How to travel (almost) for free
"No ducj chei che a torzeonin a son pierdûts"
A collection of a few pointers towards cheap travelling, ideal especially for young people fine with spontaneous adventures and uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.
- Workaway: opportunity to work 4/5 hours a day on a meaningful project (NGOs, communities, schools) in exchange for room and board. Amazing way to get to know the local culture, meet people from all over the world and get out of one's comfort zone.
- AEGEE: biggest European Youth organization, nice way to meet internationals, learn with workshops, embrace the idea of a more connected Europe with less prejudices and experience trips packed with events organized by local people. In other words, like ESN but more serious, with a structured long-term vision and just generally cooler.
- Volontariato Legambiente: meaningful environmental volunteering projects across the planet
- Salto Youth: possibility to travel around Europe while doing trainings, especially towards non-formal education. Not tested, but highly recommended by many fellow Europeans.
- Couchsurfing: never tried this personally, but should also be a good way to travel cheaply and meeting like-minded people.
When it comes to transportation, good options are:
- Interrail (and trains in general): good for visiting a lot of countries in a short time, while staying sustainable
- Hitchhiking: best way to have random fun adventures
- If you cannot avoid flying, Kiwi to discover the best prices within a certain temporal and spatial range, Google Flights for price alerts.
All in all, I think that travelling as a tourist is overrated, especially now, when it is tough to escape the globalization and greedy corporations. On the other hand, when done in a more genuine way through volunteering, it draws close unique adventures and serendipity.