alright so traveling the world for free probably sounds like it's too good to be true if it were
that easy everyone would be doing it right well yes and no it's very easy to find this information
online but you won't find it if you don't know what you're looking for to begin with so this
right here is the video that I wish I had watched when I was 17 when I first started traveling by
myself on a very tight budget and hopefully this will make your life a lot easier and a lot cheaper
I've divided the video into seven different categories starting with volunteering abroad
and that's probably the biggest one because it's the most straightforward there are seven websites
I want to mention in this category starting with my personal favourite and that is Worldpackers if
you're a subscriber you will have already heard of them because I've posted a few videos about
the platform to summarise you just log on and then you will get access to a lot of different projects
literally all over the world ranging from working behind the front desk at a hostel or cleaning or
doing tours around the town to helping places with their social media and then you contact the people
or organizing those activities or those volunteer placements and they will get in touch with you you
will then mutually decide whether that is a good fit and then you go off sometimes you will get
free accommodation sometimes you will get free accommodation and free food sometimes you'll
also get free activities if you're staying in a hostel personally I think volunteering through
World Packers is such a good way to see the world often you will also meet other volunteers so you
already have that built-in sense of community what I really like about world Packers over
some other platforms is that they have a really good support network if you contact them with any
issues they're very fast to respond they're very fast to help if you get to a project and it's not
what you thought it was going to be they will help you out having said that I don't want to scare you
because that's quite unlikely to happen when you apply to volunteer at a project you will see loads
of reviews and you can contact other world Packers members to discuss how they felt there there is
however a small annual fee that you have to pay in order to access all those volunteer placements
I do have a discount code which I'm listing here and in the description below you absolutely don't
have to use it but it exists and it will save you money and yes it's a bit of an upfront cost and I
understand that that's not possible for everyone but if you do just one volunteer placement that
cost will be far less than you would have paid for accommodation on site accommodation and food
in some cases so personally I think it's really worth it especially if you're going to be using
it quite a lot but here are a few other websites we've got work away we've got help stay we've got
help X and we've got woofing I mean it's called wolfing okay it's worldwide opportunities on
Organic Farms so they purely focus on that type of volunteering this organization has existed for
many many decades so you know that you're getting good quality and because they specialize in one
type of volunteering only it means that there are tons of opportunities because people already
know about this platform organic farmers will automatically list on there so other volunteer
platforms might not have as many opportunities of this sort if this is something you want to do
you want to get your hands dirty definitely check check out this platform and one great thing about
woofing food is typically included in your stay not always but typically now here are two more
volunteer websites I would recommend the first is Pueblo Ingles and that is an organization
that will literally host you for a week at a beautiful Resort somewhere in Spain or anywhere
all over Europe and you will then just talk to people that's literally all you have to do so
the prerequisites are you being a native speaker of English and that's literally it and apparently
it takes just five minutes to apply so why not check it out I personally haven't used Pueblo
Ingles but it sounds like a great organization I reviewed a lot of the reviews and they sound great
I also want to mention one final organization but before I talk about this type of volunteering
which is volunteering in the humanitarian sector I want to mention a few caveats you may not know
this my background is in political science I did Global development international relations that
kind of thing at University and it's something I am hugely passionate it about absolutely admirable
but sometimes it can do more damage than good I do have a separate video talking all about this so I
can link it below you can check it out my profile but in short make sure that you are volunteering
with a reputable organisation make sure that you are not volunteering with vulnerable individuals
if you're just staying for a short period of time what I mean by that is don't volunteer
at an orphanage that's a whole topic of its own where you are making really deep connections with
children that are vulnerable that have been heard before that have been abandoned only to do the
same thing to them two days later you know you're you're hugging this child you're forming a bond
and then you leave them and it creates really Troublesome psychological issues for them so
please please please do your research but with all that said the organization that I have volunteered
through and that I would thoroughly recommend because I know that they do their research is
indigo volunteers I used Indigo volunteers to help out at a refugee camp I work there
for three months it was in northern Greece and it was full of so many different nationalities and I
taught English at a women's space so a building a community that is purely designed for women my
classes were level zero so people with completely no just just no knowledge of English and level one
so people who are beginners but they know little bits and I would do daily classes it was always
the same people so we got to know each other and I was there for three months so you know
it wasn't just in and out it was such a wonderful experience I could not recommend it more I learned
so much about the world I learned so much about myself I think I gained a lot of empathy through
that experience it wasn't something I got paid to do and I actually had to pay a small stipend for
my accommodation and to cover my food but it was a very very negligible amount I think I paid in
total with food and accommodation about three or four hundred euros for the first month and then
after that because I was staying long term I paid less maybe 200 Euros so it's a very cheap way to
live I know it's not sustainable to volunteer non-stop forever but if it were I'm not sure I
would have left to be honest it was just just such a good experience I have a whole separate
video on it if you want to learn more and I will make sure that I've linked it somewhere here all
right now we're gonna move on to our second large topic and that's free accommodation I
know accommodation and transport tend to be the two biggest costs of the two biggest expenses and
I'm gonna tell you a secret I have literally paid zero pounds in rent this month I'm gonna be doing
a whole separate video on it but my secret okay my secret is actually all around me I
am currently house sitting and I am paying nothing to stay in this absolutely gorgeous gorgeous house
let me show you around okay here's the dining room and here is the absolutely gorgeous Garden
it's huge and that right there is a chicken coop I have been a chicken mama
