The first condition for traveling without money: want it!

Traveling penniless is not that difficult, but morale is sorely tested. You still have to take a long walk, sometimes waiting for hours on the side of the road, sleeping outside (and yes, hospitality is a rare commodity these days) and also, on certain days, being satisfied with bread from the day before.

Other moments are epic; we can get invited into an ecological farm, sleeping in a three-star hotel, gorging on fruit, discover dishes made houses, cross the sea sailing, etc.

A lot of ups and low, and therefore, the need to be solid enough in your head, to want to live this experience to fully enjoy it.

2. It also takes time

No need to set a deadline. We originally wanted to arrive in Mexico at the end of March and come back in July. We left in January. We arrived in December and returned three years later! Time is necessary so as not to stress, to savor the moments of waiting which are rich in lessons. We waited 5 days once at a gas station and another time 1 month and a half before finding a boat on the island of Las Palmas.

3. The trip

Almost the simplest part. Hitchhiking is widely practiced, and it is quite easy to get hitchhiked. In Europe, only Spain and Italy are slightly more difficult to navigate, but we do it anyway, often thanks to foreigners. We had crossed Spain thanks to two Romanians, a Ukrainian and an Argentinian! A few tips to take into account:

– Do not stop at night … it tires, and it is riskier. You might as well rest and start fresh the next morning.

– Prepare food before leaving so as not to be hungry and, therefore, in a bad mood. 🙂

– Do not hesitate to walk to the city exits to limit waiting times.

– Follow his instinct, if you feel that this guy or another is not cool, refuse! If you are a girl, extra vigilance is preferable. The pretext that you promised your mother to ride only with women, for example.

– Trust, there is always someone who will stop, and if you smile, it will go faster.

4. Food: The hardest part is not finding it, but asking for it

In our highly individualistic societies, we have forgotten to ask, and, above all, we do not like to receive or beg. It’s all a deconditioning and new learning that must be done. At first, to overcome the embarrassment, it is useful to prepare a short speech, to specify that you have a life experience without money, and that is why you are asking for unsold items … then, it helps enormously to discover that there are indeed kilos and kilos of food that is thrown away at all times, everywhere. There are supermarket containers, bakeries … real gold mines, which are unfortunately not always accessible. The safest way is to ask the bosses or managers. Favor non-franchised establishments, artisan bakeries, restaurants.

Asking is more strenuous than you can imagine. You must save your saliva, especially if the refusals are many; the “no” are still very common (more in Europe than in Latin America or Africa). Do not embark on the explanation of your “quest” at all risk to have to repeat it to the employee, the sub-manager, and the manager before he tells you that the boss is not there and that he is the one who makes the decisions.

– Tell your story; show that you are not just a lazy beggar, but that you have a project that you have an ideology behind your approach. It helps.

– Smile … of course. As with the stop sign, don’t get upset if the boss refuses, it’s his right. At worst, wait for the closure and check the container.

– Check the closing times carefully and agree with the owner to come back for the leftovers. It is best to tour the shops before the rush around 11 a.m. or 6 p.m. and then come back for the leftovers. If you arrive too late at night, the boss is often gone.

In general, it is important to understand that there is a lot of waste and that there is for you and that it is legitimate to ask for it.

Offering your services is an option, but considers staying a few days. Small breaks during the trip are recommended. See youth hostels, small restaurants, or farms.

5. Housing

We left without a tent, but the tent can be very useful. Without, we must add to the daily requests for food, the requests for accommodation. Hotels and youth hostels can sometimes accommodate in exchange for a service or not. Again, avoid franchises. In tourist places, hotels have buffets, and we have been able to help ourselves at the end and, as a bonus, to sleep in the courtyard of the hotel (sheltered, therefore).

In general, it is simpler and more practical to just sleep outside. Less tiring than trying to find a place. When it rains, it’s more complicated; there are the corridors in the cities, the stairwells (you have to come back late and get up early), or the bridges in the countryside.

Again, the hardest part is asking. There are a lot of generous and hospitable people, but they are afraid … After the first contact, once they understand that we are not delinquents or vagrants, they tend to relax, and the doors open.

6. Health

Everyone has their own habits. We had planned nothing, but any alcohol and a strictly vegetarian diet compensate for some lack of precautions. A water filter is necessary outside the European Union, or you have to ask for water in bars and restaurants which have filters in general. Wash vegetables well, do not eat something that smells bad, and avoid expired dairy products.

In general, without money, hygiene is important so as not to have to pay when you get home, or even to be expatriated. Fatigue and stress are two incubators for illness and, therefore, to be avoided as much as possible! In Europe, the doors are much closed, and you have to look for squats and alternatives to find support. Once out of the Old Continent, everything is simpler, Muslim countries are hospitable by nature and the entire American continent too.

 The hardest thing, in the end, is to accept its status of “travel without money” Many will tend to call us profiteers … Before they understand and are accepting of the strategy. Everything is in the attitude. Traveling without money is not a thing for not spending and valuing for free, it is an enriching experience to discover the world differently, to go to meet others (since we ask for everything, all the time, for everyone world, we meet a lot of people), learn to let go, to take what comes, what is given to us.