We asked over 2,500 people what their biggest hurdle is for starting life as a full time traveler, and among all of those people, the #1 answer is how to make an income on the road. The good news is this is one of the most solvable hurdle to solve in today’s tech-forward environment. To help get you started, we’re sharing 5 ways you can make income on the road (starting from easiest to hardest)…. and none of these are full time remote positions.
How can I make an income as a traveler?
We’ve done each of these 5 income streams at one point or another during our travel journey, and we can personally attest that you can make sustainable income from each of these. That being said, some of these are easier to get started with than others… so we’re starting off with the easiest way to make income and ending with the most challenging. Up first: gig work with GetGigs
- Gig work through GetGigs
Gig work is the easiest way to make an income as a traveler, especially if you’re doing van life or RV life. You don’t need experience, don’t need to network, and can choose your own schedule. We started doing gig work in our first year of life on the road to supplement our other income sources, but you can absolutely make this your main income source when done strategically. We specifically like Get Gigs by GigSmart because they have a wide variety of gigs with relatively higher pay than other apps. You can work gigs that are a couple weeks long, single-shift gigs, and event remote gigs all in one app.
You can get started here!
- Freelance content creation
You don’t need a following to start making income as a content creator – companies of all industries are looking to hire freelance writers, photographers, and videographers to make content on their behalf. This is different from influencer marketing because companies retain IP rights to the content you create for them, and your authorship often is unattributed. The easiest way to get started with freelance content creation is to use previous experiences and the knowledge you’ve acquired through those experiences to make content that you know is missing in a company. This can be anything from employee manuals and guides to lifestyle photos for products.
If you don’t want to use your personal network to find freelance work, you can market yourself on a variety of freelance sites listed in our Job Search Resource Guide.
- Short term rental income
If you’re a homeowner but looking to travel more, short term renting your home is a great option! This allows you the financial freedom to travel while paying the costs of your mortgage and property maintenance (plus, someone takes care of your property for you while you’re gone). Without income from our Airbnb, we wouldn’t have been able to start life on the road as quickly as we did. That being said, this is a more challenging way to make income because it takes some extra work up front and risk in terms of allowing strangers into your home. There is a right way to do this and a lot of wrong ways; the key is to learn from others’ experiences so you can get it right from the start!
We’re here to help you if you’re ready to get started – we guarantee you can get that first guest in your front doors within 90 days with the timelines and tools we provide during a one-on-one consult call.
- Selling your own products
DIYers and creatives, this one is for you! If you enjoy making products or teaching others, you can sell your own products/services as a sustainable income source even as a traveler. We started our RV life with our own tie dye shop, and we’d sell tie dyes online, at swap meets, and pop up shops. It was a really fun way to make an income that we truly enjoyed.
But, as a traveler, the most difficult thing about this income stream is carrying your inventory with you. You can transition to digital products (like our consult calls and digital downloads) or use a service like Bonfire with print to order options. The second challenging aspect of this income stream is pricing – you will need to list at a price that accounts for supplies and your time. See if this price is reasonable for you and competitive enough to be worth your time if you’re wanting to make it a main income stream. There is definitely trial and error associated with this income stream, but it really is fun!
- Affiliate income
Affiliate income is an income stream for most content creators that have their own following. This allows creators to earn a small commission of products/services they share when you use their link to purchase something. This is a great income source if you have an optimized blog or large social media following, but it is hard to get started and can’t be most people’s full time income. If you rely heavily on affiliate income, it starts to make you feel like you’re a sales person rather than a creative. That being said, we work with brands and services we absolutely love and use daily anyway. As long as you’re selective with the products you promote, this can be a fun and more passive way to earn income!
We’ve done each one of these income streams at some point in our full time travel journey, and they each have their pros and cons. Remember, you don’t have to stick with just one because it’s the first you chose and you can easily supplement any income stream through Get Gigs (thank you to GigSmart for sponsoring this blog post and contributing to yet another income stream)! The beauty of living as a digital nomad is the freedom to change your income sources and try out a lot of different jobs along the way.
Subscribe to our YouTube for more full time travel and remote income content – and check out our Job Search Resource Guide for more ways to make money on the road.
Great article!