29 Greatest Ways to Make Money Travelling the World

A lot of people ask me how I make money as a full-time traveller. Since everyone is just as excited as I am about the opportunities that exist to travel and earn money, I created a handy guide that I’ve used since I became a full-time traveller in 2018.

In 2018, I travelled Europe for over 8 months with just 2 months of savings.

I was able to go on tours, fly in a hot air balloon in Cappadoccia, explore over 14 countries, and made money doing it!

That sounds like a dream right? Or like I’m about to launch into a pyramid scheme offer on how you can do this too?

But I promise it’s not. This is actually something regular people like you and me do every day.

Y’all know my core belief by now: every woman needs to solo travel at least once in their life.

But sometimes the budget just isn’t there. So you spend years trying to build a travel budget for a trip, but keep spending the money you’re saving on other things.

Well, that won’t hold you back anymore!

This post is for all the women out there who want to travel but can’t make their budget work for them.

Now you don’t have to!

Learn how to make money travelling the world so you can start living your travel dreams today.

How to Make Money in Travel

There are so many things you can do that will allow you to travel the world and make money. I’ve broken them down into categories depending on the types of jobs they entail.

Here’s a quick guide on how these categories work:

• Make Money From What You Own is all about using things you already have to help pay for your trip. You can do these before or during your trip.
• Make Money While You Travel is a section on how to earn money from things you’re already doing while on the road.
• Work for Pay on the Road teaches you the kinds of short term jobs that you can pick up for a few weeks at a time to earn extra cash while travelling.
• Location Independent Jobs that Full-Time Travellers Use to Make Money is pretty self explanatory: it’s a resource of digital nomad jobs.
• Travel as Your Job is a guide to all the jobs that require you to travel, so you can make exploring the world your full-time gig.

Since I’m covering all the different ways you can make money on the road, I think it’s important to highlight the bad ways to make money, too. These are the “get rich quick” schemes that never work out and can quickly land you in a ton of debt or danger.

Finally, because everyone can use some money saving tips, I’ve included my best methods to save the money you’re earning while travelling so you can make that dollar last you all the way from Vienna to Hong Kong!

Make Money From What You Own

Learn how to make the things you already own work for you. While you travel, you don’t need all of your belongings or even your home. Put them to work so you can travel more!

1. Rent Out Your Home

I have yet to own a house when I travel, because I’ve lived as a digital nomad since 2017. If I did, I’d 100% rent it out to guests to help make some money.

If you have a house, apartment, or even a spare room, you can rent it out on Airbnb or Vrbo to help cover your costs.

The money you make can cover your rent or mortgage and utilities while you’re away, plus make you some extra money to offset your travel. For example, I’m from Toronto, Canada originally. A one-bedroom apartment in the city costs anywhere from $1,500 – $2,500 (for a small place). On Airbnb, the same place costs $3,000 – $4,000 per month! That’s enough to cover your rent and your plane ticket to Europe.

How to Rent Out Your Home While You Travel

Renting your home is easy. Sign up for a free account on Airbnb or Vrbo – or both.

You’ll need to create a listing for your home. Take nice photos with good lighting to help sell buyers on your location.

Write a description of the house, any amenities, and house rules.

Check out prices of other homes in your area. It’s a good idea to price similarly to places around you. Adjust the price based on amenities (the more there are, the higher the price). You can also offer discounts for extended stays.

Build in a cleaning fee so you can be certain that you’ll come home to a place cleaner than when you left.

If you’re uncomfortable having someone in your house with certain valuables, ask your friends to store them while you’re away. But Airbnb also includes insurance for any damage caused by renters.

If you don’t have a friend who can let guests in, invest in a lockbox (like realtors use) and put it on a bike stand nearby or a gate. You can give your guests directions to this so they can get inside.

2. Rent Your Car

Cars are a depreciating asset. So letting yours sit in your driveway or parking garage while you go on a two week trip to Peru is actually costing you money.

Rent out your car on Turo where you can earn hundreds or thousands of dollars. It’s sort of like Airbnb for cars, including a built in insurance plan so you never have to worry about losing money on the deal with repairs or cleaning fees after the fact.

If you’re going to be renting a car at your destination, think of this as a car swap. Make sure you charge enough that you can cover the expense of your rental.

How to Rent Your Car While You’re Travelling

Sign up for a free account on Turo. You will have to create a listing for your car. Share all of the amenities of your car, including the number of seats, if it has GPS, what kind of gas it takes, and if it has any USB or Bluetooth capabilities.

You will need to ask a friend for assistance delivering your vehicle to certain locations or you can hire someone to do this for a small fee (which you can cover by increasing the price of deliveries).

You will need to ensure your car is extremely clean and in good condition for this way of earning money while travelling to be successful.

3. Rent Your Items

We all have amazing stuff lying around our homes. Maybe it’s the projector you only use twice a year, or the kayak you never have room to bring on a road trip through Quebec.

Renting out these items is a great way to make money while you travel. You can even do it while you’re home.

