How in the World Are We Going to Make Money?

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So financing a trip around the world is a big part of the issue.

Currently I have $400 a month transferring into a savings account. That means in about 4 months I’ll have enough saved in there alone for the flight to wherever we start and enough for an emergency flight home, should it be necessary.

However, it’d be nice to have a non-finite resource.

My current position within my company could easily be transferred into a w0rk-from-home position. Once we’ve got some more solid plans in place, I’ll go to my boss and explain to him my plan. I figure that anywhere in the world I will be able to find at least SOME internet to work from “home”. Maybe instead of salary pay they can pay me hourly or such so that on the days I simply can’t work they aren’t losing out. If my company says no, I’ll have to look elsewhere (like into a Social Media marketing position). The other ladies on my journey don’t have this luxury with their current jobs.

A good tip I’ve discovered is to make sure you have a PayPal account set up because many odd job places like to pay via PayPal.

Google to the rescue!

Here are some other neat ways I’ve found we could earn money. I always like to give credit to my sources: some of the below content is copy and pasted from this, this source.

Hostel Jobs – When I lived in Ireland I went traveling around hostel-to-hostel for a few days and I met a lad who was doing the same, but for life. He was working for a few hours each day at the hostel in exchange for a free meal each afternoon and a free bed at night. Each month the hostel company would send him to a new city somewhere in Europe. Not a bad gig! We could find a chain of hostels willing to do this for us and travel that way. Work in Hostels

Photography – Krystal specifically has experience working in photography. Not only can we sell prints of photos we take on our travels, but we can offer her portrait services to locals. Businesses may also want some photos taken of employees, their location, etc. to use in their marketing.

Cooking for Hostel Guests – This one goes along with hostel jobs but is more unofficial. When arriving at a new hostel, offer to make a homemade dinner for everyone that pitches in say $7. It’s easy to cook a tasty meal for 10 people for less than $70 and ta-da, we’ve made a profit. Samantha could repair/alter clothing for other hostel guests. We all probably can find SOMETHING to offer other travelers.

International Ebay/Etsy Store – If we’re going to be parking it for a few weeks in a  location we can offer to sell online cheap trinkets and bobbles from our location. In fact, we can visit and take photos of the items and in say a local market place and then not actually buy them until they sell on our site! I love this idea.

Online Freelance Jobs  – This is my fall-back plan for sure. I have marketing and business consulting experience and the other ladies could easily do some administrative work. Great places to start to connect freelancers to companies looking to hire: oDesk,Elance, Freelancer, Guru, Demand Studios, iFreelance,  People Per Hour,Freelance Switch Jobs, Upwork.com

Working Holiday Visas –” Countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Ireland and Singapore offer these to foreigners, generally those who are between the ages of 18 – 30. If you’re in that age range, the working holiday visa might just be your best option to make money and travel. It allows you stay in a country for up to one year and in some cases, to apply for and work in any position you want. Yes, it is a sweet deal and one incredible way to earn an income while being overseas.”

Farm Jobs – There are whole websites devoted to offering travelers short-time jobs on their farm in exchange for money/housing/food, etc. Australia has many such positions picking fruit. This could also just be a TON of fun. Try PickingJobs

Affiliate Marketing – “Making money this way is definitely possible even though the competition can be high. But if you’re willing to dedicate yourself to a couple of months worth of research, you’ll find your niche and hopefully a steady paycheck. If you don’t know much about affiliate marketing, have a look at Affilorama.com, which offers an excellent series of free lessons to get you started.”

Busking/Performances – So I can spin fire props such as poi/staff and Willow knows how to fire-breathe. We need to make sure it’s legal wherever we are but that shouldn’t be hard to figure out. I’m sure the other ladies can come up with some neat ways to perform as well. We can also offer to teach people basic skills for a small fee.

Haircoloring – This one seems silly and won’t bring in as much income as some of the others, but I’ve heard stories of people putting up signs at the hostels they’re staying at and making a few bucks off of other travelers that want a quick change to their personal style. None of us are hair-cutting experts per say, but we all know how to color! Especially with Willow’s blue hair, Chailsea’s purple hair, we’re sure to attract attention.

Bartending/Serving – I think it’s totally plausible to work for cash in local bars and cafes. Per that same link above, bars that are connected to hostels are the best bet here. We can also ask the hostel staff which cafes hire travelers. I think this is the best bet!

Host Fitness Classes – It’d be easy enough to memorize a few yoga, zumba, or other popular fitness lessons and host classes in a local park or such in each city we visit!

  • The Travel Corporation (owns Contiki, Busabout, Trafalgar among others)
  • Topdeck – Global tour company with a heavy presence in Europe, Aus, NZ
  • Expat -Specisalises in Europe and North Africa
  • Tucan – Specialises in global adventure travel
  • G Adventures – A company with a focus on sustainable travel and small group tours
  • Intrepid – Small group adventure travel

Edit English Signs/Menus – “It might sound silly but there are travelers out there earning decent money by wandering around touristy areas all over the world and getting paid to correct the English spelling/grammar on signs and menus of businesses that try to attract foreigners. I met one guy in Thailand who would charge $10 for his editing services and he would have approximately 20 clients per week. Not a bad way to earn $800 bucks per month.”

Volunteer Work – “In most cases, this won’t pay, but you’ll have an unforgettable experience while usually saving money on room and board, which is just like getting paid! You don’t have to spend a lot of money with large global operations in order to volunteer as there are local organizations in every country that would love to have you. Two good websites are GrassrootsVolunteering.org and IndependentVolunteer.org.”

Work Exchange – “Just check out the listings on HelpX.net and you’ll be ready to pack your bags today. If you’re willing to work a few hours each day in exchange for room, board and sometimes, some extra cash, there is no shortage of opportunities. There’s also WWOOF.org which focuses on organic farm work.”

Guest Lectures – This one is more aimed at Samantha (who has seriously amazing sewing skills and fashion knowledge) but if there’s any specific skills we have that we can teach, we can contact local universities to set up guest lectures.

Working on A Yacht – “This is certainly not for everyone, but if sailing around the world on a yacht sounds like your kind of thing you might be in luck. People with yachts need staff just like everyone else, and nowadays some people are paid to work on a yacht full time while sailing around the world.”

YouTube/Blogging – This one won’t pay off immediately, but if we can make a fun/imformative/entertaining video in each place while we travel this could either lead to A. payment straight from YouTube itself, or B. possibly employers/sponsors reaching out to us about new opportunities.

 

 

 

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