I’m Will Hatton, adventurer, entrepreneur and the original Broke Backpacker.
For as long as I can remember, I have been passionate about real adventures in far-flung lands. I like raw, challenging travel that pushes me out of my comfort zone and teaches me life lessons.
For many moons, I traveled the world on $10 a day, living rough, picking up random jobs, hitchhiking, Couchsurfing… It was an incredible experience. Today, I live in Bali where I am the co-founder of Tribal Bali – a very special hostel aimed at backpackers seeking to make travel a lifestyle through online entrepreneurship.
I still travel often – usually to places with no phone signal and no distractions. For me, travel is about resetting, reconnecting and spending time in the raw beauty of nature.
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Welcome to The Broke Backpacker
The goal of The Broke Backpacker is to show budding adventurers how to ditch their desks, hit the road and discover the intoxicating levels of freedom that can only be found while traveling the world.
We are passionate about real adventures in far flung lands. We live for raw, challenging travel that pushes you out of your comfort zone and helps truly change your life…
For many moons, The Broke Backpacker was a one man band traveling the world on $10 a day, living rough, picking up random jobs, hitchhiking, Couchsurfing… It was an incredible experience yet alas; our lonely solo warrior found there was very little information on the art of true budget backpacking available online and so, a decade ago, The Broke Backpacker was born…
We believe that travel is the ultimate learning experience and that when you are out of your comfort zone, this is when you learn the most.
10 YEARS OF BROKE BACKPACKING…
I had my first taste of backpacking when I was eighteen and was instantly hooked by the chance for a fresh start, the chance to be somebody new whilst hitching, camping and Couchsurfing my way around Europe.
Since then, I have trekked deep into the Venezuelan jungle, worked on bars in Laos, herded goats in the Holy Land and conquered the highest navigable pass in the world armed with a poorly drawn map and some beef jerky.
I have experienced and survived knife-point robberies in Nepal, guerrilla encounters in Myanmar, motorbike crashes in Vietnam, marriage proposals in Iran, arrests in India, love triangles in Colombia and numerous other misadventures. Check out this post to find out about some of the lessons I learnt on the road.
Why did I choose a life of travel?
When I was nineteen, I became seriously injured whilst trekking in Costa Rica and spent two weeks in a hospital before being shipped back to the UK. I spent a year recovering from a truly unpleasant ordeal. It was not a good time.
I had always wanted to be a Royal Marine but on account of my injury that dream was abruptly over.
Unsure where my life was headed, I made my way to India and traveled around Asia on a budget of fifty bucks a week, I traveled for two years before returning to the UK to visit my family.
Being in India alone at such a young age was one hell of a culture shock but it ignited my passion for adventure and pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
Crucially, spending time with myself whilst exploring nature gave me the tools and insight I needed to recover from some traumatic events and I realised fairly quickly that raw travel gives you a chance to heal and to grow. The opportunities for personal development on the road are truly endless.
How do I pay for my adventures?
Originally, I had the world’s worst job unloading lorries at 5 am for minimum wage. I worked sixty hours a week to save some cash and then quit, hitting the road for three years and not looking back.
I stretched my money as far as possible by hitchhiking and Couchsurfing everywhere and picking up odd jobs on farms and in bars and hostels, whenever I could.
In a nutshell, I traveled super cheap in super cheap countries.
Do you have to be rich to travel?
Hell no.
I gallivanted around the globe on a budget of $10 a day for years. And many of my fellow Broke Backpackers on the team here have also got extensive experience traveling on a tight budget.
In our different ways, we here at The Broke Backpacker all learned pretty quickly that anything is possible if you want it bad enough. All I ever wanted to do was see the world and if that meant sacrificing a ton of comfort then it was a trade I was willing to make. I traveled like a hobo for seven years, sur-thriving on crackers and kindness.
I often camp out and I found that traveling broke is simply the best adventure experience – when you’re broke you’re forced out of your comfort zone, you learn, you evolve and you make friends all over the world.
THE STORY OF THE BLOG
The Broke Backpacker officially sprung into existence on January 30th, 2013. Before this, it had existed as an email newsletter to 40 or so friends at home who encouraged me to take it to the next level.
After being on the road for nearly six years, and being constantly inundated with questions on how I managed to travel with limited money, I wanted to share my experiences of how to travel the world on a budget.
I started The Broke Backpacker with the aim of teaching others how to hit the road in search of a real adventure and how to travel on the cheap.
Today, The Broke Backpacker is packed to bursting with practical guides on how to travel cheap, how to make money on the road and how to travel forever by building a passive income as a digital nomad…
THE BROKE BACKPACKER TEAM
Since 2017, The Broke Backpacker family expanded rapidly and have built an awesome team of incredible people who share a passion for adventure and financial freedom. Find out more about the team here.
THE BROKE BACKPACKER MISSION
Our mission is to provide a blueprint for others to ditch their desks and discover the world. We want to show you that it’s possible to travel the world on a budget of $10 a day whilst you set up an online income.
Travel can be more than just travel; it’s one of the greatest opportunities a person can find for personal growth and development. But you have to be open to that change.
At its core, the Broke Backpacker’s mission statement – what it means to be a broke backpacker – is seeking that growth. It’s being willing to step out of your comfort zone, live rough, and interact with the world from a place of authenticity. That is what The Broke Backpacker’s Mission is: to inspire people to find their best self through travel.
Work with The Broke Backpacker
For advertising opportunities, partnering up for interviews, features, or collaborations, please reach out with serious inquiries only: Talk to The Broke Backpacker.
EXPLORE MORE
And that’s The Broke Backpacker! Feel free to explore some of our favourite adventure tales from the road…
Favourite posts
- Entrepreneurship: How to Become a Digital Nomad and Travel Forever
- From the Road: The Hitchhikers Bible – How to get Picked up when Traveling
- Travel Resources: Everything You Need to Know to Hit the Road