Sell Goods Online

I’m not telling you to start creating stores willy-nilly. You don’t need to create anything to start selling online. Use sites like Poshmark, ThredUp, or Kijiji to sell used items you own but never use.

It’s a great way to declutter (especially before a year abroad when you can’t take most of your stuff with you) and to make some money back. All those dresses in the back of your closet with the tags still on? Turn them into money to fund your global adventures! Those aspirational jeans you’re holding onto “just in case”? Sell them for money you can actually use today.

You’ll need to do this before your trip, since it involves a lot of hand offs and usually isn’t worth it to be giving a friend a 10% cut.

How to Sell Your Preloved Items Online

Sell clothes online at Poshmark (Canadian) or ThredUp. You create individual listing for each item, where you include the brand, the size, and any information about the item. Take some well-lit pictures (it helps if you’re wearing the clothes in some of them or have them displayed on a mannequin if they don’t display well on a hanger/on the floor).

I use Poshmark to sell the clothes I’m no longer in love with. They’re still in great condition, but they no longer make me happy and they’re taking up space in my closet. I spent an hour taking photos of everything (there were A LOT of clothes), created individual pages for each, researched the original price or similar items to price them, and bam! My clothes are now a way of making some passive income.

I love these online sites because they send you all the stuff you need to ship out your clothes directly to the buyers. There’s no need to figure out times to meet people or neutral, safe locations.

To sell your other items, like those skates you used twice on the Rideau Canal, Kijiji is the best option. You can great individual or bulk listings.

It’s always a good idea to include multiple pictures, have size references, and include the original price to show people the deal they’re getting. 

You will need to meet people for pickups or deliveries on Kijiji. 

Make Money While You Travel

4. Sell Your Photos

You’re already taking thousands of photos while you travel (I’m looking at you, 2019 Nina filling up three memory cards in an hour at Hobbiton in New Zealand). What are you going to do with all of them?

Rather than let them rot in your Photos album or occasionally posting one on Instagram, you can start getting paid for all of those pictures you’re already taking.

Sell your travel photos to make extra money to travel the world. As a bonus, you can keep selling them after your travels to help fund future trips.

Selling photos is a great source of passive income that can keep making you money as you travel.

How to Sell Your Travel Photos

All you need is a good eye and a camera.

It doesn’t even have to be a fancy camera. I’ve sold photos that I’ve taken on my iPhone before. Once you start earning some money, upgrade to a good DSLR travel camera and a tripod to improve your shots and increase your income.

There are so many sites where you can sell travel photos. I won’t list every single one, but here are the best sites to earn money from your photos:

• As prints on Etsy
• In your own online store (Woocommerce can do this on any website)
• Shuttershock
• Adobe Stock
• 500px
• Snapped4U
• Tour Photos

Sell Your Feet Pictures

A weird and unique way to make money on the road is by selling pictures of your feet.

5. Deliver Packages

Delivering packages is a terrific idea for anyone road tripping. It’s one of the easiest ways to make money on the road.

All you need is a bit of extra space in your car, and you’ll be able to start making money from your road trip.

The longer the distance and the larger the item being posted, the more money you can make.

The best part? You can even help deliver pets! That’s right, you’ll get paid to have a furry companion join you on your road trip.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like my dream job.

How to Deliver Packages for Money on the Road

There are two different types of package deliveries: national and international.

Roadie is the best site for North American deliveries.

All you have to do is sign up, download the free app, and watch the alerts for drivers start rolling in. You have complete control over which gigs you accept and what route you’re driving.

If you’re planning a road trip across the country, you can even stop along the way to collect more items to deliver.

Drivers earn on average $650 for long trips. That’s amazing!

Roadie is the service that also allows you to transport pets. If you’ve got extra room in your car, why not help someone move their furry buddy to a new home?

For international travellers, sign up for WorldCraze.

I feel like this website was solely designed for people who want international snacks or toys. But regardless, it’s a great way to make money while you’re travelling.

You get to choose what gigs you accept. So you can turn down the person that wants a 400lb fridge brought to them and accept the nice lady who wants some Tim Tams in Toronto (that may or may not be my sister). Pick some up in New Zealand and drop them off to your client when you return home.

You have to pay up front for the item, but WorldCraze refunds the money when you get paid for the delivery.

Since most of the items are small and easy to find, this is a very easy way to turn your flight into a delivery trip. All you need is a bit of spare space in your luggage.

6. Deliver Cars

Want a free road trip? Then you need to look into delivering cars across the country/continent!

Not only do you get a free road trip; you also get paid a daily rate for driving.

Everywaytomakemoney.com found that you can earn about $200/day for this service – that’s almost as much as I made as a paralegal!

You’ll be delivering cars either for private individuals, such as Canadian snowbirds who go south for winter by plane and need someone to bring their car along for them or individuals moving, or for specialty cars being delivered from the manufacturer. In this case, specialty cars aren’t sports cars. They tend to be school buses, ambulances, limos, or delivery trucks. 

