How to make money while traveling

It’s a subject that so many of us travelers ponder. How can I keep traveling if there is no source of income to keep me going for another week, month or year?

There is only so much saving you can do and it’s only a matter of time before you’re packing your bags and heading back home.
For some of us this is a pleasant thought. To be able to get back to what we call normality, but for the traveler who just wants to keep exploring and enjoying the benefits of long term travel then we have to think outside the realms of normality when it comes to ways of making money while traveling.

I’ve narrowed down a list that works for us and utilizes our skills.
Your skill set might be vastly different to ours but it gives us a base to explore.
Please if there are those of you who are our there reading this who have great ideas please comment on your thoughts.

Teach your native language
It may seem a little strange, but this is one of your best skills. You’ve been speaking your language almost all of your life and it’s a skill that most people will overlook as a way of making money. We had a great friend from France stay with us for several weeks while she traveled around Australia. She was a great net-worker and was quick to discover that with Spanish and French , she could give private one on one lessons and make a little cash while she traveled. It also opened doors to meeting new people in all different walks of life.
In some countries you may need to have a qualification, but with confidence and a programmed of set lessons there maybe a opportunity.

Create and maintain websites
This may seem a little more daunting but as I’ve built websites in the past of a basic function I’ve managed to etch us a reasonable income from the two main sites I built over ten years ago. Back then Our combined income from the two sites was over $50.000 per year. Considering that we both still had full time jobs an extra amount like this was good to have.
The whole web design industry has evolved and what I knew 10 years ago is now basic compared to what it on offer today. I means a little fine tuning and retraining but with the modern script writers it’s not as hard as you might think to create a website. The good thing is no matter how much you create a site for someone they always need maintenance and updating. Sure you may want to teach your client the back end of a site that you created for them, but most clients are too busy and will gladly pay you to maintain the site at a pre-negotiated rate. Not bad since you created the site, so it’s easy to work your way around the back-end and make minor adjustments in minutes that would probably that your client hours.

Shares, Stocks and Bonds
This is one area that is best to seek some expert advice or set up early in your planning stage of your journey. Some share pay dividends, where some it’s best to reinvest your profits for a long term financial strategy. Remember money locked up is money you can’t use. so think wisely when making your investments here.

Casual Labour
There are literally 100’s of casual labour jobs in Australia providing that you’re not too picky and are prepared to take the job on knowing that deep inside this is only a temporary fix and that you’ll be moving on. Take a walk through a shopping mall and your bound to see signs for shop assistants. Better still approach the local supermarkets for night filling of shelves. The advantage of this job is that its and evening job that still gives you the day to go and explore the area where you are.

Seasonal Fruit Picking
Like Casual Labour Seasonal Picking is a good way to make money, however it’s physical and demanding work. You may need to stay in hostels to get a job though, as most of the farmers select the hostels to look for workers for them and walking into a hostel to try to find work with out making g a booking to stay there will prove a fruitless effort (pardon the pun).
Just be sure you know the working arrangement before you commit. Are you paid by weight, box our hour? It will depend of what you’re doing e.g. pruning, picking or packing.

Passive website generation
Now this one may require a little research on your topics  but if you’re good with computers and you know how to build a website, you may want to try to make a few passive websites. These are websites that are free information sites that with enough web traffic generate a small income. Sure on their own they may not make you enough to retire on but an extra $50 per month per site goes a long way on meals in some cheap Asian countries. You may consider yourself a bit of an expert in Mountain Biking in you local area. So you could set up a site telling people where the best tracks are for example.

Online Travel Consulting
Now before the local authorities leap up and down there is a difference between a Travel Agent and a Travel Consultant, one is a registered business with a fixed location. The other is an advisory service that is linked to a Travel Agent for it’s booking service. Laws in Australia are changing in 2014 and bringing Travel agents in line with the A.C.C (Australia Commerce Commission).
As we both hold diploma’s in Travel and Tourism we believe that there is a world of opportunities out there for a lot of smaller niche travel consultants. It’s all good to book on line but by promoting a small targeted niche you can sell small tailored tours to your targeted market. For example you could set up accommodation and small group tour packages and book the fights through a Travel Agent. All of which can be done online.
This type of business takes more time and attention to detail but if you’re wanting a business that give you travel opportunities and a lifestyle that is computer based this works.

Ghost Writing
Contrary to what you’re probably thinking Ghost Writing is not about writing scary books. Imagine that your a famous person who has a story to tell but you’re too busy to sit down and grind out a 500 page autobiography. So you scribble down a few notes and hire someone to write your story for you.
Think about it, do you really think half of the celebrities, ex prime-ministers and sportspeople write their own books. Most don’t, they simple pay someone else and put their name to it. Some Ghost Writing involves writing for advertising and small scripts for websites. It depends of the scope of what your looking for. This is one on-line job that can really pay if you set you mind and time to it.

Motel Relief Managing
Have you ever stayed in a small motel and you’ve thought that the guy running it reminds you of Basil Faulty from the TV Series Faulty Towers. He’s rude and grumpy and you’re  thinking he needs to get out more and your probably right. The problem is that most small independent Motel owners are trapped in a 7 day a week operation and simply cant get away. This is where a Relief Manager can step in and help out in exchange for a free room, meals and the opportunity it stay on for a few days after the owners return. This way you can explore the local area. If you’re a couple traveling you are likely to have a better chance as one can look after the front desk while the other can look after maintenance and cleaning. Qualifications for the job? You might want to look into a short business administrative course. But mostly it’s book, show to the room, clean and be on call should you be needed.

Sell Your Photos
Ever considered that with that new digital camera you may have a picture that someone somewhere may be willing to part with some cash for? There a re numerous site that will allow you to post your picture and sell the rights for your snap. It’s not going to make you a millionaire unless you have an exclusive shot of something historical but that extra few dollar every now and then from an afternoon of loading up a few pics cant hurt. What’s more you only have to load the picture once and can sell it over and over again.

So, what are you waiting for …..

The world is in your hands