Working our way around the world!

Hi,

I’m trying to collect any advice I can get on experimental travel on a tiny budget. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
I have been dreaming and procrastinating over a 'round the world' type trip for the last five years, but have been held back by various distractions and the constant worry of money!
Me and two friends have finally had enough of talking about doing it and have decided to set off in the middle of April. We'll each have £3500 approx, due to our tiny tiny budget we won’t be doing the 'RTW ticket', instead our plan was to find the cheapest ticket we can to anywhere (currently Norway is looking like a possible cheap flight) and arrange Workaway, or Helpx for when we get there, getting jobs where we can, house sitting, carrying a tent ...and continuing on in a similar manner, trying to see how far we can get on as little money as possible.
I know it sounds like a stupidly romantic idea, but we really want to challenge ourselves, to see how resourceful we can be, to meet interesting people and absorb different cultures, without the bubble of security we usually surround ourselves with. We won’t have any ties to drag us back to the UK, and would like to follow whatever opportunities present themselves.
Obviously we are embarking on something that could end up being an impossible pipe dream, but I’m determined to try anyway. I’m a person who is used to living on very little, seems reasonable that I could do the same elsewhere! I’d love to hear from anyone who has travelled for long periods of time on a small budget, or anyone who has used Workaway, Helpx, Housesitting or other things like it to work their way around the world.

Edited by: fzdimple

Hi,

Not a pipe dream at all, more than doable but you'll need to do a lot of research and get some 'shoestring guides to.....' books to learn how best to cut the costs.

One question - have you ever been to Norway at all? It is one of the most expensive places to visit in the world, regardless of whether or not you will be camping and trying to live on a budget the sheer price of even the essentials will drain that money quite quickly and with the exchange rate between Norway and the UK never being that good you'd probably be able to find a much cheaper trip somewhere else. Even supermarkets aren't that cheap and you'd need to be teetotal for the trip with beer costing at best twice what it does in the UK. Hence all the Norwegians that come to the UK to do their big shopping trips at Christmas.....

Have you tried looking for flights on airasia.com and heading into Malaysia or elsewhere around SE Asia? Tickets go for £150 when they have sales (one way) and the cost of flying there and back wouldn't eat up as much of your budget as a RTW ticket would but the overall cost of living and travelling around Asia would be so much cheaper.

Also this may sound pretty irresponsible but have you considered taking some credit cards in case you fall short of cash while travelling? It may seem reckless but when I first went travelling I had the choice of racking up an extra £1.5k debt on cards or cutting my travelling short by 6/8 weeks. I took the debt, worked it off by moving back with my parents for a few months and paying it off ASAP. I would rather have had that time travelling and working when I came back than have missed out on all I saw and did. It did add a slightly guilty tinge to every extra beer or cocktail I drank though, lol.

Best advice for this type of trip would probably be to start getting used to a supernoodle diet and make sure you pack some vitamin supplements to keep you healthy as fresh fruit and veg might be a luxury you can't always afford (more in Norway than in Asia).

You wouldn't want to live like this permanently, but most countries and big cities these days have expat notice boards and websites. Track them down (craigslist is often useful, too) and offer your services for anything and everything you know how to do. Contact people who are buying new furniture and ask if they want someone to paint their walls or do a big clean. Contact students who post looking for "conversation exchange" and offer them conversation practice (DON'T call it lessons, you'll just annoy them if you can't teach) for a very low rate.

Also, ask in youth hostels if you can watch the front desk for a few hours a day, or cleaning, in exchange for free room and board. But make sure you stay there for a day or two first, making friends with the staff.

Finally, track down a copy of Sue Griffith's Work Your Way Around the World.