The end of the year is knocking on our doors as we ask ourselves, what will the new year bring? I hope that you will be healthy, happy, and maybe even adventurous! Why not plan a special *budget* trip this year? That is the topic of this week’s blog post. 

Travelling is an expensive hobby but many people might not be aware that there is one very important hack to travel on a budget: volunteering. There are many types of volunteering work you can do, but I want to write about my experience with the platform workaway. I realised that workaway is a travellers best kept secret, so I want to invite you to discover this platform and maybe incorporate it in your new years plans. 

I got to know about workaway very randomly on a car sharing ride through the middle of Spain. Along with me, another woman booked the car ride that would change my life forever. We exchanged our travel journeys and I got to learn that she was planning to travel around, live with an artist and help him with whatever shores around the house and his atelier in exchange for free accommodation. She also admitted that she felt a lot of guilt because she was leaving her teenage children ‚behind‘ in the care of their dad for a while. I could only feel admiration for her, for her adventurous spirit and her decision to do something just for herself. I asked her how she felt ame to this arrangement and she explained that there was a website called workaway where you can register and find hosts all around the world that offer all kinds of volunteering experiences.

So this is it. The first thing I did when I arrived home was to look up the website and get familiar with the concept. And the truth is you can find all kinds of different and unexpected volunteering placements: helping people building new homes, helping at an eco farm, facilitating hiking tours, cleaning and maintenance of hostels, work with animals, etc. In the majority of the places you get offered free accommodation in exchange for working 4-5 days a week 4-5 hours on average. But if you are not convinced by this deal then you can also find places that offer you at least one warm meal on top of the accommodation or additional extras such a free scooter usage, coffee-tea, kitchen at your disposal to cook your own meals amongst others.

But the most valuable freeby of all is the experience and memories you gain from working away from home. Immersing yourself in the lifestyle of the place, meeting other volunteers with the same mindset as you and exploring the city in your free time. My first volunteering experience was in a hostel in Budapest and for me personally it was life changing. It was my first ever trip alone and I committed to stay for 4 weeks during my summer university holiday. It was the best thing I could have done in terms of self-development and personal growth at the time. And I am pretty sure that all my decisions afterwards were marked by this one experience. 

As I am writing this post I am in the middle of my third workaway experience (and first couple workaway experience, yes you can also create a duo account!) this time in an animal shelter in Thailand. And yes, I continue to grow, to face my fears and to develop myself and I feel that everyday as I am facing new challenges in the process. But sometimes, you just really need to save up money and that is perfectly normal too! That is exactly what we did when working in a hostel in Malaysia for 2 weeks, which was great fun too!

So I invite you today to explore if this is an opportunity for you to pursue in 2023, and if not maybe someone you know is looking for exactly this push to kick off a new adventure. 

Ps. The website does ask you to register for a fee, so if you have more questions before you commit to it please feel free to ask!

Resources: https://www.workaway.info/