You can stay free in luxury homes in exotic places...or...sleep free overnight on couches in student apartments...or...be guest in homes all over the world...all completely free...or...you can find a temporary job for bed and board.

If bad connections or a delayed flight stick you in an airport. www.sleepinginairports.com tells you where to find hidden corners of major airports where you can have some privacy and sleep in relative comfort.

Rich people do not like to leave their houses empty. House sitters live in luxury homes for weeks or months at a time, completely free. www.caretaker.org brings house owners and house sitters together. Caretaker Gazette is a subscription newsletter.

One Caretaker Gazette ad wanted someone to live for six weeks in a beachfront house in Belize. Another wanted someone to stay in a Mayfair flat in London for four weeks. Still another wanted someone to stay in a modernized hundred-year-old farmhouse near a nature preserve in Sweden. I wanted that one.

There are ads for isolated ranches in Nevada...fishing camps in Alaska...a country house in Scotland...an apartment in South Beach. One ad sought a crewmember for a 12-meter yacht to sail from the Caribbean to an East Coast port.

If you never answer an ad, the daydreams are worth the price of subscription. Thea and Gary are caretakers at www.caretaker.org.

Retired missionaries, Jody and Bob, make house sitting a career. They are pet sitting for six months in a house in an Andes spa town in Ecuador. The house has a large library and a walled garden. Jody and Bob shop in the market every morning. They are part of the community.

The first night Jody and Bob were in the house there was a terrible storm. All four of the family dogs tried to squeeze between Jody and Bob in the bed.

Chris is a retired Canadian ship captain. Chris found a volunteer maintenance

position at a Buddhist center in the California redwoods. Chris stayed six months. Tibetan Buddhist instruction renewed his life. Chris - and the resident yellow lab - walked sometimes hours in the redwoods, often seeing deer and rabbits.

After six months in Poland teaching Tibetan yoga, Chris returned to the spiritual retreat in the redwoods. In exchange for room and board, spiritual growth, and Tibetan yoga instruction, Chris does light maintenance chores.

SERVAS is the Crown Jewel of almost-free travel. SERVAS is a global organization of people who promote peace by inviting foreigners to stay in their homes for three days with food, bed, sightseeing, and intelligent conversation at no cost to the guest.

There are modest costs for SERVAS membership and host lists. Some members are hosts only...some guests only...some both. Membership applicants are screened by interviewers. www.servas.org

Dorothy and Robert from the United States had a wonderful weekend as SERVAS guests in a farmhouse in the high alpine village of Sool in Switzerland.

Pushkar Shah from Nepal was hosted in Vermont.

For young travelers, www.couchsurfing.com is the hottest travel ticket going. Almost two million members offer couches or extra beds in nearly every country. Every city of any size has at least a dozen members. Not every member is young. The system allows searching for specific aged hosts. Free.

If money is really tight, get a short-term job in Europe or New Zealand or Canada or Australia. www.helpx.net matches low budget travelers with short-term employers of every kind. 

If you combine these two with hitchhiking - www.hitchhikers.org or www.liftshare.org - you can do Europe on the really cheap.

Walking the 600 mile Via de la Plata in Spain, I met Kati, a Slovenian girl who walks. During the winter, Kati lives with her parents and works temp agency jobs. When the weather clears, Kati is away again. Kati planned to bus from Spain to Denmark to pick strawberries with other young people from around the world. With that money, Kati could walk somewhere else. Kati finances her treks almost entirely with HelpX jobs. Kati finds freedom through www.helpx.net.

Kati would be an ideal couchsurfer, but there are few free couches in rural walking areas.

Most HelpX jobs are for room and board only. Some jobs offer room, board, and a small stipend. Read ads carefully. HelpX veterans are excited about HelpX experiences.

Jackie found a volunteer opportunity on a Norwegian eco-farm owned by a psychologist and his Sri Lankan Buddhist partner. Jackie stayed two months.

Dionne is an experienced HelpXer. Dionne has mucked stalls, cooked, refinished furniture, painted, installed a toilet, learned basic welding, and planted herbs. After nine months and five HelpX jobs, Dionne is still in Europe.

Melissa is HelpX-ing across New Zealand. Sometimes Melissa works two or three hours for a meal and a bed. Sometimes she stays longer to earn money to refresh her travel fund. The fishing in New Zealand is superb.

HelpX.net has a modest membership fee. Rob - founder and CEO - is head helper at HelpX.

A newsletter from www.jobsabroadbulletin.co.uk has ads offering seasonal jobs of almost every kind almost everywhere.

Crew on a yacht? www.cruiserlog.com www.crewfile.com www.floatplan.com

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms - www.wwoof.org - is the website of a group of organizations. Offers vary. Volunteers usually get room and board.

Many retirees use http://globalfreeloaders.hospitalityclub.org to find friends and beds.

My retired teacher neighbors, Jim and Debbie, use www.evergreenclub.org and www.affordabletravelclub.net. Debbie has a massive photo album of new friends.

If only cruises and resort packages will do for you, www.travelzoo.com occasionally has spectacular bargains. Get on their free e-mail list.

Find critical reviews of cheap hotels at www.eurocheapo.com

www.seatguru.com will tell you how to get the best seats when you fly.

Whatever your age - whatever your circumstances - there is a do-able almost-free trip for you. Live your dream. Do it.