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Wow, your apples look delicious!! Want to trade them for our pears?
That single sentence was the start of bartering! In ancient times, when trading with other tribes, transactions were made through 'barter.' It was a mutually beneficial trading method where people exchanged what their own region lacked for what the other's lacked. It especially took place in societies that had developed some form of a market. Because various tribes brought various goods, bartering could have become more active.
However, such bartering was inconvenient because there was no standard of value—for example, you'd have to bring several kilograms of wood for 100g of salt. That's why 'money' was created. Trading by using a single standard for different goods has become commonplace today. Now it's unthinkable to buy things without money! But did you know that bartering is still valid around the world? And even in more advanced forms!Why am I suddenly talking about this? Today I'm going to introduce how to travel the world for free through bartering..!!A way to really travel for free without spending a single cent, using only your skillsThat's how it works!!
In Europe, bartering is still commonly done at flea markets.
좀 더 구체적으로 말씀 드려볼까요? 과거 물물교환은 물건-물건 교환이 당연한 거래 방법이었습니다. 그러나 제가 오늘 말씀드리려는 물물교환은 단순히 물건-물건 교환을 통한 물물교환이 아닌 눈에 보이지 않는 나만의 능력 혹은 노동력과 눈에 보이는 물건 또는 잠을 잘 수 있는 공간과 바꾸는 물물교환을 말씀드리려고 합니다.
In other words, it's a way to travel the world through bartering! By offering your labor you can cover essential travel needs like food and lodging! Doubtful that such a dreamlike free trip is possible? There are actual examples of people who traveled this way!
Note: This piece is written with the focus that 'travel is possible even without much money,' breaking away from the idea that 'you must have a lot of money to travel.' It is not endorsing bartering as the recommended way to travel; please read understanding that it's just informing you that this kind of travel exists. |
Here is the protagonist: German Michael Bige (35)!He succeeded in traveling to a total of 11 countries over 150 days, starting from Berlin in June 2010, without a single penny of seed money.The key to his free world travel, he says, was hitchhiking and bartering. He provided his skills or labor and exchanged them for food or lodging instead of money, which made such travel possible. Up to this point, it sounds like a very romantic story, right?
However, his trip wasn't all romantic. At first, without know-how about bartering or hitchhiking, he began his journey by scavenging and eating discarded food to fill his stomach. In fact, the video documenting his travels even shows scenes of him rummaging through trash.
Thus began his arduous journey, which soon evolved into traveling by barter, providing simple labor like cleaning or washing dishes and exchanging that work for food. Later, he put his aptitudes—fluent German (his native language), Spanish, and English—to use by working as a short-term crew member in exchange for free passage on luxury cruise ships, and gradually continued traveling by leveraging his own skills.
Later, through his own creative ideas—such as 'pillow fights' and 'human sofas'—he even made money and continued his travels, ultimately finishing his journey by setting foot on the Antarctic continent, his original goal!
After his travels he published 'How to Travel the World for Free: I Dit it, and You Can Do It, Too!' (Korean edition: 'A World Trip Without a Single Penny') to share his travel stories and know-how. A video of his travelogue was broadcast on the U.S. public broadcaster PBS and is also available on the website he created!
In Korea there is also a group of four university students who successfully undertook such a barter-based trip.The film 'Idlers' Hitchhiking', which tells the story of these four who traveled a total distance of 7,328 km using a penniless barter system,'is a film that tells a true story made from footage shot by people who called themselves 'idlers' as they traveled by barter.
The four university students, who majored in film (computer graphics, animation, lighting, directing), embarked on a somewhat reckless challenge with the goal of traveling by producing promotional videos for lodging facilities in exchange for free room and board, and ultimately shooting a music video for a new British singer. In fact, the reason they set out was ridiculously impulsive.
The four of them completed a project during vacation producing a military training PPT video to raise tuition, but the money they received was far from enough to cover tuition, so they planned a trip with the intention of making memories before graduation. While they were lying around chatting, someone said, 'Aren't we going to make videos on the trip too?' and Lee Ho-jae, who played the leader role, made a declaration."Everything's planned: it's a way to travel for a year without a single penny! Two weeks later the project became a reality, and with the 800,000 won remaining after buying tickets, they set off for Europe using a barter format of 'hostel promotional video = room and board provided.'
They actually produced a promotional video for a hostel in Rome and received accommodation through that video, and they also filmed a music video for two musicians they met in the UK. Their story can be seen in 'Idlers' Hitchhiking,' and 'Idlers' Hitchhiking' at that timewhen it was released it set a record by attracting 20,000 viewers in the shortest time, won the 'Good Video for Youth' documentary category from the Korea Media Rating Board, was featured in the Wide Angle section of the 18th Busan International Film Festival, won Best Documentary at the 1st Deulkot Film Awards, and was a nominee for the Korean Documentary Special at the 17th Seoul International Youth Film FestivalIt was even selected for those honors.For reference, Lee Ho-jae, who directed this trip and the film, is currently active in various areas of the visual media field. Recently there were even dating rumors linking him with Dana, formerly of the girl group Cheon Sang Ji-hee.
