There are days we just want to pack up our bags, travel around the world, yet keep the money coming. Having a 9 to 5 job hanging around our necks doesn’t always allow that. Other times, money could be the challenge. Nothing truncates a dream as not having enough money to fund it.
Are you in this dilemma? I’ve got good news! Travel jobs can help you finance your dream (of traveling around the world!)
With travel jobs, you may not even need to pay your way or rack your mind about where to stay. Some travel jobs take care of these critical aspects.
There are different types of travel jobs to allow you to make money while exploring the world.
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Depending on the travel job you get, you can live in another country for a few months, have a job that is not dependent on location, or get a long term career opportunity in another country.
How to become a professional traveler
Travel jobs are great, but they are not always easy to get. Passion, specialized training, and commitment of time are necessary factors to land juicy travel jobs. Not to worry, this post will help boost your chances of getting a good paying travel job, even as a beginner with little or no experience.
Travel jobs are in categories, and you can find a place as either an expat, digital nomad, or backpacker. But what are the differences?
Jobs that require international travel
Expat travelling jobs
Expat jobs have to do with expatriates. This means that as a citizen of your country, you can live in another country to work. The only traveling aspect of this job is that you do not stay in your hometown to do it.
This job may require you to stay in a foreign land for a few months to years. Most times, people who do this job usually have a remote work visa.
The most familiar expatriate jobs include nannies, English teachers, foreign services, etc.
Digital nomads
Digital nomads work from their computers and are not dependent on location. As long as they can access the Internet, they are good to go.
So, they can work from different countries, in hotel rooms, coffee shops, or from their bedrooms. The jobs in this category are blogging, freelance writing, online businesses, web development, etc.
Backpacker jobs
This type of travel job does not require a college degree; they are more like the alternative kind of job and are practical. The most frequent people that take up this kind of job are artists, farmers, musicians, street vendors, etc. Sometimes, these jobs could be under the table.
Travel industry careers
How can we talk about travel jobs and not mention travel industry careers? Travel careers cover a wide range of employment, including the hospitality and tourism sectors. These positions include local child tourism boards, air hosts and hostesses, travel agents, travel marketing, tour guides, etc.
Travel jobs for beginners
- Cruise ship work
You can always be assured of a job with a cruise ship as they hire all manner of people, ranging from cooks to waiters, entertainers, etc.
This job is most suitable for those that are not married and without children. However, it is not a long term opportunity. Nevertheless, it is reasonable opportunity for a digital nomad, someone that just needs good internet access to make money since Wi-Fi is always on standby.
You can check out the Royal Caribbean or Carnival Cruise Lines for their careers.
- Volunteer
Indeed, volunteer jobs don’t pay naturally, but if you just want to travel for the fun of it, it is a good idea. Also, because they will give you the basics, such as food or accommodation, or sometimes both, it’s still an excellent privilege to travel around the world.
You can get an opening with Conservation Volunteers as they provide accommodation, though not a meal, in exchange for your help on their conservation projects. However, be careful not to fall into the ditch as some organizations will demand you pay a significant amount to be placed as a volunteer. So, ensure you understand the requirements and what’s in for you before jumping in.
- Bartender or waiter
Depending on your destination, you can get an under the table job as a waiter or bartender. However, you’ll be exposed to a few risks since you will be working illegally. These risks include running into tax problems or, in the worst case scenario, being deported.
So, if you would like to work in a bar or restaurant, then search for places with good tips so that you have more income from the bonuses and the regular wages.
- Work for your accommodation
If you would like to travel but have no money to lodge, you can find this kind of work from hotels. Many hotels allow people to stay for free in exchange to do some basic work around their hostels. Since some of the hotel rooms could be worth it, it is not harmful to try.
However, before traveling, check for the hotels that give this offer from Hostelworld.com.
- Interpreter or translator
If you are fluent in speaking or writing two or more languages, you can become an interpreter or translator and take a job outside the country. Having a university degree in linguistics will give you an upper hand.
- Seasonal fruits or vegetable picker
There is a high demand for this labor in Australia and many other countries. However, this can be long and hard work. And as the name suggests, it is seasonal.
This work is harvest dependent, so you need to plan your trip well to avoid missing out on the timing.
Here is a pro tip: when picking fruits, avoid watermelons. Those things weigh so much, and you will be quickly exhausted.
You can find some of these jobs at Anywork Anywhere.
- Home swap
This may not be a travel job, but it can save you a whole lot of money. Instead of letting your apartment lie empty while you lodge or rent a new apartment, you can do a house swap.
You can swap your apartment or house (if you have one) for another at your destination. If it is a great house; you will enjoy yourself much better than in a hotel.
Find a good home to swap with yours on sites like Home Exchange, Love Home Swap, Holiday Swap, etc.
- House sitter
I understand that this may not be the work to pay your travel bills, but it can help you cut the accommodation cost. You can find excellent house sitter jobs from Trusted House Sitters.
If you intend to stay there for a couple of years, and don’t mind a long term commitment/extra responsibilities, you can opt to care for someone’s motel while they are away.
You will get more stipends plus free accommodation from caretaking jobs than house sitters.
Sign up with Housecarers.com or Caretaker Gazette to get started. Some of these sites require a token as membership fee.
- AU Pair
An au pair does the work of a nanny, plus some extra housework. Most of them are females and likely work in the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
It’s a great idea if you intend to stay around for a while because contracts for au pairs usually last from six months up.
Get started with your au pair work by checking out the International AU Pair Organization.
- Campsite work
If you love being outdoors, you can do camping work in Canada or the US. You can take up work as a camp host, tour guide, or desk clerk. They may not need lengthy requirements.
