Stories to Shake Up Your Dreams

last street I lived on in Brooklyn

I used to think living in Brooklyn wasn't an option for me. It seemed too expensive and competitive. When, by the grace of Americorps, I ended up living there, I discovered that many people arrive with low bank accounts and big dreams. Moving to Brooklyn without a job or apartment is not only possible, it's pretty normal.

The same thought process happened before I started backpacking in Latin America. I was scared I was doing something so weird that I would have no community. Not so! I actually wish there were less people like me out here backpacking most of the time.

I need to see other people do things in order to know it is possible. I would have never surfed a wave if others had not done it first, por ejemplo. So bopping around the world has revolutionized my concept of living. I have met so many people doing nutty, brave, surprisingly easy things. It's mind-blowing to know there are so many possibilities. I've compiled some of the ways I've discovered people are out there living. May it shake up your dreams as it did mine:

Next Level Roadtrips

USA to Patagonia: driving in a tricked out van from the USA down to the tip of Argentina. I have met two couples doing this trip, although rumor has it there is an entire website devoted to Pan-American roadtrip enthusiasts. It's so luxurious to have a car while traveling, too. It means you can go to out of the way towns and linger on highways to watch the sunset and never have to worry about figuring out public transit.

France to India: My former landlady made this trip in the 70s. She drove a Renault with boyfriend as part of a Renault publiciy stunt. I thought the trip was no longer possible due to regional conflicts but then I met a couple doing the following trip…

Italy to Laos (and back): This is a fucked up journey that I will not rest until I too have completed. This couple got into their car in Italy and had made it all the way to Laos when I met them. FYI, they loved Mongolia and Kazakhstan. And each other! I was in awe of their chillness after so long driving over the Earth's surface. Their advice so far on the journey: skip China. They are leaving their car at a hotel while they float throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and then driving back to Italy in another month or so. If you're inspired let me know! They have a blog.

South Africa to Egypt: A Nigerian who I met in Mexico just sent me a text saying he’s got “Cape Town to Cairo ambitions.” Apparently this is the latest in hot road trips. The across-the-world journeys are endless! Has anyone done this?? Anyone want to?

Adventurers:

Motorcycling from Canada to Argentina: This travel style is not just for Che Guevara. One of the first people I met in my solo travel journey was a 23 year old motorcyclist from Brooklyn who was looking for new motor parts in Quito, Ecuador. Lucky for me, that forced him to stay. His trip took a year and continues to be one of the most authentic, adventurous journeys that i've witnessed someone have. He had the freedom to go through small towns and beautiful countryside and could totally avoid the "backpacker trail" created by certain bus routes and popular pit stops.

Kayaking for two months in the Amazon: I did not meet this Englishman while kayaking down the Amazon, obvi. We met in a hostel in Colombia as his mosquito bites faded. His stories about finding trees to hang hammocks for the night, having to end the trip early because his friend got rabies, and spending all day in the blistering sun silently kayaking along made me glad I was learning the information second-hand. He ended up kayaking across the Amazon simply because a friend suggested it. Nbd.

Workaway.com

making friends and art at a Work Away site in Lobitos, Peru

Long-term:

So many people have done this that I can't really highlight a story. Just know that it is a standard option. Workaway.com is for people who've quit their jobs; they have plenty of time but limited money. Members of the site pay $25/year and have access to the airbnb of work-for-accomodation exchanges. I have gardened at an eco-lodge in Panama, cooked in a surf hostel in Peru, and just finished painting murals on an island in Malaysia - while spending less than $15/week.

I have friends who've spent the summer on a farm in France, others who used it to nanny in Germany. I know a couple currently on month nine of work awaying around the world - they started in Russia and are now in Malaysia. I have another friend who started work awaying two years ago on a permaculture farm in Ecuador. She came out of the experience obsessed with “mono-meals” aka having entire melas of one item, like twenty two bananas for dinner. You too can start eating 22 bananas for dinner! Another dude I met was on a permaculture farm in Chile for 7 weeks with upwards of 50 other volunteers. He has the worst work ethic of anyone I've ever met (but has the same unassuming glowing energy of Ed Sheeran) and did just fine there exchanging "work" for accomodation so.. there's really a job-site for everyone.

