The Free Shelf…

…and why it matters so much to a traveler and why you should embrace its potential.

Ok guys. I want to talk about something near and dear to my travel heart. Call it a toast, a tribute, or a public notice. Whatever you call this; it is a dedication to both the Free Shelf itself, and also to the travellers who have continued its tradition. I salut you! 😝

I first discovered The Free Shelf in 2013. I was backpacking Europe on an almost-impractical budget and I’d happily embraced grocery-store shopping in various countries, packing a sandwich for lunch at included breakfasts, and making the most of hard-boiled eggs and rice in a pinch. I wined and dined myself for 4$ under the Eiffel Tower (seriously. 1.50€ bottle of wine, a wheel of Brie and a baguette…). But my cooking was limited because I didn’t buy spices, or pantry staples.

Ok. I readily admit it. This was my worst Free Shelf meal ever. Toasted white bread with tomato sauce, deli chicken and cheese. I called it pizza. But oh goodness, was it ever not. I think the next day I went out and bought groceries after this meal…

In my second hostel, I was in the kitchen and noticed a rather large shelf with ‘Free Shelf’ written underneath. Unable to believe my eyes, I observed a few others helping themselves to various spices and goodies, and a few, leaving behind items they had finished with. This beautiful system allowed me to create some truly spectacular, (and yes, truly disgusting) kitchen creations, and it became a sort of personal challenge for me to be able to build an entire meal from only Free Shelf ingredients (my record, by the way, of Free Shelf eating? Ten days straight – when I finally got tired of making my own ‘pasta’ and bought a box of rice…)

However. The very nature of a Free Shelf depends on the generosity of your fellow travellers (and hostel staff. Someone has to stock the salt and pepper…). The same joy that you feel when you find a half-full box of pasta means that a debt has been placed on your shoulders; one that can only be paid through reciprocity. At the end of that particular trip, at a time when my budget was very much nil, I was happy to leave behind some rice and a nearly full jar of tomato sauce, as well as half a dozen eggs.

The Free Shelf will only continue as long as there are people willing to keep it going. It depends on people who have very little, giving something to those that have less. Sound familiar? And granted, these are people who can afford to travel, so, by definition, people that already have enough. But if we take home these Free Shelf ideas…travellers can be a generous bunch and there is no better example than the Free Shelf.

So let’s all raise a glass, toast with our 2$ beers and questionably delicious Free Shelf Meals, and say yes to budget travel, yes to creativity in the kitchen, and yes to adventure! (And yes to the continuous and long life of The Free Shelf).