Warning: These travel tips are not for people scared of new experiences; worried about the possibility that something could go wrong (a possibility I like to call, “adventure”); shy to meet friendly strangers; opposed to leaving their comfort zones.
I traveled mostly for free across several countries in Europe, through much of New Zealand, and parts of Australia using these means. I spent some money on food, but it was minimal, and the main cost was transportation. The experience was cheap, but priceless.
Couch Surfing
Does the thought of contacting a stranger and sleeping in his or her home sound crazy and scary to you?
Actually, it’s not so bad, and quite rewarding.
Couchsurfing.org has security measures in place to give users information about the hosts who offer sleeping arrangements in locations all over the world via the website.
For example, you can choose to stay with only hosts who have been verified, meaning the hosts have registered their addresses with the website by paying to have unique codes sent by mail to them, which they then use to confirm their locations.
Also, hosts cannot remove negative reviews on their pages. So, the Couchsurfing.org community keeps tabs on users to help other users make choices that will lead to safe and positive experiences.
The website states: “The vast majority of Couchsurfing experiences are not only safe, but outright life changing.”
I have to agree.
The view just outside my Couchsurfing host’s home in Lucerne, Switzerland. (Tara MacIsaac/Epoch Times)
The benefits, good experiences:
By staying with locals, I was able to see regions through their eyes—to experience my destinations in a way most tourists can’t. My hosts could tell me where to go and what to do way better than any travel guide.
For example, a few years ago in Lucerne, Switzerland, my host, Thomas, took me to a little pub built by his friends in a small town nearby. He told me the cheapest way to get to the hikes I wanted to do while taking in some bonus sights along the way.
He made me the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten—that record stands to this day.
He had traveled in Asia, where he learned his cooking skills, and where he benefited from the hospitality of Couchsurfing hosts.
Which brings me to the next argument in favor of Couchsurfing: the people you meet are generally interesting folk with long travel histories, great stories, big hearts, and a keen desire to get to know others.
Couchsurfing also promotes, in my view, a lost trust between strangers. As a Couchsurfer, I learned to let go of the idea that all strangers who offer something for nothing should be feared.
One of my Couchsurfing hosts in Dublin, Ireland. (Tara MacIsaac/Epoch Times)
The downside:
My first experience was not ideal, but I chalk it up as one of the adventures one must encounter when leaving the comfort zone.
My friend and I stayed with a man in Prague, Czech Republic. From what I could tell by his online profile, he had a dry sense of humor, which is usually a characteristic I enjoy.
That sense of humor was more biting and derogatory than dry in person. The quarters were more cramped than I'd pictured from the description. We had to come home earlier than we wanted, because he had to get up for work in the morning—we had a curfew.
But, it was kind of a funny adventure. We got lost coming home, because we used a mobile landmark (a food truck) to remember where his building was, and we didn’t realize that every building in the old Communist-era block looked exactly alike until we had to try to distinguish the one we were looking for.
In another negative experience, my hosts in Dublin, Ireland, would not respond to my calls when I arrived. I later learned that one of them had lost his phone. I spent the day drinking Guinness in a pub on the street they lived on—incidentally, the street was named “Tara,” which is my name and which I thought boded well. I spent the night in a hostel for 30 Euro ($40) and connected with them the next day.
They weren’t exactly my kind of people, but one of the guys was really nice and took me to view some beautiful cliffs outside the city.
Help Exchange
Many lovely people all over the world are willing to give you room and board for a few hours of work a day. I wouldn’t even call it work—I would call it learning new skills.
I used a website called Help Exchange, www.helpx.net. For a fee of about $30, I got a membership and connected with the people I came to think of as my German grandparents, among other wonderful friends.
I pictured Axel and Angelica as a young, hip couple working on their small-scale organic farm in northwestern Germany. They turned out to be a fantastic couple in their 60s who reminded me a lot of my grandparents back in Canada.
