“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” – Saint Augustine
When the travel bug bites, it’s hard not to respond by striking out. Society advocates this notion as well. Every day, more and more destinations are opening up opportunities for tourists who want to enjoy an extreme adventure, or a relaxing bask in the sun. Locations that once seemed remote, inaccessible, or exotic are now widely known as common destinations such as Croatia, Sri Lanka, and Jordan.
The reasons for travel are expanding as well. Many are in search of ways to make family memories, discover hidden treasures, research and explore historical locales, seek out their ancestral roots, or shake up their day-to-day routine. Whatever the reason, every excursion needs to be financed and many are doing it while they venture.
Here are five of the most common ways to earn money while travelling:
Photography/Videography
Photography or videography is a great way to fund your travels. With the advent of camera capabilities on mobile phones, freedom has been granted to a huge population to capture a moment during a trip and sell it or post it on their monetized blog. There are all kinds of sources looking to pay photographers for images: travel related websites, travel agencies, hard copy and online magazines, and tourism boards, to name a few.
If you’re a shutterbug, selling your memory-inducing photos can add padding to your travel expenses and provide you with the flexibility to work and play anywhere you can download your photos.
Pro Tip: Remember to make images high resolution and do a thorough check of any agreements or contracts for payment terms and rights of use or image ownership.
Blogging
Creating a blog that incorporates writing about your trips as well as your photography or videography can be a great source of entertainment and income as you globetrek.
Chances are, you are journaling about your experiences anyway, why not add a photo or video and post it? Blog readers are very interested in the personal side of the writer’s life. If you can write in such a way that you are revealing parts of your adventure in a story format, followers will engage, making it easier to attract affiliate advertisers to your blog and begin generating income. The more you travel and blog, the more engaged your audience becomes, and your blog’s value increases.
Pro Tip: If you can provide something of value to the reader, the more appealing your blog will be. Perhaps you can create a guide of do’s and don’ts from your experiences. Maybe it’s a list of tips for how to connect with locals for an authentic cultural experience. The possibilities are endless. Just make sure it’s valuable and relevant to the post or your overall blog theme.
Services/Attractions Reviewer
One level deeper from a generalized, experiential travel blog is to specialize in writing about specifics such as writing reviews for restaurants, hotels/B & B’s, transportation services, and various local attractions or events.
Say you go zip lining in Costa Rica and find that the experience was great, but the prices were high for the area even though the views were fantastic. That is all valuable information that the zip lining company needs to know, the tourism board would like to know, and readers of your blog who are planning a zip lining excursion in Costa Rica can benefit from. If you can zip line with more than one company, you can provide a comparison chart and present it for your readers to evaluate and make informed decisions about their own plans.
Not only can you post your review on your blog, you can post on dedicated review sites like Yelp, Urbanspoon, or Tripadvisor. With a little time and research, you can find all kinds of websites who may pay you for freelance-style review content.
Content Writer
If the idea of potentially uncertain income makes you uneasy to become a freelance writer or blogger, consider becoming an independent contractor with a handful of strong industry leaders looking for web content. Big travel-related companies are looking for content to fill their sites without the hassle of hiring a full-time staff.
Pro Tip: While negotiating the terms of your potential contracts, request the style or voice in which you prefer to write, destinations you would like to visit, or topics and attractions that you would like to explore. The content world is your oyster.
Get A Job
Lastly, consider getting a job in an industry that sends you around the world. There is a plethora of options available to you. For example, you could work as an au pair, importer/exporter, or an English teacher. Granted, these jobs may have you in one location for an extended time period but imagine how deep you could dive into that region before you moved on to another assignment?
Other options might include becoming a yoga or workout instructor. You can travel to locations around the world and create a workout video on site. Then, you can post it on your monetized blog or sell it as a workout package on your website. You could also sell it to app companies who use video to add variety home workout systems.
If you are looking for seasonal work and enjoy working with people, consider becoming a surf or ski instructor, cruise ship service employee, tour guide, or docent.
Pro Tip: Look into becoming an international house or pet-sitter. This is a rapidly expanding industry for the trustworthy animal lover.
Whether you want to be a free-wheeling freelancer, independent contractor, or industry employee, there are plenty of options for making money while you travel the globe.