I don’t think anyone was particularly surprised when I announced that I had another big trip in the works. (Two weeks and counting!) This will be my third long trip in the last ten years, and hopefully not my last!

Before I really get into this post I want to make something abundantly clear – I am by no means a wealthy individual. I have been able to go on these trips because I am willing to go through life with a few less material comforts. I find the adventures tend to make up for it. :) So, in case you were curious: My first trip was 7 months in England, I saved up 2k prior to the trip, and worked while I was there. My second trip was 7 months in Ecuador, I had 5k for that trip, and did not work at all.

This next trip (my first long trip with a significant other) will hopefully break my 7 month record, but the length will entirely depend on how long we can make our money last in Europe. We spent just over a year saving every penny we possibly could and hopefully that will enable us to spend as close to a year abroad as possible.

How do we plan to make only one years worth of savings last so long?

Well now, I’d just love to tell you!

Only a day or two after I arrived in Ecuador (January 2014), I met a woman in the hotel I was staying in. She was on her way to the coast to teach English, and she had an interesting piece of information to share. She told me about a website (workaway.info) and how it could be used to travel the world on a budget. When traveling your biggest costs are going to be a place to stay, and food – this website helps you with that little problem.

It works likes this…

The site pairs you with hosts that are looking for a little help, usually 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week. In exchange for this help, they give you a place to stay, and often feed you as well. The type of work varies, it could be farm work (similar to WOOFING), working as an au pair, in a B & B, etc…

Hosts are able to rate workawayers and vice versa, so this enables you to see what other people’s experiences have been like and decide if it’s the place for you. There is a yearly fee for use of the service as a workawayer, but in the long run, it’s peanuts. (Or more specifically 29.00USD for one person.)

Of course, you don’t actually have to create an account to go and check out all the phenomenal hosts that you could stay with. They let you look at eeeevery single one of the mind blowing, daydreamy locations! You just need to create an account when you’re ready to start contacting the hosts.

This is completely new for me!

We have three months more-or-less planned out and hosts booked. We will be staying with our very first host in the middle of June. I don’t want to give away all the details just yet, but most of the work we will be doing will be outdoors and working with our hands. I am beyond excited about not only the copious amounts of sunshine, but also learning some new skills while at the same time getting to spend quality time exploring areas that I’ve only dreamt about.

I don’t think there is a single thing to complain about; working the morning, so I can spend my afternoons and weekends exploring, hiking, traveling to new places… I don’t see a drawback!

I’m sure that things won’t be exactly as I’m anticipating, and there will be at least a few instances of ‘rolling with the punches’, but this is one adventure I can’t wait to begin. I’ll let you know how it goes for us, but in the meantime, if you want to start daydreaming about an inexpensive trip of your own…

Take a little tour of www.workaway.info