Working while traveling—how many dreams do you have of it? Working and traveling at the same time today is not just a fantasy. In fact, more and more people are choosing a job that allows them to move from one place to another without constraints. For example, there are those who:
- wants to try out different types of careers and travel the world to change his life,
- can’t stand the idea of being confined within the four walls of the office and so he chooses a job that makes him spend a lot of time on the move,
- loves to travel to get in touch with different places and cultures and chooses a job that allows him to do so.
Choosing to work while traveling does not mean traveling to find work or reaching an undesirable destination to work. It means, instead, seeking a profession that allows one to earn while traveling for personal pleasure. Working while traveling is a lifestyle that offers the perfect blend of work and exploration.
But what are the jobs that allow you to move from one place to another, and how can you support yourself while living where you want? Discover the joys of working while traveling, where every day is an opportunity for new experiences. In general, the web is the context that offers the most professional opportunities to earn money and support oneself while traveling.
In fact, to the question “What can you do to work while traveling?” the answer is: all professions in the digital sphere are those that guarantee the greatest freedom of movement. It is no coincidence that we hear more and more often about “digital nomads”, i.e., people who choose a remote job as one of the many activities for self-employment online, in order to have the freedom to move whenever they feel the urge.
Do you like the idea of working online while traveling? Then read on and find out:
- what work to do while traveling;
- which jobs take you around the world;
- how to start living by traveling.
12 professions for working while traveling
There are many jobs that pay you to travel, and the internet is full of advertisements and offers to work while traveling. Working while traveling allows you to see the world while still pursuing your professional goals. In this article, however, I am not going to tell you about jobs whose travel is defined by the company you work for.
To be clear, I am not going to suggest that you be a salesman or even a technical specialist because, while these are professions that allow you to travel, you cannot decide where you go. And the locations are not necessarily to your liking.
Therefore, I will exclude from the discussion all activities where you are not free to choose where to go and do not even have the possibility of being able to move from one place to another at will.
Instead, I will talk about professions that you can do as a freelancer. In this way, you can live wherever you want and decide how many hours a day you want to work, organizing your free time as you, please.
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SEO Specialist
The first activity through which you can work while traveling is that of an SEO specialist. Embrace the freedom and flexibility of working while traveling, creating a life of adventure and productivity. This is a professional who helps companies rank high on search engines without the need to invest in advertising, such as Google Ads.
The SEO (search engine optimization) specialist is useful for improving company business results. He is in high demand, especially by small businesses, and can do his work remotely as he works on results. Therefore, he agrees on goals in terms of traffic and positions to be achieved on browsers and tries to achieve them by adopting specific strategies.
With the rise of remote work, more individuals are choosing the freedom of working while traveling. It can have a great deal of autonomy in defining how to achieve its objectives. The results can then be easily measured and shown to customers as confirmation of the work done.
SEO Copywriter
The SEO copywriter is the one who writes articles, usually for blogs, that are optimized from an SEO perspective with the aim of making them appear among the first search engine results.
Experience the thrill of working while traveling, where your office can be a beach, a cafe, or a mountaintop. This job is also a great way to work while traveling because it allows one to work remotely. In fact, the copywriter can write while sitting in a park or in front of a beach and then send their articles to clients.
Web Content Editor
Another idea for working while traveling is to be a web content editor. This is a professional whose job it is to manage an entire blog on behalf of a company or several companies at once. What does he actually do?
- It selects those who write, i.e. copywriters,
- entrust his staff with the articles,
- supervises their work: clearly proofreads and corrects,
- publish it all; the result is a well-coordinated work as a whole.
Break free from the confines of a traditional office and enjoy the benefits of working while traveling. He can carry out these activities remotely because he can have complete management of the blog and all the results it generates, even if he does not work in a physical editorial office.
SEM Specialist
Among the professions related to online advertising is, for example, the SEM specialist. The Search Engine Marketing Specialist is a specialist in search engine advertising, in particular Google Ads. What does this person do?
- He creates advertising campaigns, on behalf of small and medium-sized companies that entrust him with work, and manages them remotely,
- works by results and by orders.
Everything it does is demonstrable, quantifiable, and measurable, which is why you can do it from wherever you want.
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Social Advertising Specialist
When advertising, instead of being done on search engines, is carried out on social media, then the social advertising specialist, also called the pay-per-click specialist, comes into play.
This person creates and sets advertisements on:
- LinkedIn and other social networks.
