Low Cost Travel – Travel for “Work”

One way to tackle the travel bug, if you have it, is to try and get a lot of your traveling paid for by work. My ideal travel jobs would be as a surfer or as a tropical marine biologist, enabling me to go off to exquisite tropical islands, and at someone else’s expense, while I spend my time diving and surfing! Alas, I am certainly not the greatest surfer by any means, and so I am mainly stuck in the lab or teaching. What ways can you still go on trips and adventures while being frugal?  (I do often get out surfing in SoCal, and I have been on a few dive trips many years ago, one was a pretty amazing expedition to an Atoll in Belize). Well, I can see quite a few options, and the way I often travel due to my work is either by going on conferences, or for teaching.

I am fortunate that I can go to India, as I am an adjunct Professor to a school there, and so can travel in a professional capacity, which is a nice way to explore but be looked after. I find that India is a fascinating country, with an incredibly rich and diverse culture and steeped in ancient history and philosophy, from being one of the cradles of human civilization through the ages. I am sure many of you have been too, and hopefully had a wonderful time. My other main method is to go to conferences. Yes, you are stuck in a hotel for the time of the conference, but my work is interesting, and I am always learning new stuff at these meetings. Amazingly, I often get the opportunity to take a mini vacation afterwards. For example, over the last couple of years I have been to conferences in Cancun, which were great, and then had the chance to really explore afterwards to visit Mayan ruins, swim around the coral reef, hang out it Tulum (which I much prefer, as it is more chilled, with great places to eat and relax at the beach), swim in the underground rivers (Cenotes). Wow, these were great trips and organized through work!

How about you, how to do you travel around the world in a frugal manner? I have heard that being a nurse is a particularly great way to do this, especially if you are traveling on an expedition, as the organizers will often pay for your trip in its entirety, to ensure everyone can get medical attention in an emergency. Other great ways are to be a volunteer, such as doing charitable, environmental and/or social work. The main thing is to be creative, find out what you would like to do, and see if there is a way to do it by being flexible in your approach, and saving yourself from a ton of expenses.