All you need to qualify is a local driver’s license, a clean driving record (a speeding ticket or parking violation on your record is usually ok), a love of road trips, the ability to keep to a schedule, and an epic road trip playlist.

How to Find Paid Driving Gigs

• Roadie
• Auto Driveway – Must be over 23 years old
• Driveway USA
• Toronto Driveway – Must be over 30 years old. Typically driving from Toronto to Arizona/Florida
• Check your local dealership
• Kijiji/Craigslist

Work For Pay on the Road

7. Hostel

Most solo travellers are very familiar with hostels, since they’re one of the best forms of budget accommodation. If you’re not familiar, get my 11 hostel survival essentials.

If you’re already planning to stay in a hostel, why not make some money while you’re there?

Hostels are always looking for new workers. They typically post jobs on physical boards in the hostel or on sites like Kijiji. So you may not know about them ahead of time.

Hostel work doesn’t always pay. Sometimes you exchange some work for free room and board. Other times they pay you but don’t include food. These terms will depend on the hostel and what you negotiate for your work. 

To work at a hostel and earn money while you travel, you usually have to stay put for a few weeks at a time. Most hostels require 4-12 week minimum commitments.

Consider working at a hostel if you are interested in any of the following jobs:

• Cleaner
• Front Desk
• Tour Guide
• Social Coordinator
• Maintenance
• Chef
• Bartender
• Server
• Manager

Working in a hostel is amazing because you get the benefits of being in a hostel in a great location, have tons of social experiences built-in, and get to make money while you’re there. It’s one of the most fun ways to earn money on the road.

How to Find Hostel Jobs

HostelWorld has amazing tips on how to get hired to work at a hostel.

• Check physical job boards in hostels
• Ask the front desk at hostels if they’re hiring
• Nomads
• Hosteljobs.net
• Hosteltraveljobs.com
• Kijiji/Craigslist

8. Server/Barista/Bartender

No matter where you go, you’ll find somewhere that needs a server, barista, or bartender. It may be a local restaurant, the pub attached to the hostel, or a big coffee chain. Regardless, having service skills will get you far when you’re trying to make money in travel.

Service jobs may require a working visa, but some companies (especially small businesses) are willing to make allowances for travellers. They exchange room/board or pay you in cash to circumvent the need for a visa if you’re only there for a short period of time.

Remember, not every country tips. New Zealand, the UK, and many places in Europe don’t believe in tipping. This means that your wages will be capped and won’t necessarily be as high as they might be back home, especially as a bartender.

How to Find Work as a Server, Barista, or Bartender

Get a Working Holiday Visa to legally allow you to work and open up more options.

Even though most places that you’re applying to will speak English, learning a few basic phrases in the local language will help you stand out. 

• Ask managers if they’re hiring
• Check online boards like Indeed or Kijiji
• Check for help wanted ads on a walk through town

9. Seasonal Work 

Do you like being outside? Are you able to do a bit of hard work? Do you want to make money travelling?

Consider becoming a Seasonal Worker.

What is a Seasonal Worker, you ask? They’re anyone who helps pick or harvest produce or do agriculture work.

Farms around the world hire people to help them at harvest time. You can help pick grapes in Italy, olives in Spain, strawberries in New Zealand, and more!

Seasonal Work is more hands-on than some of the other options on this list. It means getting dirty and working hard, but also making a good amount of money. Seasonal Work requires a visa but most countries offer specific ones for the jobs.

How to Find Seasonal Work:

• WWOOF
• Workaway
• GoAbroad.com
• Facebook Groups (I found a lot of strawberry picking jobs in a Working Holiday New Zealand group)
• Notice boards at hostels
• Online job sites like Indeed

10. Construction Work

Construction skills are incredibly valuable if you’re looking for ways to make money and travel. You can barter them for goods, overnight stays, and to pay back couchsurfers who open their homes to you.

Another way to make money as a construction worker is to approach other workers and offer short-term assistance on their projects. They’re often willing to take on the help, even if all they have you do is take the brunt of the heavy lifting. 

Construction work is fun, easy-going, and offers quick pay without needing a tax number. 

Before you decide to take on construction work, be sure your travel insurance covers you, just in case.

How to Find Construction Work

• Go directly to a building site to inquire for jobs.
• If you have a visa, check for listings online
• Workaway offers free stays in exchange for manual labour 

11. House Sitting

House sitting isn’t technically a way to make money in travel, but it is an amazing way to save money while you travel. 

House sitting or pet sitting is essentially watching over someone’s home and/or pets while they’re away. You’ll get to live in their home for free as long as you water a few plants, feed some chickens or cats, and don’t actively set the place on fire.

It’s a pretty easy gig that makes it very easy to travel.

Most house sitting work is for a few weeks at a time when the owners go on holiday. They’ll offer you their fully furnished home in exchange for your help with those basic tasks. Some even offer you the use of their car, which is extremely helpful if it’s a rural farm in France (a situation my friend was in once).

