Have you ever wondered how people get paid to travel? Well, the truth is, there are plenty of ways to do this. And if you're curious on how you could do the same, first you will need to find out which job is the best for you.

To help you get to a conclusion, I have created a list of over 30 different jobs that will allow you to earn money whilst travelling - the dream job for many people, no? (read until the end so you can draw your own conclusion).

In order to make it easier for you, we will start with the easiest jobs, followed by those requiring some skills (divided in two separate sections: remote work and jobs that allow you to live in your home country and travel frequently for work). The easiest jobs to get are often those who don't pay much, but offer you an opportunity to travel. The ones that pay the best require a lot of commitment and sacrifice and often, you won't see results for a very long time, meaning, most people will give up half way. If it was easy, I guess people like you, reading this blog post, and many many others wouldn't think twice about quitting their full-time jobs to pursue a travel career.

But before we continue, I would like to mention the two types of income you can get: passive income versus active income. Most jobs described on this blog post will generate active income, where you get paid according to the hours you do. In other words, you basically trade your time for money (and that's what most people do for a living). However, towards the end I will be talking about other job opportunities that are based on passive income, meaning, you invest your time (and potentially money) into something that will continue to generate revenue over time, without the need of any additional work. In other words, you get paid while you sleep for something you did while you were awake - and this might generate money for the years and years to come.

EASIEST TRAVEL JOBS (Work overseas)

Most of these jobs do not require any particular skills or experience, and are similar to the ones you could take in your own country, except you take them overseas in order to live (most of the time temporarily) abroad. For most of them you will be required to get a work visa, so the duration of your work and residence in that country will be limited.

All of these jobs generate active income, so you will be trading your time for money, just like I mentioned above. The more hours you have, the bigger the salary.

1) Hospitality work

When talking about hospitality, you can include working in a Hotel, Hostel, Restaurant, Bar, Caffe, Bakery, etc.

These are probably the easiest of all jobs, and pretty much anyone can do it. The downside of it is that they're mostly low paid and very time demanding jobs, and you must also speak at least the basics of the main language spoken in the country you're moving to in order to be able to provide a good service. 

Since you're not required to have special skills or even experience for most of these, and because they are low paid, high demand services, you can generally get a hospitality job pretty easily, depending on the immigration state of the country. 

If you have previous experience (even in your home country), you will be able to get jobs more easily, and probably get paid a better rate.

2) Nanny

If you can't speak the language of the country you would like to move into, there are still other options (although I strongly recommend you to learn the basics of the language, even if later on while you live there). 

If you have previous experience taking care of kids (which you probably have, even if it was just in your family), you can work as a nanny for a family that speaks the same language(s) as you do. Families that live abroad are often looking for a nanny with the same culture and language, so they are generally interested if you have the same nationality, and some won't even require previous experience with kids, depending on how old they are, and how much they liked you.

If you get a live in nanny job (au pair), you will be able to save quite a lot of money on accommodation and food while you're living abroad. Just remember to check your hours and contract as living abroad will mean absolutely nothing if you're working 7 days a week.

3) Dog sitting/walking

Similarly to being a nanny (or not really, but you get the idea), you can be a dog sitter or walker, and take care of someone else's pets for them. This might be an ideal job specially if you're an animal lover, as you can enjoy the outdoors of a new country while spending time with (hopefully) cute and friendly pets - and also hopefully, less than the ones in the picture above.

4) Language Teacher

If you're reading this blog post, chances are, you can speak English pretty well (unless you're using the translator). Teaching English is one of the most popular jobs when it comes to working abroad, as there is such a huge demand for it, and the payment can be pretty decent - obviously depending on the country you go to, you can earn up to about 4000 euros. 

Being a native speaker is preferable in many instances, and most of the time you will be required to have a TEFL certification (and occasionally a college degree too). If you're planning to do a TEFL certification, make sure you use the code "78CA0105" at Checkout for 10% off the value of your course.

Other options will be teaching English online or even another language that you are very good at for a School, University or even Online.

