How to travel without money or at least without burning through your savings

So, you want to travel the world? You’ve got some savings aside, perhaps to put down a deposit on a house when you get back or simply to get life started again upon your return. Wouldn’t it be nice to come back with those financial reserves mostly intact? Let’s explore a few ideas on how to travel without money.

Luckily, it is possible, and many people have traveled the world on minimal budgets. There’s no reason why you can’t do the same. The goal here is not to burn through much of your savings which can sit tight in a cash ISA. Undoubtedly, you will have to dip into your savings pot at some point. However, frugal travel can help you to spend as little as possible while potentially getting an even more amazing and immersive experience.

How to travel without money – 5 ideas

In this article, we will walk you through some of the main tips and tricks you can use to ensure that you return from your travels with most of your savings untouched.

Volunteer for free food and accommodation

One way to travel for next to nothing is to exchange your time and effort for something in return. People around the world advertise on platforms like VolunteerMatch to attract volunteers to help with projects, manual labor, teaching, and many other tasks. Some will offer accommodation, food, or both in return for your time and effort. As such, it’s a great opportunity to meet new people, explore less touristic areas, immerse yourself in different cultures and sustain yourself while you’re at it! This is one of the biggest travel hacks that has served people well for decades.

Find out more about volunteering to travel in my quick guide about voluntourism.

Try to find paid work as you go

Alternatively, you can try to find paid work instead of volunteering, but this is typically harder to source reliably. The benefit of paid work is that you can offset some of the usual costs of traveling or backpacking, allowing you to pay for your travels without using your savings. It will help if you have particular skills and experience, such as bartending, manual labor, or teaching. Either of these skills will make you a more valuable asset to temporary employers. Regions with a big demand for seasonal workers are often good places to search. You could try to build your freelance presence on sites like Upwork and Freelance to work for yourself.

Make use of travel networking apps

There are more opportunities to travel cheaply by…