Traveling should not be a once-a-year holiday thing. The dream is to travel at every chance you get; see something new and meet new people every new day. Traveling should be a way of life! In case you are wondering how you can support yourself while traveling constantly, well, there is always the option of working as you travel. Travelers look for jobs abroad all the time and continue living their adventurous dreams. You too can, and it is easier than you would imagine.
While finding work overseas is easy and convenient, finding the right accommodation for the duration of your work program isn’t exactly straightforward. Most work and travel programs will not provide you with accommodation, so you will have to look for a temporary place to stay as you wait to move on to the next destination. The good news is that there are numerous housing options for traveling workers all over the world. You will find a nice place that fits your accommodation tastes without necessarily needing you to pay a fortune.
Are you interested in working and traveling and are now looking for inexpensive but comfortable accommodation? Here are 5 ways how you can find your dream accommodation abroad.
1 – Renting a home overseas
Renting a home is ideal for you if you intend to stay in one city for over 6 months. It accords you the flexibility to explore a region and investigate the community around it before making a decision to stay or pass. You will literally own a home abroad- probably in a gated community, only that you will not have to hustle for a buyer when and if you decide to leave.
Renting a home abroad is really easy. All you need is to sign a lease (6-month lease, 1-year, or whichever duration you agree with the landlord), put down a security deposit, and pay the first month’s rent. While at it, ensure that the home has good siding installations because you can never be too sure of the favorability of the area’s elements of weather.
If you found a home you love but the siding isn’t as impressive as you would want, don’t let go just yet. You can always pay a siding contractor to do the necessary improvements. A good contractor will ensure that insects, moisture, and dirt from outdoors don’t ruin your indoor comfort.
2 – Look for a good hostel
If you are tight on budget, the cheapest type of accommodation for a working traveler like you is a hostel, or any vacation house like – vacation rentals in Florida, or any nice hostel in San Diego. We are talking about a budget of less than $15 per night. On top of being affordable, hostels are great because they allow you to meet fellow traveling workers and make new friends. You will be exchanging ideas with people from all around the world and whenever you have the time, you can always try out new adventures, cook foods from around the world, and party in ways you’ve never seen before. However, sharing a place with 10 or 20 strangers has its sets of challenges, one of them being lack of privacy and overlapping preferences. It’s definitely not the accommodation option to go for if you intend to stay for more than 3 months.
3 – Check out short term apartments
Many countries have weekly and monthly apartments for travelers. They are like a hybrid of rental homes and hostels. You will be living in a good home, only that you will be sharing it with a few roommates. Their fees are somewhere between the hostel charges and rental homes rent. You can easily find such an apartment on social media or through friends’ suggestions.
4 – Stay at a farm
Farm stays are exciting for anyone who loves to work on a farm or to learn how a farm works. You will learn how to milk and harvest different fruits and kinds of farm produce. While here, you will experience the best organized outdoor activities including herding, fishing, and even camping. To get a better experience you can even get some electric bikes or simple ones and go around the vicinity and explore the place on your own. You will also be sleeping in luxury rooms, and eating all three meals with everyone else at the farm, just like you would with your family back home. Farm stays will cost you as much as a budget hotel (approximately 50 USD per day)
5 – Host families are great too
This is like farm stay, but this time you won’t be living in the countryside or in a farm. Just find a family that is willing to host visitors who fit your description and you will have found a home. People advertise their homes all the time on social media so this should be easy. Note that host families are the best if you wish to enjoy at the basic level the exposure and insights that the locals (your hosts) have to share.
Final words
Working as you travel is fun and presumably, the best way to tour a destination for extended periods. It allows you to engage more with a city and to glean a better understanding of its people, landscape, and culture. You are basically more than a tourist who just passes through. Now go ahead and make money, cultivate great friendships, and increase your knowledge!