5) Labour worker

Labour work is a quite broad field, and it includes jobs from construction, road work, warehouse/factory work, and even fruit picking and other farm work. While some of these might require specific skills, many others don't, which means, anyone can do it.

These might not sound like very glamourous jobs, and although they are certainly not, they might give you the perfect chance to travel the world while saving money. The biggest advantage of labour work is that very often it is paid in cash, which means, you won't be paying any tax on it. Not only that, if you're staying with a family, or in a big farm, often you get accommodation and meals so you can save every single penny you get.

If you get a seasonal job, you might work for a certain amount of time, and travel when you have the following months off.

6) Street Performer or Seller

You might be asking yourself "what the heck is street performing and selling doing on the list of easiest travel jobs?", and that's totally understandable. But wait until you read a bit more.

Every single one of us have special skills, and I am sure there is something you can do to entertain others or sell in the streets. From selling handmade goods to singing, dancing, painting, playing musical instruments, acrobatics, joggling, story telling, fortune telling, face painting, comedy, cosplay, football tricks... There is so much you can do in the streets to get people's attention and eventually, their tips. Sometimes it does not need to be something fancy: I would probably just dress up as a mime and play along. Just have fun!

If you're not an entertainer or a craft artist yourself, then this is certainly not the right job for you, and that's totally fine. And if you're still asking why this is an easy job, just think that you get tax-free money, you don't need a working visa, you don't need to speak any particular language, you don't need a work contract, and you have the freedom and flexibility to work when and where you want - just bear in mind that payment will hugely vary and that you need to do your research on where and when exactly you can perform, so you don't get in trouble! This might be forbidden in some countries/areas and in many cases you might need to get a special permission!

TIP: I am not going to include this one as a job, but you can also earn some extra cash by taking surveys online, watching videos or playing videogames directly on your phone, as well as testing websites and apps in return for gift cards or straight up cash. Swagbucks, InboxPounds and Google Opinion Rewards are just some examples. While it does pay very little, it also take just few minutes of your day, so it can be an extra income if you're on a budget

SKILL BASED TRAVEL JOBS (Work remotely or travel frequently for work)

These are more "traditional" jobs that not everyone can have, because they require you to have previous experience or certain skills. Some of these jobs allow you to work remotely, meaning you can work anywhere in the world as long as you have Internet access, and some others are simply jobs you can take in your own country that will allow you to travel frequently.

While on the previous section I've only referred active income jobs, on this section I will mention some jobs where you might be earning a mixture of active and passive income.

So let's start first with the remote jobs, since they are becoming more and more popular over the years, specially after the chaotic 2020.

REMOTE WORK

7) Coding, Programming, Website development and Graphic design

Thanks to the Internet, services such as coding, programming, website development and graphic design have been more and more in demand. If this is a skill you have, you might work for a company full-time or even part-time, or potentially do freelance work. Either way, if you're allowed to work from home, you will be able to work anywhere in the world, since this is a job you can do yourself and you got the necessary tools. 

So if traveling is in your plans, all you have to do is pack a bag, and as long as you have access to Internet, you will be able to continue being paid while you do your work and travel the world.

8) Costumer support and service representative, Sales assistant and Digital marketer

These jobs are very similar to the ones mentioned above except, here you will be in constant contact with other people and very often require phone service too. If you're allowed to work from home, then again, you will be able to work from any part of the world, except now, you will need both a good mobile network and Internet connection. So if you're planning on traveling and work remotely, you will have to consider mobile phone charges and network, so you can do your job without any interference or a massive phone bill at the end of the month.

9) Virtual Personal Assistant

If you have experience as a PA (Personal Assistant) and you wish to travel, you might think about the possibility to go virtual. There are plenty of companies willing to hire someone that can do their tasks virtually, so you can be anywhere in the world, really. 

It's possible to do this full-time for a company who you've got a work contract with, or even as a freelance, doing multiple tasks for different companies.

