A Guide To Traveling When You Have No Money
The main reason that people give, when it comes to the failure to broaden their own minds, is that they can’t ‘afford’ to travel, or that they can’t ever even think about travelling until they have X amount of pounds/dollars to ‘guarantee’ their safety. I’ve even met people on the working holiday in Australia who have been in the same city for their entire working holiday visa!
Guess what, You can go travelling right now, just up sticks and see the world. Grab a drink in Venice, dance with punks in D.C, sail the caribbean coast. The world is yours to take. And take it you must. Who cares if you have no money…
You don’t need to be rich to travel it just needs to be your priority.
The riches you gain from traveling are arguably greater than the riches of having every Xbox game. It’s hard to talk about how it feels with those who haven’t felt it. It’s like an inside joke between us and we don’t care who feels left out. Saying that, we are laying here with open arms waiting for someone new to take the plunge. Then, and only then, do we divulge the deepest darkest secrets from the best coffee shop in Vietnam to the best way to swim with sharks in Australia or on a scooter in Thailand.
If you put travelling first, and watch you bank account grow, then travelling will put you first and you can watch yourself grow.
A friend once told me that you only need the cost of your next flight. I think it took him 6 years to get home. Though we would all like to be hippies and live in tee-pees throughout our youth, for most of us this life isn’t practical. I advise making the money first for your flight out and your flight back.
Let us give you some hints and tips that will help you to make the most out of your time here in Australia and save you some money to prolong your travels.
1.HOUSE SITTING
If your dreaming of having plenty of little holidays/vacations while you are away that this could work perfectly for you. The general premise is that you sign up to the site and build up your profile. The house owners get in contact with you if they like how you sound, then just like that you could be living in a mansion on the Gold Coast for a month or watering the tomatoes on a farm in Margaret River.
This really is worth putting time and effort into. Accommodation, as with everywhere, is the most costly expense you will find, especially if you are only planning to stay in a place for month or two, it can be hard to find somewhere that isn’t costly. A great place to start out is House Carers, they will even help you build your profile.
2.WWOOFING
WWOOFING is a very popular way to see the real Australia, you get food and accommodation in return for minimal work on the WWOOFING farm. Most importantly it also counts towards your second year visa (WWOFING no longer counts for 2nd year visa). My advice is to use your working holiday visa to make money in the cities for a few months then break away from that life and go WWOOFING. You cannot have a real Aussie experience without it. Trust me, see both sides of Australian life while you are here.
Share you story with us here at Working Holiday Jobs about your perfect WWOOFING destination.
3.COUCHSURFING
We all know about couch surfing even if we have never done it, to introduce you to the concept would be like introducing you to Facebook.
What I can say is that, your parents will not think it is very safe. On the surface it doesn’t seem it. But go to the website and look it through, its an incredible way to live your life.
Global Freeloaders is becoming quite popular as an alternative to Couch Surfing in Australia. It’s getting bigger and bigger all the time. Check it out and tell me what you think.
4.WALKINGTOURS
There are many walking tours in Sydney and Melbourne. In my opinion, the best tour I have found so far is run by the guys at i’mfree.com. They regularly meet at popular landmarks within the cities, walks can last up to two and a half hours, so bring your shoes, your camera and get ready to explore… and it’s absolutely free!!!
Put the guide book down and do it the easy and free way. You’ll be surprised how much you learn.
Interestingly, on the website you can also apply to be a guide if you fancy yourself an expert. After all you’ve read the guide book five times on the plane over here…
The Melbourne Arts Center (modern art gallery) is an absolute must especially if you aren’t interested in art, but you will be after it, I promise. It also offers a free walking tour everyday (excluding Christmas day) which should help you differentiate your Tracey Emin’s from someones discarded crisp packet.
5.RENTALS
Camper van rentals are becoming more and more popular.
The cost may be a little daunting to begin with but when you factor in how much you save on accommodation and bus/trains you start to really see the positives.
What other transport can you think of where you are free to roam on the open road? Think about it for a moment. You and your best mates are driving along to the sound of your favourite tune when the sun starts setting just perfectly over the mountain in the distance. It doesn’t have to be a fleeting glance from a train window. No, you can now park up, spark up and enjoy something that you will never forget. There’s no limit to how many of these moments you can experience, in a van it’s your journey.
6. THE BORING THINGS THAT SAVE YOU MONEY
It’s all pretty self explanatory really. None of you are stupid, but I thought I’d give you a few tips to get you started in the right direction:
- Cook your own meals.
- Don’t do your weekly shop at a 7/eleven
- Don’t get taxis (if you can help it)
- Take advantage of the tram, bus and train passes
- Get to the supermarket just before closing for the reduced items
- Sell the things you can’t take to your next point of call on Gumtree
- Check Gumtree and Facebook for car sharing, flat shares and jobs.
Please feel free to leave any comments and if you liked this post then check out the rest!
Joel Mitchell