These two stories seem to demonstrate from direct experience that if you take on the challenge, it's definitely doable and worth trying. In particular, Michael Wigge published a book carrying the message 'You can do it, too,' and the four 'idlers' vividly showed their entire trip on video.
Still, for those of you who don't quite get bartering travel, I'll tell you one more story.Have you heard the story of the red paperclip?
It was a project carried out by Kyle MacDonald, a young man in his first year of unemployment living in Canada. The projecthad the goal of turning a single red paperclip from his desk drawer into a house through a series of trades.It began like this. He actually traded the red paperclip for a fish-shaped pen; the pen for a camping stove; the stove for a red Honda generator; the generator for an impromptu beer party; the beer party for a celebrity's snowmobile; the snowmobile for a one-day yak trip; the trip for a cube van; the van for a year's free rent in a house; the free rental for a KISS snow globe; the snow globe for a role in a movie; and the movie role for a house.
I'm not telling this story to say 'Run out right now with a red paperclip!'; I'm telling it to explain the basic principle of bartering.
The basic principle of bartering since ancient times is exchanging things that are useful to each other. How much monetary value an item has becomes a secondary consideration. That means bartering is still possible whenever two parties' needs align. Also, different people may value the same item differently.
Therefore, it means bartering is possible today, and more broadly, that exchanging your skills or labor for lodging or food is not difficult.For example, take the story of the hitchhiking group. At that time, the hostel for which they produced a promotional video had empty rooms, so offering a room was not a difficult request. After all, an empty room would just be a loss if they didn't have guests. But in Italy, with so many hostels, they needed promotional videos to let more people know about their accommodation.
Conversely, the four members of the group could create a video using their skills, but they had no money and desperately needed a place to sleep. If both sides can fill each other's needs like this, bartering can be easily achieved!
How about now—getting the idea? You might worry: 'I don't have any skills. The German man was fluent in foreign languages and the group had video-making skills.' Of course those skills help, but it's still possible even without them!
We have hands that can do the dishes and legs that can do the cleaning!Even the most basic labor can be bartered if it meets the other's needs.For example, if you walk into a busy-looking restaurant and offer 'I'll wash dishes for an hour in exchange for a meal,' the restaurant, short-staffed at lunch, may accept — and it's a good deal for you because you're hungry and get to work for food.
Bartering works as long as what the other person needs and what you need match and you can satisfy each other's wants, so you don't need to overthink it.
Bartering Travel TIP
One tip I noticed while researching bartering travel: having a unique charm or selling point makes things easier. That charm doesn't have to be anything complicated.A unique skill of my ownThat's what I mean. As mentioned earlier, it's possible even if you don't have any particular talent or aptitude, but if you have a skill of your own, you'll have something more appealing to others.
So what kinds of skills would be most appealing to people during a barter-style trip?
1. Video production skills
Video production skills are actually appealing in almost any service industry. Especially places like accommodations or restaurants will find promotional video or photography skills very attractive—marketing is the lifeblood of the service industry!
2. Cooking skills
Cooking ability can appeal to many different people. If video production targets businesses in the service industry, cooking skills are attractive even to regular households.
For example, you could say, "I'm currently on a barter trip and I'm good at Italian cooking. I'll make you a delicious dinner tonight—can you let me stay for a night?" That kind of pitch can work. In Europe or the United States, there are actually quite a few people who respect and want to help young travelers having this kind of unique experience, so this will go over well in those regions. Making friends locally is a bonus!
3. Painting
Actually, painting is the skill that suits 'hippie' travelers who live on the road. Try going to busy tourist spots or parks and offering to draw people's portraits in exchange for food. The novelty of being drawn by a foreigner can be a unique charm, so it may be one of the most useful skills!
▶︎ Beginners welcome! Learn easy Italian art and try barter exchange! (Click)
4. English
English is perhaps essential! The most important thing when using this skill is that you can communicate. You don't need to be a native speaker—it's enough to be able to convey your intentions and to roughly understand what the other person is saying.
▶︎ Most cost-effective! What's the cheapest way to learn English in Europe? (Click)
Today we looked at "barter travel," one of the new travel themes. What do you think? I imagine everyone will take it in very different ways.
Lastly, a word from a slightly worried heart: I hope you don't romanticize it too much. Because the barter-travel method itself can be a survival-style trip, there are certainly safety issues.And people may be colder than you expect.Please just view it as another way to travel!
At the same time, some of you may feel your youthful blood boiling! As I researched this, I felt that this kind of trip might suit my temperament and allow me to gain new experiences you simply can't learn from books, so it's the kind of journey worth trying at least once in your twenties. Of course people in their thirties or forties can do it too, but I think it's especially perfect for those in their twenties who have fewer social responsibilities.
Everyone, don't give up on travel just because it costs too much! There are definitely other ways, so I hope you'll give them a try! No matter how old we are, we're still young, right? Let's all go for it today!!
BY. Editor Hwanta
We'll make the fantasy you've dreamed of a reality! With the belief that 'Nothing is impossible for youth,' I'm passionately taking on endless challenges until it works. With youthful daring and accumulated experience, I'll research ways to actually make your fantasies come true. Lululu~
