How to Make Money on the Road
From Writing Blogs to Teaching Online, There are Plenty of Ways to Make Money While RVing
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Since I began working remotely in 2013, I have dreamed of living on the road full time. Back then, it still seemed like a bit of a stretch, but the number of ways people make money on the road traveling has only increased since then. And, there’s no better time than the present to give traveling and working remotely full time a try.
As far as I know, we have but one life to live and as our responsibilities grow, it becomes more difficult to pick up our lives and travel on an extended basis. For those of you that have dreamed of traveling full time, here are a few creative ways that people make money on the road!
As long as you have a laptop and WiFi, there are plenty of ways to make money on the road (image from Getty).
Start a YouTube Channel
We all crave video content. Whether it’s videos about specific destinations or tips on gear to make traveling easier, the odds are pretty good that if you are reading this article you’ve also watched a few of these YouTube videos in the last few days.
YouTubers earn money in a variety of ways. Once your channel hits a certain number of subscribers and watch hours, you can earn ad money every time videos are watched. However, it can take some time to grow your following to a point where the ad revenue you generate is noteworthy.
The other way you can earn money from creating YouTube videos is to advertise certain products or services that you use on the road. By placing unique links to those products in the video description, you can earn a commission every time someone uses one of those links to purchase a product or subscribe to a service.
Sell Physical or Digital Products Online
For those skilled artists out there, the time you spend traveling from destination to destination could be the perfect time to unleash your creative side. If you and your partner share in the driving responsibilities, you will both be able to work while the other is handling your rig.
Nowadays, it is easier than ever to sell products online via platforms like eBay and Amazon. When one of your products sells, you can simply stop by the nearest post office to send it safely through the mail to your customer.
Selling digital products online is even easier because you won’t need to worry about shipping. This could include photos, ebooks, songs or jingles, and much more. Digital products are also easy to sell because you create the actual product just once and it can be sold over and over.
Try Freelancing
Many companies outsource work to freelancers on a regular basis. Some examples of the kind of work that freelancers do include writing, photography, editing and proofreading, data entry, marking and branding, transcription, and virtual assistant work.
The list doesn’t have to end there, however. Plus, there are plenty of resources out there to help you find freelance work. Off the top of my head, I can think of ProBlogger, Fiverr, Upwork, and all of the social media channels you are probably already using!
Earning a steady income with freelancing simply requires discipline. The best method I’ve found is to set aside time every few weeks to market my services to additional clients. This helps to ensure a steadier income stream and avoid a drastic decrease in earnings if one or two clients decide to suspend working with freelancers (which does happen from time to time).
Work at Hostels
Because of the transient nature of the business, many hostels are always looking for extra help. If you aren’t particularly interested in working on a computer or selling products online, you can also consider planning your travels around hostel visits.
Working at a hostel is a great way to make money on the road (Image from Getty).
This route may require that you stay for longer periods (i.e. a few months) in a destination, but there are benefits to that as well. You will be able to build a stronger sense of community and develop personal relationships that will last for years to come.
Plus, another huge benefit of working at a hostel is interacting with visitors from all over the world. You will most likely be able to talk to people who have already visited places that are still on your bucket list. These interactions can often give you valuable insights that you will use once you move on down the road.
Teach Online Education
There are also many companies nowadays that employ tutors for online education. Some of these companies have a more thorough training and onboarding process than you’ll go through with other ways to make money online, but the benefit is that you get to show up and teach once you get started.
Unlike freelancing or creating products to sell online, you won’t consistently be trying to market your products or services. You can teach different languages online or a variety of other subjects and the role of the company is to connect you with your students.
Keep in mind that some of these companies specialize in providing online education for students abroad. So you may have to keep slightly odd hours that allow you to serve the specific demographic that the company works with.
Start Your Own Blog
If you are not quite into being the center of attention in front of a camera, starting a blog is the next best thing. You can write about your travel adventures and, in the process, advertise products or services that make life easier on the road.
Just like with YouTube content, you can place links in the text or your blogs to sell affiliate products. You will earn a commission every time someone uses one of those links to buy a product. Plus, you can also use banner ads and other merchant tools to generate blog-based revenue.
There are several sites that make it super easy to start a blog these days, such as Wix and Squarespace. These sites offer drag-and-drop website builders. So you don’t have to be familiar with coding or HTML to get your site up and running.
From there, you will need to start creating content with fervor. It may take some time to build the audience of your blog to a point where you can sign up for affiliate programs and start generating revenue. That said, one day you will wake up and realize your site is out there generating revenue (passive income) while you are resting, driving, or enjoying a beautiful hike.
For those that are interested in starting a blog, I highly recommend looking into the Wealthy Affiliate platform. It is the platform that I’ve used to learn about affiliate marketing and how to optimize multiple blogs for better traffic and increased commissions.
Blogging about your travels is a great way to also fund them (Image from Shutterstock).
It may seem cliché, but the sky really is the limit when it comes to traveling full-time. There are so many people doing it today and, with recent events causing more companies to explore the benefits of employing remote workers, it’s a good chance that your chosen career is now less location-dependent than it was back at the start of 2020.
Hopefully, you’ve found some inspiration in this article, but, to be clear, this is by no means a comprehensive list of all the ways you can make money on the road. At the end of the day, it’s all about being creative, resourceful, determined, and consistent. With those arrows in your quiver, it will be impossible for you to aim for anything but success.
