Travel The World For Free? Here's How I Did It For 10 Years

If you are fortunate to have a passport that allows you to travel to most destinations around the world, then the world is your oyster. And with platforms like HelpStay and Couchsurfing, you can slash your accommodation costs, giving you the freedom to roam further and longer. In short, you can travel the world for free.

Discovering the World of Free Travel

I first discovered the idea of travelling the globe on a shoestring when I arrived in Australia after a 30+ hour flight, escaping the British winter shortly after the global financial crisis of 2008.

Touching down in Melbourne, I was met by a friend who drove me to her home in St Kilda.

After a few days, I started to feel I was overstaying my welcome, but she reassured me that she was enjoying my company. ‘Besides,’ she laughed, helping herself to the wine and chocolate I had brought as a thank-you gift,

“I often have couch surfers stay for weeks at a time. Consider yourself another couch surfer—stay as long as you like. I’m also happy to do a help exchange if that would make you feel more comfortable contributing … my garden needs weeding, and my fence needs painting. I’ll provide all your meals in return for your work too!”

Unlocking the World: How to Travel the World for Free

Having spent 5 years since graduating from university working as a corporate wage slave, this was an entirely new concept.

Since selling my soul to a multi-national and becoming a shark in a suit in London’s financial world, my three weeks of holiday a year meant saving up, jetting across the world to some luxury resort and paying through the nose for the privilege. Returning to the grindstone made me feel trapped in a life I was desperate to escape… yet I was unable to see any alternative.

Afterall, hadn’t my parents always told me that life was about hard work, saving money and paying off a mortgage?

The global financial crisis of 2008 was a blessing in disguise for me. I went from earning a good salary with huge bonuses to being told that my job could only be part-time if I decided to stay on. I was devastated.

The world as I knew it had come to an end… and I wasn’t even close to being 30 years old! After weeks of depression I decided to escape the cold and dark months of the northern hemisphere by applying for a Working Holiday Visa in Australia.

Initially I wanted to see if I could find a similar job in Melbourne or Sydney, but my plans soon changed … and for the better.

Making the Most of Your Working Holiday Visa in Australia

Sitting in the bright sunlight of my friend’s garden in St Kilda, I asked what a couch surfer was. As I was filled in, my jaw dropped. “You mean, you allow complete strangers into your home? Strange men too? What if you get raped or … killed?” I couldn’t believe that anyone could be so stupid.

My friend laughed again, telling me that all the people who surfed her couch provided her with references and personal data, so it was much safer than it seemed. She reassured me that she had been doing it for many years; first as a couch surfer when she was backpacking through Europe (where I first met her), and then as a host when she returned to Australia.

“I also used to do help exchange volunteering all over Europe and America,” she told me. “There are a few different websites and platforms where you can find work on farms or other places in exchange for accommodation and meals. You should try it out.”

Exploring Online Platforms to Travel the World for Free

And, so I did. Travelling north through Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, I discovered volunteering platforms like HelpStay on the internet where there were thousands of hosts looking for backpackers and volunteers to weed their gardens, muck out their stables, clean their homes, watch their kids and many other jobs!

In less than six months, I had stayed with five different hosts as I travelled north, working for a horse-riding tour group, a cattle station, a yoga retreat, a surf school and a commercial yacht.

Each morning I woke with a grin plastered across my face, bouncing out of bed with energy and enthusiasm. After the grind of the London work week, I found that around four hours work per day in beautiful landscapes and peaceful settings, all in exchange for comfortable accommodation and my meals, was nothing short of heaven.

Travel the World for Free: Escape the Corporate Slog

Being part of help exchange volunteering programmes in Oz felt like leaving Kansas far behind!

Now I didn’t have to worry about getting to the London underground before the commuter rush started, being crammed up against the glass of the carriage with my face in a stranger’s arm-pit, making it to the office before my boss started clock watching, sitting under fluorescent lights in front of a computer screen from 8am to 6pm doing work I couldn’t stand … and all so I could pay my exorbitant rent, cover my bills and put food on the table. Despite my above average salary, London was expensive, and I had struggled to make ends meet!

