Traveling on a budget
How my partner and I plan on traveling for a year
I have always wanted to do an extended travel post college. My parents lived in the UK and traveled during their twenties and often talked about how it was such a formative experience for them, and I wanted to have the same. I had always planned on traveling Europe but never really knew how to start, so it always got pushed back another year so I could figure it out.
Jordan and I decided to work for a year post-college to save up money before we could even think about taking an extended travel. But working for a year after college could only get you so much money, so Jordan and I decided to get creative with how we would plan our travels.
p[[[ At first we decided that we would work while we are abroad at different bars to extend the time that we could stay in Europe. Our dreams were very quickly squashed when we remembered that work visas exist and we didn’t have one, so we had to get even more creative.
I had seen a few people that travel use the website Worldpackers to do different types of volunteer work in other countries in exchange for housing. I thought this was a fantastic idea because you get to experience different places without the main budget eater of accommodation to limit the amount of time you could stay. And sometimes you get to do really cool stuff!
One that Jordan and I have planned that I am very excited about is working on an eco farm in Scotland and we are staying in a castle!! A dream position on Worldpackers that I WILL make happen is working at a surf camp in Morocco! They have positions all over the world and I highly recommend checking it out if you are looking into cheaper ways to travel and meet new people!
We also looked into the website Trusted Housesitters, where you can stay at different peoples homes for free in exchange for taking care of their homes and pets! Jordan and I especially liked this idea because we are big animal lovers. Trusted Housesitters is great, especially because the first leg of the trip we are planning is in the United Kingdom, where the website was started and is most popular. However it is also very popular in the United States. I originally got the idea from one of my friends who used the website to stay in New Mexico for a month with two gorgeous huskies.
So using these two websites, my extensive family network in the UK, and looking into different hostels, Jordan and I have planned three months in the UK so far where our only expenses will be transportation and food costs. This will definitely help extend how long we are able to travel for considering we will have no main source of income while we are gone
That being said, Jordan and I are working on different ways to have some sort of an income, even if it is small whilst we are away. Jordan has different website building and graphic design skills that he is honing to be able to make some money off of. Most of my skills are tactile, so I’m not sure what I will be doing just yet.
Hopefully we can both find something interesting to do to spend our time while we are not sightseeing, but I’m sure we will stay plenty busy surrounded by new environments!
If you wanted to try out Trusted Housesitters to travel around the US or the UK on a budget try this code for 25% off your annual subscription! In my opinion the price is worth how much you can get out of the subscription to travel anywhere and have free accommodation.