How To Make Money Online While Traveling

One of the most common questions people ask is how to make money online while traveling. Many make money by teaching in classrooms, or doing physical work. However, a growing number of travellers are concerned with how to work from any location. While I have included examples of physical work in this blog, my main focus concerns online work. Even with the physical occupations, I’ve included information on how to find those jobs online.

If you just want to make money to fund some of your travelling activities on route, there are so many ways to do this! From teaching a foreign language in Asia to being the best Barista in Brazil!

Most jobs can be pretty easy to come by. But why do something abroad that you could do back home? After all, isn’t the point of travelling to open the mind and experience new things? This is only half true. Actually, I would argue the point of travelling is to immerse yourself in another culture. You learn so much about the country you are in by working in it and getting to see the country from a different perspective. Even with an online job, you’ll have the chance to work with other travellers and locals.

So in this blog you will discover how to make money online while traveling.

Blogging, Social Media & Affiliate Marketing

Perhaps one of the most personally rewarding and long-term ways of making money abroad is to start creating that blog or website you have always said that you are going to produce. You know, the only difference between you, and the many travel-inspired websites out there is that you just haven’t done it yet. You may think ‘but it’s already been done’, or ‘someone already wrote about that’. However, you have experiences and stories to tell that are also unique and will make you stand out from the crowd.

It is a case of finding your niche and putting in the time and effort. Yes, it can sometimes be a saturated market, but don’t let it put you off. Travel is booming right now and there’s a real pleasure that fellow travellers get from reading real travellers’ stories. What better way to document your travels for your own future viewing pleasure?

Affiliate & Influencer Marketing

In any discussion about how to make money online while travelling, affiliate and influencer marketing is nearly always at the top of the list.

But how do you make money abroad out of this?

Well, you should probably start by building up a strong social media following on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or otherwise.

But what exactly is affiliate marketing? Affiliate marketing is where you partner with companies or institutions to advertise their products for them. Usually, a link with your own special code is provided to you, which is used on your website. This directs people to buy from the client site and voila, you have earned your first commission!

To learn more about affiliate marketing check out Affilorama. Even more fun is affiliating with a company on Instagram or other social media platform. Sometimes this leads to freebies, paid advertising or even free stays or discounted trips. You never know, you could even appear on the company’s podcast! The opportunities are endless.

In my own experience, Instagram has played an important role in my travel journey. From keeping friends and family back home up to date, to creating my own travel diary of sorts. I started getting interest to advertise for companies when my followers hit the 2,000 mark.

I know, it isn’t many at all in the grand scheme of things! But it’s meant that those freebies are winging their way to me. And all from companies which fit my mould and are genuinely something I’m really interested in.

Did you know that companies are increasing their spending on social media influencer advertising, year on year? In 2019, it is expected that 39% of marketers will increase their budget. 42% of marketers shifted from one-off campaigns, to ongoing campaigns.

This means there are even more companies looking for the perfect partnership to advertise their brand online. The king of social media influencer advertising is Instagram – 68% of marketers cite this platform as the most important. So create great content, get engaging, and build up those followers!

Remember...

Sometimes the rewards are not only about knowing how to make money abroad, but it is also vital to know how to save money abroad. The best bit? So long as you nurture your website and keep it current, it can be a great long-term way of automatically generating money – even when you get home!

If starting a blog is something you are serious about, then take a look at Nomadic Matt’s website. He recently did a guide on how to start a travel blog in 2019. It has some great insights into hosting platforms, as well as tips for setting up your blog in terms of look and feel as well.

How To Make Money Online While Traveling
As An English Teacher

Another of the most common ways to make money abroad that you have probably heard of is teaching English, or another language abroad. Let’s talk about English.

Of all the ways of making money online while traveling, this is probably one of the most rewarding. How truly wonderful and fulfilled would you feel from teaching English to children at a school in Borneo? Or travelling through India teaching English to help local people to make a living for themselves? You don’t necessarily need to be physically present in a classroom to do this either. Some overseas teaching gigs hire online teachers to hold lessons over Skype for 1-1 lessons. This means that you can do this from anywhere in the world or even do it in your spare time. You can also combine it with other teaching gigs. It is surely one of the most enriching jobs that one can do when looking for ways to make money online while traveling.

However, there will be certain criteria you need to meet before you can be successful with this kind of work. This is especially the case when teaching children. The most obvious one is that you need to speak excellent English. Does that sound like you? Yes? Then great!

