Get Paid To Travel — How To Start

Is getting paid to travel sound like a far-fetched dream to you? 

While it does sound like a fairytale in the past, technology has materialized this dream and enabled countless people worldwide to live the work-travel lifestyle today. 

The most well-known 'get paid to travel' workers are the travel bloggers. They could earn somewhere between $200 and $200,000 a month from their blogs. 

But what most people see are the fruits of their success. However, it takes, on average, 1 - 4 years to grow your blog if you publish content consistently every day. 

If blogging is not of your interest, there are multiple ways you can use to get paid to travel, like teaching English, becoming a YouTuber or freelancer, or working as a flight attendant, sailor, or tour guide. 

The list is endless, and many bloggers have shared their wisdom, yet over 12 million people on Reddit asked how to get paid to travel. And their second follow-up question is almost always, "how do I get started?" 

Sure, they know travel blogging, freelancing, and creating videos works, but many are clueless about how and where on earth to start. Some don't even know what to do. 

If you can relate, fret not. What you're about to learn in this article are practical methods to help you get started, regardless of what you plan to do in the future.

5 Ways To Start Getting Paid To Travel

1. Learn And Develop Remote-Friendly Skills

The fact that you don't know what to do yet means you can try learning tens of remote-friendly skills like software development, teaching, writing, selling, analyzing data, managing projects, or designing. According to MarketWatch, these are the best skills for remote jobs. 

If you love math and numbers, the demand for mathematicians and statisticians is projected to grow by 33%.

With so many skills you can learn under the sun and many free resources, it can be paralyzing to choose one skill out of hundreds. 

Here's what you can do.

You can figure out what you enjoy doing instead of chasing after the job that pays the highest. 

When you enjoy what you're doing every day, you'll naturally deliver higher quality work and live a healthier lifestyle, ultimately becoming a better remote worker. 

2. Try Working From Anywhere

Getting paid to travel also means working from anywhere, which is not for everyone. One-third of remote workers prefer to work from any location they want, while some prefer to work from home. 

The best way to find out whether working from anywhere suits you or not is to try it out yourself. And you don't have to quit your job to figure that out. You can take 2 - 3 weeks of vacation and try working on your passion project or side hustle while traveling. 

By experiencing 'working from anywhere' yourself, you can make a wise decision whether this kind of work-travel lifestyle suits you or not.

3. Converse With Those Who Have Been There, Done That

Warren Buffet once quoted, "it's good to learn from your mistakes. It's better to learn from other people's mistakes." 

In short, before jumping into a new career or industry, it's wiser to learn from those people who have been there and done what you intend to do. 

If you want to be a travel blogger, chat with an established travel blogger, and interview them. Get all the juices and essences from them to know what to expect and how to overcome the challenges. 

Most importantly, you can estimate how your path might look and whether you're willing to venture that winding path. 

If you've made a conscious decision to fight through the digital nomad challenging path, you're essentially polishing your grit, a key element to success in any area of life. 

4. Save Now

It can be tough to save while basking in the ever-so dreamy remote work lifestyle. You'll always be on the go; you need to find accommodations, good WiFi, eat, and drink. And to continue traveling, you need to know how to save money. 

Rather than saving money then, how about starting today? 

Start putting aside a percentage of your income for your future work-travel plans. Even better, automate this as soon as you receive your paycheck to stop worrying about it. Before you know it, you'll have a fair amount of money to kick off your career change. 

#5. Start Small & Be Consistent

Those successful digital nomads and work travelers you see today are reaping the fruits of their trees, which they planted years ago, and it all began with a carefully cultivated seed. 

Transitioning from your office job to a traveling job is like planting a new seed. Each step you take is like watering the plant. If you water consistently enough, the seed is bound to grow into a seedling, then a sapling, and finally, a mature tree. This is the moment you can reap the fruits of your effort.

Like Gretchen Rubin said, "what you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while," what you can do is list down the small individual steps you need to take to transition to your dream traveling job and execute them every day.

‍

The Takeaway Message

There are multiple ways to get paid to travel, but most people are often clueless about what they can do today to get started in the right direction. 

You can try one or more of the following five ways to kickstart your remote work journey:

1. Learn one or two remote-friendly skills.
2. Try working from anywhere, including your home, cafes, co-working space, etc.
3. Interview those who have been there, done that.
4. Start saving now.
5. Start small and be consistent.

Getting paid to travel is a big goal, but if it's broken down into tiny individual tasks and executed consistently, you can achieve your dream eventually.