Cheap Travel

A guide to making yourself at home in other people’s homes.

One of the greatest things about traveling is all the great people you meet. Make a good impression and they may be reckless enough to give you their addresses. Imagine the look of shock on their faces when you actually show up.

At first you’re something of a novelty, like a roaming circus performer come to entertain all of your host’s friends. Soon though, when they find that you’ve been plundering their favourite biscuits or running up a phone bill, you may find that hints about your departure progress to the point that they change the locks and throw your bags into the street.

However in this cruel world of harsh economic realities the hotel, guesthouse or backpackers’ hostel may well leave your budget in tatters. Free hospitality may be the only way to sustain your travels. How then does the canny traveller leave his host always wanting more, more, more?

To learn the answers read on… Just remember that you’re karmically bound to be a damn good host when you finally get your act together to rent your own roof over your head.

Tom has been traveling non-stop since the age of 18 and co-founded Road Junky in 2004. Follow him @tomglaister

He’s the author of Hand to Mouth to India, an account of hitchhiking from England to India with no money and which will soon be rereleased by Road Junky Books.

Tales of a Road Junky featuring tales of breaking people out of jail in Delhi, selling fake Rolexes in Japan and other adventures in Israel and Brazil will be out later this year.

He also writes fiction for anyone who never really grew up and his latest novel is Bozo and the Storyteller – download the audio book for free or even buy a copy…

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