10) Online Coach, Mentor, Advisor, Consultant or Therapist

If you are an expert in a specific area, you've got the qualifications, experience and good reviews (that helps!), then you might consider switching to online work too. Create a website, booking system, and take online clients! That will allow you to be location independent and do your work from anywhere in the world, while traveling.

11) Virtual accountant

This is another job that can totally be done online, since in most cases, you can be location independent. You can be working for a company or even be a freelancer, and if you're allowed to be in another country, you can perfectly travel the world while you do your day job!

12) Translator

The reason why being bilingual or multilingual it's a huge advantage when it comes to earn a living while traveling abroad, it's because it opens doors to multiple jobs that you wouldn't be able to get otherwise, and translation, is one of them.

Translation deserves to have its own place among remote jobs because with that skill alone, you can choose from a variety of jobs: translating articles, books, manuals, websites and more through online platforms such as Translate, Unbabel, Fiverr and many others, work as a translator online for a specific company, become a translator to someone important who travels on a regular basis, or even work in a tourist attraction/organized tour where services are provided in different languages. On this last case, you will be having a fixed location overseas instead of working remotely (you're location dependent rather than independent)

13) Freelancing

Freelancing is probably the most popular remote work of all, and it's so broad! You can be a freelance coder, website designer, social media manager, translator, writer, photographer, videographer, editor and so on. There are so many opportunities, that this list could be 4 times longer if I was to describe every single one of them. So instead, I will put it this way: if you have a skill that you can use to provide a service to someone else, you might be looking into get your services out there on platforms like Fiverr, where people will be looking for you and paying you to get their job done, or constantly reach out to companies who you can work with.

14) Travel photographer / videographer

While travel photographers and videographers can be often freelancers, these jobs deserve a special recognition when it comes to travel jobs. Instead of just working remotely from anywhere and travel on your free time, you will be in the field: travelling while you do your job. 

You might be earning from working with a company that is covering your travel expenses so you can bring content for them (travel photos or travel videos), or you might be a freelance shooting photos and videos that will sell as stock footage, prints, or even be part of an e-book you will sell. Either way, this is one of the best travel jobs, but it requires you having a good experience and great skills, as well as availability to travel frequently.

 

15) Travel writer

Just as the previous one, travel writer deserves special attention too. You can be more than a freelance: you can be a travel book writer, or you might be writing articles for newspapers, magazines or a certain company that is looking to sell a travel book and is going to put together the contribution from different authors.

Your payment, type of work, and hours will vary massively depending on what exactly are you writing about and who you are writing for. Nevertheless, this is a dream job for many, since it requires travelling the world, and writing about it.

16) Travel Blogging

Oh travel blogging, the dream of many, until they realize how many hours they need to invest on it in order to get monetised (and believe me, you won't be working from the pool like on the picture above. After all, how can you even see your screen when you're outdoors?!). While it is true that there are many travel blogs out there, it is also true that people are constantly looking for information online. And with the increase in tourism over the years, online travel guides, resources and information is more and more searched for.

The truth is that you have to be consistent and write many good blog posts in order to get traffic to your website so you can start monetising it. Most bloggers take between 6 to 12 months of consistent writing to begin monetisation and while the payment can become very good over the years, it requires persistence and a lot of work, not only to write the posts, but also to travel to the destinations, take the photos, search for locations, work on the design of the blog, reach out to companies... You get the idea.

On the bright side, if this is something you are truly passionate about, eventually you will be rewarded for the huge amount of hours spent on your project, and if you keep doing it over the years, you can even get to 6 figures by using different streams of income.

17) Travel Social Media Influencer (Youtube, Instagram, Tiktok, etc.)

"Don't mind me, I'm just living my best life in Bora Bora, while I get paid for it." - at least, this is the idea that we get from travel influencers. But the truth is, there's a lot going on behind the scenes. Just like travel blogging, social media influencers invest a ridiculous amount of time on content research, social media managing, photo and video editing, creating products, replying to endless comments and e-mails, reaching out to brands, and so much more.

The glamorous life we all aim to live one day, might not be that glamorous after all.

