Couchsurfing: Couchsurfing is one of the best ways by far to help save money on the road while having the opportunity to dive into the local culture all at the same time. A local member of the couchsurfing community in the city where you are visiting offers to open up their home and allow you to sleep on their couch or perhaps in any extra space. The community is about connecting people from around the world and learning about each other as opposed to just having a free place to crash. It is a large community of like-minded traveling souls. It is also great because even if you don’t want to open up your home you can still grab a cup of coffee with a visitor, go out for drinks, or give advice on tips in your city. Feel free to connect with me on couch surfing!

World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms: WWOOF, World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms is a community dedicated to sustainable culture and teaching others. I actually find it similar to couchsurfing for the organic farming community in the sense that you can leave and peruse references for your prospective hosts. Most opportunities on these farms include food, accommodation, and a “get your hands dirty education.” I’ve met several people on the road who have done this in various countries, and had an amazing experience.

Help Exchange: A very popular free volunteer site. However, they also have the option for fee to upgrade to a premium user which allows more capabilities. Similar to WWOOF and some of the others, but it has a wide range of interesting opportunities. Both food and accommodation are usually offered in exchange for part time work hours.

Back Door Jobs: Back door jobs are for travelers who like to stay busy and work while on the road. You can also find some more adventurous opportunities on this site as well. Another plus is that many jobs are short term and in really cool locations. They don’t all require a long term commitment so that definitely helps with the flexibility of your travel schedule.

Retreat Finder: Retreat finder is what you might expect. It lists wonderful retreats all over the world looking for volunteers. The stay may be free or low-cost depending on the work. Win-win huh? You live and work on a paradise island for free or almost free. Many of these opportunities combine Yoga, meditation, spiritual retreats, etc.

Work Away: Work away is a great site, and easy to navigate. There is a fee to become a “workawayer” but it is nominal. I believe at the time I signed up it was $22 for two years. By the time this post goes live, I will have had my first workaway experience volunteering at a bed and breakfast in the Tuscan countryside for 2 weeks in Italy so there is sure to be a post coming about my experience. This is an unbelievable website to help you travel much cheaper. Even though I paid to join the cost to stay at a B&B in Italy for two weeks would have been well over hundreds of dollars. Workaway provides work opportunities from all over the world organized by country and city in exchange for room and board. Some also include food. While searching Italy, I found various different opportunities from an organic farm in Southern Italy, working at a vineyard in Tuscany, and English tutoring for a family on the Almafi Coast.

Other Articles You May Be Interested In:

• 5 Ways to Start Planning Your Around The World Trip
• 5 Ways to Help You Save to Travel or Volunteer Abroad
• 5 Good Reasons to Volunteer Abroad

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