A few months after the global financial crisis of 2008, there I was in sunny Oz doing things that I had only ever dreamed of and getting to do it all for free.

I couldn’t believe that I had spent the last five years stuck in the prison of my old, soul- destroying job, when there was so much more to life. I felt like I had broken free of my chains and was suddenly in a new dimension brimming with bright colours and magical sounds.

Travel the World for Free: Experience Life on the Open Road

It might not be for everyone, but if you are the sort of person who loves to travel, experience different cultures and see exotic destinations all around the world, then I highly recommend this lifestyle.

Of course, there are downsides, but for me the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Travel the World for Free: The Negatives are:

Putting off settling down – There is a part of me that dreams of my own country cottage with a vegetable garden, horses and dogs, but I keep putting it off because there’s always just one more place I want to explore.
Feeling lonely – Despite spending hours a day on social media talking to friends and family back home, as well the new friends I picked up around the globe, I often feel like I could do with a hug. Yet having a man in my life has now taken a back seat to freedom and independence. I have become used to being alone and shrugging off lonely moments.
Money worries – Although I can go for months help exchange volunteering without spending a cent, there are times when looking at my bank balance is followed by many a sleepless night. However, I have found that it is possible to ask the hosts that you volunteer for if they would be happy to pay for extra jobs/hours. I have also begun to get copywriting work online and now consider myself a ‘Digital Nomad’, which helps top up the bank balance; I even have a regular client and paycheck. I tend to volunteer in the mornings during the week and write during my evenings and weekends, while my afternoons are for resting and exploring.
Feeling like I’m missing out – So often, when I return home for important occasions, I am faced with friends and family whose kids are growing up, whose businesses are expanding and whose homes appear more impressive and expensive. I look at my battered old suitcase and worn out clothes (pretty much all my worldly goods can be squashed into a bag) and wonder what I’m doing with my life. Then I show my photos to everyone, regaling them with my adventures, and watch them turn green with envy!
Being told to grow up – It seems that every time I have contact with members of my family, I am accused of not being responsible. It’s true that I don’t have much in the way of security, however, I am beginning to make more and more money through my writing and soon I plan to start squirrelling away a nest egg. I believe it is possible to live a sustainable life while also enjoying freedom.
Not having a family of my own – I did once think I would get married and have kids. The having children part seemed more like an obligation though, and now I’ve been married and divorced I think marriage is seriously overrated! Yes, there is a part of me that looks at others and wishes I had what they have … but then I remember that I could never make the sacrifices and compromises that they had to make.

Travel the World for Free: The Positives are:

