Travel Jobs & How to Make Money While You Travel
Ever had the desire to quit your lame 9 to 5 job, tell your boss to shove it, pack up and start traveling the world?
All of us have had that desire at one point! The thing that stopped you was probably the same thing that stops most people: money.
“How will I pay for my flights, food, lodging, transportation, yada, yada, yada,” you asked yourself.
Don’t let these concerns bother you too much, because there is an underground, growing group of travelers who are utilizing some simple but hidden techniques to make significant incomes while traveling.
Here’s an overview of how we make money traveling and by landing travel jobs:
Underground Travel Income Method #1 – Traditional Travel Job - Hold a job that either a) pays for us to travel or b) is located in the place we wish to travel to. This is the lowest paying and most complicated method of all, but is the most commonplace.
Common jobs that pay for travels are for professional speakers, salespeople, package couriers, flight attendants, travel nurses/doctors, conservationists, cruise ship workers, etc.
Travel jobs located in the places we wish to go to can be any of the above, but also are specific to the location we travel to. There are some FUN jobs overseas that are looking for foreign workers!
Underground Travel Income Method #2 – Travel Writing – Travel writing jobs for magazines are more common than you may imagine. However, there are LOADS of other ways to write as you travel and make money, including blogging, picking up projects from sites like Elance and Guru, and writing travel guides, both online and offline.
Underground Travel Income Method #3 – Selling Affiliate Products – Using a simple website, you can drive online traffic to a product that will be of interest to your online followers. Don’t be intimidated by this! It can be as easy as using your very own Facebook or Myspace profile. Affiliate products typically pay 50% to 75%, so you can make a very healthy income for selling just a few objects.
Tips for Saving When Traveling in a Group
Traveling in a group? You are the holiday packagers dream! Imagine being able to offload bulk airline seats, rail passes and entertainment packages in one booking. A group traveling is a wanted commodity and because of this you can secure great deals for your group. But as always, beware of any hidden ‘extras’ such as cancellation policies and preferred partners when stepping outside the package. Be prepared to shop around for the best deal.
Here are some tips for the traveling group on a budget:
1. Travel insurance can be bought through some companies where savings can be ten percent or more. A group usually consists of four or more. Contact a number of travel insurance agencies and compare quotes.
2. Pack as many people as you can into your hotel room (keeping it legal). The more heads in the room, the higher the number to divide the cost by.
3. Renting a car when traveling in a group of four is usually cheaper than buying travel passes – and more convenient.
4. Food, guidebooks, taxi fares can all be split between the group bringing costs down.
5. Rail passes for groups or pairs may find discount offers in some countries.
6. Some airlines offer discount rates to groups of ten or more traveling together.
7. Group package bookings that have everything included in the price will have all expenses covered so you won’t be surprised by any extra costs, apart from shopping!
8. Discount holiday packages for large groups of travelers are offered through a number of travel agencies. Sports fans may be able to travel to big events using one of these travel packages for much cheaper than organizing it on their own.
Is Your Destination Safe to Travel?
Worrying about the potential dangers which await you in a foreign land can be a little overwhelming particularly if you have not done a lot of travel. The best approach to this fear is to remember your worries are often exaggerated by the unknown element of travel overseas.
Dwelling on your safety while planning your trip will inevitably lead to further paranoia yet ignoring any potential risks only furthers your chance of being robbed or worse.
Look at it this way, Australia has many visitors and travellers arriving every year and they will have many worries about travelling in your home land. Speak to any British backpacker and they will be quietly shitting themselves about snakes and sharks, killer rips (thanks Bondi Rescue), jellyfish and huge unforgivable landscapes and don’t even mention the spiders. Many are seriously concerned that they will be bitten by any one of the many deadly insects which call Australia home and spend their last few minutes of life in unimaginable pain. It is not to say that the danger does not exist, but for those of us who live here it is not really a daily concern. The unknown and exaggerated can lead to this sort of worry.
What I am getting at is that any danger is amplified in our heads because it is sandwiched up in a big terrifying unfamiliar world. So when you are planning your trip to a far off land, how worried should you be about your safety?
Firstly, it is worth saying that there are some genuine risks out there and in some parts of the world these are so great you should consider whether travel to that location is worth it. These are normally caused by political instability, general high levels of violent crime, or it may be that a single girl might be at more risk than usual.