In 2015 We left on a one-way ticket to New Zealand, which turned into 2 full years traveling around the world. In this blog we share personal experiences and stories about the processes that helped keep us going for 2+ years. Buying your first plane ticket is the hardest step, but these tips will make it easier for you to do that. Please note, that at this point, we were not freelancers. We truly started from the bottom and these are the things that allowed us to continue on our journey, even when our bank accounts were low.

1. Get Free Accommodation

Our first 5 weeks in New Zealand was spent house-sitting in a beautiful town just south of Auckland. We spent this time getting familiar with our surroundings and looking for jobs rent-free. In exchange for staying in their home, they simply wanted someone there to make sure their house was well looked after while they were away on vacation. Many house-sitting jobs require you to take care of animals or work around the property, but we just had to do minor chores and made sure the house was clean upon their arrival. This meant we could also leave for a couple of days if we wanted to explore the area. By the time our house-sitting was over, we found a job and spent the next couple of months working our butts off at a farm and cafe to gain some extra cash so that we could travel freely around the country. At the cafe we worked at on the weekends, I met a gentleman who told me about a lodge in the south island that is beautiful, and often recruits backpackers to work in exchange for accommodation. From there, we emailed the lodge and took a couple of weeks exploring and road-tripping our way down to the South Island before beginning work at the lodge.

It was a stunning location, tucked away in the heart of the South Island and about 45 mins from the bustling streets of Queenstown. We worked about 4 hours a day, 5 days a week helping out at the lodge. Tasks include working in the restaurant, helping clean the rooms, working at the cafe, and helping out with chores around the property. Great memories were made here, especially because we met some incredible travellers from around the world, and we were able to get first-hand experience with what it is like small town living as a Kiwi (what we call the people of New Zealand 😊).

There are a ton of options to get free accommodation:

WWOOFING or Workaway- Working for food and accommodation. By far my favourite way to get free accommodation, because you can get first hand advice on travelling around the country from a local. Work is rarely difficult, and usually consists of everyday chores helping out with a family or business. Often this can lead to getting hired at a job through word of mouth, or getting cash jobs. We also worked at a Yoga Village for 6 weeks in Australia. This was an awesome experience, because we had free Yoga classes each day, an abundance of raw vegan food, as well as delicious meals from the Krishna Temple (who owned the land the yoga retreat was on). It was a great base that allowed us time to buy a van, and plan our trip around the country.
House Sitting - Some sites are paid, some are free. We paid about $60 for a membership to this site at the time. Sounds like a lot, but to put it in perspective, this ended up costing us less than $2 a night to stay in a beautiful home for a total of 5 weeks.
Working at Hostels with sites such as Hostel Jobs and Worldpackers. Hostels are an amazing way to meet people if you’re traveling alone. Often you can work for accommodation, or get a paid job and accommodation as a receptionist/cleaner.
Volunteer - There are many well-organized volunteer programs that provide accommodation in exchange for work. These programs range anywhere from teaching english, to conservation, to working with children and more.
Camping. There are plenty of sites to help you locate free campsites, as well as apps depending on which country you are visiting. We used Campermate for both Australia and New Zealand, and the app shows free showers, laundry, charging stations, and everything you need as a traveler.

Here are some helpful links: WWOOFing, Workaway, House Sitting, Hostel Jobs, Nomador, World Packers, Couchsurfing, Free Camping, Help Exchange, Volunteer Abroad

2. Work Part Time:

Get a working holiday visa! Check the government website of your country of citizenship for information on applying for visas. For example if you’re Canadian, you can go to the drop down menu on this page to find out information on working in specific countries. Often there is a cost for a working holiday visa which can be a few hundred dollars, so make sure you know you’re going to use it. We got a working holiday in both Australia and New Zealand, which together costed us about $800 each. It ended up being more than worth it, because over 2 years we were able to work in various jobs with a much higher minimum wage than Canada.
Make money online. During my time abroad, I never ended up trying out this option, but did a ton of research about it. There are plenty of jobs available online that can pay well if you’re willing to put in the work. Some jobs include being a transcriber, freelance writer, blogger, managing social media platforms for companies, and more. There is a great blog post here that has a ton of information about these jobs.

3. Saving Up

Ready to embark on an adventure around the world? That means you don’t need all that stuff you’re going to leave behind!

You would be shocked at the items you can sell, even if its $10 it all adds up. Before leaving on our 2 year trip, my lease ended and I got rid of just about everything I owned. Felt good not to have so much baggage to carry around! Everything was given away or sold on craiglist at the time, but there are so many awesome tools for selling your things now such as Facebook Marketplace, Poshmark, and Thred Up. Use good, clear photos and descriptive words or it will be more difficult to sell.

Being frugal with the way I was spending money really helped me save up. I rarely bought new items, grocery shopped and cooked at home (including making coffee at home!), and set goals. This means that I put aside a certain amount of money from each pay check, that I wasn’t allowed to touch until after I was already on that flight.

