TIPS AND TRICKS FOR TRAVELING CHEAP (OR FREE!)

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Looking for ideas, tips and tricks for travel cheap or even free? Then we will reveal a few ideas to reduce your travels and thus be able to extend them as much as possible.

Surely you think that traveling is expensive, that we can only do it for 3 weeks (at most!) A year since for the rest of the months you have to work ... But what is not told is that what is expensive is going on vacation, Travel does not have to be. You do not believe it? Considering that the main expenses of a traveler are divided into 4 major airlines (activities, accommodation, transportation and food) we will show you that you can travel cheap (and free!).

> ACTIVITIES

The best thing about traveling with a low budget is that wherever you go you will find things to see and do for free. Of course, sometimes you have to put your hand to the wallet and drop the paste ... there is no other :-p

In those cases you are interested in targeting a website like Cuponation, Cupon.es or Lastminute. In them you can find great discounts and discounts of each type, there are to rent a car, to buy flights on offer, to stay in hotels at a bargain price and much more. We recently found a 30% discount on car rental, we are doing very well!
In almost every city, there are also free tours (although it is always good to leave a tip). They are a very good way to explore the city since the guides are usually locals who know the destination perfectly.
If you don't want to spend a cent… no problem: everywhere there are a lot of free things to do (often even paid sites have hours or days of free access). Find out about the city you are going to see and freak out the amount of free activities there are.

Enjoying a relaxing free hot spring pool in Rotorua

> ACCOMMODATION

Much of the travel budget vanishes in the accommodation, it is true, but there are a good handful of options to stay for free. Here we tell you how to get free accommodation on your trips.

The best known is surely Couchsurfing, a website that offers hosts wanting to meet new cultures, free accommodation for travelers from all over the world. The cost is null but the reasons to do couchsurfing go beyond saving a few euros: getting in touch with the local and authentic culture is something that you don't always have the luck to live. We did it in India, New Zealand and Japan. In all cases the experiences were great although, as always, you have to have common sense: always check the references of the hosts!
While couchsurfing is the main protagonist when talking about free hosting, it is not the only option. Other similar websites are: Hospitality club, BeWelcome and Trustroots. If you are a cyclist, you may be interested in the Warmshowers.org website
And then there is Nightswapping, halfway between Couchsurfing and Airbnb. Thanks to this website, which works as a barter, if you stay you have the right to stay for free. If you cannot accommodate other travelers you can also travel with Nightswapping, although you will have to pay a fee for each night of your stay. Similar to Nightswapping is the Trampolinn platform.
Another way to stay free for the world is to make a exchange of houses, In case you have a clear 😉 There are travelers around the world with this platform! The system is easy: while you enjoy your new accommodation, its owners enjoy your home. It is a safe and very interesting method. This is the main website: www.guesttoguest.es
But what happens if you do not have a home owned? Nothing happens: there are other ways to travel by staying for free. In New Zealand, Australia, Portugal and Spain, for example, we were able to experience housesitting in the first person. In this case it is about take care of houses and pets while the owners go on vacation. The experience was not only good, but it was one of the best we ever lived and we are already taking a look at new opportunities ... on a Greek island or in the south of France we would not mind at all, it does not sound bad, right? The most famous housesitting website is undoubtedly www.trustedhousesitters.com that serves everyone. And if you register through this link, you have a 25% discount!
But the options do not end here ... We stayed for 30 days in Tokyo (one of the cities with the most expensive accommodation in the world), without spending a penny. The reason? Our pretty faces. The workaway, A great invention: they work a few hours a day in exchange for accommodation. In our case we worked in a hostel from 11 to 14. In order to apply to these positions you need to register in a specialized website. We recommend www.worldpackers.com, the options are endless! If you use that link you have a 10USD discount! Olé!
It has also happened to us that locals (and curiously in all cases were women) invited us to eat and sleep at their home. In the vast majority of cases people are good, although you always have to have common sense and above all ... follow your instinct.
Finally, another way to save on accommodation is take advantage of night transport, Probably the one you will spend on that dilapidated bus will not be the most comfortable of your life, but unforgettable it will be fixed 🙂

Enjoying Housesitting 😉

> FOOD

While is true that in almost every place in the world (I would say in all!) there are ways to eat cheap (street-food, discounts, 2 × 1 promotions…) we may, in some extreme case, need to eat for free.

