How to Travel for Free

Yes, you heard right. There are ways to travel for free, there's no catch and there's no scam. However, you should know where to look and choose a legitimate source. I was one of the lucky people who traveled for free, I won a free ticket and free accommodation too. Life is good, right?

Back in 2008, I was working hard and saving money to travel. One day I was browsing the internet and found something that absolutely changed my life. At that time I was very interested in Korea and its unique culture. I was checking a website and it had an international essay contest about Korea. The prize was a paid trip to Korea. That was perfect foe me. I loved doing research and reading about Korea, I loved writing, and who doesn't love traveling for free? That was a win-win deal for me. I worked hard on the essay and submitted with my best hopes. After 2 months, the results came out and I had won! I traveled to Korea for the first time in winter 2008. I stayed in Seoul for a week and everything was paid for me.

That could happen to any one of you and your dreams could come true. Even if you don't win a free ticket, you could win hotel voucher, tickets for landmarks and performances, and much more.

1- First of all you should like the tourism page of your target country on Facebook and Twitter to get updates on their latest offers and promotions. I have to say, the Korea Tourism Organization is one of the best. They always have different contests with awesome prizes, like photo contests, video contests and some writing contests.

2- Do a Google search for international essay/photo contests. Never ever enter a contest with an entry fee unless it's known internationally and has a good reputation. I only enter contests that don't ask money from me.

3- Know your audience, to win an essay contest. You must know your target audience and be smart. Usually when tourism organizations have international contests, they set a theme and ask foreigners to write about it. You can write about that theme with a different angle, or focus on one point you know is important to the tourism organization. For example, last year I won the second prize in Thai essay contest. The theme was “A Place In Thailand That Inspired You.” It was a cash prize which I saved to travel later. Anyway, I wrote about my favorite place in Thailand, The Elephant Nature Park in Chang Mai. I focused on the positive image of Thailand.

4- Enter sweepstakes on social media websites.

Don't give up, I've entered many contests and I've won a few of them. I've won cash prizes, a digital camera, movie tickets, performance tickets, and traditional souvenirs.

Happy traveling :)

Hydra and Romantic Nights

Hydra isn't as famous as Santorini for being romantic and exotic, but believe me, Hydra looks like heaven on earth. We wanted to go to Santorini, but we couldn't because of a lack of time and money. Remember, I travel on a budget.

Getting to Hydra is very affordable and easy. We booked our ferry tickets in advance from Athens' port at Piraeus. We traveled with Flying Dolphin ferry. It cost 25 euros a ticket and the trip is about 90 minutes. The ferry wasn't bad for a short trip, but came a little later than scheduled.

Once you get off the ferry you will see a breathtaking view of Hydra. The white buildings, the hills and the Mediterranean. People there are very nice and helpful.

                                                                        The Harbor

There are no cars allowed in Hydra. On the land you can get around by foot or by hiring a donkey to carry your bags for 10-15 euros up front from the harbor.

To get around in water you can take a shuttle boat for 3 euros (not working in winter), or a water taxi, which is more expensive.

The harbor area is lively. Restaurants, cafes, shops, a bank, ferry ticket office, a museum – pretty much everything is there. It wasn't very crowded in winter. It was beautiful and calm.

Sleeping in Hydra:

We stayed at Nereids Guest House. Just a few minutes' walk from the harbor. It was simply perfect. Our room was on the third floor with a view of half of the island. You could sit on the terrace area to enjoy the lovely breeze and listen to the leaves shaking. The guesthouse doesn't offer breakfast, but there are small grocery stores everywhere on the island so we just bought bread and cheese, sat on the terrace and had breakfast. The owner was nice and helpful. The only negative thing I would say is the wifi was broken most of the time. I heard the slow internet connection was all over the island.

http://www.nereids-hydra.com/en-index.html

                                                            The View from the Terrace

Eating in Hydra:

As I mentioned before, there are a lot of restaurants along the harbor. You can walk around and check the menus and prices.

Psaropoula restaurant offers you dinner on the top floor. You can enjoy the view of the island. The food was tasty and the service was outstanding. I asked if they have pastitsio, which wasn't on the menu and the chef nicely made it just for me. And the dessert was on the house, which was yummy.

                                                                           Pastitsio

                                                                  Chocolate Dessert

You can hike to Kaminia village, just 10-15 minutes from Hydra town. In between the way from the harbor to the beach, there's Kodylenia's Taverna restaurant, which is a family restaurant. The fish dishes were so expensive that we couldn't afford them. However, the starters were at reasonable prices from 4-10 euros and that what we got. The location of the restaurant was perfect. You could see the small fishing boats while dining. The food was ok, but I wasn't impressed with the food or the service.

                                                                Red Pepper and Cheese

Things to do in Hydra:

A visit to the Historical Archives Museum. The museum has a big collection of Hydra's history. Cost 5 euros a ticket. Opens daily from March-October 9:00-4:00 and from November-February from 8:00-3:00.

Beaches:

The water was a little cold in winter but it was still nice to walk barefoot and feel the waves on your feet.

Spilia beach, which is the only swimming beach in town. It was a very basic beach, no showers or changing rooms.

Mandraki beach is located to the east of Hydra. It's a private beach dominated by the hotel Miramare. Kaminia Castello beach is located to the west of town. Vlychos beach located past Kaminia, you can rent a chair and an umbrella for 3 euros each.

Hike to the 6 monasteries and the churches of Hydra. Unfortunately I had a foot injury and couldn't hike to the monasteries, but I heard they are beautiful.

                                                             A Church in Hydra Town 

As for the night life, there are a lot of bars by the harbor.

Hydra was the place to be on Valentine’s day. It was romantic and gorgeous. Highly recommended for an affordable romantic destination in Greece.