Round the world on a budget

You're probably asking "I just lost my job, how can I afford to go on a big trip?" But think again: if gap year students manage can do it, you probably can too. Here are some tips on how to find money for a trip and how to get by on a budget.

Try fundraising

If you intend doing any volunteer or charity work on your travels then you could try asking family, friends and companies to sponsor this part of your trip. Often, organisations that organise voluntary placements are able to give you advice on fundraising. For example, i-and-i , which organises volunteer travel, produces a fundraising guide to help the people it places.

If you take a full-time volunteer job with Voluntary Services Overseas, then the organisation could cover a good proportion of your costs. VSO will pay a living allowance, accommodation, insurance and flights, though they do expect you to raise £900 yourself to put towards your placement.

Take out a training loan

If you are planning to do a training course while you are travelling you may be entitled to a career development loan. These are bank loans designed to pay for work-related learning, range in size from £300 to £8,000, with repayments beginning one month after the training ends. The loans can be used to pay for course fees and related living expenses. The scheme is administered by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and three high-streeet banks. For more information see www.direct.gov.uk

Work your way around the world

Despite the poor economic climate there are opportunities to work as you travel. Gap year students often take casual jobs as they travel but your work experience may help you to get better paid employment. However, you will need to check the visa situation in the country that you are travelling to.

The typical casual jobs to be found overseas are in seasonal sectors including tourism (e.g. hotel work) and agriculture (e.g. fruit picking). These jobs are best found using resources in the local area you are travelling to. For example, www.seasonaljobs.co.nz lists jobs in New Zealand.

Finding cheap fares

The biggest discounts (from 30% to 75%) can be had by flying as an air courier. All you need do is carry a package with you on the flight which you then hand over to ground staff at the destination airport. The restrictions are that you will need to dress smartly, be prepared to travel at short notice and agree to return on a particular flight, often within two weeks which limits the usefulness of these deals. For more information see www.aircourierinternational.com

Failing that you can take advantage of budget airlines and discounts offered scheduled airlines. See 'Our pick of the travel sites' for the best places to find cheap fares.

Keeping your living costs low

The good thing about overseas travel is that the cost of living can be low, especially in the developing world. You can get by on amounts in the region of £10-15 a day in the Far East. Of course this means thinking carefully about where you travel to. Goodbye French riviera, hello rural India. As an example, one gap year traveller has done the sums for you in his budget by country - link here.

If you travel to the developed world you'll need to look harder for budget accomodation but it can be found. Most cities have a backpackers' hostel - try www.hostelworld.com and www.hihostels.com.