19 Ways to Get Paid to Travel the World

1. Rent your car while away (& get free airport parking)

Airport parking and fees are a nightmare for most travelers.

But one company is turning the nightmare to a dream!

FlightCar is the company we’re talking about.

With FlightCar, you get your airport parking for free, and you may even make some money.

You simply have to agree that your car can be rented out while you’re away.

Basically, you get to park your car for free and if someone rents your car while you’re away, you also get paid for the rental.

If no one rents your car, you still get the free parking.

It’s a win-win for you either way.

Depending on your location and how busy of an airport you use, you may even be able to earn eno8gyh cash to cover some of your flight-related expenses.

And yes, all renters go through a very thorough background check before they are approved.

The company also takes care of insurance for your car while it’s rented out.

2. Rent out your house

Most people have heard of Airbnb by now. It’s a website that arranges short-term rentals of properties.

So while you are away on vacation, you can use Airbnb to rent out your home temporarily, giving you more cash to spend towards your next vacation.

You might also want to look at Airbnb for a place to stay on your next vacation – they have properties for rent in 190 different countries.

3. Get paid for sightseeing

How about being paid for doing your sightseeing?

This is now possible by using an app called GigWalk.

Simply, it tells you about little jobs that someone needs doing near you, wherever you are.

The jobs include things like checking on a shop’s display or actual secret shopping in a particular retail outlet.

The jobs can range from a few minutes to a couple of hours, and the pay can range from $3 to $100 or more, paid into your PayPal account.

It only works in the US at the moment.

4. Get paid to (mystery) shop as you travel

FieldAgent is an app similar to GigWalk and is run by a market research company.

So you can expect to do market research type tasks, such as mystery shopping or even testing products.

The jobs take a few minutes and may pay $10 each.

You also get an opportunity to win $50, which is given to the top three submissions on particular jobs.

5. Get paid to teach what you know

We, here at MoneyPantry, have talked many times before about making money teaching others what you know.

And nowadays, sites like TakeLessons make it extremely easy for you to get paid to teach what you know from anywhere in the world.

Whether your “what you know” is music, algebra, history, or a language, you can turn it into cash.

Simply join the site for free, set up your hourly rate and decide on what you want to teach. Once that’s done, you wait for students to signup for your lessons.

Payment is made directly into your PayPal account.

According to the site, so far, teachers have earned a combined amount of more than $51 million.

6. Give business advice on the go

Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur?

Do you have a lot of experience and know-how when it comes to startups?

If so, you could earn money by sharing that with other startup and small business owners.

Through a site like ClarityFM, you can do this remotely from anywhere in the world.

You sign up as an expert, fill out your profile, set up your hourly rate and wait for clients. Then whenever someone who needs advice from an expert like you, chooses you, you get on a call with them and answer their questions.

It really is as easy as that!

The best part is that you can do this anytime and from anywhere.

You can turn those wasted hours in airports waiting for flights to money.

Or while at the beach enjoying the wave and the sun shine, you can spend a few moments on a call that could earn you anywhere from $20 to $200 or more.

7. Charge $5 to stand under a famous landmark

You may have heard of Fiverr, the website that allows people to sell a wide range of services for a nominal price of $5.

It’s basically a site where you can sell “gigs” for $5 (though you can add extras and charge much more than $5.)

These “gigs” can be anything you can possibly think of – from practical and normal stuff like writing articles and reviews, to art like painting, photography, to bizarre and crazy like prank calling on behalf of a client.

Some of the most popular kind of gigs on Fiverr are travel related gigs. And since you are on the road, this create the perfect opportunity for you make some quick cash.

Here are a few examples of the kind of travel related gigs you can sell:

Standing in front of a famous monument with a sign.

Taking a picture of a famous landmark for the client.

Reviewing a particular restaurant, hotel, or destination.

Making a travel plan for someone for a city you have been to.

Don’t be afraid to come up with bizarre and entertaining gigs.

As as I explained in our “How to make money on Fiver” post, there are people who are making 6 figure income on Fiverr.

You may not get there anytime soon, but you could make enough to cover some of your travel costs, all while relaxing and experiencing new places and cultures.

8. Start a travel blog

People dream of starting a travel blog and using it to fund their traveling around the world.

It’s harder work than that, and difficult to make it pay.

In fact, they say that even successful bloggers can take at least a year before they establish themselves online and start making money.

But if travel is your passion, and you have the means to get started, then this is one avenue you can explore to help you pay for those vacations that you love.

For example, check out TheSavvyBackpacker, an awesome travel blog founded by James & Sue, a couple who travel through Europe while spending as little as possible.

They, of course, make money from their travel blog through ads and affiliate offers.

There are much more examples of successful travel blogs out there, and while each of these sites has their own unique voice and style, they all have one thing in common – it took time and a lot of hard work to go from zero visitors to thousands of visitors a day.

So set realistic expectations if you’re going to start your own travel related blog.

9. Try WWOOFing

If you like the idea of sustainable and organic farming and are concerned with the environment, you should look into WWOOFing.

WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, and it’s an association that helps place volunteers with farmers who need help.

Typically, in return for volunteer help, the farmers, or WWOOF posts will offer food and accommodation, as well as some learning opportunities.

You will have to work, but it can be a great experience, and it’s available in a great number of countries.

10. Get paid to travel and take photos

It’s not likely that National Geographic would want your photographs, as they have strict professional standards for high definition pictures taken with expensive cameras, but that does not mean that your pictures aren’t worth something.

If you like taking pictures while on a vacation, look for interesting and unique subjects, something that is not run-of-the-mill so that your photos stand out.

You can sell your photographs in many places, and one of the easiest things is to list them on a stock photo website where you are paid a royalty every time someone purchases the image.

11. Here is how to stay at awesome houses for free

House sitting is one of the best ways to save money on travel!

You probably won’t be paid for it, but you will at least get your accommodation for free.

If you’re responsible, and wouldn’t mind looking after someone else’s house while they’re away, then there are websites that list opportunities.

Here are a few you can check out:

1. Mindmyhouse.com
2. Trustedhousesitters.com
3. Housecarers.com

Stays can vary from a few days up to months, depending where and why the owners are away.

12. Get on board with Work Exchange

If you really want to keep the cost of your vacation down, maybe you need to work a couple of hours each day.

But finding a part time job in a place where you don’t know much about is hard.

Thankfully, HelpX is here to help.

HelpX is a Work Exchange site.

I’ll let them explain what they do:

HelpX is an online listing of host organic farms, non-organic farms, farmstays, homestays, ranches, lodges, B&Bs, backpackers hostels and even sailing boats who invite volunteer helpers to stay with them short-term in exchange for food and accommodation.

In exchange for a little work, you get room and board, and sometimes they’ll even give you a little spending cash.

13. Be an Au Pair

This is an idea that originated in Europe and has now spread to the US, albeit in a slightly different form.

The concept is that the Au Pair is accepted as a temporary member of the family, given their own room and some free time, and in exchange helps look after the children.

This is not a short-term appointment, some au pair’s work for a year or more, experiencing another country’s culture and quite possibly becoming fluent in the language.

Check it out at Goaupair.com for more details.

14. Work at a Resort

Instead of just visiting a resort, have you considered working at one?

That way you get the vacation atmosphere, usually have an enjoyable time and earn money too.

Resorts often like to employ staff from different countries. For instance, Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona, once imported an entire staff of Brits.

You can work on the front desk, in food service, or in the guest services.

You don’t even have to work at conventional resorts.

To work on a cruise ship, check out sites like AllCruiseJobs.com, or if you like the mountains, try IfYouSki.com.

15. Be a secret shopper

With traditional mystery shopping, you pose as a shopper in stores and report back your experience.

With travel mystery shopping, instead of going to stores, you stay at hotels, eat at restaurants, book vacations through various platforms, stay at resorts, etc, then report back your experience.

For example, Trivago will pay you for staying at hotels if you promise to take a few questioners before and after your stay.

A great company that does conduct travel related mystery shopping assignments is Sensors Quality Management Inc.

There are always stories of people who go on vacations for free or next to nothing by taking on shopping assignments from this company.

Of course, you pretty much have to go where you’re sent, as that is where they want the feedback, but you should get a free vacation and even collect some pay for your work.

16. Become a tour guide

If you know a lot about a particular area, then you can get a job as a tour guide, hosting parties around and answering their questions.

You could try contacting travel agencies to see who is interested in your services.

One company you can try is ToursByLocals.com.

They don’t just employ local people, but you should have as much knowledge as someone who lives in the area so that you can be an effective guide.

17. Teach English

Also known as TEFL, this is a popular way to earn money while visiting other countries.

If you are a native English speaker, you have the basic qualifications to become TEFL certified, and this can be done in an intensive one month course.

You can expect your travel and accommodation to be paid, and you will receive a salary. You may even be able to take on private tuition in the evenings, helping friends of people you already know through the class and supplementing your income.

Check out Dave’s ESL Café for more details.

18. Be a Flight Attendant

If you’re serious about wanting to travel a lot, then a flight attendant’s job may be for you!

Of course, it is hard work while you are at work, and you will work irregular hours, as required.

On the other hand, if you are on international flights you will frequently spend the night in a foreign city before turning around, and you get great benefits in terms of free or discounted flights for yourself and family or friends.

For a higher paid and “higher flying” job, you might even want to get trained as a pilot, though this requires a lot more work and commitment.

19. Become an international trader

For an interesting entrepreneurial opportunity, why not travel the world buying local artifacts, and importing them for sale at a great profit.

If you make sure you buy quality goods, which you can still get cheaply in many regions, there can be a lot of profit to be made.

And all your traveling for business would be tax-deductible.

The Bottom Line

If you have a passion for travel, then the opportunities above represent many different ways of satisfying that passion.

As you can see, you don’t necessarily have to have a fortune in order to travel the world.

With many of these options, not only you travel the world for free or cheap, in some case you can even get paid for doing it.