How to House Sit

House sitting is a pretty common practice now, so there are dedicated websites. You have to pay a small membership fee to contact people, but you can browse for free! Once you find a place you actually want to go to, sign up for less than the cost of 2 nights in a hotel for a year of access to homes around the world. 

My favourite house sitting sites are:

• Trusted Housesitters
• MindMyHouse

12. Workaway / Work Exchange

Workaway has come up a few times in this post already. Why do I keep mentioning it? Because Workaway is the easiest way to travel for free as a solo traveller and to make money while travelling!

I used Workaway to travel Europe for 8 months with almost no savings. In the end, I came back with enough savings to help me start out in New Zealand.

I tell everyone about Workaway because it seems too good to be true. But I promise it isn’t!

Workaway is an online platform that connects ordinary people like you and me with people around the world who need help. You can volunteer your time or get paid for services like teaching writing meditations in Spain, fixing a company’s online marketing in Croatia, or teaching English in Prague.

Workaway has a great feature that lets you search for paid gigs. They’ll filter out anyone who won’t offer you the location’s legal minimum wage for your work. Plus, you’ll get free room and board.

That means you can get a unique cultural immersion while travelling and making money!

How to Get Started on Workaway

You can browse placements around the world for free. In order to contact them, you’ll need to create a profile where they verify your passport, show your photo, and have a small bio for hosts to see.

Sign up for Workaway for $40/year today to start making money while travelling the world. 

You can even passively get job offers if you set your ideal locations and travel schedule so hosts will contact you.

13. Au Pair

Becoming an au pair is a very popular way for women to make money travelling the world.

It’s not for me because I don’t like kids, but I know dozens of people who have had long careers travelling around Europe to help families take care of their children. 

Some of them even went on vacations with families to even more amazing places.

Families that hire au pairs often have upper-middle-class wealth and offer really nice accommodations on top of a good paycheck. You’ll get time off, your own space, and the ability to travel on your own outside of the job.

If you like kids and are comfortable helping out other families, this is a really great way to earn a lot of money while seeing the world.

How to Find an Au Pair Job

• Source one yourself on Monster.com
• Use an agency, like AuPair World

14. Massage/Hair Stylist/Esthetician

If you’re a trained masseuse, stylist, or esthetician, put your skills to use around the world to help you travel and make money.

You don’t need a license to offer private services to people you meet or to advertise on local job boards.

How to Offer Your Services:

Talk to your hostel about advertising your services at the front desk or in the front window. They may try to get a commission. If you agree, be sure that you also get a free room out of the deal.

You can offer services in the street, especially if you are doing braids on the beach or face painting at a festival.

Offer services on Kijiji or in Facebook groups if you feel comfortable.

Word of mouth is a great way to get information out. A hairdresser or make up artist can make a lot from advertising their services on a tour bus. 

15. Teach Music

At home, I always see ads for music teachers in street posts, online, or in stores. So it makes sense that this job translates as a way to make money travelling the world.

You’ll have to pack your instrument for this job to work, but since I know so many nomads and backpackers who carry their guitars or harmonicas with them, I’m sure you can make it work.

How to Offer Your Services:

• Teach online with Take Lessons
• Post listings around your neighbourhood
• Ask local music shops if you can advertise your services
• Post online ads for free with Kijiji

16. Surf Lessons

If you’re travelling to a beach and you know how to surf, then you can easily earn money while travelling. 

You don’t need to be an expert. As long as you know more than a beginner, you can offer the most basic lessons on the beach.

This job lets you hang out at the best surfing spots in the world, spend your time doing what you love, and helping other people fall in love with the sport too.

How to Make Money from Surf Lessons:

• Offer part-time services at a local surf school
• Offer tips to beginners on the beach then give them the option of hiring you
• Create your own surf school (requires slow travel/long-term stays)
• Create a Meetup group and offer paid group lessons
• Advertise at your accommodation

17. Yoga

I spent a month at a yoga retreat in the Spanish mountains. While I didn’t get paid for my poor yoga skills (I was an administrator, hiking guide, meditation leader, and overall helper), some of my friends did.

Yoga is hugely popular, especially among backpackers. You can make money travelling the world by offering your yoga or meditation knowledge to individuals or groups.

Join a school, work on your own, or partner with your accommodation to help make money this way.

How to Make Money from Yoga Around the World:

• Work at a Yoga Retreat for a few weeks/months
• Offer group classes through Meetup (it’s especially popular if you include stand up paddle boards, sunsets, beaches, or mountain tops somehow)
• Collaborate with your hostel (if they want a commission, be sure you get a free room)

18. Scuba Diving

To teach scuba diving, you must be a certified instructor.

Many travellers are certified divers anyway. Why not take the extra step and get certified as an instructor so you can make some money while travelling the world finding the best reefs?

How to Find Scuba Diving Jobs:

Teaching scuba diving is one of the few jobs you shouldn’t do on your own. It’s much safer to offer your services through a dive school or a resort.

