20 Genius Ways to Make Money While Traveling in 2025

You can talk about the places you visit, hotels you stay at, restaurants you eat at, and so on.

Need an example?

How about Kiersten from The Blonde Abroad? She quit her corporate finance job to become a world traveler. And she is now making a living doing just that.

What’s the most wonderful thing about travel writing? Maybe the fact that you can write from anywhere. An internet connection is all you need to share your journey with the world from anywhere in the world.

2. Share Your Travel Experiences on YouTube

You could also create a YouTube channel where you upload videos of your trips.

YouTube is full of travelers who are documenting their travel stories. And some of them are making quite good money from ads displayed alongside their videos.

A quick look on YouTube for travel-related videos, and you’ll know what I am talking about.

Here is an example: David Hoffmann has more than 1,300 videos on his YouTube channel, DavidsBeenHere, and you better believe he is making money, otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have the motivation to have uploaded 1,300 videos!

3. Use Your Editing Skills

Why not offer your editing skills to make some money?

Editing and proofreading can be done on a variety of projects—signs, menus, and newsletters. You could even take it one step further and offer to write marketing materials in English for local businesses.

Go to the local English-language magazine and see if they need help editing the content to suit their target expats. Sure, this isn’t easy and you may not always get a “Yes,” but it’s worth a try.

You might end up getting pleasantly surprised by the number of people who are willing to use your services for a fee.

4. Teach English

This is one of the simplest ways of earning cash while working and living in a foreign country.

If you want long-term employment, then consider joining a year-round school or university, as these are the most stable options. These universities have two months of break, which you can use for travel. In most cases, the schools even shoulder your round-trip plane fare.

But if you are looking for a short-term job, consider language schools, as they get teachers for a few weeks or months. Why not teach at a summer camp that lasts a few weeks? Then take the rest of the summer to travel.

A great site to find English teaching jobs abroad is Dave’s ESL Café.

5. Consider Resort Jobs

There are plenty of resorts in the world, and they often hire their personnel from different countries.

There are various positions you can take, such as front desk, restaurant, or the activity/entertainment department. And if you are a little adventurous, you can get a resort job at IfYouSki.com.

You can also look into working for cruise ships. To find jobs on a cruise ship, check out AllCruiseJobs.com.

6. Do Online Freelance Work

Today’s job market is full of freelancing gigs. There are web design, programming, illustration, writing, marketing, consulting, legal work, engineering, or any type of admin work available on sites like Freelancer.com and UpWork.com.

These are avenues you can check out, as they connect freelancers with employers and companies who offer various work.

There are jobs to be found in different fields, so don’t worry if your background is a little bit different.

7. Sell Stuff Online

And by stuff, I mean anything that you think other people might be interested in.

The beauty of this is that while you travel around, you are bound to come across things that people in other parts of the world can only dream of, or if they have it available to them, it’s just too expensive. As you travel from place to place, use the opportunity to find cool local items and sell them on sites like eBay.

8. Sell Your Art & Crafts at Local Markets

Or maybe try finding those markets that foreigners frequent, then start renting a stall and sell your goods.

In most places, there are markets that are for tourists and travelers. This has resulted in some enterprising individuals who follow the market circuit—they jump from one market to another all year long to sell their products such as crafts, artwork, clothes from India, or other items that are in demand.

9. Take & Sell Stock Photos

It’s not National Geographic that’s asking you to use your photos?

So what?

This should not stop you from making a little side cash selling pictures you take as you travel.

There are a whole bunch of places where you can sell stock photos. From travel agencies to stock image sites, and even giants like GettyImages.

If you like the idea of taking and selling travel pictures to stock photography sites, take a look at this list of sites where you can sell stock photos.

10. Do House-sitting

Who doesn’t want a roof over their head for free?

Normally, you won’t get paid for house-sitting, but hey, if you don’t have issues with looking after somebody’s abode while they’re elsewhere, then this is definitely a good option.

These house-sitting arrangements can last for a week, a month, or even a whole year, or any time frame in between.

For a list of sites where you can find house-sitting opportunities, plus awesome tips and guides, check out GlobeTrotterGirls.com.

11. Do Some Bartending

You will find many bars in different towns and cities that actually pay ‘cash in hand’ to tourists who are willing to work in a bar and stay there for a certain period.

Try out those bars that are connected to hostels, as they are the ones who are likely to hire you.

12. Work at a Cafe/Restaurant

And the same works for cafes and restaurants.

Are you in a known backpacking place? Then go to the hostel staff and ask for cafes nearby that hire tourists.

Or try flipping through local classified ads or coupon travel magazines to search for job openings at cafes.

You can actually find restaurants looking for people to hire in local magazines or classified ad sites such as Craigslist.

13. Work Exchange

Check out the listings on HelpX.net and then be prepared to pack up your stuff!

As long as you’re amenable to a couple of hours of work a day to pay for room and boarding expenses, or even sometimes additional cash, then this should work out for you.

There are a lot of such opportunities out there.

14. Busking

Are you talented (actually it doesn’t matter even if you’re not)? Then this is a real money-maker. Be sure that you are not getting someone’s “spot,” plus check whether you can legally do performances in certain destinations.

Otherwise, you might need to run away very quickly.

15. Work in a Hostel

A lot of hostels get part-time workers in exchange for discounted room rates.

While it may seem disgusting to clean up after tourists, this is a good source of easy cash and a free bed. Plus, you might meet new friends too.

16. For the Love of Science…or Some Cash

Are you the type who is willing to experiment, such as ignoring expiration dates of milk to see what happens if you drink it after it’s expired?

Then this is definitely for you. Be experimented on by those geeky but nervous science students from the UK, US, and Europe with Get Paid to Guinea Pig.

17. Donate Blood Plasma

Donating blood is an easy way to get some fast cash. I have written about it before, so I won’t repeat it here.

Check out this post on getting paid to donate blood.

18. Recycle

Of course, helping the environment has its rewards. In fact, in most European cities, you can even get cash for the bottles you gather.

19. Become a Tour Guide

If you happen to know and love places around the world, you can actually get paid to give tours.

There are a few ways to do this, but for somebody just starting out, the easiest way would be to work through a travel agency that hires tour guides.

One such company is ToursByLocals.com. And no, you don’t actually have to be a local to get the job. As long as you know the place like the locals, you’re good.

20. Au Pair

This one is for those long-term stays.

With the Au Pair program, you get paired with a host family in the U.S. or other countries. You get to live with the family and experience the culture for free. In exchange, you become a part of the family as a sibling, role model, best friend, or co-parent for a minimum of 1 year, with the option to extend for up to 2 years.

Check out GoAupair.com for details and opportunities.

Wrapping Up: How to Make Money While Travelling

As you can see, there are countless ways to make money while travelling, whether you’re looking for short-term gigs or long-term opportunities. From teaching English abroad to working as a tour guide, the possibilities are endless. By exploring different methods and leveraging your skills, you can fund your travels and even build a sustainable income on the road.

Now that you know how to make money while travelling, it’s time to start planning your next adventure.

Have you tried any of these ways to earn while exploring new places? Share your experiences in the comments below—let’s inspire others to turn their travel dreams into reality!