How To Get Paid to Travel (Without Your Own Business, Product, or Affiliate Marketing)
Looking to work online and travel the world, but don’t know where to start?
Do you have 30+ tabs open on your browser with various “get paid to travel” blog posts, recommending anything from working in a hostel to learning how to code?
The most popular blog post on this site is The Ultimate List of Jobs That Pay You To Travel the World. With over 33,000 shares, it’s safe to say that there are quite a few people who seek a career or lifestyle that includes travel as one of the main components.
After getting a LOT of emails and DMs from people asking more questions on how to create a digital nomad lifestyle (working online so you can live wherever and travel whenever), I wanted to go a little more in depth on one of the methods I’ve used to work online and why I recommend it for most people!
How To Get Paid to Travel (Without Your Own Business, Product, or Affiliate Marketing)
You probably know by now that while I LOVE blogging (I’ve been travel blogging for over five years and previously ran another blog and wrote for various online magazines), it wasn’t the quickest path to creating a location-independent “work + travel lifestyle.”
Get free, instant access to my masterclass on working online + traveling here: bit.ly/passport-pursuits
When I started working online a few years ago, I wanted to pursue something that allowed me the ability to earn an income without starting a new business, creating a product, or trying to increase traffic rapidly enough on the blog to earn high enough affiliate commissions.
I was looking to quickly bring forth as much freedom as possible so I could work anywhere with WiFi:
Location freedom: being able to live where I want to without restricting myself because of my job. When I first made the jump to work online, I moved to my dream location: California. California was somewhere I had aspired to live for years, and working online made it much easier to seize an opportunity to move out here without stressing over landing an office job.
Time freedom: traveling wherever, whenever. If I want to recharge at home for a month and keep up with my work? Great. If I want to book a trip and take my work on the road? Awesome. If the work I do is flexible, meaning I can bulk-schedule it ahead of time so I’m not tied to my laptop all-day-every-day when I’m traveling? Even better.
Financial freedom: setting my own rates and putting myself in the power to make as much money as I’d like to. This goes both ways, though - you need to be sure you have enough income coming in to support your living expenses and be proactive about making enough.
Creative freedom: pursuing creative work I enjoy. Being able to say “YES” to awesome opportunities that fill me up, like working with Global Degree Academy in Central America last winter. Being able to say “No, thank you” to others that just don’t feel right.
I didn’t just come up with the idea of working online or creating the “digital nomad lifestyle.” This is something that countless people do every day.
I noticed more and more people on social media, blogs, etc. that were using the power of the internet and an entrepreneurial mindset to free up their location and travel.
When I saw a friend post on social media that they were on safari in Africa (my dream destination), I wasn’t envious. I was genuinely HAPPY for them.
If someone else can do it, you can too.
Background, money, all of that don’t matter when it really comes down to it.
What matters is if other people are doing it, then you can set a goal, make a plan, and determine exactly what you need to do to get where you want to be.
As an avid traveler, I was always up for finding unique, creative ways to see the world. I decided I wanted in.
Enter: Freelancing
Freelancing was the method I used to earn an online income from the start of my “digital nomad” lifestyle.
What is freelancing? Freelancing is where you work for a person or business as an independent contractor and get paid to do a certain skill.
Since you’re doing a skill, you do not need to create products, start a business, or do affiliate marketing.
As a freelancer, you’re self-employed and essentially work as a contractor. Most freelancers work on an hourly, project-based, or monthly basis.
If you already have certain skills that others would pay for - and you can do it from a laptop - then you can definitely offer those skills as a freelancer.
A few skills you could get paid for as a freelancer:
Social media management
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Coding
Customer service
Virtual assistant work
Photography
Videography
Photo and/or video editing
Graphic design
Writing
Copy editing
Translation for foreign languages
IT Support
Personally, I specialize in Pinterest Management and also offer websites, email marketing, and other social media management. (Send me an email at hello@goseekexplore.com if you’d like to work together!)
If you’re a freelancer, you set your own rates. It is something you can do on the side or full-time. You just need to know what your income goal is per month/year and be sure you have enough clients to support that income goal.
Honestly, freelancing made my online work + travel lifestyle a reality in almost an instant.
When I had the opportunity to move to California, my blog was not at the point where I could take it full-time, so freelancing allowed me to earn an online income quickly.
Passport Pursuits: Free Masterclass
I have a free, on-demand masterclass all about how to do my favorite skill as a freelancer.
The masterclass also touches on other ways you can work online + travel, and includes a mini “money mindset” lesson!
Get free, instant access to the masterclass here: bit.ly/passport-pursuits