chloedickensonLast Updated on 29th February 2024
AD | This post about the best online jobs that pay you to travel is sponsored and contains affiliate links.
If the last year of lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that our freedom to travel the world is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. While the obvious feelings of missing “normality” and seeing our beloved family and friends are the number one thing that we’re all keen to get back to, the freedom of travelling and exploring the world probably comes in at a close second (at least for me, it does).
Even before the pandemic however, the idea of travelling the world and making money online was something that more and more people were starting to look into and as someone who spent almost a full year travelling the world and working online, I’d love to impart some wisdom to you guys and share my advice on how to find the best online jobs that pay you to travel.
Whether you’re looking to earn money to fund your travels for a few months at a time or you’re looking to create a full-time position as a digital nomad and work online while travelling full-time, I’ve put together an extensive list of the best online jobs that pay you to travel!
Read more: How To Make Passive Income While Travelling – 7 Best Ideas
1. Freelance writer – best online travel jobs
I couldn’t not start this list with the method of making money online that sustains the vast majority of my travels; freelance writing, and more specifically, freelance travel writing.
Getting a gig as a freelance writer is one of the most popular ways to earn money online while travelling. If you’ve got a particular knack for writing, and you’ve got the means to obtain a handful of clients to work with on a retainer basis, then freelance writing is an online job that will not only help to fund your travels, but it could even land you some sweet opportunities while travelling too!
For example, while we were travelling in Asia, I worked for a travel company where I produced copy for their website in exchange for payment and I also got free transport on local buses and boats as another form of “payment”. Of course, not every company you write for will offer you awesome incentives, but there might be an odd occasion where you can enjoy paid work and other bonuses too.
2. Travel blogger
The second-highest paying online gig that I utilise while travelling (and indeed, while I’m stuck in the UK during the pandemic as well) is travel blogging.
It’s important to remember that making money as a travel blogger isn’t something that will happen overnight and it could very well take years for you to start making a decent income as a travel blogger. However, if you’re willing to put the hard work in and undertake plenty of research into how to make money as a travel blogger, then this could very well be an excellent online job for you to pursue while travelling.
3. Teach English online
This section of the post has been sponsored by The TEFL Org, however all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Teaching English as a foreign language is another incredibly popular and often extremely lucrative way of earning money online while travelling.
There are dozens of providers of TEFL qualifications, but The TEFL Org are the UK’s most accredited TEFL course provider and their extensive range of TEFL courses allow you to do all the training online in order to gain your online TEFL qualification so that you can teach English almost anywhere in the world!
Their 120-hour Premier Online TEFL Course provides you with everything you need to know in order to qualify to teach English online, as well as lifetime access to their job centre so you can find remote TEFL work and physical TEFL jobs anywhere in the world as well!
The great thing about teaching English online is that you can teach anyone anywhere in the world from anywhere in the world. So whether you’re still based at home and you just want to migrate to a life of online working, or you’re setting up a new life in Bangkok, teaching English online is the perfect way to fund your travels and teach others as you go.
4. Virtual Assistant
Being a virtual assistant is a concept that encompasses a whole matter of roles, so depending on the areas that you’re an expert in, you can likely find virtual assistant jobs in almost any industry.
VAs are becoming increasingly popular amongst “big” bloggers and online personalities, with many hiring VAs in order to help with admin tasks, copywriting work or even social media management. If you have any of these kinds of skills, you can usually quite easily find work as a virtual assistant. Websites such as UpWork and Fiverr are good places to start looking for VA work, especially if you’re just getting started and want to put a portfolio together.
5. Vlogger – best online jobs that pay you to travel
If videography is more your thing rather than writing, then you might want to consider vlogging as a means of making money online while travelling.
Some of the world’s top vloggers can earn hundreds of thousands of pounds a month and while of course, it will certainly take time to build up your reputation, audience and expertise as a vlogger (just as it does with blogging), this method of making money online is definitely something you should consider if you’re passion about creating videos.
6. Graphic/website designer
The beauty of being a graphic designer is that it encompasses a whole manner of things. It’s a great online job for visual creatives who enjoy everything to do with colour, art, typography, imagery and design.
As a graphic designer, you could specialise in anything from logo design, website design, business cards, banners, brochures and so much more; you could even work across all these different kinds of creative designs!
7. Social media manager
Social media management is another one of the best online jobs that pay you to travel, especially if you have a background in social media and/or marketing.
While it might not have crossed your mind that you can actually get paid to spend time on the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, you’d probably be pleasantly surprised at just how many businesses are looking for someone to run their social media accounts.
As a social media manager, you’ll likely take on the roles of content creation, including taking images and filming videos/Reels, putting together a solid social media strategy in order to grow the business’ account, as well as monitoring the growth of the account and implementing necessary techniques according to analytic data.
8. Online translator – best online jobs that pay you to travel
If you’re someone who’s bilingual or even if you’re just particularly skilled in a few languages, you could earn money online while travelling as a translator.
This type of job could involve simply translating content from one language to another. If you decide to pursue the role of translator/copywriter, you could end up writing content in multiple languages.
With this online gig, you usually do have to be fluent in the language that you’re translating to/from, so ensure that you’re well-equipped with the necessary skills if this is something you want to pursue. Similarly to obtaining a role as a virtual assistant, you can look for online translating jobs on platforms such as UpWork and Fiverr in order to get your first few clients as you start to build up a portfolio.
