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Once, when I was hitchhiking through [[Akureyri]] to [[Reykjavik]] - hitchhiking there is really easy as most cars were driving on that route to Reykjavik anyway; I spent more time writing [[Reykjavik]] than holding the sign - a friend of my driver, was organising organizing an art exhibition and he asked me if I wanted to work for him, being paid in cash.
Things like this happen. You just have to get to know the people and network around that. Like that you sometimes end up going to nice places. I always wanted to go to [[Finland]]. In [[Iceland]] I met someone who offered me a job and a place to stay in [[Finland]]. It did take me a while to figure out how to survive but even without papers these things are possible.
=== Learning process ===
The first times I came to [[Europe]], I had a budget and a return ticket. I was on holidays, visiting [[Europe]], using my creditcardcredit card. I always had to go back to the [[US]] to work and pay off my debts that I made while traveling. But now I don't do that anymore, I have no exit-ticket and basically no budget.
Two and a half years ago I left the US with only 250 dollars and I made my way to Iceland for a job. I worked 90 hours a month in a youth-hostel just to sleep in a dormitory. To actually get some money, I had to work there 120 hours a month. Since [[Iceland]] is pretty expensive, I ended up with nothing.
At the end of those 3 three months, I was going to overstay my tourist visa. The hostel arranged a ticket for me to the UK to go out. So I left [[Iceland]] broke and wanted to go to Ireland to volunteer at a different hostel. But with no money at all, I got detained at customs and got sent back to the [[UK]]. They detained me for 7 seven hours in an empty room and returned me for free to the UK.
Then i I stayed at the [[London]] airport for a night walking passed pass the restaurant area with no money at all. That was hard, seeing all those people eating. I could have done it differently by obtaining work-visas so that I could have stayed in a rather normal way - but I prefer not to have that responsibility, it is a different mentality.
So I stayed in the UK and through a friend I went to a Wwoofing farm where they payed 70 pounds a week, for 40 hours labor. Though I still wanted to go to this hostel in [[Ireland]], in the [[Aran Islands]]. For nine years I really wanted to go visit this place. It was worth it, it is a special place. So when I got some more money, I made my way there, traveled then through mainland Europe, moved back to Ireland, got kicked out, and so on.
But you shouldn't think about how hard something might be, you should just go on the road and find your way. Just believe it can be done and you will see it will happen. It is sometimes hard to figure out ''where is this damn highway'' but once you are on the road, it always feels really good. Finding food is actually the hardest part, every morning you have that same thing again, and sometimes it can be really hard when you wake up hungry. Or at night, and you are wandering around a random city and you really want to have a decent hot meal and a good cold beer and you see people having those meals...
=== Slow Travel ===
My traveling is now a lot slower, I need to build up that system of having a place to stay, getting a routine, get work, then start looking where I want to go next. Before, to stay at one spot for 6 six weeks seemed forever, but now 6 six weeks looks like nothing: go to a place, find a job, a place to stay, etc.
The jobs I do can be pretty different. To get by, I sometimes just go out on the street and collect bottles with deposit. But you can also do Wwoofing or construction work. My favourite favorite work to do is some bar tending, which is pretty easy to get a job in. The reason i I like that is meeting people. When you are on a construction site you only meet the crew.
What is essential about traveling like this is to meet local people. How I was traveling before - I was working and living in youth hostels - I met a lot of travelers. So wherever I was living, I always met the same sort of travelers. It didn't matter where I was - the experience was all the same.
