Volunteering on a Budget

Here’s our latest guest post about Volunteering on a Budget by Astrid Halliday.

Whether volunteering abroad for personal growth, to see a new part of the world or to give back and develop a community abroad, travellers are trading in the more traditional holidays which include pool lounging and beach going deciding instead to help others overseas.

As with any travelling, volunteering abroad is not free. From flights and visas to airplane food and airport pick up, accommodation, travelling to and from the project each day, tours and trips at the weekends and any gifts or souvenirs bought, costs can add up quickly! But it is possible to volunteer on a budget if you know how!

Use these tips below to help organise volunteering abroad without breaking the bank!

Go Direct

Cut out organisation costs by organising volunteering direct with a charity abroad. Contact them and ask if they accept international volunteers. Many charities all over the world welcome anyone offering an extra pair of helping hands.

Although it is more affordable to volunteer direct with a charity, make sure you’re suited for it before committing. Confident and experienced travellers adjust better to direct volunteering as it requires more independence. Very often, charities accept only one volunteer at a time!

There are plenty of volunteer organisations (Original Volunteers, World Packers, Volunteer South America) which can help advise nervous or inexperienced travellers who want to help abroad but are on a budget. Affordable organisations can be harder to find, often on the second or third page of results.

Alternative Accommodation

Accommodation is one of the largest costs whilst volunteering abroad and choosing the wrong place to stay can quickly add up! A Bivvy bag is great for volunteers who enjoy camping without having to lug around a heavy tent and bulky sleeping bag. Combining this with websites such as Camp Space or IOverlander, which help volunteers find nearby camp spots, can really save pounds.

In many countries wild camping is illegal and can be unsafe. It is always best to have the landowner’s permission before setting up camp. Camp space shows unique and unusual places to sleep for the night, on an abandoned rooftop, in a jungle or on a beautiful beach.

Alternatively, if camping is not for you, volunteers can find accommodation with locals on websites like Couch Surfing. Locals post ads offering a spare bed or sofa to rest your head. Hosts are generous and sometimes share food with guests and offer to show their guest around the local area, acting as a personal tour guide.

Book Last Minute

As a rule, booking in advance is suggested to save money, with flights and hotel prices jumping up in price when booking last minute. However, this doesn’t apply to every aspect of travel. Any activities or tours and even weekend accommodation is typically much cheaper to book whilst volunteering rather than in advance.

Local hostels and guest houses often don’t advertise globally online and may only advertise locally on posters near the guest house, showing the rooms available for as cheap as a couple of pounds a night – depending on your destination.

There are also many activities and things to do in the local area which don’t advertise online, relying instead on word of mouth amongst locals. It is not uncommon for volunteers who have booked in advance to pay a couple of hundred more than those who booked locally.

Cheap Destination

Travellers should think about all of the costs incurred whilst volunteering abroad and not be blinded by cheap flights to one particular destination. Surprisingly, sometimes it can be more affordable to pay a little bit extra for flights to a much cheaper destination, especially for long stay volunteers.

Most of the more affordable travel destinations are in Asia. This continent is full of countries with accommodation, food and attractions which start with low prices which are rarely inflated for tourists. There are also plenty of low cost airlines which fly around Asia, meaning that volunteers can see more of this beautiful continent. Whereas volunteers in South America are more likely to be limited to only one country as flights around the continent are expensive. For example: flying from Brazil to Peru can cost over £300 and often includes a stopover, despite the countries bordering each other.

Travel Grants

Online searches will display the hundreds of travel grants available to anyone choosing to make a difference and develop a community abroad. Some grants have restrictions on who can apply, and some time is required to search through the conditions of each grant.

Despite common belief, travel grants aren’t exclusive to young students, there are even many companies which offer travel grants to their employees as well as schools, colleges and universities offering them to their students. Sometimes the funds available are limited and the grants aren’t advertised to keep applications low awarding them to proactive travellers who ask.

Volunteering abroad is often encouraged and even if there is no travel grants available, companies may offer pound for pound schemes or additional annual leave days and schools may offer extra credit.

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