Yes, the title was a trick. Of course there’s no way you can start your wonderful journey if you don’t have a cent in your bank account or under your mattress (are you a grandma?) because you’ll have to buy some stuff, like water, a new sweater and of course, the plane ticket.
However, there are indeed many ways of traveling across the world whether you have a fortune or not. Not need to worry, because I’ll tell you some of the most common ways to get out of your boring town onto the biggest adventure.
This is all a figure of speech, obviously. The real things you need are your passport, your good will to help and accept help, a nice pair of jeans and being healthy.
If you have some friends that share your same dream, why not try to tell them about your plans and make them join you. I can assure it could become the trip of your lives. Besides, it can be less lonely if you travel with someone you know. Otherwise you could feel a bit more anguished.
If that’s not your case, then just try to be the most extroverted person. That way you’ll get to know new people and make new friends. That is one of the fun parts of the journey, if not the best.
Let’s skip the intro and get started:
Free ride: Ok, I know it sounds stupid but trust me, there are still people who will help you and give you a free ride to wherever you want to go. It’s free the most of the time, but still you’d like to pay for gas, or stop at the store and buy some snacks for the trip. Sure, it’s not easy to find this kind of generous souls out there given the current situations in which someone makes auto-stop and he turns out to be a serial killer… But it’s most likely they will ignore you.
Still, if you would like to try this way, go ahead. You’ll lose nothing and probably you’ll get to your destination while you know some cool people in between.
If you want to be a little more risky, then why don’t try to convince one of those truck drivers out there to give you a ride? Hey, I’m not judging anyone, but the warning is that you may also find strange and creepy people during your trip.
Couch Surfing: Not to give any credit to a specific website, but yes, if you don’t have enough money to make a reservation in a hotel, you can subscribe in this page in which you’ll find lots of people who’d be more than glad to have you in their homes! For a while, of course.
As you may know (and as I warned you at the beginning of this article), you have to bring your best attitude to help. If the “receivers” need some help, raise your hand, you’ll be treated even nicer than before. In exchange they can give you some hot, homemade food and a place to rest the head (e.g, a bed or –why not- a couch, like the name of the page emphasizes)
Personally, I’ve never had the chance to test the app myself, but a good friend of mine did and she said the family who took her in their home was kind enough to make her stay a little longer than it should.
AirBnB: This is a similar service like the previously mentioned. Nice app, friendly, easy to use, but if you want to stay, you gotta pay. The perks of this are that it’s a whole room for you, private, bathroom included and all is very clean! It’s really not that expensive for all of this luxury.
Work in a farm: I must admit, this is the most difficult way to get out of your city, for you must have the money to pay for your plane ticket. You can choose the place where you’d like to go and start working on a farm. They will not pay for the work, but the family who takes you into their house will give you a roof, food and the warmth of a foster family. There are lots of websites that offer this kind of service, similar as the “au pair”, with the only difference you’ll be planting carrots instead of taking care of toddlers.
Au Pair: Last but not least, one of the most preferred ways of traveling in where you also get paid! I have to say I don’t much about this topic, but the main part is that you have to love kids, as that will be a huge part of your role in the “foster home” you’ll be going. Like working on a farm, it takes a lot of practice and skills, which includes speaking the language of the country you’re going (this applies in all of the other points of this list).
The premise of this article is that it doesn’t take that much to get out, only if you use a little (a lot) of web search, I’m sure you’ll find any other of the things I just mentioned. Being honest, you’ll always need money to travel, but there are options to make your trip cheaper and maybe funnier.