A woman has managed to travel the globe twice on a shoestring budget of just £50 per week.
Helen Dainty, 46, from the West Midlands, quit her job in the travel industry to become a full-time globetrotter. Despite having to camp in the snow and occasionally dumpster dive, she has no plans to stop. She's covered an impressive 83,000km across 28 countries, equivalent to circling the world twice over.
"At the start of the week, I put my cash into my wallet, and then I can watch how I'm spending by not using a card," Helen shared with NeedToKnow.co.uk. "I've been a traveller for about 20 years, but I've always had to sort of intersperse my year of travelling with a year or two of work."
She discovered that bicycle touring allowed her to travel more affordably. "I realised that if I kept my budget low, I could just about eek a living through the small amount of money, about $100 Australian dollars a week (£50), that I was earning from a rental property in Sydney."
Helen embarked on her adventure in 2018 and intends to continue as long as she is physically able. She has visited all seven continents, including Antarctica, which she cites as her favourite destination. Her modest budget covers food, occasional guest house stays, and activities like museum entries.
The enterprising traveller, with an extra reserve of $1,800 AUS (£904) put aside for unexpected expenses such as bike repairs, detailed her frugal journey. She remarked: "I've just exceeded 83,000 kilometres. It's 40,200 kilometres to go around the planet, so I've done two trips around the planet. The number of kilometres I do in a day really depends on the terrain.
"[If I am on] the Welsh coastline, then 50 or 60 kilometres is quite enough. If it's flat through the desert, and the wind is behind me, and there's nothing else to see, then 120 to 130 kilometres is possible."
Helen described her diet as very much dependent on the location, saying: "What I eat is generally whatever is local and plentiful and cheap – so in the Middle East, I ate a lot of bread and hummus. In Saudi Arabia, the cheap way to eat is at the local Pakistani restaurants.
"In Europe, I have to survive a lot more on bakeries and just maybe a can of soup in the evening if it's cold. I have even dumpster dived, although I don’t have any pictures of the food – I was too ashamed at the time.
"But I found an abundance of high-quality bakery items, fruit, and even smoked salmon all in the original packaging, as if they wanted the food to be rescued!"
In addition to her income from rental properties, Helen developed an alternative revenue stream during the pandemic by sharing her adventures with paying subscribers on Patreon. Helen has embraced a nomadic lifestyle, hoping to fund her living entirely through her travel adventures. A bump in the road came earlier this year when her bike broke down, necessitating repairs and temporarily grounding her.
Not one to stray from her thrifty ways, Helen earned her keep at an Italian BnB, remarking: "I was making beds, cleaning, helping to serve breakfast while I waited on my bike being repaired - in return for lodging and meals. They were the most beautiful, amazing family. I'm so grateful to them."
To keep costs trimmed, Helen typically cycles and camps out in her trusty tent, though she will opt for hotels or guest houses for safety or affordability. She explained: "If I can afford to stay in a guest house, or if it just doesn't feel safe to camp, then I'll stay in some sort of guest house. Accommodation in Tunisia is very affordable – and in Iran, where just five Euros a night buys you a pretty decent room.
"Sometimes it's been cold, and I've camped accidentally in the snow from time to time. But that's not ideal as I'm not equipped to camp beneath four or five degrees."
Filled with wanderlust, Helen plans to pedal her way to Africa next year, after recharging with family in the West Midlands. She mused over her endless curiosity about the world: "There are so many places I want to go and experiences I want to have, and food I want to eat, and people I want to meet, and cultures I want to understand, and languages I'd like to learn, that there isn't enough time in a lifetime."
Helen, who has been sharing her globetrotting experiences on Polar Steps, offered some pearls of wisdom for those wanting to see the world without breaking the bank. She reminisced about her early travel days, saying: "I used to couchsurf a lot when I first started travelling 20 years ago – that's another network for people. They will invite you to come and stay in their home, and maybe you will cook together, and it's just a great way to meet local people."
Helen also praised the Warm Showers community, describing it as "an incredible network of cyclists who host cyclists. That's an absolute lifesaver for any cyclist – it's a place where somebody will put you up in their home, in their spare room or on their couch.
"They'll probably cook you a dinner, and you can chat cycling and get advice about onward routes."
Helen believes these methods are not just about saving money but also about cultural immersion: "These are amazing ways to save money, but I also think it’s important to meet local people.
"If we don't hang out with local people in the towns and countries that we're passing through, then we're transiting at a very superficial level - taking nice photos and disappearing."