Sometimes when travelling you’ll find somewhere that you’ll want to stay longer. Making yourself at home in a new city can be daunting, so check out our tips to take the strain.

If you’re staying a couple of days you’ll normally be fine with a hostel or hotel. But what about if you fall in love with somewhere or decide you need to make some money?

Many of us on our longer term travels will find that we’ll need to stay somewhere more long term. It might be that you find some work, fall in love with a place – or maybe a person, or that perhaps you’re just tired of life on the road.

Having had our share of nomadic moves, these are our recommendations for great ways to find more long term Accommodation Options.

Stay With A Friend

This is often a good way to find your feet. Having a friend in town often takes the hassle out of making yourself at home and usually means you can get straight in with the local social scene.

Sometimes it’s more tenuous connections. Get on Facebook and ask who knows someone in *city* with a spare room and you might come up trumps.

Gumtree or Similar

Sites like Gumtree have global variations and often have options for short or mid term accommodation ranging from a few weeks to a few months.

Make sure you view a place before committing to moving in. There are quite a few scams out there so keep your wits about you. If the landlord is asking for all the money up front or there is an awkward arrangement with the deposit then make sure you check the local laws regarding it.

We’ve used Gumtree a few times here at GT Towers and have had mixed results from excellent to passable. Usually short terms of a few weeks.

Besides Gumtree see also Craigslist, Mercadolibre and Leboncoin.

Hit The Ground

No… We don’t mean sleep on the streets (well, hopefully not).

Looking around a neighbourhood where you want to live you will often find adverts in shop windows, on houses, in cafes etc with options for mid term accommodation. This might mean a lot of walking around and knocking on doors. If you’re not too good with the local language too this can be a bit awkward.

Put the word out amongst the local expat community too as this often turns up a few leads. Word of mouth is priceless… And free!

Roommate Sites

There are various options when it comes to finding short or mid term living around the world, one of them being Airbnb. There are usually discounts for longer stays although some places are now clamping down on it.

An easier and often cheaper way is to apply directly to people looking for roommates. Our favourite is Easy Roommate which has global options and often a great selection of locals looking to fill spare rooms. Scroll right to the bottom to see all their country options.

The other bonus of being a roommate is that you don’t have to pay to set up all your utilities like internet, taxes etc. Just move in and pay your share!

Local Estate Agents

If you’re making good money and you know you’re gonna be in town long enough, it’s often a good idea to pay the money for a pad to call home.

Of course you’ll need to set up all the utilities like internet and electricity and pay local taxes as required, but it’ll be your home, which is kinda priceless. Especially if you’re gonna be living in town longer term.

Search online for ‘estate agent+city’ for a list of the best ones or check sites like Expatica or ExpatForum and ask what the best options are.

Other Ideas…

Laws vary and you may or may not find these options available. But if you’re at a loss, try some of these options.

• Caravan: Buy a caravan or camper van. Ideal if you want to move around.
• Camp: A nice tent with a secure lock can make decent digs for a short term stay. Not so good in cold countries.
• Squat: Not necessarily recommended but is sometimes an option.
• Hostel: Some hostels will do a decent price for a long term stay. Ask at reception.

Do Your Research…

If you want to research the cost of living in various places before you set up, we use Numbeo or Expatistan which both list average prices for various goods and utilities including rent.

Any other ideas for mid to long term accommodation options? Think there’s some wildly inaccurate information or very important stuff missing? Please comment below… 

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