I've been traveling around the world for 10 years. I don't have a house, a city, or a particular country to come back to when I run out of money. I find having an "ordinary life" with a "home" and a career boring and unnecessary.

For me, "home" is our entire planet Earth, and I think that it is time for us to analyze what we are doing on it.

People often ask me how I can afford to travel so much.

I've never had much money, and I don't think that I ever will. Nobody gives me money or funds me in any way.

When I run out of money, I work any odd job; usually in hospitality because it's easy to get hired, make quick cash, quit and move on.
I don't value working for money. I do it because I have to in order to live in society.

I've never had one consistent job for more than 7 months. I don't work very much compared to most people; but when I work, I work my ass off and I save as much as possible.

It's not so hard to save when everything you own has to fit into one backpack.

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Currently, I am in Siberia. I flew into Moscow and took the railway to Irkutsk with a friend, making stops along the way. I wasn't planning on living in Irkutsk before I came here, but once I got here, I decided that I liked it. So I found an apartment and unpacked my backpack. I will stay here until I decide that I want to leave.

Railway tickets added up to about $150.
A decent hostel, on average, costs $8/ night (but you can even find some for $4-5). There's also couchsurfing.org, where you can meet like-minded people and stay with them for free.

If you stick to things like rice (or buckwheat), vegetables and beans, you can survive on about $20/ week for food.

What else do you really need? Water- here, you can drink from the lake ;)

Altogether I spent about $300 in an entire month of traveling from Moscow to Irkutsk, including railway tickets and accommodation. -That's one night out in Sydney or NY for some people.

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Seeing the most beautiful places on Earth is usually either free or cheap. To get to Olkhon Island on Lake Baikal, for example, cost less than $10 by bus + ferry from Irkutsk. When I got there, I talked to a local woman in a market who offered me accommodation for ~$5/ night. It wasn't the prettiest, but I didn't come there to sleep in a nice room, I came there to see the national park. If you don't speak Russian, you can still find cheap deals online. The most expensive thing I paid for was a whole day 4wd tour of the island, which was about $17, including lunch and vodka. Worth every penny ;)

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If we want to get into expensive countries- I came to Switzerland with $500 seven years ago and stayed there all winter season (snowboarding and babysitting), then traveled to Italy, got robbed of everything but one credit card, got a replacement passport, backpacked Turkey for a month on that credit card, then flew to Australia- where I found an illegal job in a cafe to pay back my debt.

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All in all, it is a misconception that money is what stops people from traveling (for those who come from privileged countries anyway).

The reality is that money is just an excuse. Don't get me wrong, this lifestyle is not for everybody, and there are some big things to sacrifice. But if you do dream of it, don't let money hold you back. What you need to survive on Earth is not money, but water, food and sometimes shelter (definitely in Siberia.. ).

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When you have little to no money, you end up hitching, couchsurfing and budgeting anyway possible. Through this, you experience local life and culture all over the world- real people, and experiences you would never even know to dream of. You also don't rush, you take your time and get a closer and longer look at the most spectacular places on Earth. Dramatic pristine beauty.

Through all of this, you come to realize what's really important in life.

You learn to understanding what it means to live, and that we are all a part of this Earth and everything on it.

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And you see the flaws in our society.

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The system we live by- the money system- is just a big scam. Think about what money is. It is a human-made entity that only exists because we believe in it. It represents nothing (not gold, nor resources), yet it controls all of our lives- and now is dominating most other life and resources on our planet. Banks are legally allowed to lend out 10x the money that they actually have. So they are lending you a fictional thing that they don't even have, and if you don't pay it back, they take your things- real things. What a lie. The whole system is chaotic, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Read "The Culture of Make Believe" by Derrick Jensen. And this- https://www.tromsite.com/2016/03/money-game-beyond/

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Most people revolve their lives around making some kind of career, usually for the money. I bet most people don't even know why they get stuck in one job or career, they just do it because that's what they've been taught, and that's what other people keep on telling them to do.

I never listened to what people told me was important. I sought to question everything and figure it out myself.

It took ten years for my family to finally stop arguing with me about my lifestyle.

I don't believe in any of this bullshit and - for as much as I can- I will not live by it.

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See my site: www.bigworldsmallsasha.com

**** I had a full couchsurfing profile with over 30 references until a couple of weeks ago, when couchsurfing decided to deactivate my account.
They haven't responded back after the 4 emails that I've sent to them, but I have a feeling that they deactivated it because I posted events in cities that I wasn't actually located in. The reason I did this was because they were real online events that can be accessed from any city. They are online discussions where people from all over the world can meet via video chat. The discussion group is here and is still going on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/tromdiscussions/

I don't see any reason for CS to ban be for this since these are actually real events that I am, in fact, hosting. Whether I am actually located in that city or not should not matter since the event is online.
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Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is where I have found some of my most awesome friends, crazy people that understand each other! It is really a community for people who roam the world relentlessly and I love being a part of it wherever I go (except for countries in which men regard it as a hook-up site!!)
I hosted in Sydney and Indonesia, surfed in Spain, Mexico, New Zealand, US, Bulgaria, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. I have also just met and asked advice from a lot of different people on couchsurfing all over the world.

Interests

• traveling
• snowboarding
• scubadiving

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I met a really nice country girl named Asry in a small market in the mountains of Flores, Indonesia. After about a minute of speaking to Asry she invited me to meet her family at a nearby village. 5 minutes after arriving at the village her family invited me to stay at their house. One day after this arrival they brought me to one of the biggest family parties they throw in years.
We arrive at the scene, rice basket on head, and I pretty much get mounted by Asry's family because they had never seen a white person before. They dressed me up in their traditional black and gold cloth, put some plastic jewelry on me, and set me straight off into the middle of the circle to go dance with the dancers as a group of men banged on their traditional drums.
As the dance succeeded Asry's relatives led me to the spiritual room to sit with the elders meanwhile a group of men dressed in traditional gowns began to sacrifice animals outside. Next thing I know the drums were banging louder and blood was splattering all over the soon to be rooftops of the Ngada tribal houses... and I am a little bit ashamed to say that that was the only time I was actually afraid of being sacrificed for a family's ancestors :-/

Teach, Learn, Share

Stories, ideas, music.

Countries I’ve Visited

Aruba, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Poland, Russian Federation, Saint Martin (French part), Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Indonesia, Russian Federation, Switzerland, United States