Next, you will have to obtain the right qualifications. Companies such as MYTEFL have online courses ranging from 40 hours to 120 hours. They also have a job listing where you can find an excellent placement once you’ve qualified.

Teaching English as a foreign language pays pretty well too, and sometimes comes with lodging. The hours aren’t too taxing. This means you have plenty of time for sightseeing as well. One of the top places to teach English is in South Korea where jobs are aplenty and the pay is high.

The best bit, you don’t need to be a teacher to do this type of work. It usually requires an initial outlay, but this type of qualification will last a lifetime. If you choose to take a course that qualifies you to teach online, then you can advertise your skills on sites like Palfish too.

Teaching a foreign language has the capability to take you to so many countries in the world. Probably to places you never thought about going to.

How To Make Money While Traveling
As a Freelancer

Making money from freelancing is a great job to do from abroad if you have a skill which can be practised from anywhere. Examples include accountancy, website development, photography, writing, and transcription. The list is endless.

With websites like Upwork and Fiverr, it’s easy to create a profile and start bidding for jobs. A caveat to this is that it can sometimes be hard to build up a reputation in the beginning. Work can be slow, and it pays low rates. But continual contracts and excellent feedback will soon build up your profile and presence. Clients like to stick with the same freelancers too, so give an excellent service and they will keep coming back for more. You will eventually be able to charge higher rates for the jobs they advertise.

This type of work usually requires a good internet connection. So perhaps it won’t work if you’re planning to spend a lot of time hiking in Nepal for instance. You can’t bid for jobs if you aren’t able to accept and complete the contract. What about pairing a week of freelancing with a house sit? This way, you can look after someone’s house and pets whilst they go on holiday. The sweetest part is you’ll earn an income at the same time!

House sitting is free apart from the annual subscription. Just make sure that you sign up for a house-sitting site. This has the best range of sits closest to your chosen location. For example, you shouldn’t sign up for a UK based house-sitting website if you want to house sit in Australia.

A site such as TrustedHousesitters often has a great range of properties. And if you do a quick search for a discount code, you can usually save money on the annual subscription too! Maybe you can even start building your website too, whilst you are waiting to see if your bids for freelancing jobs were successful?

Quite often, the downside of freelancing is the time spent at a computer. The best way to avoid this is to work a few hours in the evening when the sun has gone down, and the days’ activities are over. Of course, if you love the nightlife and fast-paced travel, then this method of making money abroad might not be for you.

However, if slow travel is your thing and you want to increase the time you spend travelling as a whole, freelancing could be the way forward. It can keep you in touch with important skills whilst living the dream at the same time.

In my experience, freelancing has been an incredible thing to get into whilst on the road. Especially whilst house sitting and being able to work at the same time. And this doesn’t mean that I don’t get to see things as well, I still have time to get out and about and check out the local area. It’s great to know that a couple of weeks of slow travel has probably extended my trip by almost double that amount of time.

Be The Best Tour Guide Version of Yourself

Have you ever fallen in love with a location on your journey that was so difficult to leave? Perhaps you wished you could showcase it to others. Then becoming a tour guide could be for you! What better way to make money abroad than to becoming a fountain of knowledge about a city, town or activity.

You can find these opportunities online using websites like Meetup, social media, Reddit and community forums. Connect with travel groups online, to find out where the popular destinations are and perhaps offer to show people around if you are familiar with the area in question.

There are many ways of making this job work for you. If you love history and culture, there is always a need for walking tour guides. Whether it’s a paid or free walking tour (which works on tips), guides are what make the tour everything that it is.

A lot of tourists join a free walking tour or a bike tour when they first get to a new city. To make great first impressions to new visitors require gravitas, but with practice and passion that will surely come.

Perhaps guiding new tourists around a city isn’t what you had in mind, but maybe you prefer taking a group on a specific tour such as an activity. Guides are required for all kinds of tours so there are plenty of choices if a walking or bike tour isn’t your thing.Tour guides can earn between $50 to $150 a day base pay, but most tours also work on tips, so this can dramatically bump up your earnings.

Make Money Abroad As An Instructor

If you want to know how to make money online while traveling but you want to do something a little different, then perhaps consider becoming an instructor.

Becoming an instructor encompasses many kinds of jobs and some great ways of learning new, fun, things to do which you can show to someone else. That is unless you have the skills already. If you do, then great!

