If you’re thinking how awesome it would be to get paid to travel the world, but are unsure if it’s a reality or where to start, this post is for you.
It’s not a myth or a get-rich-quick scheme some multi-level marketing company is selling. You can get paid to travel, love what you do, and make a massive difference in the world all at the same time!
I have been traveling, with my husband and daughter, for the last 14+ years and we have funded our travels exclusively by generating an income on the road.
Personally, we have preferred to generate our income via building an online lifestyle business which I touch on below, but there are a multitude of ways to get paid to travel both directly and indirectly.
Here are 16 different ways to make it happen!
How to Get Paid to Travel the World; 16 Ways
1. Freelance Travel Writer
As I’m writing this post, I have adverts across upwork.com looking for freelance writers to help with some of the more technical posts on my website. There are many blogs just like mine looking for writers who can write about a variety of niches.
If you’re traveling around the world why not promote your services as a freelance writer to travel blogs and magazines and share your experiences?
You can expect to earn anywhere from $0.04 cents a word up to $0.15 (or more) a word travel writing depending on your skillset.
To get started simply create a profile on a site like upwork.com and start bidding for freelance writing full time jobs as they come in.
You can also sign up as a writer for sites such as writersaccess.com, fiverr.com, or look out for advertised jobs on the prologger.com jobs board.
In fact, there are many places to sign up as a freelance travel writer and start earning immediately.
As quickly as possible build up a portfolio of clients and gather lots of five-star reviews to keep the contracts coming in.
2. Travel Videographer
Do you love making and editing videos?
If so, becoming a travel videographer might be the career for you.
You can get paid to travel as a videographer in one of two ways;
- Make videos for your own social media channels, build an audience and become a travel influencer as discussed in point four.
- Showcase your excellent travel videos online and get paid by hotels and travel companies to make promotional videos.
If you happen to be handy with drone videography even better as that’s all the rage these days.
To get started, create and edit lots of high-quality videos as you’re traveling around.
Post those videos on your social media accounts or website and then use them to start to engage and grow an audience or send links to your social media accounts to hotels or travel companies pitching for any available paid work.
You could also offer to record a promotional video in exchange for a discounted or free stay or trip.
In this way, you’re not directly getting paid to travel however if you can travel by swapping your services for flights and accommodation it’s much the same.
3. Travel Photographer
As with travel videography, becoming a travel photographer is a great way to get paid to travel around the world.
Once again you can either use your photography skills to build an audience and become a travel influencer, or you can sell your services to hotels and travel companies.
However, there are a few more ways you can earn money with travel photography.
These include;
- Starting a travel blog not just about the different cities you visit but also about travel photography itself.
- Creating and selling courses teaching others how to make amazing travel pictures
- Selling your services to other influencers, bloggers, media outlets or tour companies
- Uploading and selling your images to photo stock sites such as istock.com, depositphotos.com, and shutterstock.com
- Using your images to start and grow a print on demand ecommerce store.
Whether you’re a photographer or a videographer this is a fabulous, creative, and fun way to get paid to travel around the world.
4. Travel Influencer
I’ve mentioned becoming a travel influencer a couple of times now, and that’s because this can be an extremely lucrative way to get paid to travel the world.
Even with mediocre videography and photography skills, just by telling stories and sharing incredible experiences from places around the world, you can grow and build a huge audience who love to follow your travel journey.
To get started, choose the social media platform you’d like to grow and start posting pictures, videos and stories.
Post frequently and consistently and engage with your audience as they grow.
You can either choose to grow only using social media or, I would recommend, you give away a freebie or create fun travel quizzes to start building your own email list of subscribers.
With a list of subscribers, you can send out affiliated travel offers, promote any products or services you may launch, or even promote other channels as you grow covering your travel costs effortlessly.
As an influencer, you can get paid to travel via sponsorship or advertising deals, brand partnerships or by launching your own brand of products or services.
5. Start a Travel Blog
Another route to get paid to travel, becoming a travel influencer, a freelance writer, a brand partner or even launching your own travel related company, is to start a travel blog.
You can do this alongside growing your social media channel if you wish, or vice versa.
To start your travel blog, choose your name, purchase a domain and hosting and launch a simple WordPress website.
The most important element of travel blogging is to post valuable content frequently and regularly, by researching the most popular travel phrases searched for on google.
Use free tools such as the google keyword planner, answerthepublic.com or the free ahrefs keyword generator to find popular keywords you can create posts around. Also, look at what other travel bloggers are writing about to give you some ideas of what’s popular.
As you grow your travel blogging audience, you can monetize via affiliate marketing (promoting other people’s products), adverts, writing and selling guide books, creating video courses, and more!
While it does take both time and effort to grow your own travel blog, it’s a fantastic way to journal your travels, showcase your photography skills and build a huge community online.
6. Publish & Sell Guide Books
If you love to write about the places you visit and the experiences you have, why not package them into guide books for a particular destination?
These days anyone can publish a book using the Amazon KDP program or you can even create your own print on demand books using a platform such as luluexpress.com and sell your guide books on your own website.
To get started, use Amazon as a great research tool to tell you what kind of guide books are currently selling well.
Then plan your next trip around creating your book and visit, review, and write about all the places you want to share.
Put your book together, get a great cover designed and either upload it as a book on one of the book platforms or simply save it as a PDF for buyers to download after purchase.
7. Become a Tour Guide
Years ago on a trip to Paris, we went on a free walking tour around the city which was so good I think we gave the chap around 50 euros for his time.
There were at least 20 of us on the tour, so if everyone was as generous as us, he would have done well for a 3-hour tour.
If you love to learn about the places you visit and share your learnings with other visitors, why not consider becoming a walking tour guide?
If you know a lot about the place you’re visiting, simply plan a route, advertise your tour either online, with some of the bigger tour operators, or with local tourist information offices and create a link for people to book.
You can either charge upfront or as the fella did for our tour in Paris, be so good your audience can’t help but cross your palm with gold!
8. Work on Super Yachts
This is a tough but fun way to get paid to travel the world.
You can work on a superyacht as a deckhand, a steward, a chef, nanny, teacher, or whatever the trippers require!
On the other hand, to work on a cruise ship or a superyacht, you’ll need an ENG1 medical certificate and some basic safety qualifications such as the STCW which is required for anyone wanting to work on a commercial vessel over 24 meters long. (The type of qualification depends on the role you’re applying for on the yacht).
I have several friends who work on superyachts and although it can be a glamorous lifestyle rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous and heading to some of the most exotic destinations across the globe, it’s hard work.
If you get a position as a flight attendant or on a yacht with a great crew and Captain, it can be the best job in the world. If you happen to have terrible guests and you don’t get on with your crewmates on a cruise ship or superyacht, it can quickly turn sour.
Be sure to do your own due diligence and make sure you’re prepared for all eventualities before pursuing this line of work.