Saving Money and Giving Back

It’s great to be able to travel for very cheap but it’s also important to give back at the same time especially to those communities that need it most. Often with couchsurfing (see our post) we end up teaching English, working on a farm, and culturally sharing so many things, but there are many other ways that are often better for communities more in need.

WWOOFING 

WWOOFING www.wwoofinternational.org is similar to couchsurfing yet very different. Yes, you get the experience of living with a local family and yes, the accommodation is free but in exchange you are also expected to give something in return, your time. The time you give is spent helping on an organic farm, generally up to six hours per day and the rest of the time you can explore the area as you wish. In addition, you are also given food., usually home cooked meals fresh from the farm! Each country has their own website and often a fee of around $20 is required for joining, depending on the country. For more information go to their website and check out “How it Works” on their site.

HelpX

HelpX www.helpx.net is similar to WWOOFING but not always on a farm. In addition, this may include working at a hostel, helping with construction, teaching English and almost anything that someone may need help with, hence the name HelpX. The site seems free but to be able to actual contact a host a two year membership costing $30 is also required. The benefit of using HelpX, like WWOOFING is the chance to contribute to society without taking money in return and best of all to experience living like a local and with locals.

Volunteering Sites

There are many volunteering sites some require a daily fee towards your lodging and food, some are free, and some include free lodging and food. Two sites that are highly recommended and very easy to use are www.globalhelpswap.com and www.freevolunteering.co.uk recent sites we found thanks to www.wanderingearl.com are www.independentvolunteer.org and www.grassrootsvolunteering.org which we are planning to try out very soon and will review the sites as soon as we get the chance to use them.

Regardless of where we stay whether that be a guesthouse, a couchsurfing host’s house, or on a farm we always try our best to give back to the right people and make sure what money we do spend goes towards the community. If we stay in a guesthouse we make sure it is run by a local family and not a foreigner or a large company from the capital city. If we buy a bottle of water we buy it from a small family run store and not 7-11, and if we eat we eat local food at a local restaurant. Remember we each leave a footprint and its up to us what kind of footprint we leave.

Has anyone ever tried any of these sites? Any other sites to add?