Traveling the world and making money along the way sounds like an idyllic lifestyle for many people.
The thought of working remotely from exotic destinations or monetizing your travel adventures offers both freedom and fulfillment.
Luckily, the rise of remote work, freelancing, and the sharing economy has made it easier than ever to combine work and wanderlust. With some strategic planning and effort, you can fund your trips around the world through a number of profitable ventures from blogging to foreign language tutoring.
Read on to discover the 10 best ways you can realistically make money while traveling so you can turn your passion for exploration into a profitable career.
1. Become a Freelance Writer
Freelance writing is one of the most popular and accessible ways for travelers to earn income on the road. With just a laptop and internet connection, you can write for a diverse range of publications from anywhere in the world.
The demand for written content across the web has exploded in recent years, covering topics like travel, food, business, technology, and personal finance. This creates a plethora of well-paying freelance opportunities for those with strong writing chops.
Platforms like Contently, Scripted, and Constant Content connect skilled writers directly with clients across many niches. You can easily submit writing samples and get paid for every piece you successfully publish for major publications or brands.
Rates typically range from $.05 per word for beginners to over $1 per word for very specialized or high-level content. Full-time freelance writers typically charge $250 and up per blog post.
Besides content creation sites, you can also actively pitch to relevant blogs and magazines in your niche. Many digital publications depend on contributor content and will gladly accept high-quality submissions.
Travel bloggers like Nomadic Matt, Johnny Jet or Adventurous Kate likely pay experienced freelancers $500+ per article, especially if you can provide amazing photos. Food, gear, tech and leisure publications also frequently hire on contract talent.
Just make sure to carefully track freelance income and expenses so you can accurately file taxes and estimate your annual income, wherever your travels take you.
2. Teach English Abroad
Teaching English is a common fallback for travelers seeking short or long-term work abroad. Demand for English instruction continues growing rapidly around the world. English tutors and teachers can find temporary or permanent gigs paying approx $15-$45 per hour on average.
While a bachelor’s degree is technically required for most formal teaching roles, many language schools and tutoring companies care more about your native English skills. Obtaining TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification shows your commitment to teaching and boosts your employability.
Many digital nomads teach English online to students across the globe through video chat platforms. Companies like VIPKid, iTutorGroup, and Qkids offer flexible schedules, curriculum resources and onboarding for online instructors. You’ll earn $14-$26 per hour working from anywhere with internet access.
If you prefer in-person instruction, short-term English teaching programs like EduCare and LanguageCorps send cohorts abroad for intensive 2-4 week projects. Pay hovers around $1000-$1500 plus housing for an entire program. Participants gain teaching experience while immersing themselves in a foreign culture.
Medium or long-term English teaching placements abroad offer greater income potential and cultural immersion. Programs like the JET Program, TALK, and Interac hire qualified teachers for year-long contracts throughout Asia. Savings potential ranges from $1000-$2000 monthly plus benefits like housing, insurance and bonus pay.
Contract length and pay varies greatly across English teaching programs worldwide. From Hong Kong to Kazakhstan, Peru to Poland, program options exist on almost every continent. Committing 6-12 months teaching English abroad provides structure for long-term travelers while earning solid income at local pay rates.
3. Become a Virtual Assistant
Virtual assisting or VA services have exploded in popularity with over 50 million small business owners across the U.S. alone. As a VA, you handle administrative tasks for clients like email management, data entry, customer service and more.
It’s relatively easy to gain virtual assisting skills through online courses and certifications. Excellent communication skills and attention to detail are equally important. Most clients care more about prompt, high-quality work than credentials.
Once qualified, you can choose between working for a VA company or independently contracting your services. Large firms like Time Etc and Belay Solutions pay $4-$11 per hour while taking a portion of client rates. Independent VAs average $15-$50 per hour but must find their own clients.
While competing with offshore VAs can be challenging at first, specialized services like social media, web development, graphic design and online ad management command much higher rates. Travel industry and hospitality clients offer plentiful opportunities for location-independent VAs.
A huge perk of virtual assisting is having the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere. Whether coworking in Chiang Mai or house sitting in Costa Rica, you can support yourself through internet-based administrative work across any time zone.
4. Become an Online Teacher
Much like virtual English tutors, growing numbers of online teachers now instruct students globally in other academic subjects, skills and hobbies. Ecommerce platforms have made it simple for anyone to market and sell online courses related to their expertise.
Subject matter experts can provide tremendous value while monetizing their knowledge through prerecorded or live video lessons. Online course platforms like Udemy, Podia and Thinkific simplify launching a course for just $100-$300 in upfront investment.
If presenting on video seems intimidating at first, focus on developing killer course content around your niche. For instance, former professional chef Mark Shepard transformed his cookbook content into a lucrative series of online cooking classes and now earns over $13,000 monthly.
Oher popular course topics include travel hacking, landscape photography, music production, health coaching, and more. With a smartphone camera and basic video editing skills, anyone can share their subject expertise through engaging online tutorials.
Online entrepreneurs often employ the “fly free” business model where travel hacking techniques and credit card points fund their globetrotting adventures. By teaching others these tactics, you can perpetuate the cycle of paid travel.
