Where you are going to spend the night is an important part of travelling.
You want some place to feel safe and be able to rest to be fit for the next day.
There are many different options of places you can stay at when travelling, which depend on your budget and the length of your stay.

I will start with the most obvious options of staying at a hotel, Airbnb or motel.

Hotel

Usually I would consider hotels for a higher budget travel, but they are an option I have for the worst case.
As an example, I got in contact with a guy from a website that stated that I can work for accommodation, and it is a bushland style of living.
He was really nice and picked me up from the train station, and we went to dinner together and went to his place afterwards.
His place was a scrap heap though.
It was a big area next to a forest with old, broken cars, containers, old buses and other junk and rubbish.
He showed me the bus I would be staying in, and it was full of rubbish and only had a bed in the back.
The toilet was a chair with a hole and a plastic bag, there was no sink and a DIY outside shower.
He also warned me about the spiders and kangaroos living on the property.
As it was already night, which made the place even scarier, I told him I feel unsafe there, and he proposed to me to drive me back to the city.
I was so shocked and cried and just wanted my own place for the night and booked a hotel last minute, to get out of that uncomfortable situation.

Airbnb

When you are travelling with friends, an Airbnb is sometimes a cheap option too, as you can share the cost and have a place to yourself.
There are also Airbnbs which are cheap as they are homestays, and you have a room in a families home.
I tried that before and the family was really nice, and we could use their kitchen, and they were able to recommend us some places to visit in the area.

Motel

I stayed at some motels, which often weren’t the best looking It makes it harder that they don’t have a kitchen to cook in, and you can’t really meet people of your age there.
So I would much rather stay at a hostel than a motel again.

Hostel

For the rather low budget travel, the best option are hostels.
It is great for meeting people in your age to discover the area with, they have a kitchen to cook your own meals, instead of eating out every day, and shared dorms are usually more comfortable than you might expect them to be.

Road trip

If you are doing a road trip, and you have a car to travel with, you might have a roof tent, a normal tent or even a van to sleep in.
The obvious thing to do is stay at campgrounds, but in Australia for example you are also allowed to camp out in the wild, and you can find toilets in many places, so that is an even cheaper option as well.

Work for accommodation

There are a lot of places you can work at for accommodation if you are staying there for more than a week.
You can ask at hostels or bed and breakfast places, if that is possible at their place.
There are also websites where you can find families to stay with that need help around their house, with their kids or animals, or with specific projects.
You will have to work some hours during the week and can stay at their place for free.
I use the website “worldpackers” for that.

House- or Pet sitting

On Facebook or websites you can find people that are looking for house- or pet sitters for a certain time period, and you can stay at their place for free in return for looking after their house or pet.
That is a great option too, as you don’t have to pay, and you only have to look after their house or pet.

Adopt a backpacker

There are websites you have to sign up for to be able to stay with people that want to adopt a backpacker for some time and help them out.

I hope after all these options you can find a comfortable place for yourself to stay at.
And remember, it is worth spending a bit more money to feel safe, especially for a place to sleep at.