Hey friends! I’m checking in from a yoga retreat outside of Sydney. The past few weeks have been pretty cruisy (that’s Australian for chill.) In fact, they’ve been more than cruisy.
Since I left Melbourne, where I essentially had a free place to stay, I’ve:
- Hit up a FREE music festival (Splendour in the Grass)
- Taken a FREE car from Brisbane to Cairns
- Settled into a yoga retreat where I get FREE accommodation, food, and yoga
Things are dope. I’ve certainly had to work a fair bit for all of these gigs (in addition to the freelance copywriting work I do now,) but the exchanges are pretty great. And if you’ve been following my journey, you know that this is far from the first time I’ve volunteered or worked for accommodation. I figured that this was a good time to round up ALL of the resources I use to get free stuff.
A Quick Note before We Start:
I want to reiterate that while you may be able to put away your credit card for a while, most of my suggestions are work exchanges and volunteer opportunities. You still have to spend your time. These opportunities are (for the most part) work exchanges, but it usually works in your favor and you’ll be able to manage a flexible travel schedule. Just don’t expect to sit around drooling and partying in exchange for free travel. Know what you’re getting into before you sign up.
Anyway, let’s get on with it!
How to Get Free Accommodation While Traveling
One of my favorite photos from my favorite hostel, Landing Pads. I worked here for four months!
Work for Accommodation at a Hostel: If you have a flexible schedule, you won’t really need me, or any magical website resource, to find free accommodation while traveling. A lot of hostels will have signs offering the chance to work for accommodation, or you can talk to management and they will hook you up. These jobs will vary depending on what the hostel needs, but usually require that you stay for a few weeks or months. I’ve worked in reception and planning the events for Landing Pads in Melbourne, but most places will need housekeeping help.
Housesitting Gigs: But I haven’t just gotten free accommodation at hostels. In Brisbane, I pet-sit for five weeks and had a free house to myself. Plus, I got to hang out with a cat. Read more about that time here. (TL;DR: I used HouseCarers.com for free accommodation.)
TrustedHousesitters and Nomador are also great options for housesitting.
Couchsurfing: How could I forget? If you haven’t tried Couchsurfing, you should definitely hit it up for some free accommodation. I Couchsurfed quite a bit in Europe, and I’ve got a whole blog post about how to approach it in a safe and fun way.
Similar to Couchsurfing is Warm Showers, which I haven’t used but have heard is wonderful. Warm Showers is for cyclists around the world, and works similarly to CS.
How to Find Free Campsites While Traveling
Pictured: A free place to stay somewhere in New Zealand. Often, Becky and I would make a decision about where to stay the day that we needed to camp there.
So maybe you already have a shelter of sorts for accommodation: a car, van, you name it. If you just need a campsite for the night, you have a few options for finding one close by. It just depends on where you are traveling. I’m just going to list a few resources for the places I have traveled and camped, but feel free to add your secrets in the comments!
New Zealand
Rankers is both a website and an app that will help you look through reviews of campsites and get all of the information you need.
Camping in New Zealand? Head to my North Island and South Island itineraries for more information on specific free and low-cost campsites around the country.
Australia
FreeCampingAustralia is a decent website for finding campsites. You can also download the WikiCamps app for locations on-the-go.
United States of America
I don’t have any special resource for you, but if you want a free campsite in America, stick to National Forests. If you just need a place to sleep, rest stops and 24-hour parking lots also work well for a quick snooze.
How to Get a Free Car While Traveling
The car that took me from Brisbane to Cairns…all I need to pay was gas and I had transportation and a place to sleep for six days!
In order to car camp, you’ll need a car. Car rentals can get expensive, especially if you’re going one way.
Luckily…
Transfercar has been a great find while traveling. The website connects travelers with rental companies who need cars or vans transported back to a specific location after a one-way rental. If you’re flexible, you can get where you’re going with a free rental. Some Transfercars even offer free insurance, gas, and tolls.
I’m super stoked to see that they have an American version of Transfercar as well. Bring on the road trips!
How to Get Free Accommodation and Food While Traveling
The view from a Workaway farm in Austria.
One word: Workaway.
Workaway is a miracle; it helps you find gigs around the world in hostels, homes, farms, and with businesses that put you up in hotels for free. I’ve actually only used Workaway three times, to:
- Teach English to teenagers in Poland in exchange for a free (shared) hotel room and meals
- Do household chores and cook lunch for an Austrian family in exchange for a free room, meals, and trips around the town
- Work as a receptionist at a hostel in Kuala Lumpur in exchange for accommodation, breakfast, and a small payment (yes, Workaway does payment!)
Each experience was very different, but equally memorable.
But that’s not all Workaway offers. If you want to look after children, build eco-villages, tend to animals, or do any other sort of work, you can find an opportunity on Workaway. I’ve recently been looking at yoga teaching gigs on Workaway and found some cool potential gigs.
If you’re looking specifically for farm work, head to WWOOF. Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) provides just that, although you have to sign up for the specific country where you want to WWOOF. It’s a lot easier and cheaper just go to through Workaway, in my opinion.
Okay, let’s talk about yoga.
How to Get Free Accommodation and Food as a Yoga Teacher
Yoga!
This is a quick one. If you’re a yoga teacher, you can also use the following resources to find jobs/work exchange opportunities around the world:
Easy as pie!
I’ll also tell you about my current situation, because it’s a bit unique.
Currently, I’m getting more than free accommodation. I get three free meals a day (delicious vegetarian meals, I should add,) and free yoga while I’m on my breaks.
How did I find it? Instagram, I guess.
A blogger I like posted a picture of her at the retreat, and at the time, I was looking for yoga teaching gigs. The retreat only accepted permanent residents as teachers, but encouraged me to check out their volunteer program. In exchange for five hours of work a day, I’d get free housing, meals, and yoga. If I couldn’t find a steady studio job while I was traveling throughout Australia, I would at least work somewhere in the yoga industry realm. I applied, and so far, it’s been a fantastic decision.
Don’t be afraid to look for opportunities at the festivals, retreats, and events for opportunities to work and volunteer. Usually, they’ll have opportunities through their “Contact Us,” “About Us,” or “Jobs” portion of their website.
Ask and you shall receive…
How to Get Free Festival Tickets While Traveling
My Splendour in the Grass crew! We drove from Melbourne to Byron Bay to volunteer for the festival.
This last one is a a fun one. Volunteer opportunities at festivals are a sick way to get free tickets and have a unique experience behind the scenes. In the past few years, I’ve volunteered at festivals in Austin, Philadelphia, Boston, Australia, and New Zealand. Each one has allowed me to meet really cool people and save a bunch of money without sacrificing the festival experience. I’m planning on writing more about what volunteering is like, but it’s usually pretty relaxed. We were able to see pretty much all of the bands we wanted to see, but again, you have to be flexible.
How to Find Volunteer Opportunities at Festivals:
Choose a festival and do some research! I usually head to the Contact or FAQ pages a few months in advance to see if I can find an application or any information on a volunteer program. Oxfam and HelpX are also great resources to help you find volunteer gigs at festivals around the globe.
Phew! Here you go! With a little help from these online resources, and a little bit of work, you can significantly cut down on the costs of your next adventure.