The Delights of Traveling: The Story of a Broke Backpacker

Traveling can be one of the best experiences of your life; you learn new cultures, meet amazing new people, and experience different places. However, there are moments where you just want to give up and go home. The difference between many backpackers and I is that I don't really have a home to go back to. A lot of the situations that I am in, I agree that I have put myself in. But, at the end of the day, it is all part of the adventure.

Obviously, there are ways to make money while on the road which is how I have funded my travels. Freelancing is one of the greatest things ever created because you can work from anywhere in the world as long as you have good WiFi and some sort of device. However, what happens when you have none of that? Well, let me tell you.

As I mentioned before, I work online to survive and when I say survive I actually mean it. I don't spend extravagantly, I stay at the cheapest places, and eat at the local joints. One issue that I have received whilst traveling is the fact that getting paid can be an issue because PayPal can really slow things down. So, my story.

I was waiting for my pay to come in for a job that I had done, but it was taking ages to come in and it got to the point where the hostel I was staying at wouldn't let me stay because I hadnt paid for my previous nights and wouldn't even let me sit at the lobby to sort things out. They also kept my ID so that I wouldn't run off. I couldn't find another hostel that would let me stay without my ID, so I wandered the streets for a while and even sat with a homeless person who said that I could sleep in his little corner. I was very close to doing just that until I realized that he was tweaked on drugs, so I tried one last hostel with no luck but they told me that I could go sit at a 24 hour fast food restaurant and that was my only safe option. At that point, I didn't even have enough money to buy a drink so I had to ask someone for some spare change, and they were sweet enough to do just that. As I sat down, I saw a guy by himself and asked him whether I could sit with him and he said yes. So, we got to talking and he told me that the fastest way to make money was to sell my laptop. At first, I was hesitant because that laptop was my life. I worked on it, communicated on it, etc. However, there didn't seem to be any other options but at that point, it was about 3 AM, so I would have to wait until the next morning to sell it. Long story short, I sold it and was able to get enough money for it settle my bill and move into another place. I was also able to get enough money to move to a different city because honestly it felt like I had constant bad vibes in that city.

For those people who don't really have much to travel, volunteering at a place helps you save money and also get free accommodation and depending on where, they might also give you a bit extra. Being broke is one of the hardest things I have ever dealt with in my life because there really is nothing you can do about it. However, just know that everything works out for a reason and there is always a solution. There are also wonderful people out there who are willing to help in any given situation.

Currently, I'm volunteering at an organic vegetable farm in the middle of nowhere but it has been an amazing experience because I am really in with nature. I have met a great guy who inspired me to do this and we may not have been together for a while but this place has been great for us going from every day drinking and partying to just being one with nature and really learning about the veggie farm.