Working your way around the world is being made to look easy by a team of Korean filmmakers who are trading fantastic quality videos for room and board.

During my travels I have met a lot of people doing odd jobs to supplement their income to keep themselves on the road.  In fact, the romance of hopping from place to place and finding this or that job was pretty exciting to me at one time.  I have done everything from washing dishes in Tel-Aviv to creating “atmosphere” in Joe’s Garage in Lagos Portugal.  Recently, with the new generation of tech and media savvy travelers I have met people blogging their way from hostel to hostel.  I ‘ve even met the @Twitchhiker who successfully made it half-way around the world by connecting with people on Twitter and depending on the kindness of strangers.  This type of travel is a long way from the times of yore when travelers packed up a Lonely Planet or Let’s Go and took to the rail to look for receptionist gigs in sketchy hostels and tout jobs for dive bars.  Sure, those jobs are still out there but there are a lot more ways to get around and even boost your resume and or portfolio in the process.

By far one of the most creative ways I have seen a group of travelers keep it going is happening right now with a team of four Korean filmmakers who are planning to stay abroad for the next year.  Equipped only with one laptop that is in use 24 hours, their creativity and a willingness to subsist, these four have already created some of the most exciting hostel videos out there and they have another eight or so months of traveling.  When Hojae was able to take a break to meet me for a coffee in Rome he told me that when they landed in Paris in October 2009 they really had not thought out the situation in detail.  In fact, they had not even made a video that they could pitch.  And judging from the initial video that they created in Paris, even though it shows skill, it is completely void a WOW factor that might excite a hostel owner to agree to a video for bed exchange before the video is delivered.  But Yellow Hostel in Rome gave them a shot and the gang hitchhiked from Paris to Rome and delivered a WOW video that would make any hostel owner proud (see video); oh, in case you are wondering Hojae told me that there was actually no spray paint involved in the video and that effect took a bit of time to create.   Obviously from this video their skill and creativity shine through.  I am especially impressed with how the video captures the essence and character of its subject.  After the Yellow video they have gotten a number of offers, including this video for Hostel Alessandro Palace in Rome,  but they still have a bunch of time left in their trip  and are looking to explore the rest of Europe.

Check out their Youtube page at www.youtube.com/user/pm35mm or website www.ingyeo.net.  Or maybe just drop them a line at pm35mm at hotmail dot com.

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