If you have a job at the moment, the chances are that a good deal of it is online. Talk to your current employer, ask them if they would be happy with you taking a small percentage (or a large percentage) of your work with you. Chances are that, if you are good at what you do and can guarantee you will be able to continue your hours, you may be surprise at the deal you could come to. I know this has been the most successful approach for many of my digital nomad friends.
You may already have a skill that you can rely on. If not, don’t panic, the freelancer market is bigger than it ever has been. There is something out there for people of all levels and skills. There are also plenty of online resources for learning everything digital. It is much easier than you think. Spend some time browsing around Upwork, People Per Hour and even Fiverr. You will be surprised at the opportunities that you find!
Travel Writing is perhaps one of the first thought of ways to get paid to see the world. The modern industry is far from what it once was, the opportunities are everywhere, but the pay is low and the industry a hard one to crack. If you are good at what you do, however, it is completely doable. Start small, don’t be afraid to work for free to get your name out there. Work on providing regular, quality content and forging good relationships with editors and the money will come.
Social Media Marketing is evidently a huge market, I’m almost certain you will have found this post through Facebook. If you can grow your profiles on Facebook, Insta, Youtube, Twitter and so on, you have a money making system in place. Advertisers will pay you to promote through your social feeds. You will likely be able to score all sorts of free trips or hotel rooms. You may even get full free trips if you get big enough. Get creative and post regularly!
Stock photography is a nice little side earner, especially as you will likely be snapping away the whole time you travel. You will need a decent DSLR camera, and need to learn how to shoot with a commercial eye to see real results, but any decent amateur photographer can at least make a little to help him along the road.
Ok, So this one, unlike most of this list requires some capital. Very few of you out there will have the ability to spend a large amount of money before you travel. If you do, however, it can be a great way of allowing you to travel well for as long as you want, without coming back broke. I have heard of all kinds of investments made to fund a nomadic lifestyle, from investing in independent dry cleaning business that pay a few hundred dollars a week, to buying large amounts of dividend paying shares.
Teaching English in a Foreign Language (TEFL) is a common way of being able to travel the world, with income and often accommodation taken care of. Once you have completed the short correspondence course and gained your qualifications, you will be able to apply for jobs across the world. It is a great way to make friends both locals and fellow travellers, so is a great option for the solo traveller.
This one could be all of your dreams come true. Plenty of people make enough money from this alone to have a rolling income that will allow them to travel the world with little to no days spend working. Anyone can sign up and add google ads to their websites, but be warned it will take a long time and a lot of effort before you start to see tangible results. As with everything on this list, work hard, keep learning and the money will come.
Working on the road is a little more complicated than some of the items on the list, but has the advantage of being accessible to everyone. It also likely offers a lot more security than some of the other options. There are a load of websites out there to help you out with this, Escape the City and Explorers Connect are some good examples. There are also some great worldwide programs like working on organic farms (WWOOF). If you look, you will find something that sounds good to you!
You may not be lucky enough to land sponsor, but it is very likely that you will be running a blog. You will also likely find a multitude of travel or other products that you love, and some that you hate. With easy to use and accessible frameworks like the Amazon and eBay affiliate programs, you can make money from recommending these products to your network. If your followers trust your expertise and buy a product, you get anwhere from a 2% to 15% commission of the sale.
Not everyone that reads this will be lucky enough to buy a house. Some of you may already have one. If you can let your property for more than your mortgage payments, however, it can be a great form of income on the road. Furthermore it provides a valuable asset upon your return. I know of travellers that have bought up incredibly cheap property and spent time before traveling restoring them as holiday rentals. They now travel solely from the income from that property.
Saving the most elusive for last. Sponsorship is the holy grail for travellers, allowing you to go bigger, further, more remote. It is not an easy endeavor by any means, but I have heard many a success story. Keep your blog up to date and your social media regular. Create good content and show potential sponsors that you are someone that they would be luck to have promoting their brand. Try to do things that are different and attention grabbing. You will not be sponsored to go drinking in Bankok, you might if you are attempting a manned mission to cross the Darien Gap.
