How to travel cheap?
- Exploriris Travel
- Apr 6
- 12 min read
Updated: Apr 8
What if I told you you could travel for free??
Sounds too good to be true huh? Well it isn't.. "But how??" , you may ask. The program is called "workaway" and in this article I will tell you all about it. Prepare for my honest opinions and a crazy story.
I'll be covering the following topics:
What is workaway & how does it work?
Is workaway safe?
Different types of "work" (away).
Crazy story time: my workaway experience in the Australian outback.
Working as an Au-pair in the tropical Darwin.
Costs and budgeting.
What is workaway & How does it work?
Combine the words "work" and "vacation" to describe a "workaway".
Workaway is an exchange of work (approximately 5 days a week, 5 hours per day) for free housing and food. But it is more than just a simple exchange...
Get ready to live within the culture, instead of observing it from the outside. Experience your chosen destination like the locals, learn about traditions and different ways of living. And on your off days explore the foreign area which you can now call your "home" for a little while! :)
Certain countries have different rules for workaways, research before you go whats required for your stay (visa?). I must say it is often quite easy to do volunteer work in other countries (especially as an EU-citizen), most of the time you do not need extra permits or visas (CHECK CAREFULLY THOUGH!). For example as a Dutchy traveling Australia, you can volunteer with a tourist visa, so no working holiday visa needed.
Is workaway safe?
How do I know workaway is safe?
First of all, the company takes safety very seriously. Every profile is manually reviewed and verified with ID card. Second of all, everyone can leave reviews, meaning the workawayer (the volunteer) as well as the host (one who takes on the volunteers). Last but not least, workaway offers very good 24/7 emergency help. If an emergency occurs, resulting in you not having a place to sleep at night anymore, workaway will help with finding accommodation and compensate unforeseen costs (up to the amount you paid for your membership). This one really made me feel safe enough to subscribe.
A little downside to workaway and its safety I think are workaway hiding negative reviews. Although they do have their reasons for that, I always like to read through other people's opinions and make a choice for myself, choosing if I believe the negative feedback or side with the host. I feel like because the reviews get deleted, this option is taken from me. Although as I said, they do have their reasons for it.
Different types of "work" (away)
So, what kind of "work" should you be thinking about? Workaway offers so many different experiences: farm work, au-pair, house sitting, animal care, cleaning ho(s)tels or elderly companionship. Looking for work in a big city or rural area? In Australia , Thailand, Africa or Italy? You can find workaways all over the world. You can search for an experience that suits your skill set and preferences, or challenge yourself and learn a something you've never done before, experience a way of living out of your own comfort zone. I personally love the last option, I feel like it is good for personal growth and an open view of the world.
Crazy story time: my workaway experience in the Australian outback.
(all names have been changed for anonymity purposes)
"Iris!! Iris!!", a very energetic old woman walked towards me. 'So, this is the woman (lets call her Kathy) I will be staying with for the next week', I thought. I was very nervous but also excited. Even before I sat down in the passenger seat, Kathy started rambling about her hectic morning. "I woke up SUPER EARLY this morning, than TRAFFIC happened! It took me TWENTY minutes to get here instead of TEN, where did all the people come from??! Also just before you, I picked up another workawayer, who is at the market right now". So... off to the market we went! On my way to meet the other volunteer, named Maya.
After an hour or two of strolling around the market and the shops, we were ready to head back "home". While we had wandered around, Kathy had caught up with the entire village, she wasn't shy to tell us the latest gossip. We loved it.
We were generally yapping our way through the drive, while suddenly Kathy stops talking and hits the breaks.. "Oiii do I see a FRESH roadkill?? Hold up, I just need to see" Kathy says, while she continues to slows the car down... Very slowly we drive past the brown figure on the side of the road and indeed, it was a " fresh" dead kangaroo. "YES! That is a fresh roadkill!" Kathy yells cheerfully. The car came to a stop on the side of the road.
Kathy then explains to us that her dogs really like kangaroo meet and asks us if we do mind. After we give Kathy the approval, she gets out of the car, opens the trunk and drags the dead kangaroo in there. Meanwhile I am contemplating all my life's decisions and just wondering if it can anymore 'crazy'?😂 (spoiler alert: yes).
"sorry, it might be a bit smelly. Do you girls mind?" "Eehhhhh nooo" we said. Kathy closes the trunk and we were back on the road again!🎶 Poor Maya in the backseat..
WARNING: IT DOES GET A LITTLE GRUESOME HERE. Please skip if you can not handle the details.
When we arrived home Kathy gets her knives out to cut up the kangaroo. The dogs indeed loved it, they were barking from excitement and running around wagging their tails. At Kathy leaves to get something... " you probably won't want to watch this" she warns us while she hold up A CHAINSAW. Aaah . Indeed, I did not watch so I will spare you the other details.
