How do people who travel earn money? Where and how you can earn money for travel

Traveling is always an exciting process in which you get a lot of new experiences and learn something interesting. In general, you acquire the kind of knowledge that is unlikely to be obtained by watching TV or video blogs on YouTube from majors flying on private jets, or from hipster boys hitchhiking without money. There are two extremes, but there are practically no middle options that would describe the experience of ordinary people who travel not for likes or some kind of challenge, but simply to explore the world.

In this article we will talk about a service that collects stories from ordinary travelers for every taste, IQPlanner. The service allows you not only to plan a trip based on the experiences of other people, but also to earn money from your stories. We talked with Konstantin Parfenenko, head of the community of Russian authors of the IQPlanner website, who spoke about the service.

What is IQPlanner and when did the project start working?

IQPlanner is a media and content platform where anyone can create an account for free and start making money simply by describing their personal experiences from traveling to different countries or places with which they are familiar.

Published recommendations, which we call “Itineraries,” take on a ready-to-purchase form on the website, a well-thought-out structure with flight and accommodation options. Each route has a “I want to go there!” button, by clicking on which you will receive the full cost of the trip, the necessary information and will be able to repeat the trip without wasting time and energy thinking about the plan.

The project was launched in March of this year and is now gaining momentum.

What is your service for, for what purpose was it created?

The main questions before any trip always remain “where to go?” and for what?". Our site helps users learn about various interesting places to vacation and make their choice based on the personal experiences of other travelers. We help our clients compare prices for air tickets, hotel rooms and transfers.

What does “good material” mean?

How much can you earn on your site?

Depends on how you work, but in general, from one US dollar to a thousand per month or more. The scheme of work is very simple: novice authors receive one dollar for each route. Having received a “silver status” - $5, and with a “gold” status - $10. In addition, all authors receive additional compensation for views and targeted transitions to booking sites.

Yes, sure! We have already made the first payments. One of our authors, for example, an experienced traveler and author of the blog “Life-in-travels.ru,” earned $340 with us in just a few weeks.

Anyone who loves to travel and share their stories can become an author. It so happened that travel bloggers were the first to notice the value of the service, and this is not surprising, because they often travel and write reports about their trips. With our site, they not only talk about travel, but also make money from it all.

Who are your users?

Our audience is mainly young boys and girls from 18 to 35 years old, anyone who leads an active lifestyle and travels. We give you the opportunity to learn about new interesting routes.

How much does your company earn and what are your plans?

It’s better to ask our authors about earnings and numbers. I'm sure they will be happy to share their achievements with you. And IQPlanner has big plans - to develop in different countries and grow a community of authors. Starting next year, we are introducing five new languages, expanding our staff and launching a mobile application, so stay tuned for news from us. It will be interesting!

Traveling around the world is a dream for many people. And while there are ways to travel for less, the cost of the average holiday abroad is still higher than most people can afford.

But what if you could travel without spending a cent? What if you also got paid for it?

Learn a language

If you want to travel to a distant country, one of the most affordable and interesting ways to do it is to get a job as a language teacher. There are more than enough jobs like this in the Middle East and Latin America, and you don't even have to speak the local language. Schools are looking for native speakers with higher education who can teach children using the “direct method”.

Do research for a guidebook

There are very few professions that are as romanticized and misunderstood as being a researcher and writing travel guides for various magazines and portals. And while the job is exhilarating as you travel to dozens of different places to try local cuisine, learn about local culture and check out local hotels, the reality is that it is quite challenging and monotonous work.

Become an Instagram star

Instagram is full of people trying to gain popularity on this platform, but if you are one of the lucky ones who manages to do it, you can turn it into a good income. The prime example is young travelers Jack Morris and Lauren Bullen, who are turning their three million Instagram followers into trips around the world and hundreds of thousands of dollars in earnings.

