You can travel the world for less money than you spend each month to fill up your gas tank.World travel is cheap and easy. In fact, with a little practice and effort, you can travel the world for free.The idea that travel is expensive and difficult is bullshit peddled by tour companies, hotel chains and corporate media.The tourism industry wants you to buy cruise packages and stay at all-inclusive resorts.They want you to choose a travel experience the same way you would choose a new jacket at the mall. They want your Credit Card number.The tourism industry doesn’t want me to reveal the simple secrets of free travel, but I’m going to share them with you anyway.

It can be scary to venture into the world with nothing more than optimism and good-will, but personal freedom begins with a leap of faith.

The joy of new experience is the most wonderful thing about travel – and new experiences are free.

1. Embrace the Simple Joy of Travel

Travel frees you from the grind of daily routine. You will explore new places, meet new people, try new foods and learn things about the world – and yourself – that you never imagined were possible.

The joy of new experience is the most wonderful thing about travel – and new experiences are free. Walk the streets of a city. Stop and chat with a local. People watch in a public park. Climb to the top of a hill and watch the sun set over the ocean.

The simple joy of being in a new place is just a matter of…wait for it…going someplace new. No tour package required.

2. Keep Your Needs To A Minimum

The modern American economy is built on the false premise that people need to buy new goods and services all the time. Again, I call bullshit.

People need fresh air, healthy food, clean water, exercise, creative stimulation, companionship, self-esteem and a safe place to sleep.

All of these things are simple to obtain. Most of them are free.

For fresh air, go outside. For exercise, take a walk. For creative stimulation, go somewhere new. For companionship, make a friend. For self esteem, turn off your TV, breathe deep and open your spirit to the basic goodness of the world.

Things like food and shelter are much cheaper once you get outside the United States. See # 5 below for ways to obtain food and shelter for free.

3. Go Slow

If you live in New York and want to take a 2 week vacation to Africa, it will be very difficult (though not impossible, see number eight) to travel for free.

Indeed, as long as you believe that time is money, you will spend money all the time.

Time is not money. Time is free. You have all the time in the world.

Instead of buying a plane ticket, catch a ride out West, or remodel an old sailboat, or just hop on your bike and ride away from town. The slower you travel, the less money you will spend.

4. Leave Your Possessions and Obsessions Behind

When you travel, you don’t need to pay rent. You don’t need a car. You don’t need an oven, a washer-dryer, electricity, Cable TV, a gym membership, a sofa and loveseat or a closet full of clothes.

You don’t need a suit and tie to wear to your job because you don’t need a job. You don’t need to worry about paying the bills, because there are no bills to pay.

You are free.

5. Trust People and you will Receive Free Food and Lodging

Many people are willing to open their homes to travelers. Chip in with a few chores, and they will give you a free meal, too.

CouchSurfing and WWOOF are two phenomenal online networks that help travelers connect with local hosts. CouchSurfing members are willing to give travelers a place to sleep for a night or two. WWOOF connects travelers with organic farmers who want to trade room and board for an extra hand.

Many members of both CouchSurfing and WWOOF are seeking an alternative to high-impact consumer culture.

6. Learn a Useful Craft or Skill

If you have a skill, such as cooking, animal husbandry, massage, musical ability or basic carpentry, you can barter for free food and accommodation as you travel.

The slower you travel, the easier it will be to work out a mutually beneficial arrangement with a local community or host.

Universally appreciated skills like cooking are best, though niche skills that are in high demand, like website design, are also useful. Native English speakers can often travel the world for free by teaching language classes in each destination they visit.

The slower you travel, the easier it will be to work out a mutually beneficial arrangement with a local community or host.

7. Get Out of the City

Although it’s possible to travel for free in a big city, it’s damn difficult. Cities are built on money, and necessities like fresh air, clean water and a safe place to sleep are difficult to come by in cities.

Go to the country, where people are more relaxed, food is plentiful and there’s ample room for one traveler to lay out her sleeping bag under the stars.

8. Find A Job You Love That Entails Travel

If you need an income in order to pay off loans or support a child, find a job that calls for extensive travel. There are millions of jobs available in the global economy that demand travel.

Of course, some jobs are easier to love than others, and much work that involves travel also involves the destruction of local ecosystems and traditional ways of life. Avoid unethical work if at all possible – it is bad for your health and worse for your soul.