So many people love to keep fit by either going to the gym or doing a yoga class. Maybe even a spin class. The culture of classes has grown rapidly over the years. Now with websites like Classpass on the market, there are boutique gyms offering classes by the bucketload. If you already have experience as a spin or yoga instructor for example, then this could be a great way to work abroad and make money.

Maybe getting associated with a brand like F45 could be the key to doing this kind of work in Australia or New Zealand for example. The classes on offer at F45 are the same all around the world, so once you have taught in one, it is entirely possible to teach in another – provided you can speak the language of course.

Now, I’m sadly not an instructor myself, but I was thrilled to join a spin class in New Zealand instructed by my old spin instructor from London. She had moved to Auckland to travel a little and teach on the way too. She bought a camper van, travelled when she could, and taught classes in the city to fit around her schedule. I was in awe! Keen scuba diver or surfer? Take it to the next level and teach others to do it too. Somewhere where the season never ends would be perfect for this type of job. Think Byron Bay for surfing or the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand for diving.

Another great way to make money abroad by doing an outdoor instructor job could be teaching people how to sail. Sailing schools will always see a turnover of staff. In the same way that scuba diving instructors see. Just like you, someone wanting to make money abroad will take a role for a few months, and then move on. So, keep an ear to the ground, ask around and be visible.

Quite often, this type of work is picked up when in the location. Find out if someone is leaving soon and start to impress the companies with your skills. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have your own sailing boat? Sailing backwards and forwards from one location to another, taking paying visitors. Dream big, the world is your oyster.

Finding Seasonal Work Online

Fruit picking and other types of seasonal work may seem a little out of place in a blog about how to make money online while traveling. However, if you’re just after some seasonal work that you can do fairly flexibly depending on the location you’re in, then fruit picking is a great bet.

You can also find fruit picking jobs online using websites such as www.pickingjobs.com. Then there are country specific websites like farmarmy.com.au, eco.israel.org, among others. You can also find seasonal work online by using websites such as seasonworkers.com and local job sites.

But of course, there are other seasonal jobs available too. Countries such as Australia and New Zealand see backpackers passing through all the time. As long as they meet the criteria for a working holiday visa, they can take on simple jobs like fruit or flower picking, or bar work etc.

For UK citizens, New Zealand visa requirements require you to be between 18-30 along with other requirements. See New Zealand working holiday visa requirements for more details. It’s worth applying if seasonal work is something you’d like to do to make money abroad.

Other seasonal work could involve a ski season, summer camp or bar work. Temporary jobs are always available during thriving seasons. Some can even be picked up in advance by searching sites like Gap Year.

Payment for jobs such as fruit picking is often paid by the kilo but it can also include boarding too.

Eat, Stay, Work.

An awesome way to meet fellow travellers and enjoy that hostel vibe is to work in one. Many hostels work by employing travellers. Typical jobs involved in the hostel will include reception, so meeting and greeting guests. You could be doing jobs such as making up rooms, cleaning the bathrooms, helping at breakfast, working behind the bar, being a tour guide. The list goes on.

Sometimes working in a hostel can be unpaid, but it’s instead remunerated by free accommodation and food. It’s also a great way to meet fellow travellers and be one of the first to see the hostel boards for jobs!

Again, there will always be a turnover in this type of job, as travellers will come to work for a period before moving onto their next destination.

I’ve met so many people on my journey that have stayed on in hostels to work in them. They have chosen a location that they loved, asked around and posted adverts. Quite often, the hostels will recommend others that they know are looking for staff too, so it’s a great idea to really get chatting to the owners and make yourself remembered, for all of the right reasons of course. Check the hostel boards for job openings too. So, Hawaii anyone?

If you really want to go all out and have a pot of cash spare, why not buy a hostel abroad? It doesn’t mean that you need to be there to run it all the time. But it could be a great way for you to see some of the world whilst people are paying to stay in your accommodation. A bit like Airbnb but with a lot of short-term stays.

Figuring out how to make money online while traveling doesn’t have to be difficult. The truth is that there are so many different ways to enrich your travel experiences and make money abroad as you go. It isn’t as impossible as it might seem. All you need to do is get creative, think big and travel right.

This blog is designed to inspire you and build an online community where you can get all the resources you need to travel. The Backpackers Travel Hub was created to make travelling accessible to everyone – not just the posh people! So drop by and visit the Facebook Group Backpackers Travel Hub. The group contains exclusive tips, and content designed to inspire, motivate and empower you. No sales or annoying gimmicks – just good, solid content. You can also take a peek at the JaninesJourneys Facebook page here. Happy travels!

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