Travelling (almost) for free when you are a student

Travelling when you are a student and have no money is not simple, or at least that is what you thought! Let us inroduce you to a few convenient ways to travel while spending very little money, whether you are just travelling for fun or looking for international job opportunities.

CouchSurfing

The company consists in a hospitality exchange and social networking website. As its name indicates you are invited by a host who shares his house with you. So if you want to meet locals anywhere in the world do not hesitate to subscribe and become a guest in a home or even a host yourself. With 10 million CouchSurfers spread in 200.000 cities the choice of destination might be the most difficult decision to take.
If CouchSurfing is what you are looking for, check the website.

 

Home-Swapping/Home-Exchange

If you are not entirely conviced by the idea of living with someone you don’t know but still willing to travel, Home-Swapping could be a solution. Instead of being received by someone and living with them, you exchange your homes. Hence, you have the place for yourself and are free to do whatever you want. All you need to do is upload information and pictures of your accommodation and you will get in touch with people interested, enventually, you will have to come to an arrangement and if both parties agree the deal is done! 

Subscribe to Homeexchange.com or lovehomeswap.com if you want to find someone to swap their accomodation with you!

 

House-Sitting

You feel comfortable sleeping in someone’s house but less convinced by the idea of letting someone crash at your place? Not a problem! House-Sitting is probably what you need. The concept is halfway between Couchsurfing and Home-Swapping, you take care of somebody’s house while they are not there. For instance, a family leaving on vacation but is afraid to leave the house with no protection will offer you to stay at their place for free in exchange of you looking after it. 
trustedhomesitters.com and Mindmyhouse.com is where you will find homeowners willing to let you stay at their place.

 

Abroad Internship

You want to travel for a few months but you can’t simply afford to go on a vacation? Maybe you should consider an internship in a foreign country. There are several perks of working as an intern abroad. 1) It is a great opportunity to travel and get to know the world, 2) you will gain experience and it will look fantastic on your CV, 3) there is probably no better way to learn a language than living and working with locals.

So if the idea of an internship in a foreign country feels tempting, do no miss your opportunity and check our offers. For instance this internship offer could be interesting for students from various fields of study.

AIESEC can also help you finding an internship abroad

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Humanitarian work

For those of you who are no just globetrotters but also Good Samaritans, the opportunity of doing humanitarian work is ideal. Many associations all around the world need volunteers to help them and you can choose the type of mission that you want to accomplish. Since what goes around comes around, you will benefit from the experience: on a human level of course, but this will also be a great advantage to be able to put humanitarian work on your CV. 
Choose your mission on Thewanderingsamaritan.org  or unv.org

 

A few additional tips

You might not know it but your student card from a Belgian school can also get you discounts abroad so do not be afraid to ask about it when you purchase something in a foreign country, you may save some money.

If you are staying somewhere for a few days and have very little money avoid hotels, Hostels are way cheaper and the atmosphere is perfect for students. Plus, if you stay in large rooms it costs almost nothing and it is a great way to meet people. Hostelworld.com can help you find the best hostel regarding the price and the quality.

 

Jordan Godet