11 Overlooked Ways to Travel the World for Free

World travel is an expensive endeavor only manifested after decades of hard work for some of us and an unattainable imagination reserved for the rich and brave for others.

Traditional advertising taught us that travel is expensive, a once in-a-lifetime experience, and full of dangers or hassles UNLESS you sign up for that special guided cruise deal or through a travel agent all for the low price of an arm and a leg. PSSSHH!

We live in a new world where travel is not only inexpensive, but free in many instances. A little bit of research, negotiation, and patience can go a long way to attaining what was once thought impossible.

1. WIFI

The explosion of the internet is the #1 reason why travel prices continue to drop. In most big cities you don’t need to wander too far to find a free WIFI connection. Even the smaller cities tend to house a few local hot-spots. Coffee shops, parks, hotel/hostels/any place where people lodge, and restaurants are good places to start looking. If you can’t find any locations, ask. Internet and WIFI are commonly understood words in almost all languages.

2. Walking Tours

Want to go on a mind-numbing free walking tour guided by knowledgeable, well-spoken locals that give first-hand experiences, stories, and information of the city your visiting? These tours exist! Of course many free tours work on tips or up-sell paid tours, but that’s your choice to give them money. The Berlin Free Walking Tour and the tour guided by the owner of Hostel Che in Belgrade, Serbia were two of the more memorable experiences on my travels through Europe.

3. Public Libraries

Free public libraries? Whoda thunk? This is one of the more overlooked aspects of travel. In the age of the internet and Google, we tend to forget that public libraries still exist around the world. Hard working university students know the importance of a place that provides a tremendous wealth of organized knowledge and a good quiet place to focus. Travelers should too!

4. Lodging

Don’t under estimate the value of your existing relationships. Many times you can score free room and by board just by advertising your travel itinerary to friends and family. Couchsurfing, however, is my preferred method. I’ve blogged about the concept many times in previous posts. A free couch is just the beginning. In addition to the stay, many hosts go out of their way to ensure travelers receive a favorable impression of their city by providing home cooked meals, local hot spots, and good company during the stay. If you want a more adventurous free lodging experience, try camping. I remember two backpackers I met in Croatia who carried full sized tents with them, camping yards away from hostels.

5. Museums

Depending on the day and time, you can visit some of the most world-renowned museums for free. I remember specifically visiting The Louvre in Paris, France, The Museo de Prado in Madrid, Spain and The Acropolis in Athens, Greece for free. All three were a bit crowded during these times, but not unmanageable during the offseason. I highly recommend looking up times and dates online before visiting.

6. Phone Calls and Txt Messaging

How to make free calls

1. Find free WIFI hotspot

2. Dial out through, Messenger, Whatsapp, Skype…

3. Talk!

I have oversimplified the process, but a Skype account is a must for the world traveler. Add all of your close friends and family to stay in touch for free while on the road. Other free phone and txt messaging favorites include Google Voice, Apple’s FaceTime and iMessage, and oh yeah, that big social networking site Facebook. Download these applications to your smartphone or computer and never pay for a phone call again while traveling.

7. Apps

The mobile app industry has exploded the last few years. Mobile applications are taking over the world, and you can benefit! I thought about making a sepearate blog post of my favorite free applications to use while traveling. However, after a bit of internal debating, I decided to list here. The below applications represent my Top 10 must-own free smartphone applications.

Cloud Storage – Most providers will offer free storage which is plenty to store important travel documents like passports, bank statements, and still enough room to store a few movies or small music collections. I use everyday.

Evernote (Cloud Notebook) – Used for note taking vs. storing data. Any notes or reminders go here. Also use this app everyday.

Waze (GPS) – Great free turn by turn navigation app for your smartphone. Works great locally in the states, but be careful for roaming charges if you plan on using abroad.

Instagram (Photos) – The premier photo application for smartphones. The camera’s on some of the newer smartphones are closing the gap on picture quality with some of the better point and shoot cameras on the market. Instagram allows you to do on the fly photo editing and sharing. Store travel photos on dropbox or share with friends and family realtime.

