Nov 02 2007
Need to Save? Stop A While
One of the many advantages to being in this business is that the money keeps rolling in no matter what I’m doing and because of this saving money becomes pretty easy. All I really need to do to save is kill time while spending nothing. The same is true in the nine to five world but not spending any money isn’t really an option when you’ve got to get yourself to work, feed yourself, pay your rent etc. Not matter how hard you try to save there are still those minimum monthly expenses that need to get paid no matter what.
In the travel world, however, there is nobody to answer to and you can pretty much do whatever you want. Sure, you have rent to pay in the form of nightly accommodation and you still need to feed yourself and get from place to place but there is more choice about how this is done.
So I’ve come up with a few ways to kill time and cut down on my spending while still doing something worthwhile and enjoyable so that money can be saved a lot quicker.
- Volunteering - The internet is packed with paid ‘volunteer’ positions where you shell out hundreds to a middleman to set you up with an organisation to play in the sand or build a few random things. I think these are a waste of everyone’s time and money but I also think that there are plenty of worthwhile volunteer opportunities out there if you’re willing to seek them out. Many places will rightly ask you to support yourself but some great causes will provide food and accommodation like Hands On and the Burma Volunteer Program. I’d be totally fine with paying my own living costs but they’re likely to be a lot less than shelling out for a hostel and meals at restaurants and working will keep me busy and less likely to spend money than if I were travelling around. Add to all that the fact that I’d be helping out a good cause and it’s pretty much a win win.
- Work for room and board - This is something I did a lot of in New Zealand, working a few hours a day in exchange for food and a place to sleep. I’ve never had a bad experience but one of my friends warned me about a farm run by an evil woman who made her work 8+ hours a day while only feeding her hot dogs. I’d say this is the exception rather than the rule. Besides, I like hot dogs. When you’re not working you can pretty much do what you want whether that be exploring the area, pursuing a hobby or being a web geek. It’s a really great way to learn a few new skills, experience a different way of life, and meet some interesting locals. I’ve done this before through Help Exchange and WWOOF is a popular one that I’ve yet to try plus there are also lots of smaller, country-specific networks out there that I keep meaning to hunt out.
- Go sailing - I love the ocean and have always wanted to learn how to sail. I had a crack at sailing when I spent a week on a smallish yacht off the coast of Queensland with five other backpackers and a pervy boozehound captain. I was demoted to tea maker and dish pig because of my hopelessness with the ropes. Well now I’m determined to get my sea legs and there seem to be a few opportunities out there for people with no sailing skills. One I’ve come across that looks like the best experience ever is on Karaka with a French guy, his girlfriend and an ever changing crew as they wander around the world. Most boats charge a daily or weekly fee and this one is no exception but the fee is usually less that what life on land would cost.
- Join a cult - Actually I’m just kidding about this one but my dad has an irrational fear that I’m going to run off and join a cult so I thought I’d put this in just to scare him. But for those of you out there that are cult-inclined, it might be an option. Just make sure your leader has a beard. It’s not a real cult unless he has a beard. But then again don’t cults make you sign over all your money to them? Maybe not the best idea I’ve ever had.
Being able to hoard my money faster isn’t my main motivation because I’d be doing these things out of interest anyways, but it’s a nice side effect of hiding myself away somewhere without many expenses or temptation. I could always try to find a hut on a beach for $2 a night and hang out there awhile (and I plan to) but I look forward to exploring a few more interesting and interactive options as well.
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I've been travelling since January 2008 living off earnings from the web. Follow me as I bum around Asia and beyond, getting up to mischief and working online as I go.
If you have a work permit working in the Australian bush will help a lot- no access to the internet though!
OMG be careful about that cult thing! One very aggressive cult tried to recruit Jim and I when we mentioned that we are “taking time off and traveling to find a new place to live and work.” Seriously! Watch out for them.
In 1985, I was one of the first 4 Filipino lay volunteers to one of the most remote area of Papua New Guinea, only 2 of us were female. A catholic mission HS was started there earlier by priests and brothers only, and they were able to get an Australian couple from the Peace Corps group that stayed with the mission longer than the usual short-term volunteers.
When they went back to Australia, the mission experimented hiring lay volunteers. It was one of the few risky decisions (malaria infested area) I’ve ever made but by far my most gratifying moments…to live in solitude next to the beach and a privilege to work with these missionaries. I could have done this probably in the Philippines, but the allowance in PNG was equivalent to a well-paid full time job in my country. This was a bonus–to have the new experience I wanted and still have the money my family needed. At that time we had a 3-year contract to teach…may be a site idea one day?
You always have to battle to find a cheap place that has good internet. Vietnam seemed pretty good for this, but I found it tiring after a while. Laos is very cheap and Langkawi wasn’t bad either.
My travels to date have been a year or 5 here & their so movin each day or week is probably not something I will do. Knowing me when I go off on my 6 month reconnaissance trip of South Asia I will probably end up stayin a year or 10 in the first place I like
“Need to Save? Stop A While” When I read this last night I sat back & thought about it for some time. Its a great feelin to know you can go off to some remote area & continue to bank a decent sum of money each month this goes against everything we are taught or brought up to belive. I have allready thought about the fact I could do some Volunteer
work one of my dreams would be to spend time doing someting with animals, with kids following a close second. It now seems like this is becoming a very feasible idea thanks to the web.
When I was a lot younger I worked in highend seasonal restaurants
been young I spent most I earnt in the clubs been a little older now
& wiser I hope I could do the odd 6 months here & their and accumalate quite a decent sum. Boats is another thing I have dabbled in been situated in Ft Lauderdale & knowing a lot of people in the industry its another thing I could envisage my self doing for a few months here & their.
Cecilia that sounds like a cool experience, there might be a site idea in there somewhere.
I’d also like to take a cargo ship at some point for a month or so. It costs around $100 a day so it’s not cheap but there’s also nowhere to spend money really and if I did a trip like Oz/NZ to South America where flights are expensive it would turn out to be pretty economical.
A note about the volunteering, any charity in say S-Asia would gain more from your time if you spent it setting up site(s) that raise funds for them, than by you working labor type jobs and paying for your food and lodging. You would need to stay on-site anyway, in order to get to know it and take pictures and interviews. When I was looking into it I learned that what the charities have aplenty is access to cheap manpower. Just saying it cold be an alternative way to volunteering, using your specialization.
Interesting idea WJM. I didn’t even think of that even though I spent time in New Zealand building website in exchange for accommodation. I think anytime you can use your best skills is much better than slogging it out as a labourer. That’s something I’ll for sure keep an eye out for.
Just wanted to say keep up the good work! I have added your blog to my Technorati favs.
I too plan to go travelling at the end of this year. Not quite as far as you, I’m just going to do Europe in a campervan with the girlfriend.
I’m hopping I can earn some revenue from my sites and freelance work while away to fund the trip. I’m thinking if I create posts about all the ski resorts and spots I visit along the way then I should get some decent traffic through the search engines and make some cash from advertising or affiliate deals.