for the past week let me put my shoes on and introduce you okay here we go hello chickies
oh hello hello there oh there's two of you yes you wanna come out
these are my new friends oh where are you going bye girlies okay here is the kitchen this is the
study right here but the best part is in the bedroom don't worry this video is not taking
a turn it's very very cute you're gonna love it hello Tom this is my new best friend Tom so cute
so loving so Luffy you're so cute you're such a good cut you know you're such a good cop okay
we're gonna let Tom sleep but how cute I found this house set through trustedhouseetters.com
and there are many different websites that pretty much do the same thing I personally
really like trusted house sitters because I feel like they have the most listings I have
found it really easy to find loads and loads of places that I could apply to and if you are new
to the platform which by the way you also have to pay an annual membership fee for similar to
World Packers that I mentioned previously and yes when I was first paying for it up front I thought
I don't know if I'm gonna use this enough but now that I'm staying here for two weeks I am saving so
much money as I mentioned I am literally paying zero pounds in accommodation this month so when
you take that into account the membership fee really doesn't matter that much if you are new
to the platform I would caution patients because it does take a really long time to get accepted
in the beginning when you have no reviews it is difficult for the house owners to know they can
trust you I do have a few tips which I'm going to mention in my other video where I'm going to
be talking exclusively about house sitting but I caution patients it does pay off in the end and
now I've got four houses lined up so I'm living the life okay and the second free accommodation
website I want to mention is Couchsurfing you've probably heard of it they have introduced a rule
where you also have to pay a small membership fee but it is very very low I do want to mention that
some women have reservations about using websites like this and there are some disgusting Predators
out there predominantly though you will find nice people there are reviews there is a verification
system in place so that you can feel quite secure if this is something that just seems a little too
sketchy don't worry about it there are other many other options as you have seen in this
video now that was free accommodation but if you're in the fortunate position of owning a
house or owning a home of any sort an apartment a flat you are also eligible for house swaps there
are so many different websites that you can use to swap with places all around the world
if you've seen the holiday you get the gist of this you find a stranger who wants to go to the
place where you live and vice versa you swap the end there are three websites I want to recommend
in this category and that is love home swap home exchange and home link you see I'm reading them
with my phone that's because I haven't actually used this service myself because I don't have
a home to swap with anyone but if I did I would definitely look into these the next big category
I'm personally also not eligible for because I can't drive I know I'm way too old to not be
able to drive but anyway we move I can't drive but if you can like a regular adult human being
then you can take advantage of this it literally means just taking someone's car and moving it to
a different spot and I'm not talking reparking in the same city I'm talking cross-country maybe for
people who are moving to a new home in the vast majority of cases you will have to pay for gas and
you will have to pay for accommodation sometimes you can maybe sleep in the car if it's a van but
it is a really good way to save money the next big category I would be eligible for because I
love water I love swimming I love surfing I love being near it I love looking at it and I don't get
seasick if you do get seasick this may not be for you because it requires you to be on a boat pretty
much at all times and that is working as crew either on a yacht or on a cruise ship there are
different websites these three are the ones that I would personally recommend and basically you
will find placements working as anything from a steward or Steward desk to performing or emceeing
on a cruise ship so it can be stuff that is more solitary or you can be a cook you can be a chef
you can I don't know you can drive the boat now I have personally never worked on a yacht but I
have watched below deck with semi-religious fervor I'm not sure that the reality TV show is you know
the same as reality however the job roles will be fairly similar the drama a node which is probably
for the best if I were younger and single I would probably consider doing this it looks really fun
you're constantly waking up in new places yes it can be difficult work it can be very physical and
mentally probably quite demanding you'll probably get a bit of cabin fever but overall I think the
benefits really outweighed the downsides now you have got this far in this video so I'm
gonna assume that you are pretty good at sitting through presentations if they serve a purpose and
that ties very nicely into my next category which is time shares now people selling Time Shares are
pretty intense okay they will do anything it takes in order to sell them and that anything includes
taking you on an all expenses paid vacation just for a chance to pitch this incredible purchase
to you the most popular website for this seems to be timeshare presentationdeals.com I haven't
personally used this because if I went I would definitely buy something it would be an absolute
disaster but if you are someone that is not susceptible to marketing and that won't feel
bad saying thanks for the free bouquet but no thanks then you should go for it I'm finally
this last category is not for everyone but for a very different reason and that is exploring
your roots if your ancestors come from one of the places that I'm about to mention then you
might be eligible for a free trip abroad or sound like a teletext person and call 999 and
get another whatever okay here are the countries I'm going to be reading off my phone I hope you
don't mind number one Birthright Israel we've got Heritage Greece we've got reconnect Hungary
there is birthright Macedonia that's North North Macedonia Birthright Armenia and Cuba one I think
there might be some other programs that I haven't come across yet but these ones that I've mentioned
I have checked they seem to be available right now they do have different requirements as to how
closely linked you need to be to those roots but overall it seems like an absolute no-brainer why
would you not take advantage of these Pro programs so that is how I travel for free can I just show
you a bit more of this room it's full of books this is my absolute dream room look these are
the books that I want to read next I'm so excited it's got a fireplace I mean it's truly incredible
here I really hope you found this video helpful if you have any travel related questions about
budgeting being a solo female traveler anything at all please ask me below don't forget that you can
follow me on other social media by the way I post on Instagram and Tick Tock pretty much daily I'm
out of breath I should okay we'll stop it right here I'm gonna go make myself a tea don't forget
to like comment subscribe all the usual stuff and I am again posting weekly let's see how long
that lasts for this time but fingers crossed I'm enjoying it it's nice to be back okay bye