I have met many travellers in South America. Most of them travel for six to twelve months. This mode of travelling for more than one month has become increasingly popular among young people in recent years. In general, this type of travelers enjoys a slow life and slowly experiences the local lifestyle. In some European countries such as France and Germany, people generally enjoy at least one month of annual leave. If the company provides "sabbatical" (referring to full-pay, half-pay or unpaid leave), they can travel for six months without quitting the job. On the contrary, when I think about the time while I was living in Hong Kong, a four-day trip to Tokyo is considered extravagant. I wouldn’t even dream about travelling for more than a week. In Hong Kong, people have a lot of work pressure and low job satisfaction; sometimes going on holidays is just to avoid work and by spending a lot of money in exchange for an instant satisfaction. Do we really need those new shoes? Compared with long-term travel, this travel model has a completely different meaning.

In addition to the way to travel on vacation, "remote work" has become more common in recent years. In general, most of this type of work revolves around industries such as information technology, creative work, customer service and marketing. Because this working mode has high flexibility and great freedom, many people yearn for it. Imagine how good it could be when you can work in any corner of the world without having to commute every day. Not only can this kind of life give you a stable income, but it also allows you to travel for a long time. When you have lived in one country for a long time, you can move to another country with a new environment. Another great thing about this type of work is that you can earn foreign salary and then move to a cheaper country to live. Many Latin American and Southeast Asian countries are popular choices for remote workers. After all, these countries have a low cost of living, yet the quality of life is relatively high. Some jobs have certain requirements for working hours in a week, so some people will arrange the work in three or four days and travel during the rest of the time. But precisely because of the flexibility of the work place and time, people with this kind of work are less likely to leave the job. However, this type of work is not suitable for everyone. Some people may like to go to the office to work, have colleagues to talk face to face with, and discuss work details. For some people, this job can also make you feel lonely.

You may feel that having these labor laws or new work models that protect people’s physical and mental health in the Western countries makes traveling easy, but I have also met many young people from South American countries who have traveled for a long time in their own way. Due to its poor economy, many young people from Argentina have taken this time to get to know different countries and cultures. Their way of traveling is at the other "extreme"; many young people from Argentina travel with only a small amount of money, relying solely on hotels to work for accommodation and juggling at traffic lights. At the same time, they rarely eat in the restaurants. Most of them leave the hotel to cook their own food. Due to the abundant agricultural products in South America, buying vegetables in the market and cooking a nutritious meal can cost as low as US$0.25.

Yes, when you travel with very little money, your options become very limited. I know some travellers who have been to Peru and missed Peru’s most famous site Machu Picchu because they did not have enough funds to pay the entrance fee. What they got, however, was countless personal experience, and they met many different people and were exposed to different cultures. There is no doubt that if I spent money the same way like I did on my four-day Tokyo trip, the journey could be as short as a month. When you know that there are many different ways to travel, you can't help but to think, what's the point of traveling?