We didn't do it but we heard about Diving Dumpster, consisting of 'dive' in the trash looking for food. Do not take it to the letter, do not imagine fighting with bits of bitten sandwiches or rotten apples: there is even a wikipedia of diving dumpster that tells you which are the best areas to look for food in good condition. Generally the best points are around department stores and supermarkets and what can be found are real treasures (which in the vast majority of cases are in perfect condition and close to the expiration date, not even expired). Aniko and Laura, on their trip to Iceland, tried this 'diving' and the results were surprising.
Another movement similar to the previous one is the one that promotes the fight against the waste of ready-made food in coffee shops, restaurants, fast foods… There are two websites / apps where you can find real bargains of dishes of all kinds that, instead of going to waste being in perfect condition, they go to your belly for a very low price. They are weSAVEeat and Too Good To Go.
The Table diving It's another option if you don't have money. Consists in pick up and eat the food that others have left whole (or almost) at the tables of the restaurants / foodcourts. If you are in trouble it is a good method to fill the belly, although some nose is necessary :-p
In Asia in many Sikh temples they offer free food, although this way of getting food would squeak a bit, we believe that it is something aimed more at a needy audience ... that's why we recommend you to leave some kind of donation, and not see it as much as a way to eat for free, but to share a unique time With a super interesting culture.
If you have some budget to spend on food there are several tricks to extend it as much as possible: you can play the card of the picnic and buy food in supermarkets (if they are with discounts for being close to the expiration date better than better); sign up for typical websites where they offer discounts on restaurants in many cities; share dishes between several and ask for tap water to drink ... When you need to save one can become very creative.

Enjoying street food, the best 🙂 Although we do pay for it XD

〉 TRANSPORTATION

The great resource of travelers without money is the hitch-hiking which, once you try it, seems to be addictive. The best or almost best, as in the case of couchsurfing, is not saving money but the Amazing experience of getting in touch with a local who opens completely with you.In many places in the world it is a practice fully integrated into society, in Queenstown, where we lived for 3 months there were people hitchhiking to go to work ... but be careful because in other countries it is not so common (in Italy, for example, on highways it is totally prohibited). Also in this case the network comes to give us a cable: in Hitchwiki we will find tips on the best starting points, the best routes and how to act before and during a finger trip. Do not miss the websites of Acrobatadelcamino and Marcandoelpolo, the cracks of this type of trip.
A resource that is increasingly fashionable and that everyone already knows is the Blablacar, paying a fee to an individual and share a ride in your car. Although there is a fact that is striking: sometimes it is cheaper to go by bus or train with an offer! And speaking of offers ... in Compartirtrenmesaave.com you can buy tickets at the table rate and save yourself a little money.
Less common is the boatstop: There are different websites where you can search for a ticket in exchange for helping out the crew. Findacrew is the best.
There are other travelers who move without means of motor transport. How?, using the bike! Already, it seems crazy but two-wheeled travelers are more than you can imagine and there are true traveling legends like Alvaro Neil that has been giving Around the world by bike for more than 4000 days. Awesome, right?
Then wait to listen / read what we are going to tell you now: there are travelers who move from one place to another simply use their feet! They are not very numerous but there are, an example is Nacho Dean who has given Around the globe walking in 2 years, 5 months (and 9 pairs of shoes).
And of course look for bargains on pages like Flixbus or Megabus that offer bus tickets thrown in price (from $ 1!)

We are very clumsy traveling by finger :-p

〉 MORE IDEAS TO TRAVEL CHEAP

As you can see the ways to travel cheap (and even free) are many: it only takes some research, creativity and desire.

If you are also looking for ways to self-finance while traveling, check out this article we wrote a while ago.
If instead you want to go on an adventure but you need to save some money we recommend our guide with a few tips to save on your day to day 🙂
And remember ... when you travel, haggle, haggle and haggle!

Hopefully our post with tips and tricks for traveling cheap (or free) You liked it, we have done our best to show you the ways to get to travel for free or with little money. If you know more ways to save during a trip, tell us, don't be shy ...