A lot of you are probably wondering how my mum and dad can afford to live this lifestyle. They live as ‘digital nomads’: they can live wherever they want, as long as they have access to an internet connection.

But still, how can they afford to move around and rent holidayapartments?  This is much more expensive than settling down in one place and pay rent, isn’t it?  Well, sometimes it is… But my parents figured out some tricks along the way on how to limit our expenses, so that we can keep travelling!

Blablacar / Rideshare

As you probably know, we only travel by land. This is – as you can imagine – quite challenging at some moments. Most busses do not allow dogs and even though trains are less strict, most of our destinations do not have a train station close. Thank the Old gods (and the new ones) for Blablacar! Blablacar is a website where people can post rides to destinations where they will be going anyway, so you can just hop on! Passengers, like us, can apply and reserve spots in the car for a pretty reasonable price. See it as a more social version of taking a taxi.

Couchsurfing

The concept of couchsurfing is simple. It is a community with members from all over the world. They offer their ‘couch’ (sometimes you get a whole bedroom and conversational dinners!) for other people of the community. Unfortunately, the community is not that active anymore, but when we are really out of options, Couchsurfing is the way to go!

Airbnb

Renting places through Airbnb is definetely one of our favourite ways to make sure we have a roof above our heads. Airbnb has those handy filters where you can tick boxes of your preference. So the boxes ‘Wi-fi’ and ‘Pet’s Allowed’ are always selected when my mum and dad browse on Airbnb. If you like staying in one place for more than a few nights  (like us)  you can even ask for discount. People are usually happy to accommodate! No Airbnb account yet? You can make one here and receive 31 euros discount on your first trip!

Workaway / helpex

Sometimes we do Workaway or Helpex. Both are websites where you can find places to do work in exchange for accomodation and food. For example, we helped out in dog shelters and holiday-resorts in exchange for multiple meals a day, a nice bed, and good company. Sometimes the work is intense, but it often comes with an unforgettable experience.

Housesitting / petsitting

Housesitting is something we discovered recently. The principle is easy: we take care of the pets and the house while the owners are on holiday. This is my favourite kind of deal because I make so many new friends this way! And sometimes, we even get to come back if the owners often go on trips. So far we did housesits in England, Bulgaria and Spain. Our favourite platform is Trusted Housesitters. With this link you will get a discount when you register!

That’s our way of travelling! We are now slowly preparing for our trip to Barcelona, where I will be going back to school. Yes, that’s true, Banana will attend dog training! Coming soon!