My health is much better when I’m travelling – When I am in England, I tend to get tired, depressed and more susceptible to colds and flus. When I am travelling through dream destinations, I find I am more robust. This is partly because I often travel to places where organic fruits and vegetables are plentiful and cheap, or even free because I am growing them myself!
I am fitter and leaner – They call it the Heathrow injection; as soon as I return to England, I gain weight and lose muscle. This is because back home I tend to sit on the couch watching Netflix, eating cakes and biscuits, and avoiding the grey and drizzle. As soon as I’m in my dream destination working hard as a volunteer for my host, whether it’s riding horses or weeding vegetable beds, I find my clothes feel looser and my legs feel stronger.
I am more positive – My mental health is always much better in sunnier places where I can spend hours a day outside working or exploring. Makes sense doesn’t it?
Flexibility around work – Sometimes I will spend months with one host doing the same types of jobs because I really enjoy it, but as soon as I begin to get bored, I start looking at other types of volunteer work nearby or further afield. Right now, I am working as a gardener at an ecolodge in Portugal but come the Spring, I want to sail across the Atlantic to the USA and Canada, stopping off in the Azores. With exchange platform websites, I can easily find hosts with yachts and I can also find hundreds of hosts in the Azores and America. There is such a wide selection of destinations, types of hosts and volunteer work, it’s like being a kid in a candy shop.
Getting to meet people from all walks of life – Each host I stay with is unique. Often, they come from a different cultural background. I always check their reviews beforehand, so I can find out what other helpers’ experiences were. I usually get to learn new cuisine, languages and perspectives. Sometimes we don’t get on or I don’t like the place – so I leave early. More often than not, I end up staying for months and make a friend for life!
I learn new skills and talents – I always learn something new from each host that I stay with. Each place is different, and each host has a unique way of doing things. For example, I have learned about permaculture, natural horsemanship, sustainable building and vegan cuisine … all while volunteering.
Having more time for yourself – When I was working in the corporate world, I used to wake up at 6am to be at work by 8am, and I’d usually return home long after 8pm utterly exhausted and unable to do much more than collapse into bed. As a volunteer, I tend to wake up a couple of hours later, wander into the garden or farm yard, spend the morning doing a job I enjoy (usually in the sun), and then I have the rest of the day to do whatever I like! During my free time, I will go to the beach, sleep in a hammock, take a walk, explore the nearby town and many other things. Then I’ll spend my evenings copywriting or marketing for a paying client if I feel the need to top up my bank balance, or I might just watch a movie or read a book instead. My time is my own!
I look younger than I am – A lady should never reveal her actual age, and I never do! People usually mistake me for being between five and ten years younger than I am. This is probably because I always choose to volunteer in pristine and unpolluted destinations, often in the remotest parts of the world. The lack of stress, pollutants, traffic, EMF and negative energies means that my body has less wear and tear than other people my own age – also not having a husband and kids must help!
Life is constantly exciting and interesting – Of course there are ups and downs in my life, just like anyone else. I’ve had a couple of terrible experiences with hosts and had to escape to an Airbnb, I’ve been sick with no one to look after me, I’ve slept on airport floors because I couldn’t afford a hotel, I’ve spent lonely birthdays and Christmases in strangers’ homes and I’ve had money worries that kept me up at night. Yet I have always bounced back and figured things out, often ending up in destinations and situations that most people would kill to be in. There is never a dull moment living this life.

Summing Up Ten Years of Freedom

Just over ten years later, I am still travelling the world and help exchange volunteering in/on homes, farms, hotels, yachts, conservation projects, animal sanctuaries, spiritual retreats and many more places around the globe.

Of course, there are times when the bank balance needs topping up. I could always find paid work as a supervisor in an ecolodge or as a TEFL English teacher, but it was never for long. Soon the open road called to me, and I packed my bags looking for the next adventure! Now I have a copywriting career and website, I can earn money on the road and consider myself a ‘Digital Nomad’. Sometimes I have hosts who need my skills as a writer too.

My friends and family back home tutt and shake their heads. They think I ‘should’ be doing what they are doing; commuting through rush-hour traffic, selling their valuable time to pay off a mortgage, settling down with a partner and raising rugrats. Most of my older friends, cousins and siblings are content with what I call ‘Adulting’, and I feel like the odd one out.

There is a part of me that wonders what my life would look like now had I not heard about help exchange volunteering platforms that enable people to travel the globe without worrying about the cost of hotel bills and restaurant meals.

Travel the World for Free: Breaking from the Corporate World

But when I think of myself trapped in the corporate world all those years ago, I feel a shiver run up and down my spine. I breathe a sigh of relief and thank the universe for my blessings. I am truly grateful for most of the experiences I have had over the last ten years.

My life is truly amazing! I have lived and worked on every continent, travelled through more than thirty countries and experienced countless wonders including sailing the Whitsundays, hunting wild boar in New Zealand, training a Melbourne Cup race horse, teaching service-English to staff in an eco-village in Bali, running a safari camp in Kenya, breaking in wild horses in Chilean Patagonia and writing a reiki manual for a yoga retreat near Machu Picchu in Peru!

Would I trade this life with the path I ‘should’ have followed? No way!

Want to Travel the World for Free in 2025? Here’s how I did it for 10 years