Social media influencers earn a living from various different sources: from ads, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, online tutorials, masterclasses and courses, physical or digital goods, there's just a lot of different ways you can earn money - so that's a topic for a separate blog post.

Whether you produce travel video content for Youtube/Tiktok or travel photos for Instagram, being a travel social media influencer can pay decently well, if you invest the time into it along the years.

18) Online travel business

You might also build your own travel business: selling travel guides, working remotely on an online travel agency you created, building a community where you charge a membership for showcasing travel offers, selling travel products, building your own flight compensation or travel insurance company, the options are endless.

If you're an entrepreneur and you're looking for opportunities to build you own travel related business, you will most likely get overwhelmed while looking at all possibilities. Needless to say, being your own boss will allow you to travel the world while you get paid, if you do it right.

19) Stock Day trading

Day trading certainly requires you to have previous experience and knowledge, but it's a way to make money online, while traveling the world. Just like most of the passive income jobs that I will mention later on this list, this is a job that takes time and experience to perfect and earn a comfortable amount, so if you're planning on starting it, make sure you learn how to do it properly before you leave your full-time job to go travel the world while trading.

20) Drop shipping

The days where people would bulk buy products to sell them at a higher price and store them at their house or warehouse, until they had to post them to every single costumer are gone. Well, at least mostly. Nowadays you can do this from anywhere in the world, with much less hassle and lower risk, thanks to drop shipping.

Drop shipping allows you to sell products in your own store, without having to own them or do the shipping yourself. While many suppliers do not allow you to customize the products, others will be flexible and allow you to create, for example, customized t-shirts that you can sell, while they do the printing and shipping for you.

Sounds like a great idea to make money online, no?

21) Sports/Fitness Instructor, Massage Therapist and Personal Trainer

I am sure at least once in your life you came across a foreigner choreographer, ski, ice skate, snowboard, scuba diving, surf, dance or Yoga instructor. After all, often companies struggle to find good instructors, and end up taking people from overseas, specially for the high season.

This was certainly a difficult one to organize on this list, because there is so many opportunities if you have the experience and skills! They are obviously skill based jobs, but they can vary from remote work (such as online fitness classes and Personal Training) to seasonal work (health retreats, resorts, summer camps and sports clubs/schools) or even working temporarily overseas with a contract.

These jobs require you to have previous experience and good practical skills, as well as being able to speak the basics and technical terms in a foreign language. But if you already work in the field, why not take it around the world?

TRAVEL FOR WORK

22) Pilot and Flight attendant

Flight attendant is one of those obvious travel jobs, that most wanderlusters have thought about it at least once in their life. I mean, you get to travel to different countries for a living, and sometimes, you get to spend your days/hours off work in some of them, so you get the chance to do exploring, while having your accommodation paid for! What else would you want?

Being a pilot for an international airline can have the same benefits, except to get this position, you will need training and experience in the field which, needless to say, it's a lot harder than training to be a flight attendant. For that reason, flight attendant is a much more realistic travel goal for most people.

While it seems like an incredible job, there are certainly downsides to it: the waking up at night for the early morning flight, the long hours in long flights, the life of being constantly away, and if you work for certain budget travel airlines you will not only receive very little, but you will also be put in a schedule where you have to do a flight after the other, so that the company doesn't spend a dime on hotels. Yes, this happens, and I guess you can tell in which company(ies).

23) Cruise and private Yacht worker

Working on a Cruise or a private Yacht? Yes please! Or, maybe not...

This might be a dream job for many, but the expectations are often higher than the reality, and I will tell you why in a second.  There's plenty of different jobs you can do: from sailor, to entertainer/performer, cook, gym instructor, cleaner, tour manager and so much more. The reason why most people feel attracted to this idea is the fact that you do get paid to travel the world, (in a freaking cruise or private yacht!!!) and on top of that, on cruises, accommodation, insurance and food is provided, so you get to save a lot of money (often tax-free!).

