Cheap ways to travel?

[thesilentone]

I'm 26, and I never got to to do the travel the world thing I intended to back when I was 16 and getting ready to start university. I never did get a degree (wrong subject, wrong responsibility level at the time, idiot). Here in the UK I see options like going to the far east to teach english, and other locations, but they all ask for a degree.

I got a college education, but that's only a tiny bit better than an american high school diploma (here we leave school at 16, college is an optional extra 2 years you need for uni) and very rarely do jobs ask for that, it's school qualifications or uni ones, or specialized to the job ones.

Right now, paying rent and doing very average jobs (mostly call centre/admin) saving up £500 is a big job but not impossible. I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas for seeing a lot of the world semi cheaply, with no qualifications needed (but not just grunt work ideally...).

I half joked with a friend about just waiting till the major fruit picking times and just going around europe timing it with whenever they were picking grapes, olives or whatever. But I really know nothing about those things, or when would be best.

Any ideas appreciated, the only languages we know semi well would be german and french, ideally we/I would want to go further (from the uk) but if that could be done super cheaply i'd think about it.

[chequita guevara]

You can cross the oceans on a tramp freighter for cheap.

[SlowwHand]

http://www.cstn.org/reports/general/freighter101_03.html

http://www.freighter-cruises.com/

http://www.escapeartist.com/unique_lifestyles/Freighter_Travel.html

[snoopy369]

If you don't mind retail, you can usually get seasonal retail jobs around the holidays that if you are decent at can typically become full time. So just start around late october

[thesilentone]

Thanks for the links! Though I was a bit dismayed by the freighter journey prices, I had all romantic visions of slumming around on a ship travelling everywhere but then I saw the £2500 price tag (pretend that pound sign is the euro symbol, can't find it on my keyboard).

As for retail, that would imply a near mastering of the home language, which even in france or germany, I'm not quite near that.

There's got to be something I could just kickstart with £1000 in my pocket and be gone for 6 months or so... with working a bit etc.

[SlowwHand]

A canoe.

[thesilentone]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
A canoe.

Could be fun! But... probably not, the atlantic and pacific are not to be messed with. "sniff" You wouldn't want to be ruin my dreams would you? Find me something most excellent

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by thesilentone
Thanks for the links! Though I was a bit dismayed by the freighter journey prices, I had all romantic visions of slumming around on a ship travelling everywhere but then I saw the £2500 price tag (pretend that pound sign is the euro symbol, can't find it on my keyboard).

As for retail, that would imply a near mastering of the home language, which even in france or germany, I'm not quite near that.

There's got to be something I could just kickstart with £1000 in my pocket and be gone for 6 months or so... with working a bit etc.

Retail you could do in America, at least

[thesilentone]

Is it that easy to get a work permit in the US? A friend of mine wanted to go over and live with an ex of hers last year and was refused entry, she said she only applied for a 6 month visa. Wouldn't be surprised if she had left some details out though. I know she lived with him in cali for a year around 2000ish.

[SlowwHand]

http://sailing.about.com/b/a/115472.htm

[:) Smiley]

Originally posted by thesilentone
Is it that easy to get a work permit in the US? A friend of mine wanted to go over and live with an ex of hers last year and was refused entry, she said she only applied for a 6 month visa. Wouldn't be surprised if she had left some details out though. I know she lived with him in cali for a year around 2000ish.

Permit? hahaha

no one checks for those in low end jobs here.

[Dinner]

Join the Army.

See the (**** parts) of the world.

Well, all of it isn't bad. I got to go to places like the UK, Germany, Italy, Thailand, Japan, Korea, and all over the US besides being forced to go to the odd war zone.