- Busking
This is the job of a street performer, artist or musician. If you’ve got such talents, whether or not you’ve been exposed to doing the job before, you can make money from tourists.
To start up, first, choose a spot with high foot traffic and drop a hat, container, or anything that you will use to collect money.
Get your instrument, and put up an act. If you play it well, people will appreciate your skill.
However, make some findings before starting this in a new location as some cities require permits for busking.
This doesn’t just end with music; it extends to fortune-telling, breakdancing, painting, acrobatics, just anything. You can earn between $10 and $100 an hour from this.
Digital nomad travel jobs
- Travel blogging
When considering an independent location job, travel blogging should be the first thing on your mind. You can make a lot of money blogging as a travel blogger, between $500 and $20,000 a month.
However, this money won’t just pop up in the first year. Blogging demands hard work, commitments, and a great audience. So before you step into travel blogging, you can start with topics like fashion, parenting, and even lifestyle to build an audience. When you have it, you can start making money to travel. Check out our post on how to get started as a blogger.
- Teach English online
You can earn between $1000 and $3000 monthly from teaching English online on Skype or any video chat.
You can also take up this work to teach English in a foreign school, but for this, you will need to be a citizen of the United States or Canada and have a college degree. A TEFL certification will also be an added advantage.
This job thrives in non-English speaking countries; for the past few years, China has been top on the list.
- Freelance travel photographer
As a travel photographer, you can make money selling your images wherever you go. However, this career needs commitment before you start earning a substantial amount.
You can sell your images directly to be used on websites, books, magazines, or brand campaigns.
You can also make extra money by running online photography tutorials or guided photography tours. As a travel photographer with a large social media audience, you can even become a paid influencer for projects.
You should be able to end between 1000 and $10,000 per month with a well-established audience.
- Remote work and telecommuting
Though the price range for this work varies, you can earn a considerable amount if you’re lucky. Since more businesses prefer to hire remote workers, you can travel anywhere and just with a computer and the required software to make your money.
Besides remote working, telecommuting (a term that describes “working from home”, but as a telecommuter, you may sometimes be required to work on site) is also becoming a welcome development for professionals in many industries.
So depending on your profession, you may not even need to learn a new skill. You just need to find that company that pays you to travel or a good-paying remote work, and you’ll be fine.
Highest paying travel jobs
- Scuba diving instructor
From Fiji to Iceland and every other part of the world, scuba diving is highly enjoyed. Also, scuba diving teams travel a lot and like you guessed; they have so much money to spend.
If you want to be a scuba diver and join this team, spend a few weeks in great places like Utila, Honduras, and even Thailand to become a divemaster. With this and subsequent training, you can become a scuba instructor who teaches people to become PADI divers.
You can earn $1000 to $4000 monthly from this job.
- Travel agent
Many people love to travel but hate to plan for their trips. If you’re good at planning trips, you can become a travel agent and sell vacations to these kinds of people.
For this job, you will need to organize lodging, transportation, activities, and a handful of advice/helpful tips about their destination.
This means that you will need to have a good idea of the destination that you are selling.
Don’t worry about how you’re going to do this; travel agents get to travel for free during the familiarization trips so that they can have better experiences with their clients.
You can earn between $3000 and $6000 a month as a travel agent.
- Foreign service travel jobs
Being a diplomat or working in a foreign service can make you earn $500 to $10,000 per month.
However, this job is only open to people with a university degree and fluency in current languages.
Before finding this type of position online, you will need to write applications and take a series of tests.
- Private labeling/drop shipping
This business is known by many, most call it by different names. But if you can buy or manufacture products from abroad, register them as your brand and sell them on Amazon, that’s drop shipping. And you can make a lot of money from it.
FBA, (Fulfillment by Amazon) makes this business easy as it takes away the need for a brick and mortar store and allows you to use Amazon’s network of fulfillment centers everywhere around the world to make money.
You can earn between 1000 and $30,000 per month, depending on what you sell.
- Internet poker
I bet my mom didn’t know that a person could take up playing poker as a full-time job. She’ll be surprised to learn that people earn up to $30,000 per month from just playing poker.
Poker can be tricky, but if you are good with numbers, have good poker playing skills, and keep your emotions in check, you could play this for a living.
As an internet poker player, you can join the community of poker players to travel around the world. Yes, Internet pokers do this.
Depending on how good you are in the game and the luck that follows you daily, you can earn between $1000 and $30,000 per month. That’s a considerable amount.
- Listing Your apartment on Airbnb
You can earn between $1000 to $7000 or more a month by listing your place on Airbnb.
Airbnb is a great site that allows people to rent out their apartment and allow guests stay in their home rather than a hotel.
So if you’re traveling, why keep your flat empty or lose money to house sitters? List it out on Airbnb and get good money in return.
- Freelance travel marketing
As a freelance travel marketer, you can earn between $1000 and $10,000 a month. But I should warn you here; it is not a skill you learn in just one week.
People take up a degree in marketing just to succeed at this job.
So if you’re good, you can travel anywhere, helping people sell their products.
Are you wondering who to help? Start with authors.
There are a lot of authors with unknown books; they will gladly pay you to market them. Here is a guide on how to become a promoter on Ziprecruiter. You will learn how to promote items, other than books.
Conclusion
The list of travel jobs is almost endless, but getting great travel jobs needs time, commitment, and some experience.
Living your dreams through a travel job doesn’t just happen overnight. You need to make some considerable sacrifices for it. Nevertheless, if you really want to do this, you can start now and never stop until you achieve the dream.
