One of the most common things I hear from travelers is that they wish they could make money while traveling, which will enable them to travel for longer periods of time. While I am running a web design company to be able to do this for myself, there are a lot of other things you can do:
Play music
If you are a musician you have probably already thought about this option, and if you are not it’s probably not that good of an idea =). Still, playing music on the streets is a good option in the summer as long as the police don’t hassle you.
Create art
This is related to playing music in so many ways. You have probably already thought of this option, and the police thing is a real threat when you try to sell your artwork on the street. A good thing with the artwork is that if you like festivals this is the perfect place to sell your things. In most cases though you need to pay for a place to do this, but if you do some easy work for the festival it could be possible to get a place for free.
Teach English
A lot of people are talking about this being the best option, but still not so many people are doing it. The reason is that there are not so much request for the teachers, and you usually need a certificate that show your level of expertise, as well as to synchronize your travels to when the semester of the schools start.
Write articles
Either you can write articles for travel magazines or for local newspapers. If you don’t manage to find one of these to work for there are other options, like write articles for content web sites like the ones listed below:
http://www.associatedcontent.com
http://www.helium.com
http://www.blogit.com
Blog
It is possible to earn money on a blog, either by having ads or sponsored pages/articles. Remember that these will in most cases lower the quality of your web site, and it is also difficult to make enough money from this. The keyword here is content, to have as much of it as possible that people will find through the search engines. With a lot of unique content also comes a lot of visitors, which means more clicks on your ads or more value for advertisers on your web site. To earn money on your blog it’s best to own and create it yourself, which means a small initial cost but then nobody else can put ads on it or decide what you do with it.
Create Youtube videos
If you manage to create Youtube videos that gets millions of views you can become a partner with Youtube and start earning money from your videos. In avarage a Youtube partner earns $2.5 to $5 per 1000 views. Remember that if you are a partner you must own the rights to everything that you post, including the background music and pictures.
http://www.youtube.com/creators/partner.html
Work as an au pair
While this does not give you that much free time to explore, it can be a good option because usually it’s not that difficult to find these kind of jobs. If you are unlucky with the family, quickly change to another family if possible not to get stuck with horrible working hours and no freedom.
Work on a farm
Want to learn something while meeting new people and doing something good for the environment? Then volunteering on a farm is for you. This will get you free accommodation & food and sometimes even some pocket money.
http://www.wwoof.org (organic farming, cost 15 euro/year)
http://www.workaway.info (cost 22 euro/2 years)
http://www.helpx.net (unknown price)
Work with telemarketing
Specially if you know several languages this could give you a really good income, which means that you don’t need to work all the time but can even travel between some of the places without working.
Write a PDF book
In case you have unique knowledge about something and are able to put it on paper, you can make a PDF book out of it and sell it online on your own web site or through a book shops web site, like Amazon. To start selling your eBook on Amazon, send a blank mail to edoc-inquiry@amazon.com and they will get back to you with details.
Freelance
If you are able to continue your current work skill while traveling this is of course an easy option for you. This can for example be online work like programming, design, copywriting or offline work like photographing, painting, tattooing and so on.
Stock photography & illustrations
If you are a photographer or illustrator but have problems finding companies that wants to buy your pictures, then you can start with stock photography instead. This works the way that you upload your pictures on a web site like the ones listed below. The visitors of the web site then get to buy your pictures very cheap and you will get a small percentage of this income. Needless to say, one keyword here is to upload as many pictures as possible, and within the categories that are most requested. These are for example people in business situations (shaking hands, using headsets and so on), sport pictures, pictures that represent money or internet, pictures of groups of people, buildings, holiday season pictures and pictures of food & drinks, fashion, medicine & hospitals. Remember that you need to have a signed standard contract with all the people on your pictures.
http://www.sxc.hu
http://www.istockphoto.com
http://www.gettyimages.com
Work in a hostel
If you like to meet other travelers and have a social job this is perfect for you. Usually it means that you first need to learn the local language, and have a normal level of English (which you should have if you are reading this). Either you can email a lot of hostels before arriving to your destination, or take a day or two to walk around to all the hostels in the city and present yourself. don’t expect a big income on this, but you should at least get free accommodation and some living cost money.
Write hostel reviews
Some web sites pay you to write hostel reviews. The problem with this is that the income almost doesn’t cover the cost of living in the hostel, but at least you will lower your costs if hostels is your way of travel. For example Hostelz.com pay $10 per review (350 words + pictures), but they don’t have all the hostels in their database so be sure to check first before you choose where to stay.
Recycle
Depending on where you have traveled you might have seen Roma people working with recycling. This might take a lot of time and not give so much money, but if you need money and have no other options here it is. Collect paper, metal or anything that you can find a lot of and that there is a local recycling station for. You will need some kind of carriage to collect on and for transportation. Best time to do this is early mornings or in the evening, depending on where you are. Be prepared for a lot of people looking strangely at you, but at least you are doing something good for the environment.
Conclusion
There are a lot of ways to earn money while traveling, much more then listen above. If you don’t want problem with the police, check local visa requirements and eventual licenses needed.
