Would you love to travel the world, or at least take a longer vacation, but you can’t afford to go on a trip for more than one or two weeks? Have you ever dreamt of traveling the world for a year? Duh! But who can do that, right? It’s not just how much money we need to travel for a long period of time, but also how much we have to invest to be able to live without working. So, unless you win the lottery, you’ll need to find solutions if you’d love to discover the world without having to rob a bank! There are several ways to earn money while traveling the world, but it all depends on what your traveling plans are. Would you like to earn some extra cash? Cover your vacation expenses? Or freelance to make a lifestyle out of discovering the world?

Steps to Make Money and Travel at the Same Time

We’ll go through these three simple steps:

1. First, figure out your reasons for making money while traveling.
2. Second, find out the best way for you to travel the world and make money.
3. And last but not least, start planning your work and travel experience right away.

So let’s dive into each one of the 3 steps to make money while traveling.

1. What kind of traveler are you?

A. You’d like to cut the expenses while you travel the world for a longer period of time – for weeks, or maybe even a couple of months. When you come back from your long holidays, you want to continue with your life. If this is you, keep reading here!

B. Traveling around the world is the lifestyle you’d like to have, so this should be something long-term. If this is you, keep reading here!

C. You work from home, or could perform your office work from home, but would like to travel for a longer period than your paid vacation allows. If this is you, keep reading here!

D. You’re a freelancer who would like to keep your customers and work while traveling. If this is you, keep reading here!

2. Find out the best way for you to travel the world and get paid

Check the letter that corresponds to your type of traveler (Step 1):

A. If making money while traveling is just a way for you to pay for the long trip, the best way to do it is with freelance projects.

The type of projects that you choose depends on your previous work experience. Just figure out what kind of projects you could offer without having to spend the whole vacation time working!

Ideally, you’ll offer services that don’t need follow-up, like logo design, for instance. So if you’re a visual designer, you could develop the branding for a startup or a blogger, and call it a day once you’re done.

B. The question here is how you can start working consistently, no matter where you live. Consider these options:

• Look for a remote job that allows you to travel around the world as often as you wish. If you can work as a copywriter, web designer, or online marketer, you could start working much sooner than you think!
• Start an online business and offer your services or products on the Internet. You don’t have to create an empire for that, so don’t think that you have to become the next Steve Jobs. So what about becoming a freelance translator, a freelance writer or a virtual assistant?
• Create your own online course and teach other people your skills or expertise. My favorite platform is Kajabi, but you’ll find more affordable options, like Teachable or Thinkific.
• Turn traveling itself into a career by starting a travel blog or a photography blog. If you want to start a professional blog from scratch, check out this post on how bloggers make money.

C. The first thing you have to do is ask your boss for permission, and then take time zone logistics seriously into consideration:

• If regular communication is required for you to work remotely for a period of time, consider working from a location with a similar time zone to your company’s, unless you want to work in the evenings and have the morning for yourself!
• If you don’t need to stay connected and communicate regularly with your colleagues or boss, you still should consider which time zone you’re traveling to. It isn’t the same to work from Thailand or Bali for a Western country, where you can get your job done before your colleagues wake up, as to work from Mexico for an Australian company, for they are surely going to need your work long before you get up from bed.

D. You have it easier than the rest in the sense that you already have ongoing or potential projects, as well as customers. They’re the ones you should be focusing on. So make sure that you fulfill one of the following options:

• If you’re certain that you can keep on working for your current customers without them noticing that you’re in another country, there’s no need for them to know. I’ve been doing it for many years, and as long as you keep delivering professionally and on time, that shouldn’t be a problem.
• If you think that your working hours will change when you travel across time zones, you’d better let your current clients know about the best time to reach you!

As a freelancer, you’ll probably have to cope with unsteady periods of workload, so make sure you take that into consideration when planning your work schedule. Check out this post on how to handle different workloads.

3. Start planning your work & travel experience right away

• Look for potential freelance gigs at platforms such as Upwork, Freelancer, or PeoplePerHour.
• Choose a place to start your trip, and research local meetup groups or networking spaces you can join. It will help you meet other people, as well as have a dedicated workspace. In this way, you won’t feel that tempted to forget about work 😉
• Make sure you’ll have an Internet connection at your new right away. Otherwise, take the first couple of days free to get all arrangements ready.
• If you don’t have any reason to stay in your hometown – like children or other family members you’re taking care of, set the start date as soon as possible! You’ll never find the right time to leave, so just do it!
• Check out this post on how to plan your work & travel experience – and enjoy freelancing!

Is It Possible to Work While Traveling with Kids in the Mix?

Of course, you can! You just need a little bit more planning work on the logistics, but I can only recommend a family experience like that!

Check out this post about one of my work & travel adventures with my children. And if you’re still not sure if you’re going to be able to survive it, you can also try first working during a normal summer vacation. If you like the experience, just repeat for a longer period of time 😉

If you’re planning to travel around the world, make sure you plan thoroughly how the education part is going to work. Are you going to homeschool? Are you going to take your children to a local school? Don’t forget to check out when the course starts at your new location. Not all countries start in the same month! Read more about traveling with kids in this post.

Recap – How to Support Yourself While Traveling

As we’ve seen, it’s not the same to go on a trip and come back to “real life” two months later, as planning to turn traveling into your lifestyle.

Once you’ve figured out what kind of work and travel adventure you’re going to undertake, it’s time to research what kind of jobs you could be performing online – whether it’s just to come up with the extra travel costs or to make a living!

You’ll never find THE ideal time to change your life so drastically; so once you’ve planned the most important aspects (what are you going to do with your current home, how are you going to keep your children entertained and educated, and especially where are you going to travel to) it’s time for you to leave. There’s no need to think it too long. You can always come back if you realize that traveling around the world isn’t your thing 😉