Social Media Specialist & Community Manager
The profession of social media specialist and community manager is one of the most sought-after jobs for earning money on the road. The reason is simple: people like socializing. I guess you like them too! What does this specialist do?
- Manages social pages and content engagement,
- and handles communication and interaction with the public on behalf of one or more companies.
If you choose this profession, you can interact with users, create content, and animate the company’s community.
This activity can also be done remotely because online company pages or profiles are managed. Therefore, all you need is an Internet connection and a computer.
Affiliation
Among the jobs you can do for a living while traveling, affiliate marketing should be mentioned. With affiliate marketing, you can earn a percentage of the sale of a product or service through the creation of written content on your website or blog.
Transactions are tracked via special links containing UTMs (Urchin Tracking Modules), i.e., parameters used to identify the source of traffic. They indicate, in particular, the details of the campaign that led to a certain visit to the website or landing page of the product in question.
Travel blogger – Travel Influencer
Getting paid to travel is a dream you can also realize, for instance, by being a travel blogger.
To become one, you have to start your own website with a blog and tell about your travels through articles, photos, and videos. Otherwise, you can work as a travel influencer, growing your fanbase and engaging your followers with engaging content.
It will take some time and perseverance to set up your project but know that many brands, hotel chains, and travel agencies invest in these marketing activities and are willing not only to let you travel for free (exchange goods) but also to pay you to do so.
The remuneration depends on the value of the traffic on your website or blog, the number of your fans or followers, and the engagement rate of your social profiles. In short, getting paid to travel does not equate to a fixed income; remuneration varies according to the visibility you can offer your brand.
UI/UX Designer & Graphic/Web Designer
Other digital professions you can take up while traveling and changing your life include design-related jobs such as UI/UX Designer, Graphic Designer, and Web Designer.
The UI/UX specialist deals with the design of the user interface and user experience on websites. On the other hand, the web designer can be defined as a ‘frontend’ developer who creates websites from graphic drafts drawn by the graphic designer, according to the client’s specifications.
All these jobs can be done remotely, from wherever you are, as long as you have an adequate internet connection.
Web and App Developer
Developers can also work on the road as freelancers, enjoying a lot of freedom. The web, software, or app developer is the one who physically writes the code that makes programs and systems work. He does not need a fixed place to carry out his tasks; he only needs a computer, a location in the place he wants, and a Wi-Fi line.
Among them, the WordPress site developer, one of the most popular open-source CMSs among marketers and companies, is gaining popularity.
Photo-video editor
Would you like to travel around Italy or some other country, taking photos and videos while seeing beautiful places? Well, you can do it by becoming a freelance photographer and video maker, two jobs that give you the opportunity to make a living by traveling.
Just find the right channels to promote your services, get companies and brands to contact you, and you’re done. Produce the content your customers want, send it to them, and with what you earn, you can support yourself and move from place to place.
To do this, you need a digital camera, a laptop, and a connection.
Online consultant
Another profession that allows you to work wherever you want and live while traveling is that of an online consultant. For example, many digital consultants work remotely, either from home or wherever they prefer. To do this job, you need a computer, a wifi network, and a platform for video conferences and calls.
The important thing is to reach your customers, perhaps by opening a website and social channels. This way, you can promote yourself, do personal branding, and get companies to contact you for advice.
Learn about the educational offerings in digital marketing
How to start working while traveling
What do you need to do while traveling? First, open a simple VAT number, even with a flat-rate scheme, i.e., with minimal tax obligations. This way, you can work as a freelancer right away and start earning money.
I would advise against starting a business because that would involve having to manage a team. And doing it remotely is complicated, especially if you are just starting out. In addition, you would encounter great difficulties in the start-up phase of a company, i.e., in its first 3-5 years of life, because you would lack that physical presence and commonality of situations between you and your team, which are necessary to create the foundations of a brand that aims for success.
Working while traveling opens up a world of possibilities, enabling you to broaden your horizons both personally and professionally. Working and traveling as a freelancer does not mean not dealing with people; on the contrary, you can travel for work, collaborating with other people who are, however, not your direct employees.
To do the jobs I mentioned, you don’t need much. In fact, it is enough:
- a computer,
- an Internet connection;
- sometimes you might need a camera, a video camera, or a smartphone, but a little more. All definitely transportable things!
The know-how for working on the road
To work while traveling, in addition to the technological equipment just listed, it is important that you have a wealth of knowledge and skills.