Don’t spend money on unnecessary gear! If you’re short on cash, you can get by with a cheaper backpack. We bought backpacking bag from Costco for about $30 when we started, and it worked just fine. Was it the most comfortable bag? No. But it did the job, and we couldn’t splurge on a better one at the time. It’s very worth it to get gear you love, but if you can’t it shouldn’t stop you from going on that trip! If you have a little extra spending cash, see my Backpacking Gear Guide for all the items I love.

All in all, if you’re planning on working in another country, you don’t need to have a crazy amount of money saved. Make sure you check on the government website of the country your visiting to see if there is a specific amount you legally need in your account to enter the country, because many have this policy.

4. Transportation

Traveling with others is the best way to split costs for transportation, but if you don’t have that option, there are plenty of other ways to save.

Carpooling - You can find car-sharing groups for travelers and locals looking to save money on gas. Do a little bit of research on the country you are visiting, and find Facebook groups for car sharing. This, or simply ask around! The place you’re staying likely has backpackers who are looking to split gas, and you might meet others in the process. This is how I traveled around Australia when I went by myself for 6 weeks and met lots of others going to the same locations.
If you’re traveling with others, I would highly suggest buying a car! Especially if you’re staying in the country for a while, it’s much more cost-effective than renting. Chances are, when selling you won’t lose too much if any at all. If you have your own vehicle, there are plenty of free campgrounds around as mentioned earlier, as long as you’re happy with camping. This is such a great way to save money because it completely cuts the cost of accommodation. Either way, buying a car gives you the most amount of freedom, and allows you to find less touristy places and hidden gems.
Bus systems around the world are getting better and better as the years go by, especially in Europe and North America. Usually, you can get month passes in order to save money on each trip. The only downside to using Public Transit is that it can be harder to get to more specific locations, and you’re often spending time waiting for each trip.
Avoid taxis - Figure out transportation before you go, whether it’s the hostel, bus routes, etc. Taxis from the airport almost always charge too much, and if you haven’t done your research beforehand, you might not have a choice but to pay. Many countries don’t allow companies like Uber and Lyft to work at airports. If there’s no other option but to taxi, research how much it should cost. Barter with a taxi or find one that will drive you for a fair price.

5. Do your research

The majority of my time is spent researching a location before I travel. I used to joke about research being my full-time job, because it felt like I was always on my computer looking for more and more information about the places we were visiting. This helped us feel much more prepared and at ease when visiting a country we had never been to before.

Many locations around the world have peak times, where all prices have increased. Try to travel during shoulder season if possible to avoid both the crowds and the prices. If you get there before peak season, likely you’ll have an easy time finding jobs, as companies are gearing up for the busy season to begin - usually months beforehand. This includes the first pick at housing, buying a car, and getting situated before the rest. Also traveling during peak season means accommodation can be expensive, double or triple the price in some cases. It’s especially important to research if you’re planning on hiking, as there may only be a short window that the trails are snow-free.

If you do have to travel during the busiest time of the year, it’s still possible to do it cheaply! When we were on our way to Greece in July of 2017, we realized we were going during the busiest and most expensive of the year. Rather than accepting it and dishing out money, we bought a $40 tent while traveling through Vietnam, our last stop before Greece. We booked campgrounds all around Santorini, Mykonos and Milos, and it was the best decision we made. It was only $15-20 per night for the both of us, a lot of them had pools and were in a central area, and some even had breakfast! We were very unprepared at the time, but knowing how much we saved I would do it all over again (although, definitely with a little bit better gear!).

6. Other Helpful Tips

Get money back on taxed items you bought in a country. We had to purchase new backpacks and got over $100 back after leaving the country with our receipts. There is a VAT Refund area in the Airport of the country you are in, and can do this on your way out

Highly recommend getting a SIM card or eSIM, if you’re gone for 2 weeks or more it will save you a lot of money on your phone bill. If this is not an option, make sure you pre download google map of an area, or use another app such as maps.me for both driving and trails. I use maps.me almost everywhere, and it has been especially helpful while hiking. In countries like Indonesia and Thailand, they have great phone plans, however I recommend signing up for it in the airport, as it can be difficult to find or costly outside of it.

Try not to drink so much. I know you’re on ‘vacation’ and it’s fun, but drinking is a money pit. I know so many travellers that got stuck working in a large city and just went out for a few drinks almost every day, and that really adds up. Not only that, but it makes it that much harder to get up in the morning and cherish every hour spent on the road when you’re in pain from a hangover. You might miss opportunities because of this. Just think about it :)

Get a travel visa. I use RBC Visa platinum, and I get 1 point for every dollar spent. When you first sign up you’re given a few thousand points to start off, and this can save you money on flights, hotels and rentals. This also often comes with full travel insurance, so worth the yearly fee!

Clear browser cookies. Websites are sneaky, and have cookies that track you while searching for flights. Make sure you clear cookies once in a while to insure you’re actually getting the cheapest deals.

If you’re a student, use a student discount card! Canadians can get an SPC card that can give you anywhere from 5-50% off certain retailers, travel companies, food, etc. Another well know card is ISIC, however I don’t have personal experience with this one.