To find jobs, check Dive Zone Jobs before you book your trip. It’s a website full of listings for scuba diving instructors or workers at scuba schools. 

You can also check with local scuba diving centres to see if they need help with newbies and could hire you. 

19. Resort Work

Resorts are huge attractions for travellers, but they’re expensive.

Why not go behind the scenes and get a job at the resort? It’s a great way to make money in travel and meet some awesome people.

I’ve bonded the most with coworkers at retreats or resorts where I’ve worked. One ranch I worked on made me one of my closest travel friends.

The only downside with resort work as a way to make money on the road is that it’s more of a full-time job than the other options on this list. There are more rules and less freedoms.

However, if you find smaller resorts (I’m talking not Sandals Jamaica) or ranches, you often get a lot more leeway.

Resort jobs include:

• Kitchen staff
• Servers
• Outdoor Maintenance
• Maintenance
• Janitorial
• Bartender
• Front Desk
• Customer Service
• Lifeguard
• Activities/Watersports
• Children’s Centre

How to Find Resort Jobs:

• Search popular resorts’ career pages
• Indeed
• Workaway lists resort work
• JobMonkey

20. Teaching English Abroad

I’ll be honest, I don’t think people should teach English abroad unless you’re a certified ESL or English teacher.

Personally, I wouldn’t want to be taught by someone who just happened to speak the language but had no idea how to teach someone.

However, teaching English abroad is a very popular way to make money in travelling. So I’m including it because everyone’s got to make their own choices.

There are a number of ways to teach abroad. You can offer your services digitally and teach via Skype so you can keep travelling. You can go work at a school in a location like Korea. Or you can offer private tutoring to teach individuals.

I attempted to teach English at a retreat in Prague and have to say, I’m terrible at it. On paper, I should be great. I have an English degree, I speak well, I like to talk to people, I’m pretty patient, and I like worksheets. But in reality, I talk too fast, I get bored of repetition, and I’m awful at coming up with lesson ideas.

If you’re planning to teach English abroad, be sure that you’re actually offering value to the person. Take a course and learn how to teach English properly.

The best way to get one of these jobs is to take a TEFL course to teach English online. Then you can teach English in Japan, Korea, or any other country knowing you’re actually helping.

Take one of mytefl’s courses to be certified and know that you’re benefiting others. You can get 50% off if you’re a registered student or were a student in the last 6 months.

How to Find Teaching Jobs Abroad

• Udemy and Take Lessons allows you to teach anything – even if it’s not a language 
• Asia is always looking for ESL teachers
• Go Overseas
• Teach Away

21. Get a Working Holiday Visa

Did you know that I made over $20k NZD in 8 months in New Zealand?

That allowed me to live in Auckland, travel the country for a month, travel at least twice a month, AND leave with more money than I arrived?!

How did I manage that? With a Working Holiday Visa!

Working Holiday Visas are programs offered by specific countries that allow you to get a job while you’re travelling. These programs are usually limited to people aged 18-30 or 35. They fuel young peoples’ ability to travel, help the local workforce, and may convince you to move back (like New Zealand did with me).

Working Holiday Visas are available for most nationalities. Your citizenship will change where you can work. For example, as a Canadian, I can spend 1 to 2 years in the USA, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, or Australia with a Working Holiday Visa.

The best part? You can get more than one!

That means I could spend 10 years in all those countries working, making money while travelling, and exploring the world.

How cool is that??

Unfortunately, the visa doesn’t automatically grant you a job. But it’s the first step.

Once you have the visa, you’ll have access to a bunch of job boards through the Working Holiday Visa portal or website that will help get you started. You can apply for full-time jobs, get a bank account, and rent a place to live with this.

Working Holiday Visas are the slow traveller’s dream to earn money on the road!

Find out how to move to New Zealand with a working holiday visa in my step-by-step guide.

Jobs You Can Get with Working Holiday Visas

• Temp Jobs (like mine in New Zealand!)
• Bartending
• Waitress/Server
• Hospitality
• Management
• Business
• Finance

• Administration
• Law (as a consultant, otherwise you will need to be recertified)
• Construction
• Engineering
• Tech
• and anything else you can think of that offers contract work

To find out if you’re eligible for a working holiday visa, google “Working Holiday Visa” + [your destination]. Look for the list of eligible countries on their official website. 

Location Independent Jobs that Full-Time Travellers Use to Make Money

22. Freelancing

Freelancing is any type of work that you do on your own terms. This means that your “employers” are technically your clients.

Freelancing offers some of the most popular location independent jobs for full-time travellers to make money. All you need to succeed is an internet connection and a laptop. It helps to have access to Zoom or Skype for work calls.

Some jobs may require you to work in certain time zones which can limit your travel. You’ll need to be aware of this when you agree to work for certain clients.

I spent 2 years freelancing as a travel writer and paralegal as I explored the world. Most people assume legal work has to be done in an office wearing a suit. My best days were working from a picnic table on a ranch in Croatia wearing paint-splattered jeans between fence painting sessions. 

