In How to Travel Around the World for Free, three major ways of traveling free or reducing travel costs were suggested for budget travelers including couch surfing, volunteering, and how to hitch-hike or cut transport costs. This article gives more tips on ways to travel around the world for free from caretaking in homes to visiting and staying in homes in over 100 countries.
Stay or Live for Free Around the World
Does anyone remember the film Holiday in which Cameron Diaz’s and Kate Winslet’s characters swap homes for a week or so? Yes, people actually do this and some of the free travel opportunities are a bit like this.
Housesitters advertises for people wanted to take care of others’ houses for specified periods of time from a week up to many months. The main focus is the USA, but opportunities are listed around the world too.
What does a house sitter do? “In exchange for free accommodation, the house sitter will perform specified duties to care for your home and pets.” Most house sitting advertisements seek responsible carers and often require pet care, and sometimes pool and garden maintenance too. There is a membership fee in the mid-40s and applicants are required to undertake checks before being admitted to the program. Once admitted, they are free to apply to any of the advertisements and find a placement anywhere in the world.
In her travel memoir, Tales of Female Nomad, Rita Golden Gellman mentions her experience staying with Servas in Israel.
Lodge for Free With Servas
Servas is another organization that offers visiting travelers an opportunity to stay in someone else’s home for free around the world. Servas has been operating for 60 years and states on their site that, “Servas is an international, non-governmental, multicultural peace association run by volunteers in over 100 countries. We operate through a network of Servas hosts around the world who are interested in opening their doors to travelers and of Servas travelers who want to get to know the heart of the countries they visit.”
Servas actually has “consultative status” with the United Nations as an Non-Governmental Organization.
Unlike house sitters, Servas hosts are present and the point of the experience is for hosts to offer hospitality to guests, specifically dinner and lodgings for two nights. Longer stays can be arranged directly with the hosts if mutually agreed upon.
Potential Sevas visitors must undergo a screening process and pay a nominal fee. Travelers can now apply online. After acceptance, they can contact any of the hosts listed and arrange to stay.
Servas is more effective if the traveler is already in the country and is a good back-up option where accommodation may be needed at the last minute.
Caretaking Opportunities Worldwide
Another organization that offers accommodation opportunities to travelers is Caretaker which lists opportunities to take care of properties worldwide and bills itself as The No.1 source for caretaking opportunities and has been operating for 28 years.
A review on the web site by the Wall Street Journal writes, “THE CARETAKER GAZETTE matches property owners with caretakers to look after their spreads. 'For those who are connected with the earth, but don't own land, caretaking is an ideal career,' says Gary Dunn, publisher of the Boerne, TX, newsletter. The May/June issue includes jobs on an Arizona horse ranch, a goat-cheese farm inMassachusetts and a Georgia farm 'with 15 acres of mountain land that needs clearing.'”
In an interview at Caretaker.org, Tom and Jean describe their experience as caretakers in Mexico: “There are ten housesitters in Alamos this summer. "Housesitters are great people. Not just because we are house- sitters, but the sitters we have met this summer are adventurous, dedicated, service oriented folks. They believe that "su casa es mi casa" [your house is my house] and take care of it like it is," says Tom.”
Between staying with local host families with Servas, or house sitting or caretaking, it’s possible for travelers to find ways to travel or live anywhere in the world for free with a little forward planning.
Gayle Pescud - Co-founder of G-lish Foundation in Ghana, an award winning non-profit that welcomes volunteers in Africa.
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