A Balkan Summer: Travelling on a budget
By Roman Koblov
Monday 19th October 2009
You get the signal to enter the hall after anxiously waiting outside. You scope out your seat quickly, there is a sense of urgency in the way you behave, nervously writing down your name on the paper you await the signal from the coordinator, eagerly, like a sprinter about to race. This is your final exam of the academic year and you cannot wait for it to end. You concentrate on your paper but there is a lingering voice in the back of your mind saying, ‘this is it, summer here I come’! The St Andrews student gets a staggering four months summer break, a fair time off for all our hard efforts throughout the year, surely? For some the summer break is a carefully planned period likely consisting of various internships, jobs and holidays. For others like myself it can be a daunting time where you contemplate what to do with yourself for this third of the year we spend away from the St Andrew’s ‘bubble’.
Faced with very limited funds and a thirst for travel I was determined to get away this summer. My prospects of landing a job this summer looked dismal. The bar I worked last summer had now closed down for good, recession has hit hard. Despite having no luck finding steady employment I was still fortunate enough to spend 7 weeks travelling throughout the diverse region of the Balkans. How did I do this? Last year a friend introduced me to WWOOF, an acronym for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It is a loose network of organic farms throughout the world who offer people the chance to learn about farming and sustainable living, providing food and accommodation in return for working in the farm. As of 2009, there are 42 countries with a WWOOF office, growing enormously since its conception in the UK in the 70s. Having been a ‘WWOOFer’ on a couple occasions I can say it is a very rewarding experience providing you are willing to rise out of bed early (fortunately for me it was never before 7), be prepared for labour and feel comfortable with a bit of seclusion (many of the farms are in very rural areas). This summer I was led to a small organic farm in the village of Voditsa, Bulgaria a place known to Bulgarians for its mineral water factory. Monday to Friday I spent six hours a day working, all of which under the scorching sun with soaring temperatures ranging from 30 to 44 degrees Celsius! Now the sound of working under a hot sun may not appeal to the majority of you but the time outside of the work made it all worthwhile. If the idea of eating freshly grown organic food daily and immersing yourself in a local community and culture makes your mouth water then I would definitely recommend WWOOF to you.
For the rest of you there are luckily many organisations out there that offer different volunteering opportunities besides farming. One of which is HelpX. HelpX is a website that once again offers free accommodation and food in return for work. Although HelpX lists many farms it also provides people the opportunity to work in anything from backpacker hostels to sailboats. There is a twenty pounds joining fee which gives you membership for two years in any country. As of 2009 there are hosts in over 60 countries. This summer through HelpX I obtained a placement working in a backpacker hostel in Berat, Albania. Berat is a very picturesque and charming town. Having recently obtained UNESCO world heritage status as of July 2008 it has been featured as a key highlight of Albania in Lonely planet guide books. The work in the backpacker hostel was very enjoyable. It gave me the chance to meet fellow travellers, get to know the town I was in and find out about the day to day running of a hostel. Through organisations like WWOOF and HelpX I was able to prolong my travels by inexpensively staying at various places, making myself useful and thus getting an intimate introduction to the country I was visiting.
If you have that ‘travelling bug’ which ever so often rears its head but your wallet is looking thin then fear not because it is possible to satisfy those itching feet of yours without completely shredding your wallet into little pieces. My advice for travelling on a budget are as follows – check out organisations such as WWOOF, HelpX, the7interchange, workaway and others that offer you a free place to stay and free meals which really help save you money while away. Secondly check out couchsurfing, a large hospitality network where friendly people offer travellers a place in their home. A great thing if you find yourself all alone in a strange city. And finally, if on a budget - avoid hotels and stick to youth hostels. However if you find yourself travelling in a place similar to the Balkans then the hostels may not be the cheapest option. In the Balkans I managed to get a room in a guesthouse for as little as 5 Euros. All in all, I hope you have come to see that travelling need not be as expensive as you may believe. Cheap air fares, better communication, and travel opportunities abroad means there are few excuses to not go out and see the world. Have fun!