Become a flight attendant

If you don't mind getting your share of travel with a side dish of a nine-to-five schedule, then you can try becoming a flight attendant or flight attendant. They earn from 45 to 100 thousand dollars a year, and also receive discounts on travel not only for themselves, but also for their family members. The salary is not particularly high, but you should remember that you will work on average about 80 hours per month.

Apply for "52 Places" in the New York Times

Traveling around the world and the opportunity to write for one of the most prestigious publications in the world sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? But no. Last October, The New York Times announced the creation of a new position for its annual "52 Places to Visit" column. A correspondent must spend every week in a new place and at the same time write about his life on the road.

Sell ​​overseas products

Do you want to travel and have your own capital? You should consider getting involved in the import-export trade and travel to exotic countries to find local specialty products that will appeal to people back home. Choose items that are not particularly well-known (for example, Italian leather, Mexican hammocks, Turkish ceramics, etc.), as well as unique items that cannot be purchased in bulk.

Work remotely

If you have a laptop, internet and some skills, there are a large number of projects you can take on to make money while you travel. There are a large number of sites on the Internet designed to allow freelancers to take on work anytime, anywhere. Naturally, it will be much easier for you if you have your own resume and in-demand skills, such as programming, graphic design, writing or translation.

Work for a cruise line

Working on a cruise ship will allow you to travel to exotic locations while earning a salary, but there are a few things you need to keep in mind. You will have to work long hours for very little money, but all travel expenses will already be paid for and you will be able to travel for free. You will have access to a crew mess, as well as shops, internet cafes, gyms and so on.

Become a tourist guide

Taking tours to some of the world's most iconic and historic sites is a dream come true. This can offer you quite a bit of variety, depending on how you approach the issue. Do you want to become a tourist guide in your dream destination (for example, Paris)? Or do you want to take tourists to several different places? Both are great ways to earn money and travel.

Sign up for the Worldwide Opportunities for Organic Farms program

The global opportunity for organic farms is far from the most traditional business. Volunteers are sent to work on a farm with like-minded people for a certain period of time in exchange for a place to stay and home-cooked meals. Conditions are flexible and those wishing to stay can stay as long as they wish, and there are more than enough opportunities for them.

Start a travel blog

Being a professional blogger is not an easy task. While traveling to every place imaginable is an enjoyable part of the job, you will have to work hard to make it happen. Most bloggers spend the first year setting up their website, writing multiple posts a day, and gaining followers both on the blog and on social media before they can see any income.

Work as an au pair

An au pair, an extra pair of hands in the house, is an overseas nanny who lives with a family for a set period of time and cares for the children in the family in exchange for travel, room, food and pocket money. This can be a great way to see a new culture from the locals' perspective and also make some money. Most au pairs are students, so be quick.

Become a photographer, particularly a wedding photographer

This item requires some good skills, but if you are a creative person, then a wedding photography business can offer you the opportunity to travel for free, as well as the opportunity to realize your creative potential. It goes without saying that you must be a talented and experienced photographer. The wedding business is a difficult business to get into because you have to spend a lot of money, but as a result you can recoup your expenses quite quickly.

Join the Peace Corps

Enrolling in the Peace Corps is a decision that should not be taken rashly. You will need to spend 27 months in a developing country where you will not have access to modern amenities and will not be able to see friends and family. If this doesn't scare you and you still want to make a difference in the lives of others, the Peace Corps will be a rewarding experience that will change your life.

Write literary reports about your travels

If none of these methods help you, and at the same time you are perfect with words, then you can try writing your own book about your travels. If the book sells well, then you can receive money on an ongoing basis. Naturally, you need to understand that most authors don't see a penny for their travels and artistic work. But if you have the courage to try and the luck to succeed, your life will become a real paradise.

We all dream of traveling. I want to travel to different countries and see amazing places. However, in order to travel often and for a long time, you need to take care of your finances in advance. You need a constant and relatively predictable source of income. Without this, travel quickly degrades to the level of survival in

Most typical methods to earn money, unfortunately, is not suitable for travelers, because it does not give a person the necessary freedom and mobility. Even when earning a lot of money, people often do not allow themselves to travel, remaining attached to their business, to their work or to their clients, to their city, etc.

