Can a person actually travel for free? It very well may be possible — if one is willing to make a few sacrifices.

Some suggestions offered include hitchhiking, bartering, labor, panhandling, walking and yes, even the most efficient use of miles and points, as is the standard on FlyerTalk.

The one suggestion that caught our eye — but not our stomach — is searching through the contents of trash receptacles worldwide for one’s meals.

Links to other Internet web sites are provided.

So while it is indeed possible to travel for free or on an extremely tight budget, it is important to not set one’s expectations too high…

You may be able to obtain Free lodging in China — if you speak English.

To qualify for this offer, lodgers must speak at least two hours of English a day in return for their keep while their Chinese hosts can learn for free from a resident live-in English teacher. That requirement sounds simple enough.

However, FlyerTalk member skaven says, “Neat idea. However, decent hostels can be found in China for sub $10/night, even in tourist cities like Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. Cool if you want to connect with the locals, but 2 hours of English tutoring to save $10 seems like really low pay.”

With that perspective, this deal may not be as good as it may originally seem…

One can fly round-trip between EWR-Europe for $399(USD) AI 6/1-9/30.

Yes, that airfare includes taxes and fees, but one cannot earn frequent flier miles on these flights.

Although at the time this has been posted we have not been able to find the terms that one must book this airfare by 30 June 2010 and travel by 30 September 2010 as indicated by the FlyerTalk thread title, we did find the terms that one must book this round-trip airfare by 21 June 2010 and travel by 30 June 2010. Do not be confused by the other offer that one must travel by 31 August 2010 because that airfare starts at US$399.00 each way, including all taxes and fees.

The special US$399.00 round-trip airfare is available in both directions between Newark Airport and ten select European cities via a stop in Reykjavik in Iceland.

Regarding a way of travel called Couchsurfing – have you used it?

The way it apparently works, CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit by staying on someone’s couch or spare room instead of at a hotel, hostel or even backpacking.

While it is certainly not for everyone, it is indeed an economical alternative to more traditional methods of staying overnight in a locale away from home — plus, as a bonus, one can get a more intimate local perspective on the people, the housing, and the quality of life in that locale. Then again, this is sleeping on the couch in the home of a complete stranger — and “CouchSurfers” may also reciprocate by offering their couches to complete strangers.

Could the CouchSurfing method of budget travel be for you?

Imagine having 3 months with $6k? Where to go…, an issue to which FlyerTalk member sycotik is soliciting advice.

Some FlyerTalk members believe that sycotik is asking for the world, and they are looking for ways to actually help give the world to sycotik without making sycotik psychotic…

Traveling from anywhere in the United States to Japan for only US$299.00 round-trip sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Well, when one considers that with taxes and fees, the airfare is ~$600 Anywhere USA to Japan book on 2/20, and that tickets are limited in number and availability, and it can only be booked through one travel agency, and that the airfare can only be booked from 9:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon on February 20, and that the airfare is only good on departures through May 15, 2010 for travel during the rainy season in Japan, and that it is from any origination location in the United States “where service is available,” and that the carrier is unknown, and that the airfare reportedly will not earn frequent flier loyalty program miles, then yes — when reality sets in, this deal may just be too good to be true for many people.

The deal with Condor – All you can fly 299eur — is a flat-rate airfare that includes all taxes and fees. Miles & More frequent flier loyalty program members can earn miles, and this special deal is good until 28 February 2010, but it must be booked by 18 December 2009.

The caveats to this special offer are that long-haul flights are excluded, the flight must be operating under a Condor flight number beginning with DE, and a transfer of flights is excluded.

Regardless of the value of the currency of your home country, there is usually someplace in the world where goods and services are a great value.

Where can two people enjoy meals, complete with beverages, where the most expensive of the meals came to a total of US$13 for two? In which country can one stay for US$300 for 11 days, which included guesthouses with hot water, private guides, meals, and a few beers daily? Where can one get one of the finest steaks in the world with a bottle of wine for US$15?  For that same US$15, where can two people eat a three-course meal, but probably not for much longer? Where can one secure a hotel room for US$20 per night?

In other words, where is the Cheapest country in the world?

One may be surprised at some of the contenders on the list, but one may not be surprised that there is no one country that is definitively the least expensive to a traveler…