Monday 19th October 2009
You get the signal to enter the hall after anxiously waiting outside. You scope out your seat quickly, there is a sense of urgency in the way you behave, nervously writing down your name on the paper you await the signal from the coordinator, eagerly, like a sprinter about to race. This is your final exam of the academic year and you cannot wait for it to end. You concentrate on your paper but there is a lingering voice in the back of your mind saying, ‘this is it, summer here I come’! The St Andrews student gets a staggering four months summer break, a fair time off for all our hard efforts throughout the year, surely? For some the summer break is a carefully planned period likely consisting of various internships, jobs and holidays. For others like myself it can be a daunting time where you contemplate what to do with yourself for this third of the year we spend away from the St Andrew’s ‘bubble’.
Faced with very limited funds and a thirst for travel I was determined to get away this summer. My prospects of landing a job this summer looked dismal. The bar I worked last summer had now closed down for good, recession has hit hard. Despite having no luck finding steady employment I was still fortunate enough to spend 7 weeks travelling throughout the diverse region of the Balkans. How did I do this? Last year a friend introduced me to WWOOF, an acronym for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It is a loose network of organic farms throughout the world who offer people the chance to learn about farming and sustainable living, providing food and accommodation in return for working in the farm. As of 2009, there are 42 countries with a WWOOF office, growing enormously since its conception in the UK in the 70s. Having been a ‘WWOOFer’ on a couple occasions I can say it is a very rewarding experience providing you are willing to rise out of bed early (fortunately for me it was never before 7), be prepared for labour and feel comfortable with a bit of seclusion (many of the farms are in very rural areas). This summer I was led to a small organic farm in the village of Voditsa, Bulgaria a place known to Bulgarians for its mineral water factory. Monday to Friday I spent six hours a day working, all of which under the scorching sun with soaring temperatures ranging from 30 to 44 degrees Celsius! Now the sound of working under a hot sun may not appeal to the majority of you but the time outside of the work made it all worthwhile. If the idea of eating freshly grown organic food daily and immersing yourself in a local community and culture makes your mouth water then I would definitely recommend WWOOF to you.
For the rest of you there are luckily many organisations out there that offer different volunteering opportunities besides farming. One of which is HelpX. HelpX is a website that once again offers free accommodation and food in return for work. Although HelpX lists many farms it also provides people the opportunity to work in anything from backpacker hostels to sailboats. There is a twenty pounds joining fee which gives you membership for two years in any country. As of 2009 there are hosts in over 60 countries. This summer through HelpX I obtained a placement working in a backpacker hostel in Berat, Albania. Berat is a very picturesque and charming town. Having recently obtained UNESCO world heritage status as of July 2008 it has been featured as a key highlight of Albania in Lonely planet guide books. The work in the backpacker hostel was very enjoyable. It gave me the chance to meet fellow travellers, get to know the town I was in and find out about the day to day running of a hostel. Through organisations like WWOOF and HelpX I was able to prolong my travels by inexpensively staying at various places, making myself useful and thus getting an intimate introduction to the country I was visiting.
If you have that ‘travelling bug’ which ever so often rears its head but your wallet is looking thin then fear not because it is possible to satisfy those itching feet of yours without completely shredding your wallet into little pieces. My advice for travelling on a budget are as follows – check out organisations such as WWOOF, HelpX, the7interchange, workaway and others that offer you a free place to stay and free meals which really help save you money while away. Secondly check out couchsurfing, a large hospitality network where friendly people offer travellers a place in their home. A great thing if you find yourself all alone in a strange city. And finally, if on a budget - avoid hotels and stick to youth hostels. However if you find yourself travelling in a place similar to the Balkans then the hostels may not be the cheapest option. In the Balkans I managed to get a room in a guesthouse for as little as 5 Euros. All in all, I hope you have come to see that travelling need not be as expensive as you may believe. Cheap air fares, better communication, and travel opportunities abroad means there are few excuses to not go out and see the world. Have fun!