When traveling, especially when it comes to long-term travel, there is naturally the question of how to finance your travel expenses. Within our Guide to Traveling When You Have No Money, we mentioned working remotely as a credible option for financing travel. Of course, not everyone has the type of job that will allow them to work remotely, so if you do have to go the “quit your job and drop everything” route in order to travel, here are some options for remote work that you can look for in order to afford to keep traveling.
Best Remote Travel Jobs
Like with any job, certain remote jobs will require a specific skill-set and the more skills you have, the easier it will be to find work. That being said, the job opportunities on this list are ones that most people can develop the skills for quite easily with a little effort and dedication.
Freelance or Copywriting
There are often demands for native speakers to work on physical texts, articles, or content for websites. You will need to narrow down a niche of interest and knowledge, but ultimately you can write about pretty much anything. Finding the work is slightly more difficult, with many freelance writing sites having high competition. A good way to beat the competition is to learn the basics of SEO and market your skills for writing optimized content. This will also allow you to target SEO companies and reach out to them about freelance writing positions.
Translation
If you know more than one language, this opens up opportunities for you to secure translation work. Living abroad can actually help in securing this work, as being immersed in the language from which you are translating will keep your abilities and skills sharper than if you were sitting in an office speaking English all day. It also may open up more opportunities to come into contact with those who require translation services.
Web Design
Obviously, not everyone is equipped with extensive web design expertise, but with so many easy-to use-website builders out there that require no previous design knowledge, this is no longer a deal breaker. There are many sites where you can get templates and themes to start you off, then the rest is up to your creativity and skill-set. Educating yourself on web design basics as you go along is recommended and it has never been easier to start learning coding languages online as well. Once you start refining this skill set, more remote job opportunities will open up for you, so it is really worth the time investment.
Graphic Design and Programming
These are not the same at all, but they have been grouped together because they both require an extensive skill-set that you will need to already have, or will have to be diligently learning and improving as you go. That being said, if you are already skilled in this area, you can do either type of work from absolutely anywhere. This means finding clientele that don’t mind communicating at a distance and don’t require face-to-face briefings and updates. Keep in mind this type of business, along with the necessary training, is something that will require years to build. There will be a lot of brand development and business development to do, as well as marketing yourself and reaching out to build your client base. Once you have this, you are pretty set to easily finance your travels, since the demand for this work is high and the pay is likewise very competitive.
If you feel like working remotely might be the thing for you, then you should narrow down the type of work you would like to do and begin searching for open positions. There are actually a lot of great sites for finding remote work out there, you just have to be diligent like with any job search to be looking and applying. Happy hunting and good luck!
