How to Make Money While Traveling (My Favorite Ways!)

Does traveling the world feel like a pipe dream right now because you know you can’t be without any income?

I thought so, too, until I realized how to make money while traveling.

It sounds crazy, but in today’s world of freelancing opportunities, there are numerous ways to make money while traveling, allowing you to fulfill your dreams of traveling while making sure you can still make ends meet.

Here are my 19 favorite ways to make money while traveling.

1. Rent your house

If you’re going to be gone from your house for a while, why not rent it out and make money while you travel?

You can rent your house to friends or family and make it easy, or you can advertise your house for rent on Airbnb or other similar sites. Either way, you collect rent while your tenants get use of your home for the specified period.

If you’re renting to someone other than friends or family, Airbnb can be a great option because they do the administrative work, and they provide you with $1 million in liability insurance, which can give you peace of mind while you travel.

2. Rent your car

If you’re not taking a road trip and your car will sit idle, put it to work, renting it to people who need it. Turo is a great platform that matches owners with renters, and it provides insurance, so you have peace of mind should something happen to your car.

Turo handles all the administrative work and even ensures your car comes back in one piece with a full tank of gas.

3. Sell your photos

If you love to take pictures, why not sell your stock photography on sites like Shutterstock or Etsy? If you’re traveling the world, chances are you’ll have many photographic opportunities. Edit your pictures and upload them on your favorite site. 

If you sell digital versions of your pictures, you have no overhead and can sell the same picture as many times as you want without doing any extra work.

4. Provide services based on your skills

If you have special skills, such as cutting hair, massages, or teaching yoga, consider doing it on the road. Chances are when you’re traveling. You’ll come across others who could use your services, whether clients in a hotel you’re staying at or locals in the area.

Spread the word about what you do and offer your services wherever you go. You’ll keep up your skills and keep filling your wallet.

5. Virtual assistant

If you are a jack-of-all-trades and have time to be on your computer often, be a virtual assistant. You can do this from anywhere in the world as long as you’re available during the timezone your clients need you.

Virtual assistants do everything from data entry to social media management and writing blog posts. You decide what services you’ll offer and at what price. If you want clients, you can register with platforms like Upwork or PeoplePerHour or create your own gig on Fiverr or even Craigslist.

6. Blogging

Blogging is something you can do from anywhere. You just need a niche (passion), and time to write, along with a computer and internet access, of course. You don’t have to blog about your travels, but travel blogs are hot, especially if you can provide real-time photos!

You can monetize your blog with affiliate links, ads, and sponsored posts to make money blogging. You can blog as little or as much as you want. Just keep it consistent for the best results.

7. Vlogging

If writing isn’t your thing, but you’re great at talking, consider vlogging. It’s just like blogging, except you make videos rather than written content. If you’re vlogging about your travels, you can make some great videos for your audience.

Like blogging, you need to build an audience to monetize your videos. Of course, you can vlog about just about any topic; it doesn’t have to be about travel. Think about what you’re passionate about and which niche needs more content and fill that void.

8. Write a book

Anyone can be an author today using Kindle self-publishing. The key to being a successful author is finding an untapped niche. For example, you can write about traveling, but it would be even better if you could find a niche within traveling that no one has written about.

Think about the pain points you’ve come across in your travels or knowledge you’ve discovered that may not be well known yet and write about it.

Once you write the book, it’s passive income from there because you only have to write it once and then market the book to get more sales.

9. Sell goods

You can sell goods online and make money, no matter where your travels take you. It can be fun and rewarding to find treasures and sell them online on sites like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or even set up your own Etsy store if you're traveling the world.

Just make sure you can ship your items quickly once they sell to keep up your customer service. 

10. Seasonal work

If you’re traveling in an area for a while (a month or longer), you may be able to find seasonal or temporary work while there. Depending on where you travel, you may teach classes, harvest fruits or vegetables, or work at a summer camp.

Think about where you’re traveling to and why they are most popular. For example, if you’re traveling to a ski area and you’re an expert skier, you may get a job as a ski instructor. Some seasonal jobs may even include housing, helping you cut down your travel costs.

11. Transport items on your travels

If you’re road-tripping, consider getting paid to transport items for a small business. Roadie is a service that matches drivers with businesses in need of someone to courier packages across the country.

Why not get paid while you drive? If it’s on your way or has the same destination, it’s like getting paid to travel.

12. Tutor

If you have a teaching degree or at least a bachelor’s degree, you can get paid to tutor, especially if you don’t mind teaching children abroad English. Sites like VIPKid pay you to tutor students abroad in half-hour segments.

You can also set up your own online tutoring business and tutor in any subject you want. It’s up to you to find the students, though.

13. Become an influencer

If you have a large social media following and know how to work social media well, become an influencer. To be successful, you’ll need to get the attention of big brands that want to sponsor you, but with the right audience, it’s possible.

You’ll need time to contact brands and show off your social media channels, but if you’re already a social media buff, why not make money off your channels?

14. Translate

If you speak a second language, make money doing it by translating documents or other written content for companies. You can create a gig on sites like Fiverr or Upwork or start your own business, but then the marketing is 100% your responsibility, which can be harder.

15. Make things to sell

If you’re crafty, make items to sell. You can sell them online on sites like Etsy or to locals depending on where you travel. If you make something already saturated in the market, find a way to niche down, solve a problem or make your item unique, so you get a larger piece of the pie.

Other ways to make side cash while traveling

There are other ways to make a little side income while traveling. These ways won’t pay your bills, but every penny you can bring in counts.

16. Take market research surveys

If you don’t mind giving your opinion about products and services both existing and coming out, you can make money doing market research surveys. I suggest you set up a separate email account before signing up for the surveys, though, as they can inundate your inbox fast! 

17. Invest your money

Investing is a great way to make money, but it’s a bit of a gamble too. Make sure to diversify your portfolio, investing not only in stocks but also bonds, commodities, and even real estate if you have the funds. Just make sure you don’t invest money you can’t afford to lose.

18. Use cashback apps

If you’re traveling, you’re likely spending money. Why not get paid for your spending? Download apps like Rakuten, Dosh, or Fetch and get paid for your purchases.

Some sites pay you back a percentage of your purchase when you shop at certain stores. Rakuten is great for this, and they partner with all of the big-name stores. Other sites pay you to upload your receipts, like Fetch, or to link your credit card and get paid for your purchases like Dosh.

19. Use cashback credit cards

Credit cards can be a great personal finance tool when you use them right. It makes sense to use a travel rewards credit card and earn money back on your purchases if you're traveling. Many reward credit cards pay you not only for your travel purchases, though. They may also pay you for other purchases too. 

Find the card that pays the most back on the purchases you’re most likely to make.

Final thoughts—How to make money while traveling

Learning how to make money while traveling is a great way to keep your travels going. Whether it’s a vacation or you’re traveling to find work, there are many ways to make money while doing what you love.

I recommend making a list of what you love to do and/or what skills you have and then finding ways to monetize those skills or passions to make money while you travel.