How to travel the world on $25
Over the past 2 years or so I've been fortunate enough to travel to far away places such as Guatemala and Senegal, and am currently preparing to depart on a 2 month program that will take me to Japan, India, Kenya & Mauritius. None of these trips have cost me anything other than money for beer and gifts.
When I tell people about my adventures abroad the first, near universal question they ask is:
"Where do you *hear* about these things?"
...and thus begins the subject of this post.
Thanks to different programs offered through governments and NGOs there is incredible opportunity for Canadian youth looking to travel on a shoe-string budget, and this article was written to help you discover that opportunity. Look for useful links at the bottom of the page.
The most fundamental piece of advice I have for anyone looking to travel the world without going bankrupt is to get involved in your own community.
Let's say that again: get involved in your own community.
Membership in community associations and networks helps you in many different ways: it develops your own personal network, gives you access to their programs as well as those offered by their partners, and lets you develop experience in an area that you might not be able to otherwise.
No matter what you're interested in, there will be some kind of community association or network dedicated to that subject. You've already looked, and there is none? Even better, as that means you get to start your own.
Community groups exist to accomplish things that individuals can't do on their own. Find these groups, become a member, and volunteer for them. By offering your services many opportunities (including travel) will come your way.
A good example of this would be my membership in the Boreal Electro-Acoustic Music Society (BEAMS) in Edmonton. BEAMS is a society dedicated to experimental music - it's a small group, typically hosts 1-2 major events a year, has no paid staff and runs on a very minimal operating budget.
Am I an experimental musician? No, but I'm interested in experimental music, so I paid $10 and joined BEAMS 3 years ago. After volunteering to take tickets at the door a few times, I found out that BEAMS is a member of an umbrella organisation called the Alberta Media Arts Alliance Society (AMAAS), which has a mandate of promoting collaboration and networking among media artists in Alberta.
To accomplish it's mandate, AMAAS hosts a retreat each year in different parts of Alberta, and pays for its member organizations to attend. To make a long story short, by paying $10 for a BEAMS membership and volunteering a few times I've attended three of these retreats in Medicine Hat, Grande Prairie, and Banff for free. Not a bad return on a $10 investment eh?
Go nuts on these organizations! Don't just join one or two, get involved in five or ten of them - trust me, the investment of your time will be returned tenfold.
As each day goes by the world becomes a bit more complex, and the social web gets a bit more tangled. By being involved in one thing you're going to get exposure to something else, which will lead to more opportunities, and so on. Just like my roomate, who came back from a friend's wedding with a new girlfriend, you'll be suprised by the good things that pop up.
OK, so by being involved in community associations and networks you can travel within Canada at a low cost, but now what about the rest of the world?
If you want to travel the world but don't want to foot the bill for it, you're going to need to find someone else to foot the bill for you. In my experience there are two types of organizations that will do this for you:
There are far more of these out there than you think, and the best way to find them is often through word of mouth, by being involved in your own community.
It's expensive to send people overseas, and these programs will usually have a pretty hefty application process that allows them to screen out the most worthy. Don't be intimidated by these - normally you don't have to have experience in all of the categories they are asking for.
Tackle them like a final exam: answer the easy questions first, then work on the tough ones and when you don't know what the answer is, write something anyways so that you'll at least get partial marks.
Dare I say it, but it's often worth it to take a day off of work to dedicate to one of these forms, even if it means calling in sick - sure it'll cost you a days' worth of wages, but it has the potential to return the experience of a lifetime.
Keep in mind these programs will usually have demographic requirements to meet in their selection of participants - for example, they'll probably need to have balanced representation from each geographic part of the country, gender balance (most programs struggle to find male participants), and representation from visible minorities.
If there's something that sets you apart make sure you mention it, and talk about how you're connected to whatever it is - if it's something that's usually seen as an obstacle, talk about how you've overcome it.
If you followed my advice from the beginning of this post and have been involved in your own community you should have no problem talking about your qualifications. Most applications look for signs of your demonstrated interest in the subject, and how you will be able to share your experience with your community once you return.
This brings me to the last piece of advice: don't sell yourself too short.
Don't miss any details. Mention that time you served hotdogs outside the IGA as a fundraiser for your little sister's dance class. And, don't just talk about what you did, talk about what the result was:
Be adventurous, choose that country that you can't even place on the map, and watch your understanding of the world bloom.
Happy Travels!
When I tell people about my adventures abroad the first, near universal question they ask is:
"Where do you *hear* about these things?"
...and thus begins the subject of this post.
Thanks to different programs offered through governments and NGOs there is incredible opportunity for Canadian youth looking to travel on a shoe-string budget, and this article was written to help you discover that opportunity. Look for useful links at the bottom of the page.
The most fundamental piece of advice I have for anyone looking to travel the world without going bankrupt is to get involved in your own community.
Let's say that again: get involved in your own community.
Membership in community associations and networks helps you in many different ways: it develops your own personal network, gives you access to their programs as well as those offered by their partners, and lets you develop experience in an area that you might not be able to otherwise.
No matter what you're interested in, there will be some kind of community association or network dedicated to that subject. You've already looked, and there is none? Even better, as that means you get to start your own.
Community groups exist to accomplish things that individuals can't do on their own. Find these groups, become a member, and volunteer for them. By offering your services many opportunities (including travel) will come your way.
A good example of this would be my membership in the Boreal Electro-Acoustic Music Society (BEAMS) in Edmonton. BEAMS is a society dedicated to experimental music - it's a small group, typically hosts 1-2 major events a year, has no paid staff and runs on a very minimal operating budget.
