I recently got back from a two-month study abroad program in Italy, and I was fortunate enough to receive a grant to improve my knowledge of the Italiana language (as you can see, I’m fluent now). During the first month of my stay, I lived in a two-story, four-room apartment in the little town of Perugia. To get a good sizing of Perugia, take the town of Tallahassee, diminish it down to just Florida State University (most people do this already) and that’s the size of Perugia. I could walk the parameter of the city in just under an hour and by my second week there I felt like I knew the faces of everyone on my street. For my second month, I stayed in a three-room apartment in Rome sardine-packed with four other girls, though, luckily, I managed to get a room to myself by co-opting the study room and putting a bed in there. I would frequently have to wait 40 minutes each morning before I could use the bathroom, but the beauty and culture of Rome more than made up for it.
On the weekends when I wasn’t studying, I took to the train to explore the other beautiful cities in Italy and one week I even managed to squeeze a trip to Paris in. That being said, constantly moving around for two months taught me a lot about traveling cheap. Since the bulk of expenses when traveling are from finding a place to stay, here are some cheaper alternatives to a hotel or even an Airbnb.
1. Hostels:
For whatever reason, hostels aren’t as rampant in America as they are in Europe. Over there, it’s common after students graduate high school to take the year off and explore Europe, jumping from hostel to hostel with huge camper bags slung over their shoulders. If you’re unsure of what a hostel is, it’s essentially a dorm room. Rooms frequently include six to twelve beds and can be same-sex or co-ed. While sharing a room with 12 other people may sound awful, it’s actually a great way to make friends. When I was in Paris, I stayed in a room at 3 Ducks Hostel and only paid $45 a night, which included a free breakfast. My friend and I were lucky and managed to get the six-bed dorm room all to ourselves. A good website to use to search up hostels is hostelworld.com.
Courtesy: HiRUM
2. Couch Surfing:
Couching surfing is exactly what it sounds like. People from all over the world will go on the website and post that they have an available room or couch in their apartment for anyone who needs a place to sleep. Couch surfing is completely free and while it may seem scary and daunting to trust the couch of an absolute stranger, there are verified users and many people leave reviews on their experience on someone’s couch to read up on.
Courtesy: The Savvy Backpacker
3. HelpX:
HelpX can be used for short stays but is especially beneficial to people that want to stay in an area for a while. The website is forum style and allows you to pick the country you want to visit. Then you read through the posts of Help-Xers, as they are called, asking for help.
Basically, HelpX functions like this: in exchange for free boarding and sometimes meals, you help someone with a task. Tasks can be fairly mundane like helping build a shed and occasionally babysitting, or as particular as sculpting traditional plates and feeding baby goats. Just like when searching for hotels, it’s important to read the reviews to see if a HelpX post will be a good fit for you.
Courtesy: HelpX
4. World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF):
If you’re a fan of languid countrysides, animals or getting your hands dirty, WWOOFing might be a great way for you to explore the world for cheap. Like HelpX, WWOOFing is working in exchange for housing, except all the work is farm work and may range from looking after chickens to helping plant seeds to helping birth a horse (true story of a friend of mine that WWOOFed in France). It’s important to note that the website does require a $15 annual fee to register.
Courtesy: WWOOF
Traveling doesn’t always have to be expensive. Sometimes the cheaper option means extensive research and a whole lot of trust, but hopefully, this list helps cuts through some of that work and worry. Happy traveling!