Travel frugally with the Volunteer Program – ipadguides

This article is a guest post by Nonanomad. An Indonesian traveler who is also a blogger who likes to travel by volunteering.

There are many ways you can do to save on travel costs. Have you ever heard of a volunteer program or volunteers? Well, by joining this program you can live for free in another city or country by exchanging services voluntarily.

What is traveling while volunteering?

I’ve been several times traveling in a way volunteer. For example in Bali, Taiwan, and also China. So, program volunteer You can find this on several sites which I will explain in a moment.

The point is when you want to visit a country you will stay in its place “host” for free by working voluntarily for a certain time. When in Bali, I stay for two weeks in a private villa for free.

Instead I had to help out in the garden and look after the pet dog. I work four hours a day. The rest I can use for my own free time.

Another experience was when I was in Taiwan, I volunteer in a hostel. In this hostel I just have to make my bed after the guests checkout and do laundry. Apart from getting free lodging, I also get pocket money to eat.

So my traveling is more efficient, because I don’t have to spend money to stay in inns. I also met new friends, had different experiences, and could explore tour around there too.

What are the requirements for volunteering?

First you have to register to a site that provides information volunteers. Three sites that are widely used by traveler is:

To register as a member on the site above, you have to pay an annual membership at a different price. After registering you can search host in any country and find out what information they need from you.

Descriptions such as how long you can stay, what things you need to do, and also what you will get. Well, now we go into the differences between the three sites above.

1. Workaway

I personally prefer to use workaway because the site is very user-friendly and listing program volunteeris more diverse.

The membership price for workaway is USD 44 or around IDR 700,000 and is valid for one year. Indeed, the price is quite expensive, yes, but if you calculate it, you can stay free for two weeks, right? Especially if you travel a lot, you can use this site for a year.

Well, below you can see an example of how a workaway site looks. I’m trying to find a volunteer program in Indonesia. You can search for a suitable program and contact the host through this website. It can be seen that what they need is a traveler who is willing to teach the language.

2. Helpx

I’ve also used Helpx because I found the right program for me. The appearance of this site is less attractive when compared to the other two sites. It’s just that the membership fee is very cheap.

For membership fees at Helpx, you only need to pay a membership fee of USD 26 or the equivalent of IDR 400,000 and is valid for two years.

I’ll give an example for a listing of hosts in Japan who are looking for volunteers to work in guesthouse.

3. WWOOF

I’ve never tried this site before. If you want to volunteer at WWOOF, it is special for those who want to work at organic farm. Because I have no knowledge there, so I have never tried to register on this site.

How much is the membership fee? Fees vary depending on which country WWOOF membership is in, but range from $40 (Rp 600,000) to $72 (Rp 1,100,000). An example of how the site looks.

Those are some sites that you can try so you can volunteer in other countries. My advice, you can try checking the sites above and see what programs are offered and then register for membership if you really want to go there. For this program also usually takes a bit longer. Minimum 1-2 weeks.

Good luck!