How to Make Money While Traveling
They say traveling broadens your mind. And that's true. But it can also tighten your wallet! Travelers expect to spend a lot of money on expenses like flight or train tickets, accommodation, food and drinks, museums, and more.
But what if we told you there are many ways to make money while traveling?
This blog post will cover many ways to make money while traveling, including remote job opportunities, like starting an online business, taking photos as a tour guide, travel blogging, fruit picking, teaching English, and more!
And no, we're not suggesting you become a full-time tour guide. Keep reading if you're interested in how to make money while traveling through temporary jobs!
Start a Travel Blog
You've probably read a travel blog or two when you planned your trip. A travel blog covers all these topics: travel recommendations, hotel and restaurant reviews, and tips and tricks to save money. Are you interested in travel blogging? Keep reading to learn more!
Who Can Start a Travel Blog?
Good news – anyone with a reliable internet connection and a phone or a laptop can start a travel blog! If you're good with grammar and can quickly put sentences together, earning money through your blog is a great opportunity for you!
Any tour guide has an advantage here because they have a lot of experience traveling, which translates to interesting travel stories, trusted reviews, and practical suggestions.
However, if you’re not a tour guide, your blog can still offer a fresh perspective on travel!
What Do You Need to Start Your Travel Blogging Journey?
Firstly, start earning money by creating your own blog. Spend a few hours each day writing texts and taking photos to illustrate your articles.
Secondly, after you've written at least a few articles, start promoting your blog through your social media accounts to attract more readers!
Make sure you create a consistent personal brand as a traveler. This can attract brands that want to work with you, and you could earn even more money through sponsored posts.
You can earn extra cash and work online from anywhere worldwide, making this one of the best travel jobs!
How Much Do Travel Bloggers Make?
Earning money as a blogger takes time because you need to attract a larger audience to start generating income. After a year of blogging, you can expect to earn $1,000 monthly.
Of course, there are always exceptions – some bloggers start earning within the first six months of work and turn blogging into a full-time career within two years.
Popular travel bloggers can make quite a lot of money online. Amy Fillinger, for example, earns $4,000 monthly after four years of blogging. Doesn't that sound like a dream job?
Work on a Cruise Ship
First things first – do you get seasick? If you said NO, you're on the right track! How would you like to make money while traveling the ocean on a cruise ship?
Cruise ship workers can do several jobs – entertain cruise ship travelers, work in the kitchen, manage activities, work maintenance, and more. Their work comes with the huge added benefit of exploring the world we live in!
Who Can Work on Cruise Ships?
Potential cruise ship employees must be at least 18 years old, have a valid passport, and pass a background check, including a criminal background check.
If you have experience in the customer service industry, you have an advantage!
You also need to speak English and at least another foreign language, depending on the ship's routes!
How Much Extra Money Can You Make?
As of November 2023, cruise ship employees in the USA can earn an average of $49,005 annually. Top earners in this position can expect to earn around $90,000 annually.
Of course, depending on how much experience you have and what skills you offer, you stand to earn much more money!
Can This Become a Full-Time Job?
Cruise ship staff can either work as a full-time job abroad or as a seasonal job, depending on the tour companies they work for.
If you speak a foreign language and want to make money while traveling the world, working on a cruise ship is a great opportunity to earn money!
Become a Foreign Language Teacher
Speaking of knowing a foreign language – have you considered becoming a language teacher?
If you like kids, you could become a foreign language teacher at a school abroad, where you teach during the day and travel the city during your free time!
And if you prefer adults, you can look into becoming a virtual tutor, where you start your own business and make extra cash teaching others a new language.
What Language Can I Teach?
English is the most-studied language worldwide. So, if you choose to teach English, you're guaranteed to boost your bank account! If you don't feel like teaching something other than teaching English, you could always teach another language and make money while traveling.
If you’re a native speaker of Spanish, German, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, and other languages, you’re good to go because these languages are always in high demand, so making money will be just as easy as if you were teaching English!
Can I Work Remotely?
Yes, no matter what you choose to do – teach English or another language – as long as you have a stable internet connection, you can work remotely, which makes this one of the best travel jobs to make money!
If you want to make money, become a remote employee, and teach English or any other language you're fluent in, look into platforms like Tutorful, Classgap, and others to start making money.
Will I Make Good Money?
Salaries for teaching English online depend on your qualifications and the specific job, so you can expect to make anywhere from $8 to $20 hourly, depending on your experience and if you have an academic background in languages or teaching.
People are always learning, so there’s a constant demand for your knowledge.
Language nerds, no need to look for other ways to make money while traveling!
Manage Social Media Accounts
Do you know your way around Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook? Then, you're ready to manage social media platforms for other people or businesses!
Social media management is one of the coolest ways to make money for people who spend a lot of time online.
Do I Need Any New Skills?
