Are you wanting to travel the world but not willing to put your career on hold? Or taking a year off from college and needing to have a job while you travel? There are great ways to satisfy your craving for adventure without dipping into your savings.
Whether you’re a twenty-something who is ready to drop everything to explore someplace new, or have a remote job and can work from anywhere- your next adventure awaits you. Here are 3 excellent ways to travel while working:
Remote Jobs
Remote jobs have become commonplace in the last few years and are best for travelers who want to pursue a career or a side hustle while on the move.
You might have heard expressions like “digital nomad”, a term which refers to people who use the power of the internet to freely travel while working and making a full or part time income. In the age of remote work, this is not a fantasy. According to Pew Research Center, 40% of people have jobs that can be done remotely at least part of the time. If you don’t currently have a remote work job, it’s a great time to look for one. Fully remote job postings have increased by fourfold according to one study. So if you want the option to work from anywhere, remote jobs are an excellent choice.
Remote jobs are really easy to find regardless of your experience level. Sites like Indeed, Glassdoor, and BuiltIn have a filter where you can look specifically for remote jobs. If you’re a freelancer, Indeed is a great place to find contract work. UpWork and Fiverr are also good platforms for freelancers, but the sites do take a portion of your earnings.
Remote work programs:
Are you hesitant to travel the world alone? Or just looking for an easy way to meet new people while you travel?
RemoteYear is a group travel program designed specifically for remote workers. Digital Nomads can also expect to have co-working spaces, community experiences, and development workshops. The flat program fee includes transportation and accommodations. Remote Year offers many different journeys that span between 1 month ($2,500) to 1 year ($32,000). Travel destinations are located all over the world, and there are single-destination as well as multiple destination trips.
Work Exchange/Work Away Programs
Exchange and work away programs are great for students to travel in college during their time off, and for people who want to absorb a new culture and not worry about housing or meals.
For those who want to live like the locals, WorldPackers is a site that organizes work exchange programs and volunteer work away programs. Accommodations and meals are offered in exchange for house work. Much like with AirBnB, volunteer hosts post listings with photos of the lodging option and a description of the work required. Some hosts ask for help teaching a child English, while others ask for help doing small repairs around the house.
Seasonal Work
Seasonal Work is great for people who are wanting to save up money and retreat into nature, especially without going abroad. These jobs are ideal for students who are on summer break or are taking a gap year.
CoolWorks and WanderJobs are sites that post seasonal work jobs within the US. These jobs both pay a wage and provide housing/meals. Potential job options include being a camp counselor, a server, ski instructor, retail associate, and more. Some positions even include a sign on bonus. A big perk of these jobs is that many of them both pay workers and provide them with housing and meals. It is also a great way to join a community of people who like you, are interested in experiencing a new place and traveling.
More information on remote work and traveling:
Seasonal and volunteer work is a great way for people without a career tying them down to travel. But thanks to remote work, long term travel is now an option for many more people.
In 2019, 7.3 million people in the United States were remote workers, aka “digital nomads.” Now, as of 2022, 15.5 million people in the US call themselves digital nomads. These people are not travel bums that you may be picturing– more than half of digital nomads own their own business while 35% are freelance or gig workers.
Traveling used to only be an option for financially privileged people. In 1972, only half of all Americans had flown in a plane before. And it wasn’t until 1963 that the last US airport was desegregated. So only a small number of people got to travel long distances for pleasure. But now traveling is much more common for the general population.
According to the PEW research center, as of 2021, 70% of Americans have been to at least one other country. Yet travel continues to be something that is exclusive. US women are more likely than men to have never left the country, with 32% of women compared to 22% of men having never traveled outside the US. Luckily, remote work is helping to close this discrepancy. According to USA Today, 70% of digital nomads are women.
Interestingly, there are competitive traveler organizations which are perhaps a residual effect of travel’s former exclusivity. Most Traveled People and Nomad Mania rank their members according to a point system. There’s also the Travelers Century Club, an organization started in 1954, for people who have been to 100 or more countries. These worldly people have conferences and local chapter groups.
Have you considered long-term travel? Leave us a comment below!
