How to Make Money While Traveling
It seems like everyone on social media is quitting their job to travel the world, but even if you’ve saved a substantial amount of money, that will eventually run out. If you want to travel long term, it is possible for you to make money while traveling.
Since January 2021, I have been working remotely full time. I work a standard 40-hour a week, full-time 9-5 job with benefits, but the company I work for has no physical office and has adopted a fully remote work environment. Especially in the start-up world, this is becoming more and more common.
Working remotely has given me the flexibility to travel while working. All I need is a quiet work space and a stable internet connection.
Whether you’d like to continue to work a full time 9-5 type job, just remotely, or you’re looking for something that would give you more control and flexibility over your schedule, such as freelancing, there are many options for you to make money while traveling.
How is it possible to make money while traveling? There are so many options out there to earn an income online that you can take with you on your travels.
Here are just a few different ways to make money while traveling:
1. Find a Remote Job
More and more companies are shifting to a remote work model. Having a full time remote job is much like having any full time job. The regular paycheck that you receive from a full time (or part-time) remote job is a great way to make money while traveling.
Depending on the company and the role, you may have set hours, which is something to consider if you plan on traveling while working. For instance, if your work hours are 9-5 PST, if you go to Europe you may be working 3pm-11pm or if you went to Asia you could be working 11pm-7am. Navigating different time zones while working can be a challenge, so be sure to consider that when planning a trip while working remotely.
What exactly is remote work? Now, each company’s definition of what remote work looks like can be very different. It’s important for you to research exactly what the work environment for a particular company may be.
For instance, a remote job that specifies that it is based in Texas and travel throughout the state is required would likely not be a good fit if you are looking for a job that you can take with you to work from anywhere around the world. However, if a company that is remote first and does not require a specific location for you, the employee, to be located in would be a much better fit.
How can you determine if a company is remote first? Generally you can determine this through a quick look at the career or about page on their website.
Here is an example of a remote-first company and how they specify in the job listing that the position is fully remote:
You can see here that it is clearly stated that the company operates a fully remote office and that the person who takes this position can work remotely from anywhere.
How do you find remote jobs? With the high demand for a remote work model and the benefits it brings to companies, there are so many remote job opportunities available.
Even on most standard job boards, you can filter the location to remote only. Take a look on a few different job boards for remote jobs in your industry, make a note of what companies are hiring, and apply!
There are also remote-only job boards available as well. FlexJobs is a great resource to find full-time and part-time remote positions.
If you need some extra help in your remote job search, check out my free Remote Job Search Resume Template and Sample Resume to get started.
2. Freelance
Freelancing is a great way to make money while traveling if you want the flexibility of making your own schedule. As a freelancer, you do have clients to answer to and deadlines to meet, but you are essentially your own boss. You decide how many clients to take on, when you want to plan to take time off, and you have the freedom to set your own hours.
The first step to earning an income as a freelancer is to decide what skill you want to focus on. Are you an amazing photographer? Do you have experience in social media management? Maybe you’ve started your own blog and can offer copywriting and SEO services. The opportunities are endless.
If you’re looking to gain experience and learn a new skill set you can use as a freelancer, Coursera has many affordable online courses and certificate programs such as Google’s Digital Marketing course, that can help you stand out.
Where to find clients as a freelancer?
In order to make money, you’ll of course need clients and you’ll need to market yourself so that they can find you. Creating a website and promoting your services on social media are two ways to do so.
Websites like Upwork and Fiverr are great resources to find clients looking for freelancers as well.
3. Teach Online
Online teaching and tutoring are great ways to make money while traveling. When I was working as a teacher, I taught English online during the summer.
Like many teachers, I needed a summer job to supplement my income (and fund my travels) but I also wanted to have the location freedom to travel wherever I wanted during my summer break.
Don’t have any teaching experience? Not a problem! There are several online English and tutoring companies that do not require any teaching experience.
Cambly is an online English language learning platform for adults and children.
-No experience or teaching certificate is required
-Earn $10.20 USD per hour teaching adult classes and $12 USD an hour teaching children
-Must be a native English speaker
-No minimum hours or commitment
-Can work from your phone
-Teaching certificate not required
-Starting pay is $15 USD per hour (certain subjects may pay higher, especially university level STEM subjects)
-Opportunities to tutor a wide variety of subjects
-Tutor students in K12 through university level
-Degree and teaching certificate required
-Tutor K-12 students in the United States in reading, math and other subjects
-FBI fingerprint background check required
-For certified teachers with experience, Air Tutors is one of the higher paying tutoring platforms at $45 USD per hour.
4. Become a Content Creator
Do you have a passion for photography, video, and social media? Content creation can be a way to make money while traveling.
Whether you want to share content with your own audience, or simply create content for brands to use on their own platforms, you can make money while traveling through content creation.
Brands such as hotels, tourism boards, and different products all need content to use on their social media platforms and in advertisements.
With the popularity and widespread use of short-form video platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram, Youtube, and even Pinterest brands need authentic, user-generated content to use on those platforms to promote their products.
Are you skilled in photography? Hotels, restaurants, tourism boards, swimwear brands… even water bottle companies all need high quality images of their product.
If you don’t already have an established audience on social media, creating user-generated content is a way that you can make money from the start.
How do you connect with brands as a content creator?
- Create a portfolio and media kit.
- Research brands in your niche and in the destination you are traveling to
- Email your pitch
While content creation is a great way to make money while traveling, like freelance work, you are doing the leg work of finding clients and pitching yourself and your expertise.
Want to learn more about how to work with brands as a content creator?
Sidewalker Daily offers several free webinars and resources to help you get started as well as intensive courses, masterclasses and coaching programs. (Let them know @bonvoyagejackie referred you!)
5. Start a Blog
Blogging is another great way to make money while traveling, especially if you have a passion for storytelling and writing. Building a successful travel blog takes time and effort, but if you already enjoy documenting your travels and want to share those with the world, why not monetize it?
Most successful bloggers have multiple income streams in their business including ad revenue, affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and sales from their products such as e-books or courses.
6. Leverage Assets like Your House or Car
If you’ll be traveling long term, why not use your car or house to help you make money while traveling?
If you own your own home, you can list it as a short term rental on platforms such as Airbnb or VRBO. This way, you still have a home base to come back to between your travels (just remember to block off the availability on the dates you’ll be back home!)
Renting out your home on a short term rental platform is not for everyone. There are a lot of logistics that you will need to consider. You may need to hire a manager and housekeeping staff to manage bookings and prepare your home for guests. Read more about listing your home on Airbnb.
If you know you’ll be traveling for 6 months or longer, and don’t want to deal with the high turnover of guests involved with short-term rentals, you can even find a long-term tenant to sign a lease agreement on your home.
Don’t own a home (or don’t feel so comfortable with strangers staying in your space?) no problem–you can also make money while traveling from renting out your car. If you’re not using it anyway, why not leverage it for some extra income.
Turo is a car-sharing app that allows vehicle owners to list their cars for rent on the platform. The app reports that on average, users with a single vehicle listed earn just over $10,000 per year. Learn more about hosting your car on Turo.
