Dear GoMad Nomad:

I’m low on cash but still want to travel, what should I do? Go into further debt and live life in the moment, or do the prudent thing and save up my money?

-Broke In Brooklyn

Dear Broke in Brooklyn:

My first advice is to get the heck out of Brooklyn! You’ll save up more money living in the sticks. But, yeah, yeah, I know you want to be at the epicenter of Hipsterdom.

Anyhow, to answer your question: Don’t go into debt! But…you can still travel on very limited funds. The options are limitless.

Since you don’t have money, I’m assuming you have time.  You can spend that extra time that you normally spend nursing PBRs on Bedford Ave, researching and planning out your travel.

First thing you’ll have to understand about cheap/budget travel is that it happens very slowly. You’ll have to opt for the pueblo bus over the bullet train; and if you’re going to hitch, you’ll have a lot of time to perfect your hacky sack skills while waiting for your free rides. So I’d reserve anywhere from two months to a year for this expedition.

If you just happen to have graduated from college and don’t know what to do, check out this fantastic post over at Almost Fearless.

Since you have the time, I would highly recommend volunteering, “helping,” working, and temporarily residing in the places you plan on visiting. This will allow you to actually experience the place and get to know the people you have traveled so far to visit.

Volunteering

This one is tricky. You want to avoid paying a fee to volunteer. I don’t mind helping others, but I don’t like to have to pay for that privilege, and neither should you. Check out these awesome articles for low-cost or free volunteering opportunities in Nepal, the West Bank, and Spain. Transitions Abroad Magazine is also an incredible resource for volunteering abroad info.

Help Exchange

Before I started teaching English in Madrid, I almost took a gig helping an English couple in Brittany restore an old train station into a B & B. I would have helped them for four hours a day and they would have fed me and given me a room in their home. The rest of the day I could spend working on my writing projects with the help of their wireless internet. I used Help Exchange to connect with these people in need of a helper. But the dream was never realized.

Working

Get to the Caribbean or cross the Atlantic while working aboard a yacht. Skippers in ports far and wide are always looking for a crew that preferably speaks their language and may or may not have sailing experience. Good sites to connect skippers and crew: Crewfinders, Yacht Crew Register, or Dovaston Crew.

Temporarily Residing

A great option is house sitting. I kind of want to make a career out of this, except it doesn’t pay very well. Why not take care of the perritos and water Señora Torres’ garden for the month August while she’s vacationing at her other home on the Canaries? You’ll probably need a good reference before strangers will entrust you with their home and animals. Use Mind My House, House Careers, or House Sit World.

So if you combine a little traveling in between some of these ideas, you’ll have a well-rounded trip.  Use couchsurfing for accommodation read up on hitchhiking before you leave.

-Stephen

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Dear GoMad Nomad:

My husband and I are going to England in two weeks. We have four days planned in London, but for the rest of the trip (6 days), we don’t really have plans.  I’ve been reading books and trying to figure out what to do.  Ideally, we’d like to take the train out to the country, visit some sites, etc. I was just wondering if you knew or had visited some off the beaten path places in England. We probably wouldn’t want to camp out too much, but stay in little inns, etc. With that said, we’d be up for camping maybe 1-2 nights if there was a particularly unique place.

-Erika, Louisville, KY

Dear Erika,

in the Yorshire Dales

Yorkshire is a favorite of mine, whether you check out the city of York and its enormous minster and associated medieval history or the insanely delicious fish and chips and Abbey on the hill in the amiable seaside city of Whitby. It’s an especially good choice if you head out to the countryside.

It would probably be best to take the train up to York and then rent a car (a very small one, petrol is expensive) in order to drive around and see Yorkshire at your leisure, allowing you to stop at any random village in the countryside and enjoy a pint in the local pub or tea and scones at a café, or take a break to walk an inviting path along the famous stone walls on the edge of a sheep pasture. In the small market town of Masham you can taste the ales at two great breweries: Black Sheep and Theakston.

For National Parks, I would choose Yorkshire Dales over North Yorkshire Moors. I’m sure you could find plenty of camping in the area, although many will probably be private RV parks. I hear the Peak District is also worth visiting for some great hikes, but keep in mind it is the most visited park in England.

Further to the north from Yorkshire, are Durham and Newcastle, two cities that I’ve wanted to check out, but haven’t yet.

I might try and book your accommodation ahead because you will be traveling in high season. Of course you could take your chances and just show up in some random villages and hope somebody has an open room.

If you wanted to avoid renting a car I would suggest, (and I know I’m all over the place now, far from Yorkshire) the Heart of Wales train line, which hits a number of villages and spa towns for 121 miles between Swansea and Shrewsbury through the middle of picturesque rural Wales.

I will admit, these suggestions certainly aren’t hard-core off the beaten path, but they are great places to visit and exploring the countryside, either in Wales or England will allow you to find your own off the beaten path favorites.

Other ideas:

In terms of other cities in England, I’ve found Liverpool to be one of the most interesting because of its history, excellent (free) museums, and locals.

And if I were to return to England, I’d probably check out the Lakes District and Cornwall (the Eden Project might be your style or even volunteering at the Monkey Sanctuary if you had more time).

-Stephen

What are your favorite spots in England? Feel free to give Erica and her husband your own tips in the comments below.

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Ask Gomad Nomad!

Calling all readers to submit their independent travel related questions to Gomad Nomad to be answered in a new column.

Send your questions to: gomadnomadtravelmag@gmail.com

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