In fact, the professions I have described all have one thing in common: the main added value you have to provide through them is your know-how. Working while traveling allows you to make the most of your time by seamlessly blending work and leisure.
Working while traveling gives you the opportunity to expand your horizons and gain a global perspective. This is what you must always take into account when preparing your ideal toolbox for working on the road. Why? Because when you have added value in terms of know-how and skills, it happens:
- You become a rare, hard-to-find resource due to the high value of your skills. This means that companies will be willing to work with you even if you are not physically present there or close to them;
- by having high-value knowledge, the pricing of your services can be higher, because you have fewer competitors at the same professional level.
You may now be asking yourself, “What should I study to work on the road?” There is no specific degree that allows you to travel for work, but there are many self-employed professions that you can learn to do well and that allow you to combine travel and work. Experience the ultimate work-life balance by working while traveling, and creating memories while achieving your career goals.
Which customers should you work with if you want to travel?
What are the ideal clients if you want to earn money on the road as a freelance professional? The freelance jobs I have told you about can have both large and medium-sized and small companies as typical clients. But I urge you to consider small businesses in particular because:
- are quantitatively superior to large realities, at least in Italy;
- are the ones with the most difficulties in approaching digital media.
One last consideration: in each of these professions, you can work as a freelancer, but if things go wrong, you can easily reposition yourself and relocate within companies. In fact, many of these roles are also needed in the company, and you can do them on an employee basis.
Where to find job offers to travel the world
Many people choose to change their lives and leave their jobs to travel. There are those who decide to work by traveling around Italy or abroad, whether by car, plane, or ship; there are also those who choose to work by traveling in a camper van.
Unlike the work traditionally conceived until a few years ago, today there are many flexible professions in terms of hours and locations. Consequently, job opportunities for traveling have also increased; if you think about it, there are even companies that hire people to travel. There are, therefore, so many online platforms where you can find job offers for traveling and so many innovative ways to combine travel and work.
Platforms for working while traveling
If you want to work wherever you want while traveling around the world, you should know where to look for work. There are many crowdsourcing platforms, which in English means “crowdsourcing” or ‘outsourcing’ as part of the work activities.
These are based on the sharing of knowledge and skills by people implementing projects. Project management is managed remotely, so the team can be wherever they want, even on the road.
On job-finding platforms, freelancers make their skills available, and companies open their projects to applications from different professionals worldwide. It is a kind of marketplace where the client decides who to assign the job to, and once the project is completed, the freelancer receives his fee.
This system works in many countries, and in Italy, many self-employed people use it to find work and travel independently.
Among the main existing platforms, I recommend you take a look at:
- Freelancer.com is the platform with the largest number of members, as many as 20 million worldwide. The most popular professions are those related to IT, but there are many opportunities for copywriters, bloggers, translators, graphic designers, and other designers.
- AddLance, founded in 2014, has more than 20,000 members. Ideal for developers, copywriters, web and graphic designers, native translators, and consultants.
- Starbytes and Zooppa: both in Italian. The first is dedicated to IT and digital technology experts and allows companies to communicate their needs, receive creative proposals, and choose their suppliers. The second is more suited to marketing creatives, video makers, and advertising graphic designers.
Work and travel for free with Couchsurfing
Working while traveling for free is possible with Couchsurfing. What is it? Couchsurfing literally means ‘couch surfing’ and consists of a free exchange of hospitality.
In 2004, the company Couchsurfing International Inc. was founded, which today boasts a community with the largest number of active users in the world.
How does it work? You sign up on the platform, create your profile, and decide to be a host and/or host other people. Many hosts return the favor by putting their skills at the host’s service: they often give language lessons, cook, or do small household chores while continuing to do their freelance work.
In this way, you can travel for free and work in different places, changing destinations whenever you want. It is one of the best and easiest ways to share authentic travel experiences.
Conclusions and free advice
Changing your life and starting to work while traveling is a choice you cannot make on the spur of the moment. You have to be psychologically ready for it, informing yourself well about the costs involved, the possible bureaucratic procedures required to go abroad, and the ways in which you can support yourself financially. Traveling while working is a bit of everyone’s dream, but it is not for everyone; it requires a spirit of adaptation, curiosity, and a bit of initiative.
In this article, I have tried to give you as much information as possible on how you can work while traveling. Now it’s your turn! Remember, if you decide to pack your backpack and leave, put all your knowledge and know-how into it because it is these that will allow you to really make a difference. Good luck!
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