Snoring

As a low budget traveler you never know where are you going to sleep. Mostly you have to share your sleeping  environment. But what about if you are snoring!? Yes I do some times when I am really tired :) And I was surfing internet to look for a solution and stop this annoying noise for my travel mates. I found very interesting and funny therapy! All you need is Didgeridoo!! Today I bough one just for 10 Euros.
It would be funny if I become a musician just because of the snoring or collect money while I am playing it on the streets :) 

Just watch the video to see how Didgeridoo helps.

And this is me, in the middle of the forest.

The diet of the traveler

Excitement of the new experiences, long ways, hikes, heavy bags always makes you hungry. And you have to be energetic and healthy to enjoy your journey.
For the Professional Poor Traveler the richest food is the healthiest food! There are some cheap and healthy solutions...

 It is not a beer, It is yoghurt!

Yoghurt is a good source of protein. In fact, an average 150-gram serving provides approximately 20 per cent of the Daily Value for protein. It keeps you satiate longer than you expect.  Research shows yoghurt strengthens and stabilizes the immune system. It is important cause you can't be always hygienic on long journeys. It should be included in your traveler's diet at least once per day. But if you don't like the taste of yoghurt there are some ways to disguise it (see this link)
As you probably know the main food of the PPT is conserve-canned food. But they contain toxins and yoghurt is the best thing to balance your body from it and feel better.

Honey

Honey is perfect for the breakfasts with some bread and yellow cheese. It is cheap since you can eat one jar of it from 1 to 2 weeks. The glucose in honey is absorbed by the body quickly and gives an immediate energy boost, while the fructose is absorbed more slowly providing sustained energy. Also honey’s antioxidant and anti-bacterial properties can help improve digestive system and help you stay healthy and fight disease.

Do not avoid consuming vegetables and fruits. It ll keep your mind and body fresh! Summer times it is easy to find some fruits on the trees and some berries on the forests. Even if you are not hungry always take the food with you when you find it. You ll need it soon, or it would be nice to share with people you meet on your way.

It would be useful if you improved your fishing skills. And taking a course to learn what kind of mushrooms are edible might be very helpful too. (I am working on it at the moment)

 

You have to be very patient for fishing

And here is a simple test of your health status; Certain colours of your urine can indicate problems, diseases or imbalances in your diet. Since the normal colour of urine is pale yellow, variations can be an indication of health problems or be the result of certain foods that have been eaten.
Clear urine;
If a person has been drinking an excess of water or diuretics such as coffee or beer, the urine may have little or no color. Typically, it is nothing to worry about if it happens occasionally.
Yellow urine;
Excess sweating could result in the urine becoming a deeper yellow. Also, it is a sign that you have not been drinking enough liquids
Dark yellow urine;
Liver problems or jaundice can cause the urine to become consistently a dark yellow color. Be sure you have been drinking enough fluids before jumping to conclusions.
Orange urine:
People who eat too many carrots--like from a juicer--may see orange urine. Also, too much Vitamin C can turn the urine orange.
Greenish urine;
A urinary tract infection, bile problems and certain drugs can cause the urine to turn greenish. A brighter green colour is an indication of an excess of B vitamins.
Blue urine;
Urine with a bluish tint can be caused by a psuedomonas bacterial infection. It can also be an indication of high levels of calcium.

References;
1, 2, 3, 4

Payed travelling opportunities

This is up to you how flexible you are and how much time you have. If you like to do something useful and stay for a long time abroad, learn the culture and language than I ll tell you what I am doing right now. And something for everyone.

If you run a search on google you ll find billion results about volunteering all around the world. But %99.9 percent of them are commercial. They just make it easy to find where you can be "helpful". And you have to cover all of your travelling, accommodation and food expenses by yourself.


Thanks to the European Union, there is really nice program about volunteering all around Europe and if you are lucky also outside Europe, you can get place in any out of hundreds of projects available.
This program is for the youth and the official youth age is between 18 and 30. The most important part is that it is open for everyone! No required studies, experiences, jobs, certificates, languages... The aim is cultural exchange and help for the youth to be more informed about Europe. Insurance, travelling, accommodation, food and pocket money is covered by EU. When you are applying you are free to choose the country and the projects which are from 2 months to 1 year. What more can a Professional Poor Traveller dream about?

 

7 volunteers in Sweden, Åmål and the best  bosses in the world.

I am in Sweden for a year and working in kindergarden, primaryschool, highschool by helping the teachers in outdoor, indoor activities, physical and handicraft lessons. There are also upcoming new opportunities on my project by making short movies, helping to the fılm festival bla bla bla...

Here are the two golden links!

http://europa.eu/youth/volunteering_-_exchanges/european_voluntary_service/index_eu_en.html

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_en.cfm
If you need some more information do not hesitate to ask me.