What Kind of Freelancing Jobs Exist:

• Web Design
• Programming
• Graphic Design
• Translator
• Transcriptionist
• Marketing or Social Media
• Legal
• Accounting
• Consulting
• Architecture
• SEO
• Data Entry
• Virtual Assistant
• Administrator
• Illustrator
• Editor/Proofreader
• Voice Over Work

How to Find Freelance Jobs:

• Fiverr
• Upwork 
• People Per Hour
• Directly pitching companies
• Creating a website to drive traffic
• Social media marketing

23. Freelance Writing

You’ll notice I separated writing out of the general Freelancing section.

That’s because I think of Freelance Writing as being completely different from any other Freelance work. Where other types of freelancing rely more on long-term clients and can advertise on websites, writers have to be way more active about getting paid.

I’ve been a freelance copywriter, travel writer, and blogger for years. But I recently started transitioning into article writing for popular publications.

Freelance writing can take a lot of forms. You can write web copy, newsletters, blogs, books, articles, or anything in between. Many freelancers have a roster of retainer clients or long-term partnerships, and pitch magazines or websites on the side. This way they have some steady income that they know they’ll get even if their pitches aren’t accepted.

Although it takes more work, freelance writing is really rewarding.

It’s especially fun when you can technically classify your travel as “work” (yay, tax nonsense!) and turn expensive trips into a necessity for your freelance travel writing.

How to Become a Freelance Writer:

If you’d like to become a freelance writer (speaking as someone who was one for about 10 years), here are some tips:

• Create a portfolio. It doesn’t matter if you have samples published yet or not, you need at least 5 that you can send out to various different clients. You can put them in Google Docs
• An easy way to 10x your writing rate is to learn SEO. I teach SEO to bloggers and blog writers here. These are skills I partially developed as an SEO freelance writer getting paid on average $100/1000 words.
• Apply for jobs on places like Upwork, Fiverr, and Problogger to start. Then join some Facebook groups and Twitter chats about freelancing to get some more professional clients with higher budgets.
• Take a course! If I’d taken a course, I wouldn’t have written a book for $25 (yep, total!). This is the course I recommend – and it gives you the opportunity to pitch at the end for paid work.
• Remember that while magazines can be nice to have your name in, ghostwriting for companies almost always pays more – especially if you are trained in SEO.

Travel as Your Job

24. Travel Blogger

I couldn’t really write a post about how to make money travelling without including my favourite method, now could I?

Some people think blogs are just a hobby.

While they can be, they also have the power to earn you some serious cash.

The best thing is that there are so many ways to make money through a travel blog. You can use affiliate marketing, advertisements, paid sponsorships, sponsored posts, press trips, paid speaking engagements, selling digital products, and more!

I can’t think of any other business that’s as diverse in terms of monetization as travel blogging.

While you can start any kind of blog, why not start a travel blog? You’ll be able to turn your favourite pastime – travel – into “work” – which means tax write-offs baby! Also, it means that all those paid sponsorships, free items, and press trips you get will be travel-related. So you’ll be getting paid to do what you love and getting awesome perks, like free flights, free tours, and free accommodations! For example, I got a free sunset canoe tour of the Toronto Islands (with a bonus seat for my photographer).

How to Start a Travel Blog:

You don’t have to be a professional writer to start a travel blog. In fact, some people don’t even write! That’s what Instagram is for.

Learn how I make over $30k per month passively with my travel blog here!

25. Flight Attendant

One of the most popular ways to make money travelling is to turn your flights into work by becoming a flight attendant. 

Becoming a flight attendant isn’t a weekend course. You’ll need proper training to get the job.

I know a few flight attendants. While they love getting paid to travel, they do note that it’s hard work. You have to know life saving measures, deal with grumpy passengers, and stand in heels on a plane for hours every day. 

However, they have been to some incredible places. I love how often they update their instagrams with incredible destinations around the world that will take me many extra years to get to (which I’m fine with cause slowmading is my preferred travel style).

If you’re looking for paid-for-you hotels, discounted flights for you and your family, and a job that means days off in cities around the world, becoming a flight attendant may be the right travel-related job for you.

How to Become a Flight Attendant:

Flight attendants need to speak fluent English in most cases. An additional language is a bonus. You will need a valid high school diploma and a passport. For more requirements, check out Balance Careers guide to becoming a flight attendant. 

Customer service experience and service skills are a huge bonus. You should also note any medical training or first aid training you have.

Apply for jobs on airline company websites. They will post openings throughout the year.

You will need to be prepared for one-on-one interviews, several rounds of interviews, and a background check. 

It takes 10 weeks to go through the process to become a flight attendant with the airline that hired you. Once you finish the course, you’ll be a certified flight attendant, ready to start making money while travelling.

26. Tour Guide

I think being a tour guide is the ultimate job.

You can work at small companies, on your own, or for big names in tourism, like Contiki or Intrepid.

