As a college student and/or young person just figuring out just how big and magnificent the world is, it is absolutely necessary to gain some overseas life experience. Many students decide to travel abroad, but not all can afford international travel; especially with the rising worries about debt and whether or not your degree is worth it. College life is definitely full of nerve-wracking doubts.
The sites below are meant to offer experience abroad – in exchange for free accommodation, you offer some volunteer work. Listed are a few key features along with pros and cons to each service.
1. http://www.staydu.com
“Stay it your way – choose the type of your stay. You and your host decide. Staydu is the best way to experience cultural exchange. It allows you to become a part of a foreign culture. Using Staydu is more than just being a tourist.”
This site allows you to search for places to crash for free, places to volunteer, and places to stay for a fee. There aren't many cons to using Staydu, but it is a rather small community, you can't filter for hosts, and you can either pay for membership privileges or do activities in the community to get started.
2. http://www.globalfreeloaders.com
“GlobalFreeloaders.com is an online community, bringing people together to offer you free accommodation all over the world. Save money and make new friends whilst seeing the world from a local's perspective!”
This site has a terrible layout, but when it comes down to finding hosts, it is efficient and saves time. One major flaw of GlobalFreeloaders is their plethora of inactive community members.
3. http://www.hospitalityclub.com
“The club is supported by volunteers who believe in one idea: by bringing travelers in touch with people in the place they visit, and by giving 'locals' a chance to meet people from other cultures we can increase intercultural understanding and strengthen the peace on our planet.”
HospitalityClub has an engaged community and active hosts and is quite easy to use.
4. http://www.wwoof.net
“WWOOF is a worldwide movement linking volunteers with organic farmers and growers to promote cultural and educational experiences based on trust and non-monetary exchange, thereby helping to build a sustainable, global community.”
This website offers a unique and nature-based experience for people who don't necessarily want to spend their time abroad in packed cities. It is for a good cause and one of the best movements for cultural experience.
5. http://www.couchsurfing.com
“Couchsurfing is a service that connects members to a global community of travelers. Use Couchsurfing to find a place to stay or share you home and hometown with travelers. Couchsurfers organize regular events in 200,000 cities around the world. There's always something to do and new friends to meet.”
Of course, Couchsurfing is an option. The site is easy to use and you can filter hosts by a number of criteria. It is also convenient in its option to search by map. Because there is such a large community on Couchsurfing, it may be difficult to find hosts, but this service offers events, meet-ups, and rides as well as finding free places to stay.
