There are various ways in which you can make money and travel at the same time, blogging, any form of online earning business, remote digital nomad employment, jobs in the travel industry, and teaching online or in person are a few examples of ways in which you can make money and travel at the same time.
In this post we’ll go into a few more ideas and details on how you can make money and travel.
How is it possible to make money and travel (as we did). We’ll give you some ideas!
First let me introduce myself, my name is Alyson and I travelled the world with my family for almost 7 years, full-time. We were (and still could be) digital nomads and I make a living through blogging, not just travel blogging on World Travel Family, we have website that cover various topics.
As we travelled we met many other travellers, many families, all earning in creative ways to allow them to travel. We can share some of those methods of funding your travel here.
In some travel destinations it can be possible to find casual work in such lines of work as hospitality or fruit picking. Our town runs on young backpackers working these vital jobs.
You must get the correct working visa, and working visas are not an option in every country.
If you have skills that are in demand you may be able to find work internationally, for instance, my husband is a chef, he can find work anywhere. The problem is, contracts are normally for 2 years and we don’t want to be tied to a job for that long.
If you have multiple passpoprts (we have British and Australian) you should be able to work legally in either country.
To qualify for a working visa you often need to be young (under 30) and eligible. You need to check visa requirements carefully for your nationality, and for your destination country.
It is best not to rely on destination based work options while you travel, and instead have a plan for how you can earn money anywhere using online options. This is the key to real freedom, becoming nomadic, creating an income that can travel with you. The nomadic lifestyle really is fantastic!
Here are some ways you can make money while you travel the world, anywhere with an internet connection:
Online Trading
Online trading is something that anybody can try and you do not have to have thousands to do it. Chef tried trading for a while and even as a complete beginner he made a profit most days.
I know one family that almost solely funds their world travels through trading.
Whatever time zone you are in, and whatever time you have free, with a little capital you can earn money by doing some form of online trading using something like the IG online trading market (Forex).
Online trading platforms can allow you to trade foreign currency (forex), which can be a very interesting option because the markets operate 24 hours a day, with just a bit of time closed at the weekend, due to their global nature.
As you move around the world you can also become more familiar with local socio-political events that affect currencies, and become a well-informed trader.
If forex doesn’t appeal, you may also trade CFDs or do some traditional stock market trading.
Profits are never guaranteed and you must learn good analysis skills and strategies, but you can usually use this approach as a fun and interesting way to make some money, as well as gaining skills that will remain useful throughout your life.
How do you learn more about online trading? We suggest you go to YouTube and find free instructional videos on this topic.
Location Independent Freelance Writing
If you are a reasonable writer, you may be able to find some freelance work while travelling using freelancer sites. You don’t need to write in similies and metaphores, just plain basic English is all that’s required.
We would suggest you try Copyblogger, they offer training and basic certification for people just starting out. Or get this book to learn how to earn as a freelance writer.
Many companies and individual bloggers need blog posts and digital content. You don’t have to be an expert on the topic (although it helps) just research on your computer and create posts that read well and offer accurate information. You don’t need any English or journalism qualifications to find this kind of work, just some good examples of your previous writing.
I pay writers to create content sometimes, I then flesh this content out with my own experiences, I pay about $40 per article. Don’t expect to earn a lot.
AI is everywhere today, it’s not a solution, I would never pay for content created using AI as it tends to be too factually inaccurate to use in the travel world. I value my readers too much to use AI.
Photo Sales
While you are travelling, you should be able to take some interesting photographs, if you’re lucky, of things nobody has ever seen before.
If you’re at the location and somebody on the other side of the world needs a photo of that place, there is a market.
A lot of people make money by selling their photos on sites used by publications and website owners, and so you can list your pictures on these.
You may be surprised at how in demand pictures of places, peoples, wildlife and landscapes are and you really don’t need to be a professional photographer.
This can be a good secondary income, or side hustle, after your travels, too. Get to know the types of photos that are accepted by photography sites, and what photos are popular with customers.
To learn how to take, and sell photos, just search for blog posts from travel bloggers who do this. I don’t do this, although I do sell a few products with my photos on them through RedBubble (this is one that sells). My major income sources are in the section below.
Blogging or Other Online Content Creation
Blogging (AKA website creation) is a portable income source perfect for combining travel and earning money.
If you can create a website, YouTube account or Instagram feed that attracts a healthy daily audience, you can monetise it.
People will pay good money for you to share their products or services with the audience you have created. This is how influencers earn money.
There are adverts on this page placed through Mediavine. Display advertising like this makes me under 50% of my online income. If you can create a page and get people to read it, you can make money with display advertising, as you can with ads in YouTube videos.
You can also make money with affiliate sales, this doesn’t need the big numbers of daily visitors (although the more the better!) but it does need you to be smart with SEO and keyword research.
I would strongly recommend that you learn about these two things (SEO and keyword research, we have posts about these topics in our blogging section) before you buy your domain or create your first blog post. These are the keys to your online blog-related income.
We have a post on how to set up a blog and start earning money. It’s not hard and you don’t need any special skills, I am completely self-taught and I’ve never bought a course and never will.
The beauty of creating a blog to make money is that it earns for you 24/7, while you sleep, whether you’re actively working on it, or not, yes, blogging does still make me a healthy income in 2023 and will in 2024. Cookies go away in January 2024, but my affiliate sales are so strong that I’m not worried.
Other online content creation options that can easily be monetised include course creation (beware buying courses, few are good value) and writing and selling e-books or even single-sheet pdfs. I sell a few pdfs on
VA Work and Social Media Management
People like me are always looking for help with their lives or websites to spread their workload and give them more time to focus on raising income and enjoying their nomadic freedom.
You will need a level of expertise equal to or ideally, higher than the person employing you. There are a lot of Asian VAs in this market with high level skills and perfect English, along with good references, I think you’d find it difficult to find employment at western pay levels in this field.
Some VA s take on life organisation tasks for their employers, others are experts in Twitter or Pinterest. You will need a clearly successful track record and expertise to succeed. Again, I don’t recommend courses.
Try listing yourself on sites such as Upwork to find employment as a VA.
Teaching Online
While many people take the TEFL and real-life teaching option, more and more people are teaching online. They connect with their students via Skype or similar, no classrooms, just an internet connection.
My children attended an online school for a couple of years, their teachers were qualified, and could be anywhere in the world. Non-qualified teachers can also teach online, particularly English.
This couple use this method, among others, of making a digital-nomad income. Read their post on teaching English abroad here.
Free Travel and Patchwork Income
There are various ways to travel for “free”. Read our post on how to travel for free and combine those methods with some of the ideas in this post.
We nomads and entrepreneurs talk about having a “patchwork income”, a little bit here, a little bit there. Combine multiple income streams with budget or free travel ideas and you can make your travels self-funding, as we did.
When should you start? Right now, the best time to start anything is now! I did it, you can do it. See the related posts below for more ideas.
These are some ways you can make money while travelling that only rely on you having an internet connection and a laptop or camera phone – regardless of where you are in the world. Being self-employed and having freedom are priceless, I would never go back to my old career. Good luck with your journey and if you have and questions put them in the comments.
Alyson Long is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist at London's West Middlesex Hospital she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011.
Alyson is a full-time blogger and travel writer, a published author, and owns several websites. World Travel Family is the biggest.
A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site.
Today Alyson still travels extensively to update this site and continue her mission to visit every country, but she's often at home on her farm in Australia.
