An Australian sunset might look even sweeter after an honest day's work

When I travelled Australia I met a lot of student travellers who were working their way around the country by doing farm work. This wasn’t my idea of vacation, but then I had the luxury of spending my first three months in Sydney doing temp work and saving up, so I didn’t have to work once I hit the road.

Also, I sunburn very easily.

If you want to spend more time on the road, or if you really have an interest in locally grown food, then you may want to look into WWOOFing your way around.

WWOOF stands for Worldwide Opportunities On Organic Farms, and it’s a way that you can sleep and eat for free in exchange for doing some work. The amount of work you have to do, and what exactly you get in exchange for it, is something you have to negotiate, and this article from BootsnAll Travel does a good job of explaining just how to do that: The How-To’s of WWOOF’ing.

If all you want to do on your travels is sleep, drink, lay on a beach and maybe take in a few sights, then this isn’t for you. But if you want to meet locals, spend time really getting to know other young travellers and see smaller towns off the beaten path, then this could be a great way to do all that.

As the article points out, just make sure you’ve set clear expectations with your employer, and be prepared to hold up your end of the bargain.