How to Travel Cheap and Long-Term

19 lessons learned after traveling the globe for over 2.5 years

Image by the author.

I’ve traveled more than a plague of locusts. I’ve been to the US, South Africa, Australia, Thailand, India, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Portugal, and Iceland. I’ve also visited for shorter stints countries such as the UK, Italy, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Austria. In total, I’ve spent well over 2.5 years of my life wandering around the globe and a whole lot of additional months living elsewhere. My longest vagabonding trip lasted 18 months.

Now, before you think I’m some sort of jet setting Paris Hilton traveling the world with a Chihuahua in my handbag, let me tell you that I currently make less than minimum wage when I’m back home in Spain. And before that, I was just a student who managed to save a bit of money thanks to a scholarship and a poorly-paid job as a lab technician. And I haven’t inherited a fortune from some monocle-wearing Earl either. I’m just a regular dude who was lucky enough to be born in a Western country and who has made traveling a priority in his life.

That means for me to afford long-term travel, it has to be cheap. But since I’m a coward and feel embarrassed when I stink too much, I’m not willing to sleep under bridges or in abandoned…