Temporary work is not interesting

We do not seriously consider temporary part-time jobs while traveling. For example, cases when, in order to replenish a collapsed budget, people get jobs as animators, realtors, guides, harvesters or street actors. All these adrenaline-pumping methods have their place, but this is just “keeping your pants up” - we are talking about other earnings.

In the photo: a computer is the main tool for making money while traveling

There are currently 5 proven methods how to earn money for travel. The formula is simple: passive income + Internet. These options give you real freedom when traveling. Let's discuss them.

1. Writing articles for money


In the photo: an option to make money is to write articles

If you know how to write competent and interesting texts, you can make good money by writing articles. To do this, we register on a special exchange, where there are always customers. I recommend Etxt - in my experience, they pay authors without delay, which is very important when traveling. The more and better your texts are, the higher the fees.

2. Renting your home

If you have real estate (especially in Moscow), you have every chance to make it a source of income. You will have to fuss a little while preparing the apartment and selecting an adequate tenant. However, it's worth it. After all, creating passive income is the most important part of preparing a true traveler.

By the way, by renting out an apartment, you can earn 2-3 times more if it’s rented daily. Only in this case you need someone to monitor your apartment. It’s good if these are immediate relatives, for example, parents.

3. Selling your photos, videos or drawings through microstocks


In the photo: selling photos, videos and pictures on microstocks is a good source of income for travelers

Do you have good photographic equipment and a laptop? Can you draw pictures? Then go ahead - sell photos, videos and pictures for money on sites called photo banks or microstocks. One picture or photo, unlike articles (see point 1), can be sold an infinite number of times, which means that by creating a large portfolio of works (the number of photos or illustrations sold), you can receive a stable monthly income.


In the photo: the result of the first month of sales on Shutterstock

Typically, after a year, beginners start earning about $600. You can receive money via Payoneer card, ePayments card or PayPal wallet. In my experience, the most effective microstocks are: Shutterstock, Dreamstime and Fotolia.

4. Transactions on the stock exchange

If you have a large starting amount of money, start exploring the stock market. To do this, we install a program for trading shares on a laptop, for example, “Transaq”, “Alfa-Direct”, etc. Then we understand the basics of stock trading. With due diligence and a large starting block of shares, you can make good money from constant fluctuations in stock prices on the stock exchange.

In addition, from May to September you can count on dividends from your shares.

5. Living on interest

The simplest and at the same time the most ambiguous way to generate income. We act radically - we sell everything “acquired by back-breaking labor”, and put the money on deposit in the bank, say at 10%. We consider: with the average cost of a Moscow apartment being 10 million, the monthly income will be about 83 thousand rubles. Quite a normal amount for living somewhere in Bali or on one of the beaches

The main factor holding people back from embarking on an exciting journey is money. You need to either save more or earn more so that you have enough to travel. In the last article I told. Now I’ll tell you how to earn money for travel. To travel non-stop, 30,000 rubles per month is enough. And of course you need it for traveling free time. Therefore, the main emphasis will be on work that gives good money and does not require spending the whole day on. So, from my point of view, good work has such characteristic features as:

  • Profitability
  • Remoteness (work not in the office, but where it is convenient for you)
  • Interest (work should be fun)
  • Take a little time

At home

Open your own business. The best option is to create your own business. You are your own boss, do what you like, and are confident in the future. There are a great many possible ways of development in this direction. I make a profit from my Internet projects, which allows me to have a lot of free time (which I invest in development and travel). You can create and develop your blog, online store, etc. Sales bring in the most money, so in the beginning, think about what you can sell. There is a service tvoy-start.ru, which promises to turn you into Internet entrepreneurs. I haven’t used this service myself, but having looked at their services and the promised results as far as possible, I can say that this is really a working scheme. The only thing, in my opinion, is that the prices are too high, but there are also free courses, you can check them out first. For those who have no money at all, I can advise you to look for the information they offer to buy yourself. You can find everything for free yourself, but it takes more time and you will make mistakes more often. Good information is always worth the money.