The best part of being a tour guide is that you have to travel to do it. You have to offer tours that move through a city, country, or even a neighbourhood. You’ll meet people from around the world, get to engage with the area, and learn about its history to share with others.

I loved being a tour guide at my university. It wasn’t really travel-oriented, but I made it that way because it’s my passion. I would share tips on where to eat, get fun facts from people about their hometowns, and share more about the city’s history than they probably needed to know to attend the uni.

To be a tour guide, you don’t have to be from a place. You just have to know about it and have lived there for a bit.

Tour guide jobs are great if you’re planning to slow travel or study abroad. Or if you have a relevant degree, you can leverage it into a job faster. Art history majors are seemingly all leading museum tours across Europe, even if they aren’t from the region.

They typically pay based on the number of bookings. Some bigger companies, like Contiki, will have set salaries for their employees. Other smaller types will rely on tips heavily for your income.

Be prepared for a lot of walking if you plan to become a tour guide to make money in travel.

How to Find Tour Guide Jobs

• Check “Careers” pages for big companies like Contiki or Intrepid
• Apply to Free Walking Tour programs at your destination
• Apply to companies in your skillset (i.e. museums for art history majors)
• Launch your own tour on Airbnb Experiences

27. Cruise Ship Worker

Working on a cruise ship is a great way to make money on the road… well, on the sea.

Working on a cruise ship is kind of like working at a resort. They tend to pay higher than a land-based resort of the same caliber.

Cruise ships are one of the most popular methods of travel for North Americans. They offer the luxury of land on the water.

However, you don’t really get time off. While the cruise is running, you can’t fraternize with the guests or enjoy the amenities.

You will get time off between cruises and have the opportunity to enjoy your new destinations before the cruise resumes.

I know people who have worked on cruise ships in all sorts of jobs, like:

• Steward
• Manager
• Administration
• Engineer
• Server
• Bartender
• Singer/Performer
• Dancer
• Ice skater (Yep! That’s not a typo.)
• Kids camp counsellor
• Chef
• Dish washer
• Cleaner

How to Find Cruise Ship Jobs:

• Apply to cruise lines directly through their careers pages
• Allcruiseshipjobs.com
• Cruiseshipjob.com

28. Yachting

I am OBSESSED with the Bravo show Below Deck. It’s this amazing reality show about the lives of the staff on mega yachts.

That’s what first introduced me to the concept of making money while you travel through yachting.

Yachting is a very high echelon of service. They hire Michelin-trained chefs to work the kitchens, have multiple uniform changes per day, and operate with silver service.

You may need to work your way up to a mega-yacht by starting out on smaller boats. You can work your way up from a day charter to a mega-yacht relatively easily by being a hard worker, absorbing information, and passing your certifications.

Yachties need to be medically trained to deal with disasters that could occur at sea. You also need to get certifications to be on boats of a certain size.

The larger the boat, the bigger the responsibility and the more demanding the charter guests. But the bigger the paycheck! 

On top of a salary for the 6 weeks of charter season, guests leave 10-15% tips for their short stays. It often adds up to over $20,000 USD for the lowest level of server or deckhand. That’s a lot of money for six weeks of work!

And you get days off to enjoy the water, the boat, and the water toys.

Types of Jobs on Yachts:

• Engineer
• Chef
• Stewards (ranging from low level to chief positions)
• Bosun
• First Mate
• Deckhands

How to Get a Job on a Yacht:

It’s a good idea to have skills before you apply for the job.

Stewards need to know how to clean, do laundry, make beds, serve food, and mix drinks.

Deckhands and bosuns need to know how to swim, have a lifeguard certification, have a boating license, and be strong enough to handle lines.

Get your certifications. You’ll need at least the STCW’s and ENG1 Medical Certificate. 

You can find jobs at:

• Find a Crew
• Workaway
• SuperYacht Crew Agency

Bad Ways to Make Money Travelling the World 

Many people will say that as long as you’re getting paid, there really is no bad way to make money while travelling the world.

Well, I disagree.

You should avoid any methods that are unstable, related to illegality, or could put you in harm’s way.

I’ve seen some of the following methods of travelling and making money on popular blogs, which really upsets me. Just because you can make a few bucks, doesn’t mean you should if the job is sketchy. 

You’re always better off taking the safe route. Abandon the sketchy ways below and look at the legitimate ways of earning money as you travel the world above.

Street Performing

Some people really support street performing as a method of making money in travel. 

I don’t. 

First, as a woman, it’s dangerous to put yourself on a strange street corner alone. This can make you a target.

You won’t make a lot of money. Street performing isn’t hugely lucrative. For the hours you spend on the corner, you could be making four times as much at a local coffee shop.

People aren’t always nice to street performers. They can be rude, grabby, or steal your money.

Some cities have laws preventing street performers without a license. This can land you a hefty fine or even jail time.

Avoid performing in the street as a means of making money on the road.

Gambling

I’ve never understood the allure of gambling, but it’s another popular method that people use to make money in travel.

