So you’ve been stuck at home for a year and a half due to a pandemic. Maybe going back to the usual 9-to-5 has left you disenchanted. Or maybe you realized that working remotely was something you never expected to work out, but ended up loving. Either way, you’ve been left wanting to travel again or set off on vacation. The beach is calling your name and you want to just drop everything and go!
This vision may seem so far out of reach right now, but trust me, it’s not. I’m a mom and a military spouse who just ran out of options. I needed to work remotely and bring more into my life, so I did it. I put in the work and dedication to get paid while traveling the world.
Here I am today, having helped over 5,000 people work remotely, all while being based in Bali living the dream. I dropped everything and made things happen. I’ve been doing it for years and there’s no reason you can’t too!
Whether you want to rent a vacation home for a couple of weeks in the mountains or move across the world, these dreams are achievable! I’m here to give you endless resources and show you the only 4 realistic ways to do this (and be successful) while still getting paid.
Time to dig into the 4 different ways you can get paid to travel the world!
1. Building Your Own Platform as a Blogger/Influencer
This first one is probably the only one you’ve seen out there, which is creating a platform on your social media as an influencer or creating a blog. Bloggers and influencers start by having a lot of traffic on their site, which leads to people visiting their social media and gaining more followers.
In some situations, they may be selling something for a company and getting paid to do so. Other times, a company may seek out an influencer and essentially pay them to travel.
For example, the company may ask an influencer to visit their resort and do 5 different social media posts throughout the week and one blog post. In return, the influencer would stay at the resort for free.
I’m sure you follow a few bloggers and influencers on Instagram today. The life they’re living seems unimaginable and easy. Full of vacations and luxury, which it may be, but it wasn’t as easy for them to get there as it seems.
Being a blogger or influencer is a realistic way to make money while traveling the world, but it can take a good amount of time to build your platform and following to actually make money. It can take 3-5 years before you start seeing a significant income from the work you’re doing, which is shocking to me because I help people start working within a few weeks. Becoming a blogger or influencer would be incredibly fulfilling once you’ve made it big, but I recommend doing it on the side until you’re well established in the field.
2. Traditional Jobs That Require Travel
There’s always going to be the more traditional route such as being a flight attendant, working on a cruise ship, journalist, etc. In these positions, you get paid to go to specific locations that are a requirement for your job. You’d see incredible places, possibly all over the world!
Traditional jobs with travel may have travel restrictions OR you’re constantly traveling. Most of the time you’re not able to pick up and go wherever you want at any given moment. So basically, what I’m trying to say, is that you probably won’t have very much control over when and where you’re going for your travels.
For some of these jobs, it can be more like an office setting or somewhere you’d physically go to work and travel as needed or required, such as business trips like conferences or trainings. You wouldn’t necessarily be traveling on your own terms.
Another thing to consider is that you can’t just pack up your husband, kids, or even your friends as a flight attendant or corporate worker and have them come along at a spur of the moment. Experiencing new areas and travels without your family and friends just isn’t as enjoyable to some people. Although having a traditional job that allows you to travel with the company is rewarding, that doesn’t mean it’s also fulfilling for everyone.
The possibilities for each job would be different. You could work for a large company and get sent to the Bahamas and see amazing beaches during your conference, or you could work on a charter yacht in Spain. If you love your job, then that makes the travels much more enjoyable while you’re working a traditional job.
3. Start an Online Business
Imagine how unbelievable it would be to own and run your own online business. These businesses I’m speaking of are e-commerce, your own fashion line, Etsy, or maybe even your own online boutique. It’s personalized to you specifically and runs your way.
For example, maybe you’re good at wood crafting, so you create and sell customized furniture through Etsy. This would be a full-blown business, which is extremely rewarding in the long run, but it will take longer to create something out of it and gain a following. You would usually start with friends and family, then grow from there.
Once again, creating your own online business can be extremely time-consuming and may take a long while until you make a profit or establish the business itself. Just like being a blogger or influencer, this route can take 3-5 years before you see any progress. It’s a lot of work and a lot of start-up costs. It’s all about getting yourself in front of the right audience for whatever it is you’re trying to achieve.
In all reality, starting your own online business is HARD. The hours you have to put in can be a lot too, depending on if you’re creating things yourself to sell or just what your workload looks like in general. A lot of online business owners don’t usually have much help either. If they’re just starting their online business they probably don’t have the extra funds within their business to hire any help, which is totally fine but imagine all of those extra hours that would need to be put in.
An online business is incredibly rewarding in the long run, and let’s be honest, you wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t all about something you absolutely LOVE. Running a business is all about the passion you have for it. You started it for a reason, so that makes all the hard work worth it!
4. Working Remotely From Anywhere Online
Now here is the good stuff. This is obviously the one I’m most passionate about because like I said, you can do it right now. Pack your bags because we’re headed out! You could immediately get paid by the hour, project, or salary. I’m going to tell you exactly how I made a consistent income while traveling the world and how you (yes, you) can do the same thing.
A few examples for working online could be video editing, podcast editing and management, admin, email management, writing blogs, social media for branding you’re passionate about, etc. The world of working online, on your laptop, from anywhere in the world, is limitless. The amount of businesses looking for help is mindblowing!
Maybe you love yoga, and you find that your dream client needs help in managing their social media in order to promote their classes. This is where you’d come in! They don’t have an office and they don’t want one!
You have 4 incredible options (that are realistic) to travel while getting paid. Some of them are more immediate than others and some are more flexible. Either way, you’re choosing the life YOU want to experience. I am nothing special and I didn’t do anything outrageous to live this lifestyle I’ve created for myself and my family. I put in the work to learn and made it happen.
You can get started immediately (not the 3-5 years like two of the other options) on your adventure of getting paid to travel all from the comfort of your laptop. There’s a full-on remote work revolution happening right now and I want you to be a part of this!
How do you get started? I would love to give you a FREE ticket to my Work From Anywhere Virtual Summit. I’ve put together a TON of resources, such as interviewing experts in jobs that you can do online right away. Through those interviews, they’ll tell you what they do, how to get started, give you some amazing resources, and legitimate tips.
If you’re ready to get started on your travels now and be the badass woman you’re meant to be, check out the summit here and you’ll be on your digital nomad journey in no time.
You CAN do this and I’ll be with you every step of the way!
I’m so excited to see you there!
Emilie is a virtual assistant here to help support clients with extra tasks. When she’s not working with family and lifestyle brands, she loves to do artsy things and hang out with her husband and son. She’s a member of 90 Day VA and assists with everything from social media management and blog writing to content creation and content repurposing.