Am I an experimental musician? No, but I'm interested in experimental music, so I paid $10 and joined BEAMS 3 years ago. After volunteering to take tickets at the door a few times, I found out that BEAMS is a member of an umbrella organisation called the Alberta Media Arts Alliance Society (AMAAS), which has a mandate of promoting collaboration and networking among media artists in Alberta.
To accomplish it's mandate, AMAAS hosts a retreat each year in different parts of Alberta, and pays for its member organizations to attend. To make a long story short, by paying $10 for a BEAMS membership and volunteering a few times I've attended three of these retreats in Medicine Hat, Grande Prairie, and Banff for free. Not a bad return on a $10 investment eh?
Go nuts on these organizations! Don't just join one or two, get involved in five or ten of them - trust me, the investment of your time will be returned tenfold.
As each day goes by the world becomes a bit more complex, and the social web gets a bit more tangled. By being involved in one thing you're going to get exposure to something else, which will lead to more opportunities, and so on. Just like my roomate, who came back from a friend's wedding with a new girlfriend, you'll be suprised by the good things that pop up.
OK, so by being involved in community associations and networks you can travel within Canada at a low cost, but now what about the rest of the world?
If you want to travel the world but don't want to foot the bill for it, you're going to need to find someone else to foot the bill for you. In my experience there are two types of organizations that will do this for you:
- government programs
- non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
I've been fortunate to travel thanks to programs offered by both domesitc and international governments as well as NGOs. Here is a short list of opportunities waiting for you to take advantage of:
- Association of Women in Development AWID connects, informs, and mobilizes people and organizations committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development, and women's human rights.
- CANADEM CANADEM is a not-for-profit agency dedicated to advancing international peace and security through the recruitment, screening, promotion, and rapid mobilization of Canadian expertise.
- Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Youth International Internship Program You will gain valuable, hands-on international development experience through CIDA.
- Canadian University Service Overseas CUSO is a Canadian-based international development organization and a leading volunteer-sending organization.
- Careers Without Borders Careers Without Borders is the preferred job search website for international development careers.
- Foreign Affairs Canada and International Trade (DFAIT) – Canada's Young Professionals International (YPI) DFAIT offers an employment program for young Canadians between the ages of 19 and 30, providing post-secondary graduates a first paid, career-related international work experience that will further the objectives of Canada's foreign policy.
- Idealist Idealist is an Action Without Borders project with thousands of volunteer opportunities both in your community and around the world. Includes the best web-based Non-profit Career Centre with hundreds of employment and internship listings.
- Indigenous Peoples Abroad Program The Indigenous Peoples Abroad Program offers opportunities for First Nations people of Canada and indigenous peoples of the Pacific to explore common concerns.
- UBC Alma Mater Society This is the UBC Vancouver student society and they have compiled a list of international opportunities.
- Voluntary Service Overseas VSO was voted the top international development charity in the International Aid and Development category at the 2004 Charity Awards for its innovative approaches to globalizing volunteering.
- World University Service of Canada WUSC is a network of individuals and post-secondary institutions that provides Canadians opportunities to gain experience in international development
- The J. Armand Bombardier Internationalist Fellowships Program This scholarship provides fellowships for Canadians to study, research, and work abroad to build their international competence and to enhance Canada's participation in the world economy. Fellowships are non-renewable and valued at $10,000.
- Rotary International Foundation Scholarships
Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarships are for three or six months of intensive language study and cultural immersion. Applications are considered for candidates interested in studying Arabic, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, and Swedish. - Canada World Youth CWY is an international exchange program for Canadian youth with programs specializing in information technology, agriculture, healthcare, aids / HIV...
- Ship For World Youth SWY is sponsored by the Japanese Goverment, and involves participants from across the globe sailing on a cruise ship and exchanging culture and understanding between each other.
There are far more of these out there than you think, and the best way to find them is often through word of mouth, by being involved in your own community.
It's expensive to send people overseas, and these programs will usually have a pretty hefty application process that allows them to screen out the most worthy. Don't be intimidated by these - normally you don't have to have experience in all of the categories they are asking for.
Tackle them like a final exam: answer the easy questions first, then work on the tough ones and when you don't know what the answer is, write something anyways so that you'll at least get partial marks.
Dare I say it, but it's often worth it to take a day off of work to dedicate to one of these forms, even if it means calling in sick - sure it'll cost you a days' worth of wages, but it has the potential to return the experience of a lifetime.
Keep in mind these programs will usually have demographic requirements to meet in their selection of participants - for example, they'll probably need to have balanced representation from each geographic part of the country, gender balance (most programs struggle to find male participants), and representation from visible minorities.
If there's something that sets you apart make sure you mention it, and talk about how you're connected to whatever it is - if it's something that's usually seen as an obstacle, talk about how you've overcome it.
If you followed my advice from the beginning of this post and have been involved in your own community you should have no problem talking about your qualifications. Most applications look for signs of your demonstrated interest in the subject, and how you will be able to share your experience with your community once you return.
This brings me to the last piece of advice: don't sell yourself too short.
Don't miss any details. Mention that time you served hotdogs outside the IGA as a fundraiser for your little sister's dance class. And, don't just talk about what you did, talk about what the result was:
"By helping sell hotdogs, I enabled my sister's dance troupe travel to small towns across the province, thereby raising awareness of ukranian culture and promoting multiculturalism in my own community."
Be adventurous, choose that country that you can't even place on the map, and watch your understanding of the world bloom.
Happy Travels!
posted by Adam Ungstad at 11:37 AM
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