25-year-old frequent flyer travels the world for free

High-priced airline tickets preventing you from taking the vacation you’ve always wanted? Maybe you should take a page out of Ben Schlappig's book.

The 25-year-old has been traveling around the world for more than a year, for free!

That’s right — free. Ben is part of a group called Hobbyists, and has managed to outsmart airlines, frequent flyer programs and rewards programs, allowing him to travel constantly at no cost.

“The fact is, we are beating the airlines at their own game,” he said last year at a Hobbyist event. “The people who run these programs are idiots. ... And we’ll always be one step ahead of them.”

Ben started traveling in first class at a low cost when he was a teenager after discovering the Hobby website FlyerTalk. He then started spending his weekends jet-setting across the country, and his parents encouraged this hobby. By the time he was 17, he’d logged half a million miles and was the first known member to fly across the Pacific Ocean six times in one trip.

But this is the first time Ben has no place to go back to. In 2014, when Ben’s lease ended, his nomadic lifestyle began. He packed up his life into a few suitcases and began his whirlwind journey.

He criss-crosses the globe constantly, and while he spends most of the time in the air and in airport lounges, when he does stay on the ground, he bunks in the five-star hotel of his choosing.

It’s not all an extended vacation; it’s become his job. Ben runs a blog called One Mile at a Time, where you can learn to travel like he does.

“I’m very fortunate in that I do what I love,” Ben said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “An airplane is my bedroom. It’s my office, and it’s my playroom.”