You don't need any highly specific skills to start earning money online as a social media manager. If you're familiar with publishing a post, managing a schedule, and writing a catchy caption, you're in!
The good news is that if you have experience in online marketing or affiliate marketing, you can charge a more considerable salary rate because your expertise will be valuable to the owners of social media accounts.
Will I Be My Own Boss?
You can become your boss and start earning money through social media management. But if you're interested in working for a company remotely, you also have this choice.
Both freelance and remote social media managers can make money while traveling and working from their destinations.
Can I Do This in My Free Time?
You'll control your working hours if you choose to become a freelancer. This means you can work as many hours as you want and make enough money while traveling.
Work hard for a few weeks, save money, and go on an adventure, like walking tours or a cool museum!
Sell Digital Products
Running a brick-and-mortar store takes time, money, and energy. Luckily, online stores selling digital products have skyrocketed in popularity! Become an online store owner and earn money from any country in the world!
What Kind of Products Can I Sell?
Digital products include music, eBooks, graphic design templates, images, videos, coding samples, online courses, printable materials like study guides or to-do lists, and more.
So, the kind of digital product you want to sell is up to you, your interests, and your skill set.
Is Selling Digital Products Hard?
The answer to this question relies on the type of product you want to sell.
Images and printable materials will take less time than digital courses or eBooks, but the latter will be better in terms of your ability to earn money.
A bonus of selling digital products is that you'll be saving money instead of spending money because creating digital products requires only minimal financial investment!
How Much Money Will I Make From This Online Job?
The money you'll make selling virtual products depends on how much you'll charge for each product unit, how many different products you'll sell, and how popular they'll be amongst your customers.
As far as travel jobs go, selling online products is a great way to make money from anywhere in the world!
Try Travel Photography
How often do you pick your next travel spot by looking at beautiful travel photography? Did you know that your travel photos can help you make money?
If you're a tour guide who travels the world frequently, you just hit the jackpot because all you need to do is take beautiful photos!
Where Can I Sell Travel Photos?
There are many different sites where you can sell the photos you take and make money, including Unsplash, Shutterstock, Wix, iStock, Getty Images, etc.
Stock photo platforms favor regular uploading contributors, so pick a platform and stick with it!
How Much Are High-Quality Photos Worth?
On average, stock photographers earn $0.02 per image per month with stock photos, and professionals make $0.05–$0.25 per image per month.
That may not sound like much, but you'll definitely upload a lot more than a single photo, so don't get discouraged!
The Shutterstock Contributor program allows contributors to earn more money than other platforms.
What Do I Need to Start?
Selling travel photos is great for those living a digital nomad lifestyle. Because if you're already traveling, why not make money taking some pictures of the places you visit?
If you have a relatively new smartphone with a high-quality camera, you can save money and skip buying camera equipment.
Make money selling travel photos while you make life-long memories!
Set Out to Be a Virtual Assistant
Your boss or manager at your current job probably has an assistant or two. Some of those assistants probably don’t even come to the office and keep track of your manager’s inbox from home!
What Skills Do You Need to Start?
Are you good at time management, keeping up with heaps of data, and maintaining control in a chaotic environment? If you said YES, you may be the perfect person for the job!
Virtual assistants make money by performing administrative tasks, like answering phone calls, scheduling meetings, reminding people about deadlines or events, making travel arrangements, and ordering office supplies.
Is Being a Virtual Assistant Freelance Work?
If you decide to be a freelance assistant, you can set your hourly rate and choose the company you want to work for!
Also, if you choose to become a full-time remote assistant for a company, you'll need to adhere to their schedule, and the company will determine your earnings.
Help Out Local Businesses
Travel varies in length. Some travelers go somewhere for a few days, some stay at their destination for a week, and others are determined to experience the local culture by visiting much longer.
If you're in the latter group, we suggest you contact local businesses and earn money. Many shops, farms, and cafes need short-term work; you could be their saving grace!
What you do relies on the business you choose to help – will you be fruit picking at a local farm, teaching English at the local kindergarten, sweeping the floors at a local coffee shop, or helping out a start-up with search engine optimization? It’s entirely up to you.
You might not earn enough money to cover your travel expenses fully, but you'll find gratification in helping others and earning some income.
Other Ways to Make Money While Traveling
The ideas mentioned in this article, like teaching English, becoming a tour guide, or selling travel photos, are only some ways to make money while traveling.
Research online for ways to make very good money, like house sitting, doing seasonal jobs, becoming a flight attendant, web development, life modeling, or more!
While you pick between travel jobs, download Honeygain – a passive income app that allows you to earn money by sharing your internet connection. How?
You download the app to your chosen device and set up a free account. After you do that, you start sharing your internet traffic. Researchers and scientists use that traffic for important data-driven projects, and you make money in return!
Make money while traveling effortlessly – get the app, start sharing, and earn money with very minimal effort!