It was quite a normal workaway stay after this (how could it not be, LOL).The only little surprise was after we arrived home Kathy asked me "oh and did Maya tell you about the frogs?", I was like "eehhh what frogs?" , "oh ye the frogs that live in the toilet!". Yes, you read that exactly right, she had frogs living in the toilet. Late at night we had to be mindful to keep our door shut so the frogs didn't hop from the walls into our beds (eeewl even the thought of that). Yes it was quite the experience in the Australian countryside.
Quite different but interesting, nothing to complain. The lady was LOVELY. She made the best dinners and lunches with fresh fruits and vegetables and even when we went out exploring she prepared us a lunch package! She shared some of her recipes with us and taught us how to make damper! She mostly took workawayers for the company and to share experiences. She loved to talk, as you might have noticed already. Needless to say, there was never a dull moment the diner table. She shared stories about her life, Australian culture, history. I learned about the aboriginal discrimination that took place in the 60s and she talked about the "gap" between the groups at the moment (her opinion!). She also told us a bit more about the reality of Katherine and unfortunately the crimes Katherine is experiencing at the moment. All very interesting, educational and eye opening conversations.
Yes, we also did have to "work" during this experience.
During the morning we worked in the shed, mostly for an hour or three. Digging, pulling out roots and organizing. We were not alone there. We got accompanied by 10ths of Toads and also saw a big hairy spider (note: my FIRST one, while having spent 3 months in Australia already). It was not the most fun job but I also didn't mind it. With a killer playlist, some good conversations and always something to do the time flew by. Before we knew it the morning was gone. Time to explore!
During our off time we had plenty of opportunity to explore the area. We could even borrow her car! Because of this we were so flexible. We visited Katherine hot springs, explored the Nitmiluk Gorge (also known as "Katherine Gorge") and went to a typical Australian pub one night. Ended up making a campfire with strangers. It was all so fun. Katherine is not the best place to be with regards to safety, but the surrounding nature is beautiful. The Katherine gorge very impressive. It is well worth to book a cruise through the Nitmiluk Gorge, from the bottom you can really experience how big and impressive the gorge is. The surrounding Nitmiluk national park is amazing for hiking. I recommend to stop at the Baruwei lookout for sunset, to finish off your amazing day at the Katherine Gorge!
And with that, let's finish off this story of my first workaway experience. Even though it started off a bit crazy, I loved my experience. Especially the "crazy" things are the best. They took me a bit out of my comfort zone, showed me another way of life and made me realise not everything is as clear cut as you think it is. For this woman it is the most normal thing that her dogs eat kangaroo meet and she has frogs living in her toilet. She crew up on the Australian countryside and had so many life experiences and fun stories to share. I would not want to miss that. This is the exact reason I choose workaway over a normal trip or vacation.
Working as an Au-pair in the tropical Darwin!
My second workaway experience was in the beautiful Darwin, where (after 6 years) I finally fulfilled my dream to work as an au-pair abroad.
In exchange for my " work" I stayed in what I can call my own "little apartment". I had my own room, little kitchen area and even my own bathroom! I basically had the entire downstairs area for myself, the family lived upstairs. They lived in a typical high built "Darwin style" home, with a big outside balcony. The house was surrounded by tropical plants. To wake up every morning and have my fresh morning coffee (which I learned how to brew there) on the porch in between the tropical plants was one of my favorite things ever.
Before I arrived we had a call , the week I arrived was going to be a busy one, mom had a show planned and they just came back from vacation in Indonesia. Hence my hours the first week were over the top, like a full time workweek. HOWEVER, the week after I was off for the entire week! Over the weekend the family went on a camping trip and since they didn't have space in the car to take me anymore I had the entire house for myself!
This does scream " Australian attitude" to me. To trust someone you just know a few weeks in your home, so surprising for me. Also the flexible attitude with the work schedule (here and also with Kathy) is really Australian. I have heard the phrases " ahh we'll see and "You'll be alllrriight" a lot! Also the "schedule" of private life was really different in Darwin. " The Darwin schedule" = take every kind off schedule you have and throw it out of the window, LOL. Although this is not what I am used to, I loved the flexibility it gave me. If I wanted to skip the family dinner to watch the sunset, no problem, book a day tour, go out late at night, it all wasn't a problem. She was happy to save me some dinner, give me a ride somewhere, borrow me her bike, etc. Which was lovely and gave me the opportunity to explore a lot. Sometimes the " Darwin schedule" was a bit off setting for me. " tomorrow I want to have a slow morning and will drive to nightcliff somewhere that morning, shall I give you a ride" , the mom asked. "eeeh yes absolutely thankyou. But approximately what time?" , I answered, while my mind was full with another 20 questions. " Do I have to set an alarm, will I be able to go for a run in the morning? Should I take a lunch package or will I have an early lunch at home? What time to you wake up with a 'slow morning' with three young kids?") . The mom laughed and responded " myeaaa I don't know, can't really say, just a slow morning" . I was left with that...I noticed how unusual that was for me and realised how much we actually do plan ahead at home. I am from a pretty much a " plan months ahead" culture , pretty much the opposite of " the Darwin schedule". This was a great realisation and learning experience.
