Being European myself, I can really only give first -hand experience of ways to travel for free within Europe. But I am sure we can start a discussion on outside Europe!
Lets begin
Angloville
These guys are the most friendly and helpful staff I have ever spoken with. Angloville is number one at offering free accomdation and food as you become a language mentor in a country of your choosing. I am due to volunteer with them this July in Poland where Angloville was born and I honestly can’t wait! (I bet it will be an exciting blog post too)
As I have not yet volunteered with them, it is hard for me to run you through the entire experience of being a language mentor, but I can tell you about the application process and why I chose Angloville this summer. And no, Angloville didn’t sponser me to say good things about them (please sponser me tho). I chose Angloville because, of course, I would be able to get valuable global experience this summer and it looked a riot! You got to help people learn English by just talking with them and getting to know them, and as anyone who has read my rock bottom blog post will know, this summer I really wanted to focuse on building new relationships. BUT, keep in mind, you’re not teaching them just assisting in language exposure! I applied in March and got my phone call from Beth only a few days later. The best thing was I had a really bad day when she called me, but she was so happy and enthuastic that I couldn’t help but feel happy too! And why would I not be happy? I was getting THE phone call from Angloville!
During our conversations, we discussed why I wanted to volunteer with them, what my passions were and my previous experience with being a student teaching assistant at my uni and helping other students. Although, it is not neccessary to have any previous experience to volunteer with Angloville. The only things that are necessary are that you be enthuastic about helping others and a native English speaker. I passed my telephone interview and Beth ran me through what things I needed to send; photocopy of passport, DBS check, a tiny desposit and confirmation of flights/accomodation (but you can double check on the website in case I have missed something out). Even better, she told me I could go onto the free TEFL scholarship programme and basically get a TEFL qualification. I can’t tell you how thankful and excited I was when she told me I could do that! It is great if you want to further travel the world and help others learn English (because its hard to learn a new language and its nice to give a helping hand where you can) and is also wonderful because it gives you something extra to put on your CV. Although you need to pay a small desposit (literally a little more than 50 euros) and for your flights to your volunteering destination, it is a small price to pay for the experience they give you and also for the accomodation/food they cover for you. As I mentioned before, I won’t be with them until July (counting down the days!) but I can tell its already going to be an experience of a lifetime!
Workstay
This is another experience that I have on my list! Workstay is another volunteering opportunity that can help you travel the world for free. I am looking for something during August time this year, preferably in France but I am open to other locations in case anyone is looking for a volunteer 😉 In summary, you get to stay with amazing people and help out with any tasks that they have outlines; gardening, restoration, babysitting, househelp, you name it! Sometimes your hosts want you to have experience, for instance, if they need someone to help restore their beautiful chateaux then they might prefer you to be a qualified plumber if thats what they need. But there are so many hosts that you are gaurenteed to find something you can do. However, I recommend that you look at the reviews other volunteers have left about their host. They will tell you how much they enjoyed their experience, the nature of the work and how hard they found it. I think this is important because, personally, I wouldn’t want to get somewhere and the hosts are expecting more than I can deliver. As a capricorn, I hate letting people down and I am sure you do also, so don’t be afraid to contact your hosts and have an honest conversations about mutual expectations. What I have noticed while sifting through the host list on the website is that most of the time hosts will cover food and accomodation, however, most of the time they will not cover flight costs which is fair giving what you get in return: a great summer in a foreign country, with a free bed and food while getting to know your hosts.
Lonely Planet Community
I found this while randomly looking for backpacking opportunties. My friends are not nearly as adventurous as I am, and if you wait for someont to tag along with your global travels then you’ll never go anywhere. This is why I love this site. The people on here are already set to go and see the world, and alike to you, just want a travel buddy with no begging/persuation. It has always been on my bucketlist to go on a long roadtrip to countries all across Europe, and if that is what you want also, then this site is for you. Unlike the previous two sites I mentioned, there is no free accomodation or food covered, but I did notice there are a few backpackers on here that plan to take their camping equipment/survival skills on their travels. No money needed to be able to look up at the stars at night! And some want to go on a roadtrip with their own cars and need a buddy to make it a great experience (which could be you!). It is always cheaper when a mate has a car of their own rather than hire one yourself,a nd why drive alone when you can travel with a fellow solo-traveller?
(Maybe make sure to chip in with the gas money though to be a dutiful travel buddy though)
Couchsurfing
Again, no food or flights covered, but if you’re short of cash and don’t wanna splash out on a hostel no matter how cheap this is something you should check out. I feel as though this is a really great way to be able to meet new people and get to see a city while keeping the costs down. Just have a look through the hosts and you’ll see how amazing some of the people are on there! I honestly really hope to become a couchsurfer host come September when I move into an apartment with my mate (fingers crossed we find a place) as they always say what you give out to the universe will come back to you. It may be hard to find a place to stay if you are a new joiner according to my research (literally just reviews from The Times newspaper). This is because people are a little iffy about taking a couchsurfer into their home without any reviews from their previous hosts, which is pretty difficult to have any if you’ve never used this site before, and so it is recommend to get verfied by using paypal or a credit card. Furthermore, I would also recommend putting a lot of effort into your profile- put up a picture of yourself, talk about what you like, why you want to couchsurf and what your travel plans are. Are you planning to see just one city or several? Let your hosts know! After all, they are welcoming you into their home and they should know what a great person you are.
“Travel far enough, you meet yourself”
Cloud Atlas
Website links
Angloville – Home
Erza goes East 