Dedicated instructors can also build schools within established learning marketplaces like Skillshare, Udemy and LinkedIn Learning once their program attracts enough enrollment. Expect average earnings of $2,000 per course annually for the first few years.
Teaching online requires significant effort creating video content and cultivating students. However it ultimately pays off by producing course income for years to come. Best of all, online platforms handle most administrative tasks so you can teach from anywhere.
5. Become a Travel Consultant
Do you pride yourself on planning memorable vacations or adventures? Turn your travel savvy into a profitable business by becoming a travel consultant. Top consultants easily earn six figures helping clients book complex itineraries and customized travel experiences.
Entry barriers used to be high in the travel industry but digital platforms like Travelistly and Adventures Within Reach now help qualified agents sell travel services as independent contractors.
Experienced consultants charge $100-$500+ per booking depending on trip length, destination complexity and customization requirements. With commissions averaging 10-20% on group, corporate, niche and luxury travel, patient relationship building really pays off.
While becoming a part-time travel agent won’t likely cover extensive world travel from the start, advisers focused on specific destinations or types of vacation can realize solid earnings growth over time. Focusing on incentives trips helps agents familiarize themselves with resorts, tour companies and destinations they’ll recommend most.
Success comes down to genuinely helping travelers craft meaningful experiences rather than merely booking standard flights and hotels. Concentrate on learning the top attractions, best guides, hidden finds, immersive activities, luxury services and travel logistics for your target locations.
Like real estate professionals, savvy travel consultants cultivate client relationships over years by providing exceptional service and proving their expertise through first-hand destination knowledge.
6. Become a Social Media Manager
In today’s digital economy, practically every business requires assistance managing their social media presence to drive awareness, engagement and sales. However the demands of consistently creating content and interacting across multiple platforms prove extremely time-consuming.
That’s where social media managers enter the picture. These specialists create cohesive strategies for expanding reach and conversions across channels like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and TikTok.
With so many businesses desperate for social media help, persisting demand creates huge moneymaking potential. In fact, experienced managers easily earn $50-$80 per hour on services like Hootsuite,EveryoneSocial and Socialtyze. Of course, one needs to possess the necessary social media marketing skills and working knowledge of popular platforms to be effective.
Thankfully, becoming a social media manager simply requires clearly communicating your personal branding strategies and proven results thus far. As platforms constantly evolve, part of managing communities involves continual self-education anyway.
Aspiring social media managers should consider specializing in specific industries like hospitality, travel or ecommerce most relevant to their background. This helps attract ideal clients by speaking their language. However those confident interfacing with diverse customers need not narrow their focus.
Travel presents fantastic opportunities to demonstrate social media savvy on one’s own channels. Experimenting with viral trends,
storytelling tactics, emerging AR lenses and geotagging best practices on TikTok or Instagram provides plenty of real-world experience to share with clients.
Plus, an eye-catching social feed showcasing your own global adventures serves as a marketing asset to attract travel-related clients. Through wanna-be influencer experiments, aspiring social media managers gain valuable hands-on experience to better guide clients.
The beauty of social media management lies in its cloud-based infrastructure allowing remote collaboration from anywhere. As long as you maintain regular communication with contracted brands, you can accomplish the strategic planning and content creation from other continents.
Many digital nomads fund their lifestyles through freelance social media work. Some even grow their own microinfluencer status through branded partnerships. Either way, companies always seek creative, tech-savvy talent to enhance their online presence.
7. Monetize a Travel Blog
While launching a profitable travel blog demands significant effort, those ultimately gaining traction open unlimited earning potential. Top travel bloggers easily earn over $100,000 annually from their wanderlust-inducing websites.
Niche sites focused on specific types of travel, destinations, activities or travelers generally attract the most loyal audiences (and affiliate income). For example, Matthew Kepnes of Nomadic Matt centers around budget backpacking and hostel travel tips. Adventurous Kate features solo female adventures to off-the-beaten-path locales worldwide.
Influential travel blogs monetize through several key income streams:
- Display Advertising – Popular sites attract paying sponsors automatically matched through Google Adsense
- Affiliate Marketing Commissions – Earn up to 75% commission recommending relevant travel products.
- Sponsored Posts – Get paid directly by travel brands to highlight their products or services. Posts range from $100-$500+ each.
- Brand Partnerships – Formal sponsorship contracts with monthly or annual compensation for highlighting a brand.
- Group Tours – Organizing and leading guided group trips for 5-25 people. Earn $500+ profit per traveler after expenses.
While launching a profitable travel site presents a steep initial learning curve, affiliate link integration through spaces like SkimLinks or Mediavine (yielding $1-$4 RPM revenue) kickstarts monetization from the first day. Blog income can realistically grow through organic traffic and social media in 6-12 months.
Patience pays off by Year 2-3 as site traffic, domain authority and dedicated audiences create multiple income streams. Committing 20+ hours weekly, successful bloggers earn over $5,000 monthly within two years. By year five, $10,000+ earning potential becomes realistic.
For aspiring travel bloggers with a knack for storytelling and photography, investing serious effort in an educational niche site can fund one’s way around the world indefinitely.