9. Freelance photographer
This is a job that isn’t technically fully based online as you will naturally have to go out and about taking photographs.
However, if you plan on being a freelance photographer while travelling, it could be the perfect chance to share your pictures with brands who might be looking to purchase them from you.
Many bloggers and freelancers take to this kind of role as a digital nomad as not only can it help to fund your travels, but you might even get a few free or gifted experiences thrown in as well.
For example, you could contact a hotel or Airbnb that looks like they need their media gallery updated on their website, or they need to seriously up their game on Instagram. This is where you could come in and take photos of their accommodation in exchange for payment and/or a complimentary stay.
10. Create an online shop
This might be a little harder to do if you’re constantly on the road and it will also depend on the kind of thing you want to sell in your online shop, but it’s certainly something worth considering if you want to make money while travelling.
For example, you could combine your graphic design skills and create physical prints, keyrings, mugs and posters to sell via your online shop.
Etsy is a great place to get started if you want to set up your own online shop and sell your creations in order to make money while travelling.
11. Editor – online jobs that pay you to travel
Editing jobs are another popular way to make money online from anywhere in the world. If you’ve got a good eye for attention to detail and you enjoy working with words, then this is an online job that you should consider.
Online editors can take on projects as simple as proofreading texts and looking out for grammar and spelling mistakes, to taking on huge tasks such as editing an author’s book.
12. Software developer
Software development is becoming an industry that seems to be gaining more and more traction in recent years and while there’s certainly a huge influx of people taking on this kind of freelance role, there are also endless opportunities to get involved too.
Software development can involve anything from creating video games to creating entire websites or apps from scratch. This kind of job typically requires a bit of experience and a decent portfolio if you’re looking to take things freelance, so ensure that you spend some time working on your skills and building up a decent roster of examples of your development work.
13. Trading and investing
This is something that my boyfriend Matt does in order to fund his (our) travels and it’s something that’s taken many years of hard work in order for it to become a sustainable online career.
Online trading and investing isn’t something that you should go into blindly; it requires an awful lot of hard work and proper preparation in order to make it a successful career and even then, things can go extremely wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing.
If you’re not comfortable taking risks with money or you don’t think you have the time to invest in learning about investing, then perhaps give this one a miss.
14. SEO Specialist
Alongside my services as a freelance writer, I also pride myself on my ability to produce SEO-friendly copy to the businesses and clients that I work with and let me tell you, it’s something that many companies are looking to hire someone for in order to boost their rankings on Google.
As a Search Engine Optimisation expert, you can provide invaluable help to businesses looking to improve their Google rankings which in turn can help them to obtain more website visitors and hopefully convert them into paying customers.
SEO isn’t something that you can learn overnight and I only know about it in great detail thanks to my background in digital marketing, but if you have this kind of skill and experience, you should be able to find online work as an SEO expert relatively easily.
15. Data entry – online jobs that pay you to travel
While this online job certainly doesn’t sound the most glamorous or exciting, it is considered to be a role where it’s relatively easy to find work online.
Data entry can include taking on jobs such as filling out online forms for businesses, updating spreadsheets or transcribing information from one medium to another. It might not be the most thrilling job, but most roles don’t usually require an awful lot of previous experience or education, so you should be able to find something without too much hassle.
16. Email marketing
If you have a background in digital marketing, then pursuing an online role as an email marketer might be something for you in order to make money travelling.
Email marketing will likely involve undertaking tasks such as creating and curating an email list for a business, sending out email updates and newsletters, reviewing analytics and presenting them to the business and integrating their email marketing into their overall marketing strategy.
Even if you haven’t got an awful lot of experience with the more technical side of email marketing, there are still plenty of roles you can find such as writing copy for the emails themselves. Take a look on UpWork for email marketing jobs.
17. Pinterest marketing
I’ve included Pinterest marketing as its own individual job on this list instead of including it in with the social media management role as I feel that it’s an online role that you can truly specialise in and make a proper living with entirely on its own.
Pinterest marketers can earn mega bucks if they know what they’re doing; you can charge for consultancy services, the running of an actual Pinterest account, creating Pin designs and bundles, plus much more. If you know your Pinterest marketing, this can be an excellent way to earn money online while travelling.
18. Create an online course – online jobs that pay you to travel
If you’re an expert in pretty much any (or all!) of the above online job ideas, why not try creating your own online course to sell to others looking to do the same thing you do?
If you’re a freelance writer for example, you could create an online course teaching people how to find freelance clients, or an ultimate how-to guide on how to make money as a freelancer. While the initial stages of writing and creating an online course will be quite a lengthy process, once you’ve got it up and running and you’ve marketed it properly, you could soon earn passive income from selling your online course.
I hope you’ve found this post on the best online jobs that pay you to travel useful and hopefully, it’s given you a bit of inspiration to pursue your own online endeavours in order to work online and travel at the same time!
Whether you’re considering qualifying to teach English online, or you’d rather do something a little more visually creative such as freelance photography or graphic design, I hope you’re excited to embark on your new online journey!
Related posts:
- How I Make Money Online While Travelling Full Time
- How To Find Clients As A Freelance Writer
- How I Quit My Job To Travel The World At 20 Years Old
- How To Make Money While Travelling With The TEFL Org
- The Pros And Cons Of Being A Digital Nomad – Is It For You?
Pin for later – online jobs that pay you to travel
Which of these online jobs that pay you to travel sounds the best to you? Is working online while travelling something you’d like to do? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram @imjustagirl_16.