At least, it should be that way... But the fact is that it truly depends on your position and the companies that hire you: if you work in a private yacht, chances are, you're going to get paid well and not have to do much. If you work in a cruise, some will offer better conditions than others, of course. I've had colleagues work as Fitness Instructors on cruises, that gave up after a while because they worked the entire day, and could not leave the gym for many hours, meaning, they didn't get to see the world properly after all. And if you work incredibly long hours, the amount of money you're being paid might not be a lot, considering the time you're spending at work. Not only that, you will be leaving in crew cabins so personal space will be an issue (unless you're used to hostels and the backpackers lifestyle). But as I mentioned, this depends a lot on the companies so if this is a dream of yours, by all means, pursue it. Most of the time, to work in a Cruise or Yacht you will be required to take a specific course with the company that will be hiring you

24) Travel agent

This is another very obvious local job that will grant you frequent access to travel. Not only it pays well, it is also a job that requires you to travel to destinations that are available in the agency: to meet the country and it's offers, to plan the itineraries and activities that will be included in the packages and to go on meetings with potential clients and partnerships.

If you love travelling once in a while and you're happy living a stable life in your country, than this job might be just what you're looking for.

25) Tourism board worker and Travel marketer

If you work for a tourism board or are a travel marketer, chances are, you're going to have to travel. In order to promote tourism in a specific area, city or country, you will have to experience the activities and attractions of the place, so you can document it and recommend it, just like travel agents do.

26) Tour guide

Tour guide is another amazing job for those who love the travel industry. Whether you work locally on your own or you work for a tour guide company (both locally or internationally), you will obviously travel and meet people along the way. That being said, this is not the ideal job for those who want to freely travel the world, as to do so, you would have to constantly be changing locations and the type of place you're guiding, so I would say this is a good job for those who want to work in tourism, more than those who want to travel and get paid for it.

27) Journalist

As a Journalist, you might be lucky to travel for work on a frequent basis. This will depend on the type of journalism you do (and who do you work for), but it can certainly be a job that will allow you to travel with some security (and get paid for it!), while you're still based in your home country.

28) Retreats, Festivals, International Tours, Tournaments, Congress and other Events

Whether you're a professional (the stars of the tours and festivals, the invited speakers for a congress or the competitors of tournaments) or the staff that makes the events possible, you will surely have to travel when events take place overseas.

Events move a lot of different staff: people working on the venue, planning, management, logistics, HR, lighting, music and sound, image and media, theme, entertainment, catering, sponsorships or just regular event staff... A lot of different skills are required in order to make an event run smoothly.

So if you enjoy travelling and participating in events, this might be what you're looking for! Apply for a position where you know you will be travelling on a frequent basis and enjoy meeting new people, seeing the world and having fun while working! It might be stressful at times and you will work long hours, but it will be worth if this is something you are truly passionate about.

29) Truck drivers

Many truck drivers travel for work on a frequent basis and so, this is a perfect job for those who prefer to hit the road and see the world while driving. That being said, being a truck driver can become pretty lonely when you drive across different countries on your own for countless hours, and it is a difficult job if you're married with kids.

30) International company worker

From hospitality, health, training and education, sports, you name it. There are plenty of companies with branches all over the world, that will pay pretty well for you to travel to a different country and temporarily work in a different branch. Most of the time you will be paid a good salary and have your expenses covered - flights and transportation, accommodation, health insurance and food. What a dream job, no?

It is possible to work for a company for some time until they hire you for such position, or even get interviewed to work in a different country straight away.

There's also the possibility of working for an international company that has a large network that you, as an employee need to take care of. Meaning, you will often get send on a (fully paid) work trip to meet business partners or potential clients abroad.

TIP: Another way to make money while travelling (that I won't include on the list simply because I wouldn't consider it a "job") is to rent your house (for example, list it on AirbnB) or even your car, and earn money while you're away.

If you got to the end of this list, well done, you surely are committed! But you are also probably overwhelmed with so many possibilities. To help you choose the ideal travel job, I came up with a list of steps to follow in order to understand which travel job will be the best for you, so make sure you check that next! 

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