This is especially the case in Las Vegas or Monaco where people try to earn back the price of their trip through gambling.

Not only is gambling illegal in many places around the world, but it’s also a risky game. You’re more likely to lose money than to gain anything.

Taking out loans, losing money, and getting blindly drunk are all dangerous things to do when you’re in an unfamiliar place.

Even online gambling can lead to addiction. Be very careful.

Take the safer route and bet on your own skills to be able to land a legitimate method of making money while travelling.

Online Surveys

There’s an obsession lately with making money from online surveys. I don’t know why everyone loves it so much, but I’ll be honest: I don’t think it’s a smart move.

Companies are essentially paying you for your data. And they aren’t paying you a lot. Most surveys don’t pay out, are only applicable for Americans with very specific conditions, and can only be redeemed for gift cards.

Don’t waste hours making $5. Instead, use your knowledge to actually earn money that will allow you to travel. Because $5 to Walmart isn’t going to cut it.

How to Save Money on the Road

Not everyone is going to get the highest paying travel job every time they go on trips. So it’s important to learn how to save money.

Even if you are getting paid to travel, it’s always nice to avoid extra costs that you don’t need to pay. 

I’m going to take you through some of my favourite methods of saving money on the road.

1. Book Cheap Flights

Flights are one of the biggest ticket items for a trip. When I moved to New Zealand, I found a $200 flight from Toronto. When I tried to come back, the cheapest flight was over $900 (and that was still reduced)!

Saving money by booking cheap flights should be your first move when you’re planning a trip.

Some of my favourite tools for finding cheap flights:

• Use Chrome Incognito
• Use Skyscanner or Google Flights to find the lowest listed price
• Scott’s Cheap Flights sends cheap flights from anywhere in the US right to your inbox
• Subscribe to airline newsletters to get the first pick of sales
• Fly budget airlines like Ryanair
• Use AirFare Watchdog or Secret Flying to find fare mistakes that can save you over 50% of fare prices
• Ask for a refund if prices drop after you’ve booked
• Call to complain if your flight was delayed or canceled. You can usually get a refund or a free voucher
• Booking.com packages are often 50% cheaper than airfare on their own. Add a hotel for just 1 night (you don’t even have to stay in it!) to reduce your airfare significantly. 

2. Stay For Free

Instead of paying for accommodations at hotels, Airbnbs, or Vrbo, opt for free locations.

Workaway offers free room and board to anyone willing to work for 25 hours a week volunteering around the world. These locations tend to be out of the city centre but offer you an amazing cultural experience.

Housesitting allows you to stay in a local home for free. All you have to do is water their plants and potentially feed their dogs. 

Couchsurfing is one of the most popular ways to stay for free when you travel. You can sign up for free and find free accommodations around the world with locals.

Sometimes you’ll even get a bed or your own room!

3. Downsize

Cut costs in your daily life to help you save money to travel.

I stopped drinking caffeine or alcohol during my travels and managed to save a ton every day. That was at least $5 saved on lattes every morning and over $20 per week from cocktails with friends.

I stopped shopping as much and relied on hand-me-downs from my sister. I’d only buy the essentials, which helped me save over $1,000 a year!

You can find little things like this to cut in your life too.

That Netflix account you have? Start splitting it with a friend to cut your monthly costs in half.

Ditch the gym membership you’ve never used to put that $30 a month towards dinners in Italy.

4. Slow Travel

Slowing down is an amazing way to save money when you’re travelling.

Backpackers who try to hit 30 countries in as many days blow through money. They spend tons on souvenirs, transportation, and on cramming in more things than they can actually enjoy in a day.

Taking the time to slow travel, as I did with my 1 year in New Zealand, allows you to appreciate the culture more, have time to actually get a job to earn money while you travel, and to have plenty of time to do all of the things on your travel bucket list.

I’ve been in Canada for over a year now and I’ve only managed to check off a few things on my Canada Adventure Bucket List.

It takes time! Allow yourself to move more slowly, whether that means spending a week or a month or year in each destination.

Closing Thoughts on Making Money in Travel

Making money while I travelled changed my life. It helped me get out of the rut that I was feeling after deciding to go to law school because I didn’t know what else to do.

It’s been 4 years now, I’m loving my life, and I’ve never been happier to reject an offer before!

However you decide to make money while travelling the world, be sure that you are doing it safely and responsibly. Choose places that make you feel comfortable. Trust your gut. 

And most of all, have fun!

Travel is about enjoying the world and getting to see more of it. Working during your trips will let you do that and become more of a fixture in the local life.

I’ve made some of my best friends while working abroad. I hope you do too! 

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Related Posts:

• How to Move to New Zealand with a Working Holiday Visa
• 14 Pros and Cons of Living in France
• 10 Pros and Cons of Living in Canada
• 25 Pros and Cons of Living in New Zealand
• 6 Guaranteed Ways to Make Travel Friends When You’re Travelling Alone
• 10 Mistakes First-Time Solo Travelers Make

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