8. Create Stock Photography Income
Travel photographers can generate semi-passive income by selling their awe-inspiring images as stock photos on major platforms like Shutterstock, iStockphoto and Adobe Stock. While most shots earn just $0.25-$2 per download, volume from hundreds of available images soon yields substantial sales during and after trips.
Expanding portfolios boost earning potential over time as images continue selling indefinitely. Marketplaces like Alamy, Dreamstime and DepositPhotos also let photographers retain or share copyright ownership rather than handing over full rights. This allows simultaneously selling unique prints or merchandise on platforms like Redbubble without exclusivity limitations.
Travel photographers typically upload batches of 10-30 new images per week to maintain steady sales momentum and keep fans returning. Through consistency, experienced stock photographers’ portfolios grow into the tens of thousands of images with earnings of $500 up to $5,000+ monthly.
Getting started is free and simple – just apply for an account on each platform to understand specific commission structures based on file type/exclusivity. Be sure to meticulously title, tag and organize your images so interested buyers can easily discover them during searches for specific destinations, landmarks or concepts.
Consider capturing both iconic travel shots along with unique conceptual images or unexpected angles showcasing cultural quirks or daily life overseas. Images promoting diversity, sustainability and local empowerment tend to attract media interest.
With a creative eye, patience and effective metadata strategies, travel photographers can continually monetize amazing images captured in inspiring locales across the planet.
9. Become an Airbnb Host
Purchasing an investment property or funding extended trips through savvy credit card hacking lets you unlock earning potential through Airbnb hosting essentially anywhere on earth. Nomadic entrepreneurs are maximizing profits by remotely managing short-term rentals internationally with the help of local cleaners, handymen and property managers overseeing day-to-day operations onsite.
While specific regulations vary across thousands of regions worldwide, average nightly rates range from $50-$500+ helping long-term travelers generate enough earnings to continue exploring full-time. Hosts focused on simplifying and automating processes can profitably self-manage a single rental property from anywhere through remote access technology.
Optimizing listing content across 100+ factors is crucial for maximizing search visibility and conversion rates. High-quality photos, detailed descriptions and instant booking functionality also boost occupancy. Local partnerships with tourism agencies, hotels and influencers expand reach tremendously as well.
Passionate Airbnb hosts also provide exceptional guest experiences by offering insider tips, activity recommendations, discounts or welcome gifts to drive 5-star reviews and repeat visits. Strong reviews (4.8+ average) increase conversions by 2-5x and enable hosts to justify slightly higher rates.
While managing remote Airbnbs requires some effort addressing guest questions, maintenance issues or restocking supplies, overall income more than justifies the flexibility. And by reinvesting a portion of earnings into professional services or smart home technology, hosts reduce involvement over time.
Whether you invest in beach villas or urban apartments, thoughtfully-run remote rentals allow location-independent income. Just be sure to calculate mortgage costs, projected occupancy, cleaning/management fees and desired profit margins beforehand using Airbnb’s free income estimation tools.
10. Dropshipping
From boutique stores to booming brands like Kylie Cosmetics, countless ecommerce merchants actually outsource manufacturing and fulfillment operations these days through a distribution method known as dropshipping.
Instead of warehousing actual inventory, store owners instead focus on running an exceptional online storefront and marketing beautiful products to targeted audiences across channels like social media and search engines. By researching trends and identifying winning products selling well on platforms like Shopify and Amazon, shrewd entrepreneurs test merchandise demand before actually stocking supply.
Once customers place orders, store owners simply purchase the items at wholesale rates through third party suppliers and provide shipping details for direct fulfillment to the end customer. As the middleman, the merchant keeps the profit margin between wholesale supplier cost and final retail price.
Globalization of manufacturing and supply chains coupled with free Shopify trials and themes now allows anyone launch a professional looking store within days. Incorporating ecommerce plugins like Oberlo also makes adding products and managing suppliers simple.
Still, effectively importing and selling products internationally requires proper due diligence selecting reliable manufacturers, accurately calculating custom duties & import taxes, adhering to local regulations and providing polished customer service during shipment.
Nevertheless, the prospect of continuously testing hot products while letting suppliers handle order fulfillment offers a tempting opportunity for wanderlust ecommerce entrepreneurs hoping to fund their freedom. With the right suppliers and marketing savvy, the location independent dropshipping model unlocks earning potential from anywhere with wifi.
The Bottom Line
Rather than view long term travel and stable income as mutually exclusive options, take steps towards building your ideal lifestyle today. With economies of scale from global outsourcing and internet-based entrepreneurship fueling location independence, consider investing time upfront to develop your expertise around any of these remote roles.
By diversifying income streams through smart savings strategies and teaching skills in demand worldwide, extended travel morphs from fantasy to accessible reality in months rather than years for any driven self-starter. Which of these intriguing roles resonates most? Structure goals around the expertise you already have while continuing to learn highly-valued skills in growing global markets.
With billions of ambitious people worldwide empowered by technology to live and work from anywhere, traditional norms around careers and education fade rapidly. Capitalize on this historic opportunity to blend work and wanderlust by establishing your own profitable path of perpetual travel.