For a lil while:

Workaway is great for year-long pursuits, but you can also do it for a week or a month between real-life gigs. I have one entreprenuer friend who has a vintage clothing shop that she resupplies by purchasing items from around the world. I met her at that surf hostel in Peru, where she was also living the good n cheap life, but she went on to Cusco to buy for her shop. She also enlists friends to send her items. I am currently supposed to be looking for handmade jackets from the Laotian highlands... dropped the ball there.

I met a couple from Connecticut who were working with me at an eco hostel in a volcano in Panama. They left there to simply watch someone's dog for a week on the beach and then from there they worked at one of the coolest island resorts I've been to. They got free room, food, and water taxi transit in exchange for 4 hours/day of soft labor. They had 8 weeks to spare and got to see the most beautiful parts of Panama without spending hardly any money.

I should mention that Work Away is not just about saving money. It's also a great way to have a place where you belong, make some friends, and get to know local culture in a more rural setting. Many workaway sites are in secluded or rural areas where you're more likely to get to go on errands with the boss' grandma or local street dogs.

paddy fields and mountains surrounding our Work Away site in Langkawi, Malaysia

Paying off Loans:

You can pay off loans while you travel! Proof of that: a dude I met in Vietnam had just finished teaching English in China for a year. He was able to save $15k of a $30k salary.

More proof: a friend with $80k in debt travels every weekend. He gets posted to different jobs. Right now he is working on site in NYC, but the company pays for him to fly home every weekend. He simply asks for plane tickets to semi-closeby cities: Mexico City, San Juan, Medellin - and spends the weekend there. He spends less than he’d spend in a weekend in NYC.

More proof: Another friend moved to Peru and has been reporting to the USA each year that she does not make any money and therefore cannot pay. After ten years, her loans will be dissolved (this route requires a lot of planning and paperwork obvi).

Credit Card Geniuses:

This is not me. This is so deeply not me that I hesitate putting it as an option, but I’ve met multiple people who have 40 credit cards and frqeuent flyer the shit out of their lives. If you have any interest in getting your flights paid for just by taking credit card companies up on all the offers they guarantee, know that they are people out there doing it well. It's an option.

Emailing Hostels:

assistant to Yorckh when he painted at a hostel in Bangkok

If you've read previous posts you know that Yorckh is a muralist, which is useless when you need a lucrative job and incredibly useful when you’re travelling the world on dimes. He emails his portfolio to hostels in cities when we arrive and hostels respond within two hours and whim bam boom, we have a deal. In exchange for his work, we get free accomodation and breakfast. That's what we're doing right now in Bali - he paints and I work online and then we go surf. I’ve also seen people do this with bartending, cooking, graphic design, and teaching surfing. Email hostels and offer your skills in exchange for board! You can offer as little as a week or as much as six.

Couch surfing:

By now I think we’ve all heard of Couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is a jumble of highs and lows - you could be greeted with cheese and bread in a cozy kitchen or moldy pillows on the floor. I just stayed at the apartment of a Chinese-Malay guy in Kuala Lumpur on the floor with my Mexican boyfriend beside a Greek couple. It was quintessential couchsurfing culture. Couchsurfing used to be about sharing cultures and connections. Now it's seen more as a place to sleep for free, which I've heard from hosts is not really cool. Couchsurfing is the right option if you're looking for friendship, which honestly sometimes I'm just wanting a place to crash.

our couch surfing host in Kuala Lumpur even gave us our first airport send-off since we started traveling!

Rent an Apartment:

NYC made me think that renting apartments is basically like trying to get hired for a job. Nah. It took me 48 hours to find an apartment (with a gym and pool and 2 roommates for $130/month) in Colombia, 24 hours for me to find an apartment ($120/month with four roommates) in Nicaragua, and 3 days for me to find an apartment ($140, living alone) in Mexico, one block from the beach. I have a friend who lives in a cute little apartment near the beach in Nicaragua for 9 months of the year and Oregon for 3 while working online. I met a couple in Thailand renting a place for $120 for the month and some friends in Peru were renting a place on the beach for $60 a month. Renting an apartment can be affordable, the process is natural and people are usually helpful, and all these places were all in walkable towns/cities.

first time i've ever lived alone (!!!) in Puerto Escondido, Mexico

If any of these stories make you want to know more, tell me. I can hook you up with any of the people I've mentioned or ask them for more details and get back to you. Plus, they pretty much all have instagram/blogs/online shops.