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Saving up to see the world? Put away the piggy bank! There are lots of ways to travel for free these days (or very close to it) if you’re willing to think outside of the box.
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Gain Followers
If your friend circle (or sorority or office) is big enough, you can travel virtually anywhere for free. Most travel companies offer free accommodations to “group leaders” who organize vacations for large groups.
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Teach English
Nearly every non-English speaking country has English teaching jobs available. And for most, having native English-speaking skills is one of the only requirements. Most places offer free room and board, a small salary, and a wealth of unique experiences in the country of your choice.
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House Swap And Live For Free
Remember in The Holiday when Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet swapped houses and ended up finding love? Well, the romance in that movie may have been scripted, but the house swapping wasn’t. If you have a home to swap, sites like Home Exchange and Home Base Holidays allow you to live in a house for free while you’re on vacation — as long as you allow someone to live in yours.
Don’t want to swap? Consider short-term renting your home while you’re away through a site like Airbnb.
Don’t want someone in your place at all? Consider house-sitting while you’re abroad. Sites like HouseCarers or
Mind My House connect house sitters with homes all over the world.
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Volunteer
Devote your time to a worthy cause and some volunteer organizations will cover the cost of your trip. Many offer free room and board while you work. Some organizations will even cover your flight.
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Fundraise
On sites like Kickstarter, Go Fund Me and IndieGoGo, you can raise funds for almost anything — including your next trip. Trips with an inspiring story behind them — from volunteer work to seizing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — can raise a surprising amount of money. Create a fundraising page and you may be able to cover all of your travel expenses!
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Join The Babysitters Club
If you love kids, working as an au pair is a great way to travel, learn a new language or absorb a new culture. Most au pairs work between 20 and 30 hours a week. In exchange, they get free room and board, food, and a host family! Sites like Great Au Pair are a good place to go to be matched with a like-minded family for the summer, a year, or longer.
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Join The Crew Of A Cruise Ship
There are so many cruise ship jobs available that this is a safe bet for free short-term travel on the open water. Check the job boards on big cruise lines like Carnival or Royal Caribbean for lots of opportunities to see the world on the cruise company’s dime. And it’s a great way to meet fellow travelers. But keep in mind: crew members work long hours and spend a lot of time below deck.
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Crew A Yacht
Want a sea voyage with a little more adventure? You don’t have to be a sailing expert to earn your passage if you work on a yacht. If you have experience as a cook, mechanic or navigator, you can even get paid on top of getting free travel and room and board.
Sites like Crewseekers list a lot of opportunities, but heading to your nearest port is the best way to find a vessel to take you on.
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Work Your Way Around The World
Without a visa, working abroad for a salary is nearly impossible. But sites like Workaway offer legal odd jobs for travelers looking to work their way around the world. The pay isn’t always great, but it’s enough to reduce the expenses of a traveler on a budget down to zero.
Want free room and board? Some small hostels will allow you to trade a few hours’ work for free accommodations.
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Get A Temporary Agricultural Job
Pick grapes for a few weeks in France and you can fund your next few months of budgeted European travel. The European countryside is full of these short-term high-paying jobs. Check out websites like World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms to see how far being a traveling farmer can take you!
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Get A Travel Scholarship
For undergraduate and graduate students, there are tons of travel scholarships that will fund your studies and fieldwork abroad.
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Guide Tours
Working as a tour guide or tour leader is a great way to get paid to travel and learn about the world. There are tons of different tour guide companies out there specializing in adventure, budget, and luxury travel. But be prepared to be in it for the long haul. Contracts usually last a year or more.
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Do Something Incredible
Climb Mount Everest for charity, do the Cabbage Patch in every country, walk 3,000 miles for autism and you may be able to find a travel company to sponsor you!
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Enter Contests
OK, this one is a long shot. But entering the millions of travel contests out there takes almost no time and literally no money so what do you have to lose? Just Google “travel contests,” enter a few a week and wait and see if you might just get lucky.
