Not knowing when you might find work again, or where you will stay next can spoil your travels, and possibly mean you have to cut your journey short. If only you could secure employment or some cheap accommodation, or both before you left on your travels! If you were able to organise a place to stay, and work while you were in certain places, you could breathe easier on the rest of your travels, knowing that you had places to go that wouldn't cost the earth.
There are many families across the world that welcome backpackers into their homes and allow them to stay, while the backpacker provides mothers help and babysitting services in exchange for accommodation. The ability to get in touch with such families, and arrange your accommodation is fast becoming possible on the internet, with the birth of forums and websites that help to connect you with people who might be interested in taking you in.
Mothers help could include household chores such as cleaning, cooking or ironing, providing childcare, running errands or walking their dog. The purpose of these families welcoming you into their home is to help lighten their own load by having someone live with them to provide assistance. Offering cheap accommodation or free accommodation in return is a smart way to help each other out and many families are considering this alternative to help make their family life easier.
When planning an overseas backpacking trip, the ability to factor in destinations where you know you have secured accommodation in exchange for mothers help, or just cheap accommodation with a host family, could not only help you to focus your travel plan and itinerary, but might take you to places you didn't expect you would go. If you were to receive an offer from a host family in a destination you had not previously considered, you could find yourself visiting other places that you had not planned to visit. The whole world awaits!
The possibilities are endless, and organising such accommodations and or employments on the internet is a fuss free and painless way to do it. Why spend money and time paying agency fees, when you can do it yourself online.
Websites now exist where you can get in touch with potential host families, before you have even left home – or certainly once you are on your travels, and make arrangements and discuss the finer points of your plan directly with the host family. No middle man required!
Martin Wynn
