For all we know, traveling and working are two conflicting concepts that don’t mix. If you’re traveling, you can’t work. And if you’re working, you can’t travel. Everybody knows this. Yet, some people have found a way to turn what is probably a family trip or group vacation into a money-making adventure.

How have they achieved this? You wonder. Well, that’s something you’ll find out soon enough.

Honestly speaking you’ll be surprised at the kinds of steps people have been taking to monetize their travels.

So, stay tuned, and let’s walk you through the steps you too can take to earn money on your travels.

Quick Jumps to the steps you can take to make money while traveling

Make money before you leave home:
1. Rent your car
2. Rent your home

Make money on the road
3. Be a delivery guy
4. Claim compensation for flight delay or cancellation

Make money while at your destination
5. Volunteer
6. Teach your language
7. Take stock photographs
8. Buy and sell local items online
9. Go to the sea
10. Find local gigs in bars, pubs, restaurants, etc.
11. Be a salesperson

Make Money before you leave home

Rent your car
Why let your car sit in your garage or airport garage doing nothing when you can rent it out for quick cash?
Strange as it may sound, there are people out there waiting and willing to rent your car for quick bucks. And in case you’re wondering whether your car will be in good hands before you return, you can bet it will. In the event anything happens to it, the renter knows they’re liable.

How do you rent your car?
Go online and search for apps or websites that allow you to rent out your car. Two of such apps are Turo and HyreCar.

Rent your house
Do you live alone in your apartment? Why not rent it out to someone when you’re gone? House renting makes a lot of sense especially when you’re traveling for long periods.

How do you rent out your house?
Be it a one-room apartment, a duplex flat, or a bungalow, you can find strangers willing to rent it from you on platforms like Airbnb. Just sign up, and place your property on the waiting list. In a little time, someone will reach out to show interest.

Make Money on the Road
Now that you’ve left home, how can you continue to make money?

Be a delivery guy
Strange as this may sound to you, there are people around you that are looking to send stuff to people in the city or country you’re heading. Besides these people, there are also others living in the country you’re heading that are looking to buy stuff in your country or city.
If after setting your itinerary in, you feel there’s enough room for additional items, you can take up other people’s packages and deliver as you touch down.

How do you deliver items on your journey?
If you’re traveling internationally, you can use platforms like WorldCraze to connect with someone who is looking for a cheap or certain type of product that’s only available in your country or state. You’ll buy the product and bring it to the buyer. Upon delivery and confirmation by the receiver, WorldCraze pays back your money along with the service charge.

If your journey is within the US, apps like Roadie are particularly useful. Unlike WorldCraze, Roadie allows people to send and receive just about anything.

Let’s say you’re moving from Indiana to Seattle and someone wants to drop a homemade recipe for their kid over there. Roadie can connect you guys, and you’ll get paid for your service.

Claim compensation for flight delay or cancellation
How many times have you had your flight canceled or delayed at the airport? Did you know you’re entitled to some compensation?

Of course, this is not something that happens regularly, which means you may not be able to make money from it every time. But for the few times it happens, you can earn some quick bucks from it.

News Flash: I’ve seen someone earn up to 600€ in compensation just because their flight was delayed for about three hours.

How do you earn compensation for flight delays or cancellations?
If you’re traveling within Europe, you can use platforms like ClaimCompass to pursue your flight delay or flight cancellation compensation.

Alternatively, you can DIY by putting in your request directly with the airline company.

Unfortunately, in the US, there’s no Federal law mandating airlines to provide passengers with money or other compensation when their flights are delayed.  Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers, though. So if your flight is experiencing a long delay, you can ask the airline staff if they will pay for meals or a hotel room.  If they do, pocket the money and sleep inside the airport.

Make money while at your destination
Now let’s get to the real deal.

Be a volunteer
As soon as you get to your destination, ask around to see whether there are opportunities for you to volunteer a skill you have. This can be in the form of care-giving, outright assistance, imparting knowledge, and so on.

Once you find somewhere you can do a volunteering job, take it on, and get started. If you’re lucky, you may find a program willing to relieve you of accommodation and feeding costs. In some cases, you might even get a take-home stipend.