Freelance. For travelers, the most suitable option is remote work (freelance), when you decide for yourself which tasks you will perform and which not. How much you earn depends only on you. On average, freelancers earn $700-1500 per month. At first, earnings will be small (in the first two months, few exceed the $350 per month level), but as clients increase, profits will increase. You can write texts to order, play the role of an administrator on a website, create websites, be a designer, in general, almost all professions in the world, only you work where you want and when you want. In Russia, the most popular services for freelancers are and. There are also sites that help freelancers earn more and faster (Do not confuse with quickly and a lot - this is most often offered by scammers. Do you want money? Work hard and don’t look for freebies, and you will be happy.), one of these is rabotadoma2.ru (himself I haven’t used this site, but friends who have taken their courses say that they helped a lot).

Your own blog. A popular way to make money online is to create your own blog. The main thing you need for this is an original idea. You need to make a blog that really answers visitors’ questions or talks about what interests them. There are already a large number of blogs and competition is increasing every day, so offer something good to your visitors and then you will have a profitable and highly visited project. The main advantages of such a business are that it is passive income: you develop your project for some time (for a blog to generate a profit of 15,000 rubles a month, you need to work on it for about 7 months, although it very much depends on the topic), and then it just brings money without your participation, i.e. You can simply support it (by devoting an hour a day) and receive money; This is remote work: work wherever you want. To create a blog, you can take Evgeniy Popov’s course; I myself started with his courses. Here the material is definitely worth the money. For those who are completely penniless, I can recommend finding similar information on the Internet, everything is freely available, the difference between Evgeniy’s courses is that everything is systematized there and shown in a video, it’s very convenient and saves a lot of time. To increase traffic (in many respects, your profit depends on site traffic), I recommend using sites and.

Sales of information products. One of the most profitable ways to make money on the Internet. The bottom line is this: if you have good knowledge and experience in any field, then create your own information product (video with your comments) and sell it to interested people. Just evaluate the popularity of the area you are planning to go into; if you start creating an information product about selling multi-colored felt boots, you will not receive much income (if at all). You need to sell what is in demand, then you will get good money. Earnings from information products are unlimited, some earn nothing, while others earn millions of dollars. I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the course by Evgeniy Popov, he will really provide valuable information.

On a hiring journey

You can earn money while traveling. If you can’t wait to explore the world and get moving, then this is your way to make money. Working abroad while traveling is a reality. But almost everywhere you need to know a foreign language (most often English is enough). My friends live in Bali and earn 50,000 rubles a month (several months passed before they found this job, so first, most likely, they will have to work at a less profitable job). Would you like to live in Bali and do what you want? They wanted it and achieved it. You can earn money from both permanent and casual work, but in some cases you need a work permit. Here are some professions that will help you earn money while traveling:

  • bartender
  • waiter
  • guide (the most common profession among travelers)
  • hotel/hostel worker
  • translator (it is quite difficult to find a vacancy in this specialty, but possible)
  • photographer
  • DJ
  • courier

I recommend earning more and don’t get hung up on saving (but I don’t recommend spending money on unnecessary things either). For some people it will be useful to familiarize yourself with, I myself learned a lot of useful information there, advice on this project - don’t get too carried away with completing trainings and reading all the articles, you learned something -> implemented it into your life -> went to learn new things -> implemented it in your life and so on in a circular manner. We need to ACT. I have never made money while traveling (while working for hire). My choice is Internet projects. In this article you learned a lot of good information that will allow you to create the life you want. Remains only act. Go for it, good luck!

Video about remote work

When communicating with travelers, the first thing I try to do is find out how they make money while in different countries. There are people who simply moved to live in another country, and there are those who do not stay in one place for more than a couple of months.

Based on their lives, I have compiled statistics of the most common methods, and now I will tell you about them.

