How to Travel Without Paying for Accommodation

Since the word go I have been a budget traveler, and until I find that mythical love of life who happens to have money, I don’t imagine those vibes changing any time soon. So, luckily for you dear reader, that means I am simply a wealth of knowledge when it comes to budget travel tips. One of those tips is how to travel without paying for accommodation. Because, yes, it is so very possible. Accommodation is a huge strain on any travel budget, so if you can find ways to avoid having to pay it, you can travel farther and longer. So, without further ado, here are some of my best cheap travel hacks…

Pet and House Sitting

I started pet sitting when I was in high school. I got paid great money and was consistently booked. Then I landed gigs where I went to college, and then I even started pet sitting in other states and other countries. For many of these gigs I was paid because they were local to where I was living, so I didn’t necessarily need the accommodation. 

But, when I realized that an accommodation exchange was something I could do while traveling, I jumped on it. Now, I have done pet sitting exchanges in the US, France, England, and Spain. I got to spend seven weeks on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain looking after an older dog who didn’t need walks, just food twice per day. I got to spend several days at two different horse farms in the countryside in France. I was able to ride the horses and borrow the owner’s cars. This meant I got to explore the small villages all around. I spent a week in Oxford and about two weeks in Seattle. For all of this I paid nothing, got paid nothing, and had the company of lovely pets at all times. It was a dream.

I used the website Mind My House. This is definitely less popular over the beast that is Trusted Housesitters. I chose to stick with Mind My House as it is significantly less saturated with house sitting opportunities. This has benefits and drawbacks. It is significantly less saturated with pet sitters, so that means you have a higher chance of getting to the top of the pile — especially when you are new and have no reviews, but it is also significantly less saturated with homes to sit which means you simply have less to choose from.

It’s important to remember that while this is an amazing way to get to see new places and have free travel accommodation, it does come with responsibility. You can’t go away overnight, and you probably can’t do long day trips (though if you have a chill cat, maybe). In addition to the pet you also have responsibility of the home — security, cleaning, etc.

So make sure you are up for the challenge and are fully committed to whatever offer you are making to the homeowner. While it is fair to leave early if things were not as described, it is not fair to do that simply because you got bored or just want to move on. For more tips on how to successfully pet sit abroad, check out my post here.

Home Exchange

I recently started doing home exchange vacations and it has quickly become one of my new favorite ways to travel cheaply. I’ve only done two so far, but I am eager to do more. My first was for a short four night swap in Paris, it was synchronous meaning the small family came to my apartment the exact same dates I went to theirs, we never met. 

The second was in Serbia and it was non-synchronous. That means that I went to the apartment there first and the woman whose home I stayed in will come to mine — as I write this her stay is about two months away. This worked because she has multiple apartments in Belgrade and I dog sit locally so much that my apartment is often empty. I did get to meet her and spend some time with her in Belgrade, and I will see her again when she comes here.

Both of these exchanges I did through a Facebook group called ‘House Swap Holidays’. In the group there are people from all over the world. If you and another person decide you want to swap homes then you simply chat and take it from there. There is no company, no middle man, no money swapped. 

If you want to use a website you can check out People Like Us — but know that there is a cost to list your home on these types of sites and they don’t actually offer much additional security.

Of course, it’s important to make sure home exchange is a viable and legal option for you. I own my apartment so I don’t have to worry. It certainly can be an option for many renters too, but you do need to check and make sure it’s allowed under your contract. 

Check out this post for more of my tips on how to complete a successful home swap.

Couch Surfing and Other Groups

I used to use couchsurfing a lot back in the earlier days of my travels. It was an amazing way to get to stay in cool spots, meet interesting people, and save money. Then, when I had a place in Vietnam I opened up the couch to other travelers, and I did it again in Prague. Now, couchsurfing has changed and it is a paid platform so I don’t use it anymore. But it does still exist, and of course there are now many couchsurfing alternatives out there as well. 

For example, I am a part of a facebook group called ‘Host A Sister’ and while the group is only for women, I am sure there are many other similar ones out there. 

The host a sister group allows people to post if they are looking for a host in a specific city, or if they are willing to host in their homes. It also does allow people to post for home exchanges too. 

Work Exchange

There are so, so many opportunities to do work exchange travel around the world. I started by doing two on horse farms in Ireland. Those I found through a horse specific site called Yard and Groom.

From there I went to work in a few hostels which I found through helpx.

When I was young and everyone I knew was backpacking Europe, a lot of people were doing WWOOF exchanges. This stands for worldwide opportunities on organic farms, and as you would expect, is farm work exchanges. I never did one but I have a number of friends who worked on vineyards across Europe.

There is a lot to look out for when doing these types of exchanges but the big questions are: how much work will you be expected to do, and what will that work involve. And in exchange for that work, what will you get? Is it only accommodation or is food included as well? Remember, these aren’t volunteer travel programs per se, you should be getting a fair and equal exchange for the hours and work you put in. 

For more guidance on how to find and complete a successful work exchange abroad, check out my dedicated post.

Au Pairing

I was an au pair for two families in Australia and it was quite a time. I think it’s really important to note that while au pairing is definitely a way to get free accommodation, it is longer term and doesn’t necessarily make a lot of sense if your goal is travel. You shouldn’t expect to get any au pair gig that is less than three months, and even that is a pretty short term. So that being said, au pairing is really for slow travelers, working holiday visa holders (I did it while in Australia on a working holiday visa), or anyone who is looking to get a foot in the door in a new country where they’re interested in staying long term.

For more tips on how to find and complete a successful au pair gig, check out my complete post.

I found my au pair jobs through the site Great Au Pair. But, again, nowadays there are loads of Facebook groups you can use to connect with families.

While I have used every single one of these options in the past, and I continue to use many of them still, I don’t always manage to snag free accommodation. So when I’m just looking for travel accommodation deals I use booking.com to find the best options in any location around the world. 

Do you have other ways that you have been able to save on accommodation while traveling, or just travel for free? I’d love to hear more about any of your tips and tricks! Please leave me a comment below.