I recently asked my email list; about the number one thing that holds them back from travelling. The nearly universal answer?
This is something I hear from everyone I talk to: “ Jeremy, I simply don’t have enough money to travel ”
All your travel expenses mainly come in 3 categories, it’s 1. Transport 2. Accommodation 3. Food . Here are some ways you can travel the world for free or even come back with more money than you had when you left.
Everyone is good at something and no one can say that they’re not good at anything. You may be good at makeup, I can bet you and I’m sure that I will win, there is someone out there making a killing and even millions of dollars making makeup tutorials and uploading them on YouTube!
Use your skills and talents to find work. Teach people how to play an instrument or how to dance, cut hair, hula hoop, cook for people — use whatever skills you have to find a job. There are so many opportunities, the only limitation is your imagination!
You don’t have to lead your life living a 9 to 5 job, 5 days a week, spending your days waiting for the weekend, spending your months waiting for summer . I never had a 9–5 nor do I plan on having one!
Here are a few examples, you have to be creative and you can think of 100s of other ways
It doesn’t matter what you are good at if you want it bad enough you will find a way. Sell your service to people who will actually benefit from them, also if you pick a skill that you like you will find that you don’t mind doing it! It’ll soon turn into something you would do for free.
A lot of people are usually under the impression that travelling especially transportation is expensive! This is a complete misconception, it can be really cheap or even free sometimes, I have a friend who went on a boat for free from Australia to South Africa and all he had to do was the occasional cleaning of the deck and night watch duty.
So maybe that’s not for everyone but most of the people reading this can use coupons and miles etc while booking your flights or trains or any transport.
Click here to learn how to book cheap flights
I realized this in a funny situation, during my first backpacking trip when I was travelling India. It was in Delhi at the start of 2016, I was waiting around for a bus to Jaipur at around 9 pm and realized that it was in another 3 hours. I found a nearby cafe and decided to have a coffee, while sitting down I ended up talking with the waiters and the manager of the cafe and we ended up talking about my travels and I remember how I tried my best but after listening to just the stories of the past week, they wouldn’t let me pay the bill.
Fast forward to Now, I’m a full-time travel blogger, my travel blog makes enough money to pay for my travels around the world. I make money telling and sharing my stories with and inspiring 1000s of people
Everyone has a story to tell, you would write a travel blog or a fitness blog or makeup blog or a blog about fashion or anything really.
However this is not a make money quick thing or a get rich quick scheme, blogging is a business just like any other and you will put a lot of work and have a lot of patience! However, in the long term, it’s worth the work!
Click here if you want to know how to start a blog and make money !
You can freelance online doing varied work, from voicing over videos for other people to designing logos. It’s easy if you have a background in web services, design, programming, or anything tech.
Else, what are you good at? If you are good at organizing and managing you could freelance as a virtual assistant. Good at writing? Soo many blogs need content writers.
Not good at anything? Learn.
A year ago I didn’t know what SEO was and now I’m an SEO consultant and consult for businesses around the world. Also my blog comes on the first page of google for many queries like “dropping out of college to travel the world” and on the second page for some high competition ones like “make money travelling”, and it’s only a year old.
Pick a skill and sharpen it, get so good at it that people are begging you to work for them.
Where to learn? I made a detailed post of how to learn anything on the internet for fre e . Click here to read it!
Okay now that you are good at a skill how do you get a client? Here you have 2 options
When I began my travels, to make ends meet I used to try to build websites for cafes and hostels etc, after learning to build websites while starting my blog.
I decided to go cafe to cafe and ask them if they need a website! And by the end of the day, I had a client, but I also realized why everyone also had an excuse for why they can’t do something in life.
Every time I entered a cafe it was awkward and awkward was the best scenario. The most common answers were rude or condescending.
But the more cafes I went to, the more awkward situations I put myself in, the more condescending the comments, the more I got made fun of, the less I started to give a shit.
I love Couchsurfing! Some of the greatest people I have met during my travels was thanks to Couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is a network of hosts and surfers and it lets you connect to people who are willing to let you sleep on their couch or spare bed for free.
I’ve slept in huge houses with entire rooms to myself and other times on tiny couches. Maybe Couchsurfing isn’t for everyone but it allows you to interact and live with/like a local and exchange culture.
However don’t couch surf if you’re just looking for a place to sleep, the experience should be one that benefits both of you.
WWOOF (Work exchange on organic and sustainable properties) connects travellers with organic farmers looking for an extra hand. You are required to work as little as 4 hours a day twice a week in exchange for food and stay during your time there.
Nothing too complicated and usually there is no experience needed as everything you need to know is taught as you work.
Once you finish that you have the rest of the time to visit and explore wherever you want. From the vineyards of Tuscany to the fields of Vietnam, WWOOF is all over the world .
If you are well versed in a particular skill, anything from yoga to mountain climbing. You could instruct others. You don’t have to be a professional, you just have to be good enough to teach a beginner.
Are you bilingual? you could help out a tourism agency as an instructor as the ability to communicate with multiple groups of their customers is a huge plus, and you could also be a tour guide.
As you travel and you come across a place that you like a lot you could try volunteering there, in exchange for stay and food . Most the time they will agree and you might be required to clean or something but if this is something you love like I do, you won’t really mind.
It never hurts to ask, ASK!
This isn’t for everyone and just like Couchsurfing this should be something that benefits both the people. You should bring something of value in the form of conversation to the driver. Don’t be the kind of hitchhiker who will spend all his time alone on his phone. Talk converse and just like that you have a new friend.
Don’t be afraid to hitchhike, but be cautious especially during the night.
It’s impossible to travel a country for free if you want to visit it in a week, be slow explore slowly instead of just touring. The fact is that people spend more on shorter trips than they would have on a longer trip.
Money is just a medium of exchange of one service or good for another and as long as you can provide people with something of value, you will never have trouble.
Originally published at www.thinktravelliftgrow.com on November 18, 2016.
By Jeremy Noronha on November 18, 2016 .
Exported from Medium on January 30, 2026.
You do not need to be rich to travel.
Let’s repeat that.
You do not need to be rich to travel
How To Travel The World For Free
Money
How To Travel The World For Free?
#1: Sell Your Service
#2: Use Coupons And Miles
#3: Tell Your Story aka How I Make Money Travelling
#4: Freelancing
#5: Couchsurfing
#6: WWOOF
#7: Be An Instructor
#8: Volunteer
#9: Hitchhike
#10: Be Calm, Enjoy And Take It Slow
