The Wild Voyage
Travel blog: from weekend getaways to local and international trips
Traveling can be expensive, but not always...
There are a few ways to travel with a budget, and even to save money in hotels. This post is about getting free accommodation while traveling. No catch, no sketchy websites.
1- Couchsurfing
This website allows you to stay for free in people's residences. First, you create your own profile with your information, why do you like to travel and why you would like to experience Couchsurfing. The better it looks in terms of information the most likely to get accommodation. Then, you search the location you want to visit, filtering by amenities, reviews, dates you want to stay.etc. Next, you scroll all the profiles of people who are available on those dates, some of them only host during weekends, others have a maximum of stay. it could be 1 night, 2 nights or weeks. Some of them love hosting people so much that have an entire room specially for them and have guests every single night of the year.
The hosts have reviews, so you can make sure this is safe, sometimes in the reviews they describe if its clean, if the location is near the inserting stuff or if its more quiet. Once you find someone you think is a potential amazing host, you make a request. After reading their profile, specify why you want to stay with them, how many days, and what brings you to that part of the world.
What happens with you when you are new and don't have any reviews? Sometimes providing your social media accounts on the message you send with your request is good to let them know you are real and you are safe. You can also verify your account for $20, it does help, in my personal experience I never had a verified account. It is also very helpful to submit as many pictures as you have traveling and interacting with people around the world. A much as you need to make sure this person is safe, they also need to know you are safe to open their doors.
you can cancel any time in case plans change, tell you host asap you won't be there.
What happens when you host cancel? They can cancel for sure, they can have an emergency, or feel sick. Always have a backup, and a backup for that backup. Have at least two other hosts who know that your plan is to stay with them if anything changes at last minute.
​
2- Worldpackers
Living in Italy for one month, working part time in a vineyard located in Tuscany, where you get food and room for free, and the rest of the day explore the region?!
This is a beautiful website! World-packers is another community that allows you to stay for free, but it works differently. They offer you room and food in exchange of part time work in that location. The organizations can't offer money since Worldpackers doesn't provide job positions, they pay your part time work with food and bed. This is basically working as a VOLUNTEER. So, you save in hotels and restaurants.
It also requires the creation of a profile, with pictures and information. To place a request sometimes you have to pay $22, to the place you pick but that's it. If they accept you they keep the money, if not you keep that money. You can filter by location, type of job, how many hours, if they also offer free transportation, how many meals a day they offer.
Through this website I volunteered in Thailand for almost two weeks in an animal rescue reservation. Usually this places have a minimum of stay that goes from 1 week to 1/2/or 3 months, but you can also filter by humber of days you would like to stay.
They have reviews and official websites, and you can even google the organization, farm, reservation, or whatever type of place you are interested in.
​
3-Home exchange
Exactly like the websites mentioned above, you need to create a profile, submit pictures, info, etc. etc. But there is a huge difference. As the name suggests, this is a home exchange, exactly like the movie The Holiday, where the main characters exchange their houses. The one who lives in L.A goes to England and stays in this beautiful cottage for a magical winter week. The cottage owner goes to L.A and stays in a very luxurious mansion.
This website does work with a small fee and the amount is up to each owner. Search by location and dates, take pictures of your home and make sure is suited to allow guests: clean, safe, etc. Filter by pet friendly, number of guests, maybe you want to travel with your entire family. Reviews are also available!
​
​
​
4- More Options
There are more websites that work in the same way as those three options: Create a profile, submit pictures, make requests, filter. etc. They provide reviews, and everything you need to make sure is safe. To more that I recommend are Hospitality Club : www.hospitalityclub.org works exactly like Couchsurfing. And then Third home: www.explore.thirdhome.com This website is only for luxury properties, that menas that if you have a luxury apartment or house you can request for the same type of property to exchange. Is exactly like Home exchange but for exclusive properties.