For job ideas, check out the Travel and Adventure jobs section here at the Traveler’s Notebook.

9. Embrace Serendipity

Traveling the world for free requires a blend of advance planning and the willingness to seize opportunities and go with the flow.

Does your new CouchSurfing friend want company for a drive across the country? Grab your pack and ride along! Does an organic farm in Thailand need a farm sitter for the rainy season? Get in touch with Christian Shearer!

As Kurt Vonnegut wrote, “Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.”

Go Dancing.

用低于每月油錢(qián)的費(fèi)用環(huán)游地球

環(huán)球旅行是一項(xiàng)省錢(qián)而簡(jiǎn)單的事情。實(shí)際上，只需一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)行動(dòng)和努力，你就可以免費(fèi)環(huán)游世界。

“旅行是昂貴而復(fù)雜的”，這種看法只是旅游公司、連鎖酒店、企業(yè)媒體們的商業(yè)伎倆。旅游產(chǎn)業(yè)希望您購(gòu)買(mǎi)一份巡游套裝，待在無(wú)所不包的旅游勝地享樂(lè)。他們甚至希望您選擇旅游方式的方法和您在商場(chǎng)里買(mǎi)件夾克的過(guò)程差不多，說(shuō)白了，他們就是想要您的信用卡號(hào)。

盡管搞旅游的都不愿意我透露這些簡(jiǎn)單的秘密，可我還是要在這里和大家分享免費(fèi)旅游的心得。

也許你會(huì)因?yàn)橹挥袠?lè)觀(guān)主義與良好愿望而不敢冒險(xiǎn)旅行，但是個(gè)人的自由正始于這份信念的跨越。

1.擁抱旅行的簡(jiǎn)單愉悅

旅游把你從繁瑣的日常工作中解脫出來(lái)。你可以探索新的地方，結(jié)交新的朋友，嘗試新的食物，了解這個(gè)世界的新事物，甚至重新審視自我。這些都是你從未想過(guò)的。體驗(yàn)新鮮要算是旅游的最大樂(lè)趣了。徜徉在一座陌生城市的街道上，走走停停，和當(dāng)?shù)氐娜藗冮e聊，在公共公園里看人們行走在景色中，登高望遠(yuǎn)眺海上日出，一切都是新鮮的，更是免費(fèi)的。最大的快樂(lè)莫過(guò)于來(lái)到一個(gè)從未走過(guò)的地方，再?zèng)]有旅游團(tuán)的兜售。

2. 縮減你的需求

當(dāng)代美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)是建立在錯(cuò)誤的前提下的，那就是人民永遠(yuǎn)需要購(gòu)買(mǎi)新的產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)，這完全是謬論。

人需要的是什么呢？是新鮮的空氣，健康的食物，清潔的飲水，需要運(yùn)動(dòng)，靈感，伴侶，自我，以及一個(gè)安全的休憩之地。

所有這些事情是多么容易實(shí)現(xiàn)，而它們中的大部分都是免費(fèi)的。新鮮的空氣和運(yùn)動(dòng)只需外出散散步就可以獲得，靈感的激發(fā)到一個(gè)新的地方自會(huì)出現(xiàn)。交朋友自會(huì)獲得伴侶，關(guān)掉電視深呼吸，打開(kāi)心靈面對(duì)世上的真善美，就會(huì)找到真正的自我了。

如果你在美國(guó)之外旅游的話(huà)，食物和房屋立刻變得便宜了不少，下面的第五條就會(huì)告訴你如何得到免費(fèi)的食物和住處。

3.放慢行走的腳步

如果你住在紐約，想用兩周的假期到非洲旅游，要想免費(fèi)就實(shí)在不是件易事（盡管不是完全不可能，比如第八條我會(huì)提到）。

實(shí)際上，只要你相信時(shí)間就是金錢(qián)，那么你就一直在花錢(qián)。時(shí)間并不是金錢(qián)，時(shí)間是免費(fèi)的，你擁有世界上的一切時(shí)間。

不買(mǎi)機(jī)票，而騎馬穿越西部；或者改造一條舊船，或者干脆騎上你的單車(chē)出外遠(yuǎn)行。你走的越慢，花的錢(qián)也就越少。

4.扔下一切負(fù)擔(dān)

