7 Untapped Ways Travelers are Making Money Working Online
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It’s a fact! Post travel blues are the worst.
You’ve just had a remarkable adventure and the thought of coming back to the daily grind fills you with dread.
“How do people manage to travel and make money online?” you ask as you update your social media feed with ‘take-me-back’ captioned posts.
Your mundane existence pales in comparison to the freedom you experienced while you walked through the temples in Chiang Mai or skydived in Waialua.
This is a valid concern, shared by many of your fellow aspiring ‘workcationers.’
The good news is that businesses are adopting the trend of hiring remote workers because they get to save on office space and operational costs.
Besides, employees that have an opportunity to work remotely tend to be more engaged at work.
How you choose to make money online will be determined by:
- Your qualifications
- Your hobbies
- What you own
Obvious money-making ventures such as blogging, vlogging, teaching English and social media marketing have probably crossed your mind.
It’s okay if you find these avenues saturated.
You’ll find this article helpful because it explores online roads less traveled by most digital nomads in their pursuit of happiness and new experiences.
1. Get paid to travel and sweat
Look at the new year’s resolutions you set for yourself. Do they include getting fit, earning more and traveling?
The Sweatcoin app, which is free for Android and Apple users, can help you with all three. Sort of.
It pays you (in digital currency – sweatcoins (SWC)) to walk outdoors and can verify where you are through your phone GPS.
Steps taken on a treadmill, swimming, or cycling aren’t tracked and users get 0.95 sweatcoins (you part with 5% commission) for every 1,000 steps.
And the basic – free – membership only lets you earn five SWC per day. You have real currency to pay to earn more SWC.
But, if you love to hike, climb mountains and go on nature trails, imagine how much you could make by tracking your steps.
You can then take your earnings and buy products and services such as Amazon credits, music downloads, eBooks, flyer miles, sports watches and gift vouchers from different retailers in the Sweat-coin marketplace.
2. Get paid to be a travel virtual assistant
A virtual assistant can work from anywhere in the world, determine their work hours and even pick the jobs they’d like to work on.
If you want to travel more on your client’s dime, consider working with travel agents in your area.
Offer to carry out tasks that will give you opportunities to travel. For instance, updating a travel itinerary for their clients would require you to experience the trip first hand.
Imagine telling a client that all alcoholic beverages are included in a hotel’s all-inclusive package only for them to discover that they’d only be served cheap local drinks!
The customer will be grievously offended and might request a refund when they get back.
A travel virtual assistant job description includes:
- Creating travel articles and uploading them on the agency blog
- Managing the agency’s social media accounts
- Taking photos and videos of the destinations you visit
- Researching upcoming resorts and tourist hot-spots
- Sending marketing emails to agency customers
- Preparing travel quotes for customers and helping them with visa processing
- Creating travel itinerary booklets for clients
It’s commonplace for airlines and hotels to invite marketing and reservations representatives to sample their services on a complimentary basis, especially if you bring them a lot of guests.
You’d have to do this during off-peak seasons because no hotel will let you stay over for free when guests are flooding their establishment.
How much can I make as a travel virtual assistant?
According to Small Revolution’s Virtual Assistant Salary: The Definitive Guide (2019), picking a specialty will earn you between $800 and $1,500 monthly.
This figure may go higher depending on how well you negotiate with the client and your level of expertise.
Improve your skill set and keep up with the latest trends in the travel industry so that you can continually present fresh ideas to your client.
Travel is cutthroat and agencies will pay you more for your resourcefulness and proactivity.
3. Get paid to travel and drop ship
Drop shipping is perfect for travelers who want to run a business with limited funds.
Once an order is placed, you buy the product from a third party and ship it to the customer.
You can run this business from anywhere as long as your suppliers and clients can reach you.
Drop shipping is extremely competitive but you can make a tidy profit if you do it on Amazon.
Through their Fulfilled By Amazon program, you can sell products and leave packing, shipping and customer service to them.
The Amazon FBA fees you’ll be charged will cover inventory storage and fulfilled orders.
4. Get paid to travel and make pit stops
Here’s a good deed that goes unpunished – deliver packages as you travel.