Angelica’s maternal warmth, aprons, and mannerisms reminded me of my grandmother. Axel played Scottish tunes on the fiddle—a skill my grandfather in the Celtic region of eastern Canada shares. It was, nonetheless, a very German experience.
Andrew Mills (R), a British helper at the farm, Axel Viebrock (C), and Angelika Berns (L). (Tara MacIsaac/Epoch Times)
In my free time, I rode a bicycle all through the countryside. In the middle of a farmer’s field I visited a Stone Age grave site. A large slab of stone is propped up on two other stones, shaded by a few surrounding trees. It was a peaceful site that had maintained its sanctity over thousands of years, tucked away in a little corner of rural Germany without any signs or tourists snapping photographs (well, aside from myself).
Stone Age burial site in Grossenhain, Germany. (Tara MacIsaac/Epoch Times)
I adjusted to the German tradition of Abendsbrot (an evening meal consisting of homemade bread, wurst, and some condiments, rather than the full meal I usually have for dinner). I learned way more German than I had in the four previous months in Berlin.
The centuries-old home was made in the Fachwerk style: blocks are separated by wooden beams and numbered, so the homes could be taken apart and reassembled elsewhere as needed. It also had an old, straw roof.
I had my own little guesthouse with a ceramic oven for heat and an idyllic view.
I would work for a few hours a day, helping weed the vegetable garden or with other farm tasks. I learned how to wrap potatoes in left-over sheep’s wool before planting them in the spring, so if a frost hits, they aren’t affected. I learned how to graft apple trees to grow multiple types of apples on the same tree.
I spent a couple of weeks there and I didn’t spend a penny. My food was provided, and Axel and Angelica even gave me a bit of cash to take a little trip into town (though this is an extra and shouldn’t be expected from hosts).
They took me around to see some of the local sites, and we enjoyed many meals and evening chats together.
Axel Viebrock and Angelika Berns’s home in Grossenhain, Germany. (Tara MacIsaac/Epoch Times)
That was just one of multiple, wonderful experiences I had with Help Exchange. Not all arrangements are on farms—I also did some babysitting for a few hours a day in a small town by the name of Bailingup in Australia.
My accommodation was unique—a very comfortable set up in a teepee. The town was interesting—it was the site of a semi-famous Hippie commune in the ‘60s, and some of the original members still lived there. The commune had been self-sufficient, but fell apart as the pseudo-religious leadership structure became extreme and members left en mass.
Inside my teepee in Bailingup, Western Australia. (Tara MacIsaac/Epoch Times)
Help Exchange opportunities aren’t only found in small towns, but also in some big cities around the world. These experiences were tailored to my interests, but a wide range of settings and experiences are possible.
Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is another program, similar to Help Exchange, that focuses solely on organic farming opportunities.
Bring a Tent
If you’re traveling at the right time of year, in the right climate, and in the right country, strapping a tent on your back and pitching it where you please as you wander the land can be an extremely liberating experience.
I carried a camping pack with a tent, some base layer clothing for warmth, a few light-weight food items, and a light-weight sleeping bag, and wandered wherever my whims or fate took me in New Zealand.
My tent pitched in the Tongariro National Park in New Zealand. (Tara MacIsaac/Epoch Times)
I spent most nights on hiking trails that either allowed tents or had cheap or free cabins. Sometimes I met kind locals who offered their lawns or a room in their homes. I also spent a night in a circus trailer at an artists’ commune near Abel Tasman on the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island. I raked gravel on the paths into patterns each morning to earn my keep. That’s what happens when you talk to strangers.
In Japan and Sweden, this kind of travel is officially sanctioned. These countries allow people to pitch tents on private property without the owners’ permission, with some restrictions.
The key to traveling this way is to be prepared for accepting the setbacks and hardships along with the great joys; have some back-up, emergency plans; keep friends and family informed of your whereabouts and plans; and keep an open mind.
The Epoch Times does not endorse the methods of travel or the websites listed in this article. The views expressed are those of the writer alone and do not represent the Epoch Times. Travelers following this advice do so at their own risk.