旅游的時(shí)候，你不需要付房租，不需要汽車(chē)和微波爐，不需要洗衣機(jī)，不需要用電和有線(xiàn)電視，或者是健身會(huì)員卡、沙發(fā)或者裝滿(mǎn)衣服的衣柜。你也不需要工作時(shí)的西裝領(lǐng)帶，因?yàn)槟阋呀?jīng)不再工作了。不必?fù)?dān)心因此花錢(qián)，因?yàn)楦�本沒(méi)有需要花錢(qián)的地方。

一切都是自由的而免費(fèi)的。

5.相信別人，你會(huì)得到免費(fèi)的食宿

很多人渴望打開(kāi)家門(mén)迎接旅游的朋友們。自己掏錢(qián)添麻煩，他們還會(huì)給你免費(fèi)的午餐。

CouchSurfing和WWOOF是兩個(gè)在線(xiàn)的熱門(mén)網(wǎng)站，驢友這可以通過(guò)它聯(lián)系到當(dāng)?shù)氐慕哟�家庭。couchSurfing的用戶(hù)都希望給旅行者一個(gè)可以睡一兩天的住處。WWOOF會(huì)聯(lián)系驢友，當(dāng)?shù)氐挠袡C(jī)農(nóng)場(chǎng)的農(nóng)民愿意以超低價(jià)把房子租給你。很多這兩個(gè)網(wǎng)站的會(huì)員都希望尋找一種可以替代受高度影響的消費(fèi)文化的新的生活方式。

6.學(xué)會(huì)一種有用的技能

如果你有一技之長(zhǎng)，比如烹飪、飼養(yǎng)動(dòng)物，按摩，音樂(lè)才能活著一些基本的木工活，你就可以拿這些來(lái)?yè)Q免費(fèi)的食物和住處了。

大家普遍公認(rèn)的技能里，烹飪最受歡迎。盡管一些像網(wǎng)頁(yè)設(shè)計(jì)這樣的高級(jí)技能也很有用。母語(yǔ)是英語(yǔ)的旅游者可以通過(guò)教英語(yǔ)來(lái)獲得免費(fèi)的旅游機(jī)會(huì)。

你走的越慢，你就越容易找出可以和當(dāng)?shù)厣鐣?huì)或主人互利互益的方法。

7.到郊區(qū)去

盡管你可以在一座大城市免費(fèi)旅行，但是這相比更困難些。城市是由財(cái)富建起來(lái)的，新鮮的空氣、純凈的水和安全的住處，在大城市都是難得一見(jiàn)的。

到鄉(xiāng)村去，那里的人們過(guò)著輕松的生活，有著充足的食物和寬敞的房間給旅行者享用，你甚至可以把睡袋放在星空下面入睡。

8.找份需要旅行的工作

如果你需要一筆收入來(lái)支付貸款，養(yǎng)孩子，那就找份工作來(lái)付這份額外的旅行吧。有數(shù)以百萬(wàn)的工作需要環(huán)球旅行。

當(dāng)然，有些工作會(huì)讓你更容易愛(ài)上它，當(dāng)然這些包括旅游的工作也同樣帶來(lái)了當(dāng)?shù)厣鷳B(tài)系統(tǒng)和傳統(tǒng)生活方式的破壞。盡量避免做那些不道德的工作，它們不利于你的身心健康。

關(guān)于工作想法，你可以查看這本旅游手冊(cè)的“旅游和探險(xiǎn)工作”部分.

9.擁抱新發(fā)現(xiàn)

免費(fèi)的環(huán)球旅行需要提前策劃、以及隨遇而安抓住一切機(jī)會(huì)的愿望。

你在couchSurfing上的新好友是不是想要一個(gè)駕車(chē)旅行的同伴？背上行囊立即出發(fā)吧！泰國(guó)有機(jī)農(nóng)場(chǎng)是否需要一個(gè)雨季的農(nóng)場(chǎng)看管員呢？到Christian Shearer網(wǎng)站看看去吧！

庫(kù)爾特•馮內(nèi)古特寫(xiě)過(guò)：“獨(dú)特的旅行建議是上帝給我們的舞蹈課”。

讓我們跳起來(lái)吧！