Have you ever thought of traveling the world almost for free in exchange for volunteer work abroad?

Here we will explain to you all you need to know about Workaway volunteering so you will be able to do volunteer work abroad in exchange for free travel and accommodation.

Find out how we managed to spend new year’s eve in a secluded island in Cambodia, how we explored the stunning jungle of Khao Sok living endless adventures and how we managed to live for a month in the vibrant city of Bangkok. So if you want to do the same, keep reading cause we are going to tell you how.

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Find out how to travel the world volunteering abroad in exchange for accommodation and meals with Workaway and solve all the doubts you might have in the following sections.

Workaway is a platform where hosts offer free accommodation and meals in exchange for volunteer work. This big community offers cultural exchange and an immersive environment to learn about new cultures and life skills. Being a Workawayer means being a traveler that is willing to offer help for some hours a day in return for a place to stay and food to eat.

All you have to do is to go to Workaway website and sign up. You will have to pay a yearly price for your account and register all your details. Then you just need to browse the place where you want to travel to and apply for the Workaway project that fits you the best.

Every host has a lot of information about the project they offer and you can also see other travelers’ reviews. Take your time to read all the information about the project and the skills required.

If you would like to check what projects and assignments are going on and what places offer Workaways before you sign up, you can do it for free. Once you have found the Workaway that best meets your needs, then you will have to pay 42$ a year for a single account or 54$ if you are traveling with a buddy. This price does not include extra costs such as flights, other accommodation, restaurant meals, or anything that is not included in the Workaway assignment.

One of the main benefits of Workaway is traveling to different countries saving money on food and accommodation in exchange of volunteer work. However, these are not the only advantages of joining a Workaway Project.

Workaway also allows you to meet people from all over the world and spending high-quality time with locals immersing in their culture. This way, travelers take part in cultural exchange while working on projects that provide them with new life skills and experience.

In Workaway you can find plenty of information about hosts, reviews, required duties, and conditions in their description. However, we understand that you can still have some concerns about it.

You should always check where you are going, researching the culture, the safety advice from the government, politics,  and we recommend you to have a good travel insurance. Having a good travel insurance like WorldNomads can really help you in so many situations so we would never travel without it.

It is also very important that you know the exact address where you are going and the expectations from your host. To check accurate government advice on the country you’re visiting we recommend you check the government advice website.

Our first Workaway volunteering experience took place in Thailand and it completely exceeded my expectations. We found a 2-week Workaway volunteering job in a National Park in Khao Sok, one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.

Our duties were to take part in activities in order to take pictures and videos to promote the hotel in social media. We stayed in gorgeous bungalows in the middle of the jungle, with stunning views and delicious meals included.

In exchange, every day we had an activity to complete to film and take pictures. These activities were so fun! We visited an elephant sanctuary, we took Thai cooking classes, we did tubing down the river spotting wild animals… We even did a Night Safari that was fascinating spotting the nocturnal animals in action and we had an overnight in the most gorgeous lake I have ever visited.

Thanks to Workway we had such unforgettable experiences and what became the highlights of our trip to Thailand.

This Workaway took place in an idyllic island in Cambodia, in Koh Rong.

Our assignment was to help out in the hostel while we filmed a promotion video. This experience was an eye-opening experience. We knew in advance that we were going to be living in a pretty basic hostel, with a bucket shower, bunk beds, and no electricity during the day, which was fine for us.

When we arrived there, the boat dropped us on a paradisiac beach, with mesmerizing turquoise water, white sand, and lush vegetation in the background. To get to the hostel, we had to walk all the way up the hill crossing the beach and what was waiting for us was a completely opposite reality.

Once we got to where the hotel was, we realized the conditions on where the local people were living. All the floor was covered in rubbish, plastic, and broken glasses in which you could see children making their own toys.

I cannot complain about how dirty the place was, or how the bucket shower only offered brown water “to clean yourself” and how we got bitten by bedbugs every night because that was much better than what people in the village had.

We met lots of amazing people during that time, and we also got to know some local people even though there was a language barrier, but we discovered how powerful nonverbal language can be in this situations, especially with children.

That time we learnt how sometimes we take things for granted like resources that we have in our daily lives but not everyone has them. We also discovered what happens with all the waste we produce, how it accumulates and its impossible to get rid of, ruining whole villages.

We have to acknowledge that it was hard but it was so fulfilling and the best way to get close to such a hard reality.

Imagine staying for three months in one of the most beautiful islands in the Philippines, with no mass tourism, with mesmerizing beaches for you with the authenticity of local life.

We were so lucky to find this opportunity and we could never thank the owner enough for such an amazing experience in our lives.

For this Workaway assignment, we had to produce pictures and videos in order to promote some gorgeous accommodation in the Philippines so as we did previously, we got involved in so many activities.

Some of the greatest things we did there were to swim with turtles, visiting waterfalls, jungle trekkings, island hopping, and enjoying a delicious meal in a local village cooked by locals. We probably had the best time of our lives with the family who was running this accommodation and we even miss them a lot now. That is another thing about Workaway, you have the chance to meet fantastic people that you will remember forever, as we do.

Staying in Bangkok for a month? It’s not what people normally do but we can tell you that it is the best way to really get to know a place and love it like a local.

We spent a month looking after a cat in a gorgeous condo in Bangkok, located in a lovely neighborhood. This was our second time visiting Bangkok but this time we didn’t want to enjoy it as tourists, this time we wanted to discover the authenticity of this chaotic city. That was possible thanks to our hosts, which provided us with lots of local recommendations more off the beaten track and without tourists.

We spent the days walking around the city, tasting and enjoying its delicious cuisine, visiting local markets, and we also started a new project, our Nomads RTW website.

If you are looking for a life-changing experience traveling, Workaway volunteering is a great option. This way you will not only save in accommodation and meals but also you will spend high-quality time with local people, one of the best ways to get to know the culture of a new destination.

With Workaway you can find so many project options depending on your skills and needs, from teaching jobs to looking after animals, gardening, building houses, etc…

For us, workaway volunteering is one of the best ways to free.