Ways to earn money while traveling with disadvantages

  • Employment

- I see this method quite often. When we were in Cyprus, I was surprised how many Russians and Ukrainians there were. Working as waiters, sellers, guides, etc.

Of course, it’s cool to live where you want with a stable income, but most people work in order to live there and support themselves. They have to do something they don’t like, work around the clock and have problems with permission to earn income without being a citizen of this country, and also be tied to their place.

  • Business offline

2. Business in another country- practically the same thing as hired work, only even more hemorrhoids. Basically, these are shops, cafes, entertainment and services for tourists, helping to find accommodation, extend a visa, etc. Isolated cases of production of any goods, for example: furniture, toys, decorations, etc. Well, or food processing: seafood, fruits, vegetables.

In some countries, it is prohibited for a foreigner to do business, but in others, on the contrary, it is welcomed and supported in every possible way. It is quite complex and requires a large initial investment. And in general, this method can not be attributed to making money while traveling, I also wanted to write about construction, but this is completely too much.

  • Network business

3. Network marketing. I also classified it as an income group with big disadvantages. I have the right to talk about network business, since I myself have been involved in it for more than a year. Only while in Russia. I know about a dozen people who travel at the expense of a network company, but these are mostly top leaders.

People who have built a huge team of distributors throughout Russia. A little later I will write about the network in more detail and explain why I think that it is not suitable for making money while traveling. If you have something to say about this, write in the comments and we’ll discuss it.

Ways to earn money while traveling for everyone

  • Working for yourself

- quite an interesting and popular way to earn money while traveling. This point includes those people who mainly do what they love and provide their services. These are photographers, videographers, stylists, hairdressers, trainers in various sports and spiritual practices, business coaches and so on.

They provide professional services and teach other people how to make money from it. Subsequently, as often happens, they become information businessmen - they create their own courses, write books and receive passive income from them.

  • Business online

2. Information business and affiliate programs- this method includes those people who create their own courses, training programs, books, etc., and those people who help sell them, receiving a percentage for this.

What is information business? This is information remade in your own way, some of your own experience has been added and it’s all sorted out.

3. Sale of physical goods, online store— to be honest, I haven’t met many people on my travels who are involved in this business. But it exists and has become popular lately. I can’t tell you much about this, but rather in the future I’ll interview these people and they will tell you everything themselves.

4. Your own information website or blog- this is probably the second most accessible way for an ordinary person to make money on the Internet, and it also has a very big advantage - it brings profit 24 hours a day.

To create your own blog, you don’t need a lot of investment, you can do it in an hour. But for it to generate income, you will have to make a little effort and, possibly, investments. For me, a blog is not only a way to earn money and build passive income, but also one of the ways of self-development.

According to my statistics, only 20% of travelers do all the methods that I listed above. The last way earn money while traveling, which I will talk about in this article, is practiced by almost 80% of people who travel freely around the world.



  • Work online

5. Remote work and freelancing- this is by far the most accessible and fastest way to learn how to earn money, regardless of location. As I already said, about 80% of free travelers do it.

Nowadays, any successful business cannot do without an online presence, and this business cannot do without reliable employees. There are hundreds of professions for which you can find work online, so you can read about professions.

Remote work is also the most stable option compared to the other above-mentioned methods of making money on the Internet. Finding a vacancy for remote work on the Internet is quite difficult, I myself tried to search six months ago on sites with vacancies, but under all the vacancies for which I applied, networkers from Oriflame, etc. were disguised.

I don’t want to reveal the secrets of finding a job that I received while undergoing paid training. You can read it here. This training is just a quick way to start earning money via the Internet; within a month I earned my first money and found a stable employer.

If you don't want to pay or are afraid of trainings, try it yourself. I think you will succeed.

This is where I run out of options for how to make money while traveling. If you know any other interesting ways, share them in the comments.

I wish everyone to travel and earn more!


By clicking the button, you agree to privacy policy and site rules set out in the user agreement