It’s the dream of many people of all ages and types to take a year or two out and travel the world. After all, we’re only here on this earth once, and there’s so much to see and do, right? Yet, if you ask fresh college graduates, dissatisfied middle-aged careerists, and people of all ages who want to take some time out why they don’t do it, they’ll almost all tell you that one thing is stopping them – money.
It’s said that money makes the world go round, and when it comes to breaking free from financial drudgery and living your dream, no doubt’s true. Luckily, there are multiple ways to make money which you can take with you on the road.
IMAGE: PEXELS
1. Become A Freelancer
If you have a skill such as copywriting, graphic design, computer programming, video editing, or anything else which can be done online, there’s really nothing stopping you from making a full-time living online. Sure, you’ll need to restrict your travel to areas with an internet connection, but that’s most of the world these days, so you still have plenty of options.
Lots of people report making more money than they did in their careers when they take the plunge into freelancing. For some, they end up running full-scale digital agencies with multiple people working for them.
However, running a digital business isn’t the point. What’s possible for wannabe nomads is. You can spend your days relaxing in a hammock in Thailand or Costa Rica if you can dedicate a few hours each evening (or morning) to working online. Sounds like a fair trade-off, right?
2. Play Online Poker Or Blackjack
Before we begin this point, let’s just say that it isn’t possible for everyone. You’ll need to have skills or be willing to develop them. You’ll also need to know which casino games to play and which to avoid. For example, it’s entirely possible to make money playing poker or blackjack. However, if you try to make a living on keno or lottery sites, you’re in for a disappointment.
Even at legit lottery sites, those games are rigged in favor of the house to such a degree that it’s impossible to make money consistently. It is possible to have big, lucky wins with those games, but you can’t depend on that when you’re out traveling the world. Your best bet is online poker. This is one of the few card games that involves real skill rather than just dumb luck.
You can bluff your way to victory even with a terrible hand. You can also get better over time, and since you’re playing against other players rather than the house, your opponent does not have a mathematical advantage over you. Poker tournaments are going on 24/7, 365.
There are even freeroll tournaments with guaranteed prize pools worth thousands. You should sign up and play in those even if you don’t intend to play poker for a living. It doesn’t hurt to develop another skill when it costs nothing to do so.
3. Become An Affiliate Marketer
If the idea of answering client requests and emails sounds like it would ruin your travels, there’s an alternative, but it will take a little bit more planning and some legwork upfront. You can become an internet affiliate, promoting everything from Amazon products to online poker.
If there’s a product for sale, and the website or business selling it is serious, it’s highly likely that they have an affiliate program. Your job is then to generate leads for them through your own website. You do so by blogging and building traffic to your own website, and you send them qualified leads for a cut of the action when a sale does occur.
Being an affiliate marketer is not 100% passive income. It does require some work here and there to maintain your website, update your content, and fix problems as they arise. However, it’s as close to the Four-Hour Workweek dream as many are likely to get.
4. Monetize Your Own Website
You’ll need a website to become an affiliate marketer, but this model is entirely different. While you can make thousands of dollars as an affiliate with relatively few sales in some niches, monetizing your own websites is all about one thing – volume.
The idea here is to generate as much traffic as is humanly possible and monetize it via ads. You could document your travels, blog about your hobbies, or write daily news updates. You’ll make money through Google Ads and other means.
If you don’t think it’s possible to make enough to fund your travels, think again. This author knows one webmaster who makes over $7,000 per month from Google Ads alone – he runs a news website and updates it twice per day. He lives on a tropical island in Asia permanently.
5. Casually Work As You Go
So far, we’ve only covered ways to make money online. If we didn’t consider the other side of the coin – real-world work – this guide to money for nomads would not be complete. It’s possible to pick up all sorts of work while you travel.
From working for summer seasons in bars and clubs in the Canary Islands to au-pairing in Turkey, to teaching English in Asia, to helping out on farms in Australia and New Zealand, there are lots of ways to put a few extra bucks in your pocket while you’re on the move.
However, you’ll need to make sure you have a valid work visa for the country you’re working in, and that you pay any taxes owed in that country. This is probably the main disadvantage to “real” work and is the main reason so many nomads prefer the idea of working online.
Summary
So, now you know five different ways to make money while you travel. There are no more excuses. The clock is ticking, and your life is disappearing one minute, hour, and a day at a time. Will you die with regrets, or will you go out with thoughts of Mount Everest, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Amazon Jungle in your mind? Now that you know how to make money to fund your travels, there’s only one last thing standing in your way – fear.
If you are interested in even more business-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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