Piggy Bee, Roadie and AirwayBill connect shippers with travelers who are moving through their customers locations.
All you have to do is make space in your vehicle to carry items and make a pit stop as required.
In return, you get money to cover your travel expenses.
Where can I find crowdsourcing delivery opportunities?
Roadie
Travelers who hold a valid U.S drivers license can download Roadie from Google Play or Apple App Store, register, go through a background check and start bidding on gigs.
Both distance and package size determine how much you get paid – For example, a long road trip gig will earn you up to US$650 while a short distance gig will get you up to US$60.
Real-time tracking and signatures ensure that package delivery goes smoothly over its network of over 11,000 towns and cities.
AirwayBill
Unlike Roadie which is restricted to road trips within the USA, AirwayBill enables cross-border shipping.
If a client needs something shipped from abroad, they note it under ‘requested items’. You can then filter items based on value, size and where you’re headed.
In addition to delivery, AirwayBill allows you to purchase a product for the client. This is a great way to explore your destination.
Wouldn’t you want to walk through Old Dubai if a client requested embroidered fabric from the textile souk?
You can actually come up with business ideas when you visit shops abroad that stock on-demand products.
The client views your itinerary and confirms the payment as soon as delivery is done.
PiggyBee
A pioneer in crowdsourced shipping, PiggyBee allows travelers to post their journey dates, how often they travel to that destination and whether it’s a one way or two-way trip.
If you find a delivery requested for your destination, contact the client through the mailbox and agree on payment.
PiggyBee which has a network spanning Asia, South America, North America and Europe significantly lowers your trip costs.
Not only does it cover your travel expenses, but customers can compensate travelers with non-monetary awards such as a ride from the airport or a home cooked meal after delivery.
In this way, you meet a local whenever you travel and might even spark a life long friendship.
Always make sure that your packages match the custom requirements of your destination.
5. Get paid to travel and be a landlord
Through peer-to-peer accommodation sites like Airbnb, you can make your house or apartment work for you while you travel.
You could get a trustworthy family member or friend to receive your tenants and address their concerns while you’re away.
To find out how much you can earn, go to the Airbnb website and type in your location, the number of guests you can accommodate and how much space you can rent out.
If you live in the USA you can earn as much as US$1,203 per month for accommodating a single guest.
An apartment in London yields up to US$3,451 per guest monthly while one in Australia brings in US$2,446.
Airbnb charges a 3% service fee and your payment will be released 24 hours after the guest’s arrival time.
How Do I Manage Airbnb Remotely?
- Install automation hardware such as smart locks, video doorbells, motion sensors and security cameras to make your guests feel safe
- Hire professional cleaners to tidy up and restock items such as toiletries and snacks
- Ensure you have a reliable handyman who can fix plumbing, electricity and other maintenance issues
- Automate your check-in and check-out messages using Smartbnb
6. Rent out Your Vehicle for Cash
Taking a flight out of town? Instead of leaving your car at the airport, list it on the USA based site, Getaround.
Renters can track their vehicle round the clock which makes it safe and convenient to earn money even when you travel abroad for extended periods
Verified drivers can lock and unlock the car using the Getaround Connect Device.
You’ll always know when your vehicle is being used by checking the app calendar tool. Drivers park the car where they found it at the beginning of the journey until the next person picks it up.
Both customers and members enjoy 24/7 customer support and every car gets up to $1 million insurance.
If you rent out your vehicle for a month, expect at least $800 from Getaround.
7. Get Paid to Promote Destinations
Do you have experience in online marketing? Identify a destination near you and approach the local government for a partnership.
Promote the location, its restaurants, hotels, main attractions and businesses to draw tourists, investors and skilled personnel.
Create a campaign that includes both online and offline marketing tactics and pitch it to the local government.
Unlike mainstream content creators who only advocate for tourism, your efforts will focus on the socioeconomic development of that destination.
You could some cash and your flights, accommodation and any tour activities may be covered during the project.
A job well done will soon bring other clients to your doorstep.
A work-and-travel lifestyle is not without its challenges.
Worklife balance for digital nomads is hard to come by because people equate travel to rest which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Planning your trips, exploring new destinations and working on income generating projects can sometimes leave you drained.
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