As I mentioned before, the flexible attitude made me have plenty of opportunity to explore. The area had plenty to see, even after three weeks I didn't get bored. The best things I did/explored in Darwin were:
Jumping crocodile cruise;
Visited Litchfield national park as a day trip;
Outdoor cinema;
Visited all the lovely Darwin markets numerous times like parap village market, mindl beach and nightcliff market.
Watched the iconic Darwin sunset.
Curious to what else I did? Read my guide to Darwin.
Apart from this, when I was with the kids I could also do some exploring, with my own little local guides hahah. Honestly they were so clever and loved to tell me random facts and show me their favorite places -one of them which was the MAGNT Museum, lol. The "work" did feel like work at all, as you can imagine.
I know this all sounds very good, too good to be true? You might wonder, wasn't there any negatives? No complications? No cons?
Yes obviously.
One of the things I found quite hard was connecting with my host family, especially the parents. Since the mom was super busy everyday, obviously she did need the nights to recharge. There were not many chances to have conversations or connect with her. Mostly because she was busy doing her thing or we were both busy with the kids and than went off to do our own thing afterwards, have a little downtime. Also did not help that I stayed relatively "short" .
Meeting fellow travellers also was a bit harder for me than usual. I had to actively seek out contacts via facebook groups etc. But also I was either alone or with the kids a lot of the time, which I didn't mind too much, but I did notice that making friends and getting in touch was a lot harder than when your sleeping in hostels/travelling normally.
Another thing I did find quite hard sometimes was managing the kids to be honest. Although I have had over 10 years of experience with kids, I found these kids challenging to manage sometimes. Culture differences combined with "kids with a manual" (if I can guess I would think all three of them have ADHD to be honest) was the reason for that. Although it seemed like me and the parents were on the same page a lot, the reality did not always speak the same language as the words. Also of course kids are kids and they try to test the limits as well. And ooo I got tested!! After a few hiccups it went okay and the kids started to listen to me better. Even though one issue always stayed and that was meal time. The kids were fussy eaters but the parents did want me to encourage them to try for example a local recipe of mine. I understood but it was very hard for me to introduce them and encourage them to eat. Every night it was almost always a battle, no matter what I cooked. This was a bit annoying.
Costs and budgeting
So, workaway will cost you 100 euros for an annual subscription. This might sound expensive but just calculate how much money on accommodation you can save with this. If you only go on workaway for a week per year you have already saved more than the membership costs. So when you look at it that way, I do not think 100 euros is a lot of money and I definitely think it is well worth it, when sololey looking at the costs (but take into account it is way more than that, experiences, life lessons,.).
As most workaway hosts provide your food and accomodation, you can travel for very cheap. Here is what I spend in Darwin on my 4 weeks long workaway:
Transport: 677 euro.
- 50 (greyhound Katherine-Darwin) +10 (beam scooter) = 60 euro
- My flight to Australia cost 406 (AMS-SIN) + 211 (SIN-SYD) = 617 euro
Buses in Darwin were free in dry season 2024 and I used the hosts bike a lot!
To give you a realistic perspective: I had already been travelling Australia for a few weeks, hence I include bus cost from Katherine and flights as an expense and not all the other transportation in between.
Food: 90 euro.
Mostly spent on delicious coffee and pastries (between 3 and 4 euro each), a lunch (20 euro), market foods and one night out with friends (cocktail = approximately 10 euro).
Souvenirs: 25 euro.
On the markets I bought soaps, key chain and a towel as souvenirs.
Tours & activities: 150 euro
Berry springs with a friends car, jumping crocodile cruise and Litchfield national park! Other things I did were all free (markets, hikes, museum, beach visits).
Insurance and visa: 15 euro.
eVisitor visa (free) and a very good FBTO travel insurance 15 euro per month.
TOTAL BUDGET 4 WEEKS IN DARWIN: 957 euro.
So, not too bad for 4 weeks on the other side of the world with all costs included.
So, to travel cheap, save money and gain unique experiences and experience cultures from up close, I would recommend workaway. The platform offers so many different types of work experiences and it is very well monitored for your safety. THE solution to spend less money while travelling but gain more unique experiences: workaway!
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