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More people than ever want to quit their jobs and start traveling the world. Wanderlust should definitely be the word of the decade. With everything a click away, we are finding it increasingly hard not to dream of sandy beaches, new cultures, and mysterious languages.
The whole “live and work in the same country till you retire” paradigm is being challenged now more than before. And with good reason. There are so many places to see and experience that staying in one place is downright irrational.
But where people go wrong is imagining that they canít carry on with their lives and careers if they want to journey into the unknown. Traveling the world shouldn’t be pure escapism. You can make a living and discover what this planet has to give you. Here are a few jobs that allow you to travel and earn money at the same time.
Travel Writer
Freelance writing can be hard at first. You might make minimum wage and struggle quite a bit. But if youíre passionate about what you do, it can soon turn into a rewarding career. Think about it before you dive in. Are you good at writing? Do you have an engaging style of telling stories? Are you a bit of an entrepreneur? If you answered yes to all of these, then you just might have what it takes for travel writing.
Start a blog at first. Most world-famous bloggers, started out small. Be super-active on social media, engage with travel writers like yourself and publications alike. Be a bit of a hustler, it’s what gets you the attention you need.
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Pitch your ideas to travel magazines or international papers and you just might get a chance to freelance for them or even to write a permanent column. Not to mention you could turn your whole experience into a book, just like others before you have.
Au Pair
Being an au pair is a fascinating thing to do while traveling. Not only do you get to experience a different culture, but you also get to interact with it closely. You get to see what they eat, how they go about their lives, what their priorities are, and how they interact. If you’re interested in social studies or anthropology, this is the job for you. Note that an au pair must have good people skills and be very flexible.
You can make a living and discover what this planet has to give you. Here are a few jobs that allow you to travel and earn money at the same time.Click To TweetTypically, an au pair babysits and does a bit of light housework, while living in the employer’s house for free. The advantage here is that people who usually hire au pairs are quite wealthy, so you might have the chance of experiencing the good living: expensive meals, chauffeurs, free vacations to resorts where the family doesn’t want to deal with the kids and just relax.
What you need to do if you think this is the job for you is research. Find out where you want to travel and what are the best ways to land a job in that area. There are agencies that can help you find placement as well as websites that regularly post ads from interested families. The International Au Pair Association is a great place to start.
Freelance Photographer
Photographers usually work contract jobs anyway, so if you’re an established shutterbug with a great portfolio, you’ve got a good chance to make a lot of money while traveling the world. Try to get jobs from where you are right now. Look for fashion magazines and companies who are willing to pay expenses and reach out to them. Usually, if you’re a photographer with great contacts, people will search for you and not the other way around, but applying yourself can’t hurt.
If you’re looking for a more independent scenario, consider starting your own travel
Of course, there is always the cruise ship photographer position you could turn to, but we wouldn’t recommend it, as it usually involves harassing travelers to buy your photos and not too
These are just a few ideas for the traveler in you, but keep in mind that a lot of skills make you a good candidate for a self-sustained trip around the globe. Working for an international NGO or for the Peace Corps, being a travel nurse or an ESL (English as a second language) teacher, working as an archeologist or geologist, all of these career paths can take you on the journey of a lifetime.
From jobs in the tourism industry to truck driving, readers with a passion for traveling will find this book an invaluable resource for figuring out what career options that don't require a college education are available to them.
