How to travel on a budget

There are many ways to travel on a budget, from exploring alternative accommodation to making the most out of travel rewards programs to teaching English abroad. Here are a few of the more popular money-saving hacks for budget travel:

• Be flexible with your travel destinations
• Book budget-friendly flights and accommodation
• Travel during the "off-season"
• Get a credit card with no international transaction fees (and travel rewards programs)
• Pack a light bag so you don’t have to pay excess baggage fees
• Use travel apps to help you plan and keep track of budgeting
• Set a daily spending limit
• Take advantage of free activities in the destination you’re visiting
• Save on local transport by walking or cycling
• Save money on food and drink by cooking whenever possible or eating in local spots
• Make friends with locals to learn how and where to spend less
• Bargain, especially if it’s part of the local culture
• Travel by bus or train at night to save extra on accommodation
• Earn while you travel (teach English abroad, become a surf or ski instructor, work reception at a hostel, freelance online, or create your own travel blog)
• Volunteer or do a work exchange

Thanks to modern technology and aviation infrastructure, you no longer need to be wealthy to travel. Finding cheap airfare and accommodation is easier than ever before, and if you’re willing to commit a little extra effort and resourcefulness towards planning, you’ll be surprised by how much you can save.

The two biggest expenses of travel are airfare and accommodation. If you want to travel the world on a budget, saving money on accommodation can easily halve your expenses.

Work exchange is one of the best ways to pursue some of the world’s more unique travel experiences without the financial burden of footing the bill for accommodation. If your goal is to discover the best way to go traveling on a budget, look no further than Worldpackers.

Worldpackers allows you to travel the world while exchanging your skills for accommodation and other benefits. Using Worldpackers work exchange to travel the world is not only a great way to transform your travel day-dreams into reality, but also an ideal means to transform you from a typical tourist to a full-time traveler.

Worldpackers offers plenty of opportunities to work or volunteer abroad. Offer your skills to a local community through social impact programs, discover bucket list destinations while working as a front desk receptionist at a hostel, or build your digital portfolio in content writing, social media, photography, videography, marketing, and programming by working with hostels, NGOs, ecovillages and thousands of other Worldpackers hosts.

Ultimately, the Worldpackers travel experience is about more than traveling on a budget; it’s a one-of-a-kind way of seeing and experiencing the world through participation in collaborative travel relationships. You’ve heard it before, but the people you meet while traveling — and the relationships you forge with them — are usually what you’ll remember most about your trip. Traveling with Worldpackers will undoubtedly save you big, but perhaps even more valuable are the amazing experiences and relationships you’ll walk away from your work exchange experiences with.

Participating in a work exchange is also a form of responsible travel. By actively giving back to the local community you are traveling to you’re not just saving massive amounts of money, but strengthening global community! Traveling with Worldpackers is the perfect way to sustainably explore the world while having a positive impact on the environment and international communities.

If you’re a Worldpackers community member, you can travel pretty much anywhere on a budget. Of course, some destinations are more expensive than others, but if you don’t have to pay for a place to sleep, your options for potential trips are truly endless.

There are more than one million travelers and hosts from 170 countries that are currently a part of the Worldpackers community. Many people who initially join the platform for a single-trip experience end up utilizing it to take an extended trip around the globe or to travel full-time and jump-start a digital nomad lifestyle.

Worldpackers has incredible projects on offer in six continents, including North America and Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and Oceania. Whether you want to explore the best places to travel on a budget or go elsewhere, there’s an opportunity for you to gain a deeper understanding of your destination by sharing and honing your skills in a Worldpackers project.

A few weeks from now you could be...

• Practicing your Spanish language skills and discovering local culture while manning the reception at an artistic residence and top-rated hostel in Mexico City, Mexico.
• Honing your photography and visual creative skills at a top-rated hostel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• Developing a social media plan and updating web design for a hostel in Argentina.
• Learning sustainable farming techniques at a permaculture and natural farming community in Ireland.
• Improving SEO and marketing strategy for a top-rated hostel in Jerusalem, Israel.
• Teaching English and instructing kids in sports at a local homestay in Arusha, Tanzania.
• Participating in the creation of a self-sufficient community at a top-rated eco-host in Thailand.
• Creating digital videos and regularly maintaining and updating social media channels for a traditional tea house, farm, or NGO in Vietnam.

This is just a small sampling of the types of projects on offer with Worldpackers. If you want to travel on a budget, rest assured that Worldpackers has a project in the destination of your choice.