By William D. Chalmers
Free. Travel. Fun. Sex. Win. New. Six words that always get our attention.
Last week's national Powerball obsession clearly
demonstrates that we all want to win something. And who doesn't want
more sex or more travel experiences? Everyone wants to have more fun and
loves new experiences. We especially all want everything for free too.
It
is one of America's exceptionalisms that we somehow deserve free
things. Indeed, many of us actually expect things to be free; never mind
the merits, facts or reality -- which is another great form of American exceptionalism.
So, can we really travel for free? Yes, but no.
Travel
can be cheap, but it is never free. Couch-surfing is cheap -- but not
free. Joining the Peace Corps will allow you to travel, but you have to
give up years of your life. House-sitting at Aunt Jennifer's in Boca is
cheap, but not free -- think of all those cats. Joining the army and
seeing the world requires you to risk your life and limb, among other
things. Volunteering in a disaster zone for a NGO requires unique skill
sets and a special mental mindset too.
All cheap, but not certainly free. Here are five things you can do to travel cheap -- but not altogether free:
First
off, you must radically readjust your material priorities and consumer
spending patterns to keep more cash in your pocket, instead of
redistributing for seductive consumer-driven products. Focus on your
future experiences instead of consuming more stuff now. Ask yourself: on
your deathbed, would you rather be a millionaire or a Thrillionaire?
Travel will seem cheaper and almost free if
you have the resources to actually, well, travel. Just think of all the
stuff you don't need and liquidate it. Think about all your frivolous
spending habits: stop buying daily $10 lunches -- make a sandwich! Stop
shelling out $5.00 a couple times a day on coffee. Cut your expensive
cable cord by using Netflix and use an Internet-only phone versus
high-priced service plans. Live in a smaller space. Take mass transit
when possible. By readjusting your material priorities, you can focus on
your travel experiences.
Second, find a job that calls for extensive travel or become a travel agent and take lots of subsidized (cheaper but not free) FAM trips to exotic destinations. Get your TEFL certificate
and teach English abroad. Train to be an au pair and take international
positions. You could become a flight attendant for an international
carrier, or use your adventurous surfing, rock climbing, skiing,
mountain biking skills to work at ski resorts in the winter (summer in
South America) and kids summer camps all over the world. You could even
utilize your budding American Idol entertainer skills by working the cruise ship circuit. All afford cheaper, but not free, travel.
Third:
You could win fame and fortune becoming a professional traveler by
entering and winning the 2016 edition of the annual world travel
championship known as The Global Scavenger Hunt (April 15 - May 7,
2016). Not only would you be crowned "The World's Greatest Travelers"
following the three week around the world international travel
adventure, but you would also win a free trip defending your title in
2017. That's win, free and travel all in one sentence!
In
fact, I Googled "win a free trip" and 229,000 hits came up, from a
weekend in San Francisco to a week on a Russian cruise ship. Enter
often, but be forewarned, they may not all be as legitimate as winning
the world travel championship.
Another
viable option if you are somewhat of an extrovert and have good people
skills would be to consider becoming a tour guide. If that doesn't pan
out, you could try like every other traveler I seem to meet, and become a
"travel writer"
writing a blog and selling ads, becoming one of those elusive guidebook
researchers, or try freelance writing lots of travel destination and
travel product puff pieces and hotel reviews for "cooperative" websites.
It is a growth industry but the admission price is usually your
integrity, and soul on occasion.
Of course you can travel cheaper -- but not free
-- by earning and redeeming lots of frequent flyer airline miles by a)
maxing out on your credit cards, b) repeatedly getting sign-up bonus
points, or c) becoming what is known in the trade as a "mileage junkie." Cheaper, but still not free.
Finally,
travelers are known for their creativity -- when there is a will there
is a way, right!? -- despite the fact that many of us might have more
will than wallet. True travelers are clever, imaginative and resourceful
trail blazers. So, take it to the limit (thank you Glenn Frey RIP) and
create some crazy scheme for traveling the world that gets you corporate
sponsors or be something you can CrowdSource to willing investors, like
hopping around the world, or being the first person to use their
smartphone in every country -- can you hear me now? -- or research an
anthropological tell-all making love to someone in every country of the
world.
So many options, but,
if all else fails, just move back home and travel for free with your
parents or better yet, become an illegal smuggler. Your results will
vary -- as will your time served.
Courtesy: The Huffington Post
