F R E E? Living in another country for free has to be a scam, or some weird time share deal, or maybe winning a grand getaway contest, right? Okay, so maybe you can’t travel or live 100% for free unless you’re a famous blogger who gets every flight and hotel expensed, but I will share the incredible opportunities one can take advantage of to save amazing money while getting to live a new country.
I think the key here is shifting your perspective of what travel is. I view travel and vacation as two separate entities. Vacation is relaxing, a nice hotel, a beautiful beach, and low stress. Travel, I view as an exhilarating but not always luxurious experience. Travel is the opportunity to see a place authentically, get to know local people, and places.
Being a recent grad, I couldn’t really choose to vacation if I tried because of lack of funds, so I’ve had to find new ways to travel on a budget. My favorite way to be able to see beautiful places and get to know locals is through working. Working in another country gives an authentic experience and typically pays for all expenses.
My experiences:
My first time working abroad was in a beautiful hostel in northern Colombia. Minutes away from Parque Tayrona National Park, I worked at a hostel that was being built. It was a gorgeous hostel in the middle of the jungle, run by a British Colombian family. Every morning my friend and I would spend 3-4 hours painting the new hostel 5 days a week in exchange for three meals a day and accommodation. While the housing wasn’t the most glamorous, it was like a standard hostel room that you would usually have to pay for. We got to work with an international team of volunteers, a couple from New Zealand, two girls from Belgium, a gal from Italy, and a guy from France. Together we had a beautiful experience working hard in the mornings and spending afternoons in the pool. I worked there for three weeks and had weekends off, allowing me to explore Minca and other nearby areas. Some afternoons we went to famous beaches nearby and did amazing hikes shared by the owner of the hostel. This experience saved me almost a month’s worth of savings, I met incredible people, and got to work in the most beautiful hostel.
My next experience was working with a non profit in Costa Rica. This past summer, I spent three months in south west Costa Rica working with high school students and service projects. While admittedly this experience was not as fun or laid back as working at a hostel, I got an the incredible experience to strengthen my Spanish and resume. Each week I got to explore non touristy areas of Costa Rica and on days off enjoyed the beautiful areas of the country. Working with a non profit is not only enriching but allows you to get to know locals. When I left, I had made a handful of connections and had my suitcase full of freshly made coffee from the host families I worked with.
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My third experience was again with a hostel in Cotopaxi, Ecuador. This experience was life changing, and even with no days off, I ended up staying at this hostel much longer than I expected. Mornings, I awoke early with the volunteers to serve breakfast to the guests, during the days I would lead hikes which was incredible, and each night we cozied around the fire exchanging stories with the amazing international group of guests. On free hours, with the volunteers I would explore beautiful waterfalls, wander on on random paths with views of beautiful Cotopaxi, and spent many hours watercoloring. This hostel allowed me to travel for much longer as all meals were paid for (and AMAZING). This hostel also allowed for you to go on the tours that guests could go on, so I got to horseback ride, do a hike at 16,000 feet, and do gorgeous nearby hikes everyday. This experience I preferred to traveling because I could leave my belongings in one place for long periods of time, get to know multiple people through the various guests staying, and exploring nature for free.
Following this hostel, I worked at another in Bariloche, Argentina for a week. While my experience in Ecuador was life changing, this week volunteer experience was lack luster. The accommodation are generally not that great, but this place was especially crowded. I was in charge for the night shift, staying up for three nights straight, resulting in a strange sleep schedule. The plus side was I got 3 days off in Bariloche and was able to explore the area. Despite this experience being not that great, I still got to meet some amazing guests and saved money on food and accommodation, and could leave my belongings in one spot for a little while.
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So now you’ve read my experiences and maybe you want to work abroad! So How?
Hostels: To work at a hostel, I highly recommended researching hostels in the areas you’re going and reaching out if they have open positions. But if it seems like no hostels are offering this, I would use Work Away.
WorkAway and World Packers: These two websites are excellent for finding volunteer opportunities. Many hostels are listed on these websites, and even better there are reviews for these positions, so you can see how other volunteers rated their experience. These websites also offer opportunities for farming, teaching, and babysitting all over the world. They do charge an annual fee, but it’s completely worth it.
Teaching English: While I’ve never done this, I know many people that are able to live in other countries by teaching english. There are many programs that set this up, and allow you to authentically live in another place while working.
Non Profits: There are many non profits looking for extra hands in other countries that allow you to improve your resume while giving you a challenging and rewarding experience.
What to expect:
Know with any opportunity going abroad, it might not align with how you expect. When I arrived in Ecuador at the hostel that I ended up loving, I originally was extremely overwhelmed with the workload and felt it was unfair we got no days off. As the weeks past though, I got comfortable with the work and ended up enjoying my time so much that I extended my stay.
Do you have any cool opportunities to live in other countries that I may have missed? Please share and happy traveling!
Hailee Boyle Social Media Management 