Being stuck behind a desk or in a cubicle from 9 to 5 can be tedious, particularly when you’re dreaming of adventuring to far off places. There’s a surprising number of jobs that involve traveling and even some jobs where you actually get paid to travel. The best travel jobs allow you to earn income while exploring the world. There are all types of travel jobs, but at the end of the day, they have one thing in common. They allow you to travel and do what you love while still earning a livable wage.
Do you wish you could travel more? If you love traveling as much as I do, but can’t afford to completely quit working, you’re in luck.
You don’t need to know much about traveling in order to land one of these jobs that require travel. In fact, for many of them, you can work from home, your local coffee shop, or your favorite coffee shop in Peru.
There are even travel jobs out there for people without a college degree.
Based on a recent study only fewer than 7% of business trip destinations are more than 1,000 miles away from their point of origin, which means that only 1 in 14 people who travel for work get to travel further than 1,000 miles each way.
If you want to be one in 14 business travelers who has the freedom to go far from home, then this list of travel jobs is for you.
But you have to understand that traveling jobs are not for everyone. It takes hard work, consistency and above all, determination, to successfully work a travel job.
There is no magic way to instantly earn lots of money traveling.
Make Money Traveling the World
There are lots of different types of travel jobs out there and they can roughly be broken down into three categories. Think carefully about what it is that you are looking for…
Backpacker Jobs
Backpackers and vagabonds do work what’s called “alternative” travel jobs. The type of work that may not require a computer or a college degree, but has a more hands-on approach. You can find paying work on goat farms, behind bars, in hostels, on construction sites, on beaches, and in many other places whilst backpacking the world. Think musicians, artists, or manual labor. It’s usually very easy to find some casual work as a backpacker.
Examples: Artists, musician, farm work, etc.
Digital Nomads
A Digital Nomad works from their computer. This makes them location independent. As long as they have access to the internet, they can earn a living. Blogging falls under this category and you can start your own digital nomad career as a travel blogger and this will open up many other opportunities for you. Digital nomads are free to travel at will, working from coffee shops, hotels, or coworking spaces.
If you are a big believer in making money through a digital nomad job as all these jobs allow you to work from literally anywhere in the world, on your own schedule and often as your own boss.
It can take time to set up a digital nomad career and if you’re a wandering broke backpacker you may well need to find a traveling job right now so you can replenish your bank balance and keep the travel fun going! The truth about becoming a location independent nomad is that it takes years of hard work and sacrifice behind the scenes — something too many people conveniently ignore.
Examples: Online business, freelance writing, social media, etc.
Jobs that require travel
Finally, I’ll include a few popular travel industry career options that will pay you to travel too. These are more “traditional” business travel jobs in the hospitality and tourism industry. Positions like an airline pilot, travel agents, local tourism boards, and travel marketing. But in my opinion, these travel careers don’t have the same kind of freedom as being a digital nomad, because you may not get much of a chance to actually explore as you will be working.
Examples: Travel agent, airline pilot, tour guide, tourism marketing, etc.
The best travel jobs are the ones that are sustainable, supportive, and interesting.
If you are a big believer in making money through traveling check out 10 Travel Jobs That Will Instantly Satisfy Your Soul
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