70 Ways To Travel With No Money

You don’t need to have money up the wazoo to galivant across the globe. You just need to get creative with how you can make your limited dosh stretch. 

Here are seventy travel hacks to save your dollarydoos. We’ll keep it brief ‘n easy because dayuuum that’s a lot of hacks. Let’s go! 

Food and Bevs 🍕 🍹

1. Stay at hostels with free brekkie.
2. Bring a bag to free brekkie and load it up sneakily with more food for the rest of the day.
3. Choose hostels with a kitchen.
4. Buy groceries and use the aforementioned hostel kitchen – make pasta, nachos, burgers, stir fry… the world is your oyster.
5. Pack meals for the day – Greek salads, sandwiches, wraps… etc.
6. Buy cheap meals at grocery stores. For example, LIDL in Europe has amazing focaccias, garlic breads and salads. Grab some fruit and yog - Bob’s your uncle.
7. If you’re a coffee drinker, try to cut down or give up cold turkey. A daily coffee is gonna cost ya big time in the long run.
8. Take a water bottle everywhere.
9. Don’t buy alcoholic drinks out unless you’re somewhere like South East Asia where it’s chippies. Always pre-drink beforehand and sneak in a little bottle of voddy if need be. 
10. Get free food samples at markets.
11. If you want to eat out, street food is much cheaper than restaurants
12. Use food coupons for cheaper meals – for example, your hostel might offer 25% off at a few nearby food joints.

Transport 🚌 ✈️

13. Get used to walking everywhere. Even public transport can be the price of Jesus’ tears.
14. But always try to take public transport over Ubers and taxis. Yeah, it takes more time but fang on a flick or crack open a book and she’ll be right. 
15. If you do catch an Uber or taxi, try carpooling with people at the hostel –chuck a message on the Hostelworld group chat or hang up a sign at reception.
16. Look into train passes. In Europe, for example, a Eurail Pass can offer you unlimited transport all around the continent and is cheaper than just individual tickets. 
17. Same goes for metro passes. Grab one for a few days or a week. 
18. If you feel comfortable, are in a safe place and have mates with ya, give hitchhiking a go, even if it’s just a ten-minute ride.
19. Relocate a vehicle – my mate and I got an RV for free just because a company needed it driven from Seattle to San Francisco in a week. 
20. Rent a bike to get around – they’re always affordable.
21. Do free walking tours to get to know the city, learn it’s history and get the insider goss on deals and cheap activities.
22. Go with the budget buses and airlines for sweet deals.
23. Book direct with flights, trains and buses. Normally a little cheaper without the middleman.
24. Buy flights on Tuesdays– it’s normally cheaper.
25. Always research flights on the Incognito window on your phone or laptop – gets rid of cookies and will prevent the price skyrocketing up.
26. Use a flight search engine that works for you. I'm a real Skyscanner gal - I froth that you can see flight prices over a whole month and find the cheapest day.
27. Be flexible with flights – sometimes it’ll be $70 cheaper if you fly the day after your desired departure date.
28. Get a round-the-world flight if you’re planning on hitting a few continents. I paid $1800 for four international flights. Insane!

Accommodation 🏨 🛏️

29.  Balance staying at cheap hostels that are also in convenient areas – won’t be spending an arm and a leg to get around.
30.  Book hostels direct if they have a website – will normally get nifty bonuses or be cheaper than Hostelworld or Booking.com.
31. Couch surf on Couchsurfing.com for free accommodation.
32. House sit for someone who is away.
33. Pet sit – it’s like house sitting, but you’ll be looking after their pet too.
34. If you have the gear, camping will always be cheaper than accom. Check local rules and regulations. For example, it’s legal to camp basically everywhere in Ireland. My mate and I bought a tent on Facebook Marketplace and road tripped around the country.
35. Be an au pair – free accom in exchange for looking after kids.
36. Kill two birds with one stone by taking transport during the night ie. An overnight bus or train. It won’t be the best night’s sleep but alas, at least you’re saving time and money.
37. You don’t have to be religious to stay at a monastery which offer super cheap or free accommodation
38. Use your mates! If you have a mutual living in Mexico, hit them up and stay at their place for a few nights.
39. If you’re roadtripping in a car in a safe area, just sleep in it too.
40. If you don’t have a visa, do a Workaway (here's our ultimate guide to workaways)
41. Do a WWOOF – free accom for agriculture jobs.
42. House swap like in The Holiday.
43. Volunteer at a hostel for free accommodation.
44. Work on a cruise ship – this will get you around with free accommodation. Potentially could get paid too.

More jobs you can do to make $$$ 💸 🤑

45. Look for a cash job – ask around. Some bars and café’s may sneakily just pay cash in hand. No visa needed.
46. Teach English – there are tonnes of organisations that’ll hook you up with an English teaching gig – no qualifications needed.
47. Start a travel blog or social media page on Insta or Tik Tok. You might just strike up lucky.
48. If you have skills like writing, editing, graphic design… etc, get yourself out there and work freelance on the go on a website like Fiverr.
49. If you can play an instrument, teach music. This is normally cash in hand for an hour of your expertise.
50. Or just busk in the street for some extra cash
51. Give haircuts at the hostel (if you’re actually good at it)
52. Bring a tattoo gun to the hostel and sell tats for like $50 a pop (again, please only if you’re actually good at it).
53. Sell your art or photographs at markets, stalls or online.
54. Work at a summer camp – there’s a tonne in America.
55. Volunteer at events for free entry, like festivals.

Attractions 🎡 🖼️

56. Research museums and art galleries before you go. A lot of them will be free on certain days.
57. If you’re a student, bring your student ID to reap discounts. (And if you’re not a student, just pretend you’ve lost your ID…)
58. Ask locals for suggestions of free things to do nearby.
59. Skip the expensive tourist attractions if they don’t interest you 100%. I mean, you don’t have to pay a zillion euros to go up the Eiffel tower if you’re happy just having a picnic underneath it.
60. Sometimes buying tickets for attractions online is cheaper

Misc hacks 🌺🌴

61. Travel out of the peak seasons (especially in Europe).
62. Travel to cheaper destinations – it’s as simple as that. South East Asia and South America are gonna make your money stretch way longer than Europe
63. Join a bank that won’t bombard you with international transaction fees. #notspon, I love ING.
64. Don’t buy books. Most hostels have a free little library. Take one and donate it at the next hostel.
65. Don’t bother getting a sim card – there’s free wifi everywhere
66. Take free classes – I did free yoga, surf and cooking classes whenever I saw the chance
67. Treasure the experience and your photos over material things aka souvenirs are the price of Jesus’ tears so…
68. Travel light if possible so your bag can just be carry on, not checked in for more $
69. Shop and eat where the locals do – it’ll normally be more affordable
70. Learn to barter in places like South East Asia – you’ll get a bargain or two

Wow. Talk about information overload. But see, there really are a tonne of things you can do to travel the world on a tight budget. Go forth and conquer it all baby.