How do you find volunteer opportunities?
Go to websites like Grassroot Volunteering to see whether there are volunteer opportunities that interest you.

In case you want to have a feel of the best volunteer opportunities that are available abroad, you can check this Best Volunteer Abroad Programs, Organizations, and Projects listed by Volunteer Forever.

Teach your language
Do you speak a language that’s well-appreciated and in demand at your destination? Feel free to sell your language skills and get money for them.

Most popular languages that qualify for this opportunity include English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Latin, Greek, Russian, etc.

How do you find language teaching opportunities abroad?
Visit local schools (from basic to senior to college levels) to find out whether they’re interested in hiring a second language teacher for their kids.

If they aren’t, reach out to locals (at your lodge, restaurants, parks, etc.) to express your intention to teach people a second language.

You’ll be surprised at the number of people interested in taking up a second language.

Take Stock photographs
If you are an astute photographer with an eye for extraordinary shots and you have a digital camera, then there is an opportunity for you to earn money while you travel.

Not everyone has been to Bali in person, but we’ve all seen amazing pictures of the place. These are works of people who went there.

If you, too, can snap attention-grabbing photos at your destination, then what’s stopping you from doing it?

How do you make money snapping Stock photos?
Dig deep into your creative mind to fathom those little and big moments at your destination that are sure to make people around the world go “wow”.

Once you find them out, take a snapshot, and sell them online on platforms like gettyimages.com and shutterstock.com.

Important note: Ensure you’re snapping attention-grabbing photos only. For example, anybody can click a picture of the SERPENT’S LAIR, INIS MOR while in Ireland, but if you can capture the eerie beauty of it at nighttime or spot a 7-year-old diver jumping over, then that’s what is going to sell.

Buy and sell local items online
If you’re visiting a country or city known for certain items, you can buy in bulk and sell online. Even better if you’re traveling to cheap countries; you can shop around small markets for hand-made products and sell them online.

Interestingly, you can sell just about anything online. All you have to do is find something you know your friends at home, followers on social media, or other random people might be interested in.

How do you sell items online?
Good old eBay is such a great option. Don’t like that? Maybe you should try Craigslist then.

Alternatively, to online stores, you can go to your IG, Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, or Telegram channel and make a post about something exciting you’ve just found on your travel.

If you’re using channels like Instagram, it may be a wise move to buy Instagram followers and likes for the product posts so that viewers can catch the impression that the product is loved and appreciated by many.

It could be a food item, clothing material, toy, historical piece, cheap products, etc. You’ll be surprised to know that there are some people on your timeline who have been looking for that product for quite some time.

Go to the sea
If you are a sea person – i.e. have some skills that are relevant on sea – you may land yourself some yacht crew gigs overseas.

You don’t have to be a pro at seamanship; you just need to have at least one specialized skill that is in-demand on the sea. This could be culinary, mechanical, or navigational skills.

If you do, just log on to websites like crewseekers.com to find gigs abroad.

Alternatively, to sea jobs, farm jobs are another wonderful opportunity to make money while traveling.

Find local gigs in bars, pubs, restaurants, etc.
If you’re visiting a place around festive periods, there’s bound to be an influx of tourists into the area. As a result of this, chances are most establishments will need more hands to serve the increased demands.

You can be one of these hands.

Just find a local pub, bar, restaurant, or store that needs people temporarily. As long as you have a valid visa, these establishments would be happy to find you a paying gig.

Be a salesperson
Are you so good at talking to people? If so, then this is for you.

Find a shop that you would like to help and approach them by saying “I can help you get more customers by talking about your shop to people”. In return, you guys can pay me a commission or place me on the payroll.

What kind of shops would be ready to hire you?
You’ll have better chances with shops that depend on tourist activity. Close to the sea, get in touch with scuba-diving or surf equipment rental shops. Near the mountain when it’s snowy, contact the ski and snowboard boutiques. Feel free to ask around, it might be anything!

Conclusion
Making money while traveling doesn’t get any simpler than that. As long as you’re willing to do the leg work, it shouldn’t be too difficult finding opportunities to leverage on your journey.

Where you’re confused, seek guidance and advice from the locals!