When I graduated university, the very last thing on my mind was a nine to five. Interviews, desks, resumes—all of this sounded like clutter. Instead, I decided to board a one way flight to Italy—and survive. Money, however, was certainly an issue. A freshly graduated college student, my bank account wasn’t exactly ready to support my luxurious long-term vacanze. But serious lack of funding wasn’t going to stop me. So, how does someone travel with little or no money? This answer is a no-brainer. You work. Working your way around the globe can often be more fulfilling and beneficial than simply wandering it.
With an open mind and a few simple skills, anyone can make money while traveling. Take it from me, I lived and worked in Italy. I worked at a discotheque, lived with an Italian family (for free), and gave random English lessons for a small fee, which brings me to my first job recommendation—teaching English.
Teach English
If you can speak English, you can teach English. Sure, it isn’t as simple as it sounds—you will have to freshen up those grammar skills and rules. But teaching English is extremely rewarding and can be done nearly everywhere, because it is needed everywhere. You can use agencies to find teaching jobs, or do like I did and post fliers around the city….or village?
Blog about it
Blog. Travel websites all over pay people for articles. It’s not a fortune, it’s time consuming, and sometimes unreliable. But if you can get a gig picking up extra spending money by cracking out a few articles, the time is worth it. Write an article about the top ten things to do in Barcelona. Write what not to do in Paris. Anyone who travels has a story to tell or advice to share.
Tour guide
Be a tour guide. Wear a funky hat and lead around groups of tourists with a flag. Come up with cheesy jokes and meet people from all over the world. This job is a bit repetitive, but for the right person, it can be something new everyday.
Dirty work….
Cleaning elephant shit is only one of your duties if you work on an elephant sanctuary in Thailand. Sure, it’s not the most glamorous of jobs, but elephants are cool. And who wouldn’t want to hang around adorable dumbos all day?
Elephants aren’t the only animals needing caretakers. Monkey sanctuaries are also a traveling career path for the light-hearted. Kruger Park in South Africa is always looking for employees to come and care for the animals.
Scuba instructor
Scuba instructors are also in need all over the globe. Move to an island and get paid to scuba dive. Relax on the beach in your spare time. Working hard or hardly working?
Shark diving
If you have an extreme personality or are the ultimate adventure seeker, there are even more opportunities abroad. Move to South Africa and lead great white shark diving tours. Go to Hawaii and teach surfing. Go to the mountains and teach skiing or snowboarding. I have a friend who takes people skydiving in Switzerland.
Street performer/performance artist
Have a random skill? Be a street performer. This may sound insane, but rumor has it good street performers can make 30,000 a year with the right act in the right place. My friend makes the average two hundred bucks a night twirling fire outside a club in London.
With an open mind, jobs are all over the world. Although some are more extreme than others, anyone can find their spot abroad if they are willing to look for it.
Let us know what odd ways earned money traveling the globe in the comments below.
Author Bio: Simon hails from Europe as a Blog owner and regular contributor for various financial Blogs, among others the financial Blog of the UK based fast payday loans provider Poundaccess. He also likes to write in various other topics and fields and prides himself in being a versatile professional writer.