Trip-it (Travel Planner) – I use Trip-It a lot while traveling to organize my travel itineraries. In addition, I can log total travel miles and share my trips with friends and family.

Google Maps (Navigation) – Google Maps comes pre-installed on most new smartphones. The high-resolution aerial and satellitle images ensure you won’t ever get lost in most urban areas.

Skype (Phone Calls) – As mentioned above, Skype is a must download for the world traveler. Almost all newer smartphones (post 2010) come pre-installed with an internal camera and microphone.

Pandora (Music) – Pandora is my favorite music app. I happily use the service everyday. A forewarning: You will love this application so much you will be forced to pay for the yearly service upgrade fee, as I did. In addition, due to music licensing issues, Pandora might not work while traveling abroad. Do some research before traveling or use a solid proxy.

Flipboard (News Aggregator) – Aggregates all of the news feeds I subscribe to (websites,blogs,twitter,facebook) beautifully. Helps keep me connected, if I choose to be, with everything going on in the states. A must download, especially on the iPad.

Mint (Banking) – Mint is the best banking app and it’s not even close. All of my bank accounts, investments, and credit cards go here. This truly free app does a great job of reminding you of upcoming payments, low balances, and ways to save money. I use Mint everyday.

8. Volunteer

The world is limitless with volunteer opportunities. I heard a quote recently that has stuck with me. “Volunteers are not paid because they are worthless, but because they are priceless”. While many organizations will not pay you, they will in most instances, cover expenses relating to food, lodging, travel, and supplies. The knowledge and experience gained from volunteering is truly priceless. I’ve volunteered with The Boys and Girls Club, and currently volunteer with Explore Austin. Working with children is an exceptionally rewarding experience. Volunteer organizations looking for selfless individuals abroad include: Global Volunteer Network (work with children), Caretaker’s Gazette (house sitting), WWOOF (organic farms), and Go Eco (ecological projects).

9. Maps and Guidebooks

Yes maps and guidebooks are usually free, and often overlooked. Whenever I arrive in a new location via flight, I make a habit of seeking out a map of the city. Almost all tourist agencies will have them. Your job is to ignore their offers and take the free map or guidebook! In addition, any hostel or hotel will have plenty of these useful pieces of paper to giveaway for free.

10. Transportation

In most U.S states, hitchhiking is illegal. Elsewhere around the world, hitchhiking is not only legal but a highly encouraged safe, free method of transportation. Digihitch is the premier website for everything hitchhiking. In addition to hitchhiking, websites like eRideshare offer you the ability to share rides with others traveling to your destination. Biking, walking and working on crew ships also allow one to travel at no cost. Flights, however, are a bit tricky. I’ll get to them next.

11. Free Flights

Want to know how to get a free flight instantly? Easy, signup for a well-branded travel credit card and receive 20,000 – 25,000 travel miles! (Assuming you have excellent credit. If you don’t I still recommend reading on!). There is a whole sub-community dedicated to “travel hacking” through credit card rewards programs. Flyertalk is the best site for finding out how the experts do it. I recommend scouring the Flyer Talk forums as well as checking out this list of Travel and Airline Credit Cards. Lastly, sign up for all the major airlines mailing lists and frequent flier programs. You could snag the travel deal of a lifetime!

Jason Boehle is the founder of GoldenBookTraveler a blog about traveling around the world. Originally planned as a log to his 7 month trip around Europe and Africa. However, after experiencing the trip of a lifetime, a Pandora’s Box of new travel ideas has been opened!

GoldenBookTraveler provides a unique resource for other travelers as Jason logs his trip overseas. As a discount traveler, Jason seeks out the lowest cost possible for his travels. Thus, many of his posts will cater to the traveler on a skin tight budget who wants to experience the truest form of traveling. Visit the Golden Book Traveler