A desk job isn’t for everyone. Indeed, if you’ve worked in an office environment for an extended period of time, it’s likely you’ve felt the desire to get out of your workspace and explore the world at large at least once or twice.
But traditional jobs usually only offer 2-4 weeks of leave, and you can’t exactly ‘see the world’ in that amount of time. While we might dream of just taking off and leaving our boss behind, the one thing that usually prevents us from doing so is the money side.
I mean, what happens if you do take a year off, but you’ve under budgeted, and you get half way through a year long trip and your money dries up?
That’s a real worry.
If you’ve ever dreamed of traveling for longer, but you’re worried if your savings is going to be enough, the following are our six favorite ways for making money on the move.
Work While You Travel: Ways to Make Extra Cash on the Move
Commit to Philanthropic Causes
If you love traveling and also want to make a difference in the world there’s always plenty of opportunity to team up with philanthropic organizations who are always looking for skilled workers to help.
Two billion people around the world lack access to basic medicines needed for day-to-day health care. If you have a basic level of medical training, you can join one of the charities or other international organizations dedicated to changing this and take a job in a developing country where your skills are desperately needed.
People with construction skills are also needed in areas affected by wars or natural disasters such as earthquakes and cyclones, where they can help to set up fresh accommodation that offers more security and long-term stability than tents, and helps people to start rebuilding their lives.
If you’re fresh out of college, the Peace Corps could be another one to consider. You don’t get to select where you’re stationed, and you will have to work very hard, but there are few endeavors more meaningful or rewarding.
Image: Jim Holmes for AusAID. Via: DFAT / CC BY 2.0 / Flickr
Teach a Language
Even if you only speak one language (in this instance, English presumably) there are opportunities the world over to teach your language to interested students. What’s more, you’re often compensated with housing in addition to base pay for teaching classes.
English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and countries are always looking to hire new teachers. Almost any country you can think of has a program that hires English teachers, though you could also work as an au pair, or head to refugee camps, where teachers are desperately needed.
If you do speak the language of the country you’re visiting, you could teach both children and adults to read and write. Alternatively, you could become a translator and help to secure economic or political deals that improve people’s prospects.
You can also jump into online teaching. This has become rather popular, especially with online studying becoming the norm. People can connect to a conference, or in this case a lesson from anywhere in the world.
Becoming a qualified TEFL teacher (Teach English as a Foreign Language) is the best route of securing an online teaching job. You could start your own courses, or you could work for an online ‘university’, and run courses for them.
Image: Adam Patterson / Panos / DFID / CC BY 2.0 via Flickr
Freelancing
More and more businesses are utilizing freelance workers to augment the efforts of their nine-to-five employees. And with good reason! Freelancers bring specialized knowledge and diverse skills to the table.
The great thing about freelancing is that you can do it in just about any field, from just about any location. One day you could find yourself designing a web page for LI heparin tubes; the next, editing photographs for a museum.
Most freelance gigs these days are online, allowing you to work from anywhere in the world so long as you have your computer and a reliable internet connection. Almost any job can be freelanced like web design, software engineering, translating, data entry, editing, transcription and online tutoring.
Find freelance jobs on sites like Remote.com, Clickworker, or Upwork, a freelancing site which lists everything from administrative tasks to voice overs, and pretty much anything else you can think of.
Online Content Creation (Travel Blogger)
Starting a travel blog (much like this one) is a fantastic way to chronicle your journeys and make solid money doing it. It may take some time for your blog to gather an audience, so be willing to persevere with this venture!
Bloggers earn through advertising companies and brands, posting guest posts (usually with links), and sometimes through selling things on their blog.
Blogging requires you to set-up a blog (obviously), be fairly good at writing, photography – and you’ll need a laptop, too! If you enjoy online content creation but don’t want to run your own blog, there are plenty of opportunities to work as a virtual assistant for a successful blogger.
A virtual assistant is an online PA, in simple terms. They do everything that a blogger no longer has the time to do, which could mean stepping in to handle social media, or ghost writing their content.
This job can be done from anywhere – hence the name ‘virtual’ assistant!
Travel-Specific Jobs
Remember, there are all sorts of professions that require you to travel to diverse locations. Flight attendants, travel agents, and other such jobs are great for people with a powerful case of wanderlust!
Becoming a flight attendant specifically is probably the easiest way to see the world and make a fair share of money for yourself. They literally spend their lives travelling, and you’d be surprised to know that they get plenty of free time to actually see the places that they touchdown in.
Yes, they spend most of their time in the sky, but they also spend a lot of time exploring new territory. In a job you currently hate? Find your nearest exit and apply to become a flight attendant!
Image: Jetstar Airways / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Flickr
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Megan is an Australian Journalist and award-winning travel writer who has been blogging since 2007. Her husband Mike is the American naturalist and wildlife photographer behind Waking Up Wild; an online magazine dedicated to opening your eyes to the wonders of the wild & natural world.
Having visited 50+ countries across all seven continents, Megan’s travels focus on cultural immersion, authentic discovery and incredible journeys. She has a strong passion for ecotourism, and aims to promote responsible travel experiences.
