Making money while traveling is the ultimate dream scenario for almost any travel passionate person. Skipping 9–5 and making the most out of your lifetime by becoming a digital nomad, which becomes more and more popular nowadays, or, like Anthony Ferris calls it, taking "mini-retirements" from time to time, working for a certain period than traveling the world for a certain period.
There are many ways in todays modern digital world to make the most out of your time, travel as much as you want while still making a living. However, the most effective and popular solution, becoming a digital nomad by striking a remote work contract for instance or loaning out property at home to finance your full time travels, is not attainable for everybody and, most importantly, not attractive to everybody, as not every single passionate traveller intends to become a digital nomad.
Personally, I intend to become a digital nomad in the near future, but I am currently still searching for my remote working possibility and therefore, for the time being, I have to find other ways to monetize my passion, traveling.
In this article, I am going to line out 4 ways to earn money from your travels if you're not yet, like me, in the position to become a full time digital nomad, or simply love traveling but don't want to become a digital nomad at all.
- Stock Photography
First things first, many travellers, not to say every single one, love taking pictures, we all know that feeling when we return from a recent trip and have taken hundreds of pictures which we are probably not going to use anymore. As travellers or tourists, we just love memorizing the moment by taking photos but, if we're brutally honest, we then don't often sit back and have a look at many pictures we've taken!
So, if you're that kind of traveller who loves taking pictures and even gets up at 5 a.m. sometimes to get a good shot of the sunrise (yes I am that kind of person), than nothing stops you from cashing in on your creativity and putting your pictures online on sites like Istock or Alamy, which pay you a commission whenever one of your uploaded pictures is sold online, ranging from 10 to 20%.
Of course, two things have to be kept in mind here: first of all, not all of your uploaded pictures will be accepted, they have to be good enough to get accepted, as such when I first started uploading pictures on Alamy, out of 400 uploads, only about 100 got accepted, obviously I was gutted! But on the other hand, I have improved my photography skills since and it actually teaches you some decent photography skills, as you are forced to take good pictures knowing that you're not only doing it for fun anymore, but that you could literally get something back for every decent shot!
Second thing to be kept in mind: stock photography is surely no "get rich quick scheme", as such, you shouldn't expect to make a living out of stock photography, of course there are people in this world that have managed to do so, but, you'll have to have a portfolio of millions of pictures to earn a decent enough income with it. If you have a portfolio of a few hundred or thousand of pictures, then you can expect a good passive income of a few hundred dollars a month, depending on how many of your pictures have sold in a month's time.
If you take lots of pictures during your travels, you should definitely take the time to get into stock photography as it clearly gives you the chance to earn a small passive income in return for your creativity, and get some money in for your next adventure!
2. Start a Blog
Now this is the obvious choice and idea to monetize your travels for most travel passionate writers on this website!
Probably everyone on this platform dreams about monetizing a personal blog to such an extent that it will eventually be possible to make a living out of it. And yes, it is still possible to do so, you just have to be good, consistent and relentless. Nowadays, there are many travel bloggers out there, and to make a living out of blogging, which I strongly believe is still achievable today, you have to be patient and consistent, it won't happen overnight anymore.
We have to be honest and admit that today most bloggers who manage to make a living out of their blog take 5 to 10 years to get a decent income from it but blogs, especially travel blogs, are certainly not dead, people still like to read, and if you have interesting and breath taking experiences to share with the world about your most recent adventures, trips or travels, and you like to write, then you should give it a go!
I am convinced that travel blogs are still a massive passive income source, even making a living out of it is still possible if you stay relentless, positive and consistent in your work.
If you want to be successful and get a decent passive income from your travel blog, you'll need to treat it like a business and not like a hobby, but most people on this platform will probably know this!
3. Start a Vlog on Youtube
Approximately 4 years ago, the world of Youtube travel vlogging was still practically untouched…then slowly but surely they came: Harald Baldr, Bald and Bankrupt (the obvious number 1), Simon Wilson or Kurt Caz to name the four of whom I know that they've got millions of subscribers.
Today, Youtube is full of travel vloggers, and as such, the competition for views, which of course pay a vlogger's wages, has obviously increased and as such it might not be the best moment right now to start a travel vlog, except of course if you only do it for fun. But to make a serious passive income with vlogging, especially in a currently so popular niche as traveling, you'll have to get close to millions of views per month, or at least into the 100k views per month as you'll get only between 3$ to 5$ per 1000 views.
I surely don't want to discourage you to start off with vlogging about your adventures, it is of course still possible to become the next Bald and Bankrupt or Kurt Caz, the next travel vlog sensation, but you'll have to be the very best nowadays.
But with vlogging, like with blogging and any other kind of business that you start from scratch, you'll have to build your audience and portfolio up first in order to make a serious passive income with it, and yes it is still possible to do so with a vlog, but as I said, today it's already much tougher than 4 years ago, so you should consider the fact that the investment of time and money (a decent vlogging camera can already cost you close to 2k$) might take some time to turn into profit, but if you stay positive, relentless and most importantly, consistent, you can still monetize your travels and be a success as a vlogger!
4. Work as a tourist guide or travel agent
The fourth and last way to monetize your travels without being a digital nomad is surely the least popular!
In fact, by becoming a tourist guide or travel agent, you are not escaping the 9–5 lifestyle and you are of course not working remotely.
But on the other hand, being a tourist guide for a huge travel company like TUI for instance, gives you the chance to earn a decent income while working 9-5, but at least you're not stuck in your own country.
Actually, as a tourist guide you are on the road all year long, you often get sent to a place for a few months or only weeks and then get sent to anther one.
It obviously doesn't come close to being an independent digital nomad, but you are still living and working in another country and you are not always staying in the same place, but often moving from country to country.
You obviously have to like touristy stuff to become a full time tourist guide, but if you work for a company like TUI for instance, you could easily spend a year all over the world if you get send to 4 different continents as they fly virtually everywhere and thus need agents everywhere.
But yes, on a personal note, I would maybe give it a try for a few months or a year, but I couldn't imagine being a tourist guide for the rest of my life, bare a few years, because I personally prefer to do my own thing, as many travellers, and decide by myself where I want to head to next. As a tourist guide, your boss or superior always decides where you go to next, and of course what your working hours are.
On the positive side though, you could look at this profession like a mixture of the classic 9–5 lifestyle and the digital nomad lifestyle, as despite working 9–5, you are still constantly on the road in several different countries.