people on a budget. rather, it's meant to help connect people with other cultures and broaden people's minds. just something to think about 😊 Reply to this

Cheers for the replys both of you 😊

@herewego - yeah i was reading through the site and checking out alot of profiles. I enjoy metting new people and i quickly form friendships, so i think i'd enjoy doing it. I think i'm also quite a good guest (atleast i hope so!). I also understand why people would let people stay with them. When i was at university we offered to let a hungarian guy stay with us for a couple of weeks, assuming meeting a random person and helping them out would be more interesting than spending week upon week sitting in the house with no money and the same people. Unfortunately he decided he couldn't spend as much time as he wanted in the UK due to expenses and went just to london instead 😞. The idea of me going traveling would be to experience what the rest of the world is like. And what better way than living with people from the places i visit? (Hope that eliminates any fears that i'm just looking to take advantage of peoples hospitality😊 )

@Mell - I was hoping you'd reply! I've read through quite a bit of the forum and your posts are usualy helpful.

I did imagine trying to travel for free there would be times of desperately trying to get a hold of food. I can just imagine running through a field being chased by an angry farmer! But i'd try and set aside an emergency budget to avoid those situations.

I'm thinkign alot about how enjoyable it would be. I don't think i'd mind it being hard, sleeping in a field etc... But how much of the places you go to can you take in? Does your traveling and living take up so much focus that you aren't able to experience the places properly?

I think the couchsurfing would help with that as it'd mean you keep meeting people etc... What do you think?

I'd have a small amount of money as well to buy cheap traditional things as i went, which i'd use to thank people who helped me out along the way (gave me food, somewhere to stay etc...). Reply to this

I have to agree with Jian and Aaron....you can own a flat later! How about you use half of your current savings for travel, and leave the other half to invest while you're gone? The fact that you are only 21 and have already saved up for owning a flat is impressive, and I'm sure you'll quickly re-build those savings when you're back.

I've spent pretty much all of my savings, over and over again, on travel. And as fun as it has been, it's also tiring (and not much fun to come home broke every time). We have reached a point in our lives (we're 27 and 29) where we realize we don't want to travel on such a tight budget anymore. We did manage to travel through the States on $50 per day, but it was hard...
It's really nice to be able to go out for beers with your new-found friends rather than worry about whether or not you can afford said beer. It's nice to be able to go try local delicacies and cuisine rather than worry about your next meal. And sometimes it's nice to stop in a place for a while...couch surfing means you can easily wear out your welcome. With a bit of money in the bank, you could decide to stay for a while in a spot in a vacation rental or sublet rather than move every 3 days.

While you don't need to use all your savings to travel, and you can still couch surf and hostel-hop, I highly recommend traveling with a big enough bank account to not worry about where your next meal comes from. Because the worry about money and food will take away from your traveling experiences.

All that said, you're young and up for an adventure. Go ahead and try to travel as cheaply as possible, but don't do it because you're totally broke.

Good luck and have fun!!! Reply to this

And without roughing it so much, countries in south east asia such as the Philippines are very cheap. There, US$10 - 15 per day is enough to sleep in a cheap hotel, eat all your meals in cafes and take public transport, Reply to this

If you're going to travel on a very small budget its worth looking at the cost of living in various countries. There are places were $250-350 per month is considered a high income. For instance in Indonesia outside of Jakarta (or Bali) a new teacher just out of University who has done an Education degree might only be paid $125 per month.

I work as a native English teacher here in Indonesia and they pay me many times what the local teachers get which would still be a low wage in Western Europe or the USA but my cost of living is very low. I buy lunch every day in a cafe next to where I work - it costs me $1 but if I bought my lunch from one of the street stalls I could get lunch for 35 cents.

So, if you want to survive on such a small budget do some research and go to countries where you can survive on very little. The other trick to managing on a very small amount is to travel slowly.

Reply to this

I assume you have a fairly decent job if you are 21 and have saved enough money to purchase a flat. These are great times to purchase real estate. Can you work for a few more months so you can add to your savings and do both? Some savings with the rent money should make you comfortable in Asia for a few months....providing you can find someone who won't mess up your property.


These are good times to buy real estate. Reply to this

On the main landmass of Asia you can of course get around by land if you want to. In the Philippines and Indonesia it's easy to get around island-hopping by passenger boat and some other countries have river / down the coast services. International passenger boat connections in Asia include Russia - Japan, Japan - South Korea, Azerbaijan - Turkmenistan, Philippines - Malaysia, Malaysia - Indonesia, Indonesia - Papua New Guinea. Reply to this

Have you thought about volunteering abroad? Seriously think about it.

You can go for a few weeks, and apart from the cost of the flight, you can get accomodation and meals in most places for approx. £50/week!

I would check out Original Volunteers.

Good Luck! Reply to this