And the other project is for everyone! Which is called;

WWOOF World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms









In return for volunteer help, WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles. You don't get pocket money but you get all you need to survive! :) You can live in eco farm and enjoy the nature in any place you want.
This can be also my next project after EVS, who knows...
Here is the other golden link:
http://www.wwoof.org/

If you are interested in nature and hard-working :) I can recommend you something else, In Northern Europe the only tax-free job is picking berries from the forest. It is allowed to pick and sell them to designated places. Also there are summer strawberry farms who are looking for people (paid and accommodation included). But the people who I met weren't very satisfied, as they were suffering from back and knee pain.

Couchsurfing is not just a free accommodation!

The CouchSurfing Project is the largest hospitality exchange network, with approximately 1.4 million members in 231 countries and territories.
After registering, which is free, members have the option of providing very detailed information and pictures of themselves and of the sleeping accomodation being offered, if any. Instead of or in addition to accommodation, members also offer to provide guide services or travel-related advice.

My first experience in couchsurfing world, was about free accommodation. But the people whom I met, showed me that it is something more! It makes your journey excited and didactic. Gives you the chance to meet with the local people, to see how they are living and thinking. Or you can just have a coffee break on your way and ask about the city and people, get tips on places that are worth to see and cheep shops, restaurants, transports. Meeting with those nice people is changing the view of your life (at least it changed mine).

The Couchsurfing map of mine

Red dots: Places, I have been as a couchsurfer
Blue dots: From the places I have hosted couchsurfers

I have met really different people, and made some nice friends but one of them was very special for me. Jeppe, from Copenhagen (on the picture with his bike). This guy taught me how to be more open minded.

 

It was around 23:00 when I met him. He told me, he needs some food for the night and we went to look at some dumpsters (containers) to find something. After 15 min. we had wine, cheese, yoghurt and bread from 2 different containers. It was interesting acquittance in the middle of the night and on the way to his place, cause I have never had dumpster diver friend before. We had nice conversations and shared our point of views about life. After 3 days, when I was on my way home, I thought if we were living at the same country, he would be one of my good friends. 

Many people ask me how can I trust anyone? I don't have satisfying answer. I just want to believe that this world is nice place to live. And being far from the material values really helps achieving that.
If you are curious about the people that form this network and want to see some of us in real life, just join one of the CS meetings or events. Nice atmosphere and positive energy guaranteed.

There are some other hospitality exchange networks but as long as I know couchsurfing is the most active one. If you want to try the other ones, here are the links hospitalityclub ; bewelcome ;  hostmedude

Nice statistics about Couchsurfing;
http://www.couchsurfing.org/statistics.html

References:  http://www.couchsurfing.org/about.html

Traveling in magnificent nature of Åland (for free)

The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea.

Åland is administrative province, region and historical province of Finland. It is an archipelago to the east that consists of over 6,500 skerries and islands...

If you are going to visit the most beautiful city of Finland, Turku or the capital of Scandinavia, Stockholm than you have the possibility to have a free journey around Åland islands. Me and Pavel, a good friend of mine, started our trip from Turku. Therefore, my tips are based on my experience by taking the journey from there. I am not really sure how it can work from Stockholm but if you arrange it to go to the biggest city of Åland, Mariehamn than all the connections in Åland islands ll be for free and you can go to Turku for free.

So, the tricky part of this journey is that you can't find any information about these ferry connections in Turku or Stockholm. There are thousands of islands and some of them are connected by bridges and some by ferries. And all of the bridges and ferries are for free! (You have to pay only if you are traveling by vehicle)
There are 2 harbours where you can start your journey. You can see them from the maps. But the second one is quite far from Turku.

This was the map of our way which we took by bike. It is around 300 km. You can make your own way by checking the timetable of the ferries http://www.alandstrafiken.ax/eng/tidtabeller.htm 


It is a wonderful nature and peaceful atmosphere on this magical islands. If you like the nature and cycling, perhaps this is one of the perfect places.

Buuut, you need a cheap bike? You can find the cheapest bike from students, Turku is a big student town. If you go to the University faculties check the advertisements posted by students.
You can get really cheap bike compared to the second hand shops! (around 30 - 50 euros)

Special thanks to Pavel Aleksandrov for the unforgettable trip.

Professional Poor Traveling

In a dictionary meaning poor is "with little or no possessions or money" And it is not a shame to not have it. It is a new trend, being a Professional Poor Traveller. As a founder of the trend, I ll try to give you some tips about this life style. All of my friends are very curious about my journeys and how I am doing it with the minimum budget of the country where I am residing. And I came up with the idea to not be alone with this new trend!

"When a storm came, some build walls but some build windmills" Chinese proverb.