Your heart wants to live a life of wanderlust, but how will you pay your bills and travel? Here are the top 5 careers where you can get paid to travel the world.
There are many jobs and career paths available to anyone willing to do the work, but the question is, what career provides you with what you want most in life?
For some people, getting a dream job that allows for making an impact is essential. For others, it’s scratching the entrepreneurial itch and being your boss, and for others still, it has a work-life balance.
Traveling the world, as French Novelist Gustave Flaubert is quoted, “makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”
In other words, traveling makes you appreciate yourself, your place in the world, and the scope of your existence in it.
Your desire to travel the world could be a seasonal thing, like escaping winter to be on a beach somewhere or to see new places and experience new cultures. Perhaps it’s to learn about new languages and cuisines.
All that being said, there is a real-world hurdle that you need to consider. That is, how will you pay your bills and how will you pay for your travel expenses?
With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of our top-5 careers that will pay you to travel the world.
Careers Where You Can Get Paid to Travel
Travel Agent or Tour Guide
One of the more accessible careers to have the opportunity to travel the world is as a travel agent.
There isn’t a lot of education or certification required for travel agent jobs, but knowing hotspots, finding travel deals, and visa requirements are central to a travel agent’s success.
By being a travel agent, you have crucial insights that most people don’t have, and that gives you an upper hand in finding amazing deals when scheduling travel.
In the travel agency realm, experience and first-hand knowledge is more sellable service than any education can provide for your clients, so traveling is a business development skill.
Work for an Airline
The first career on our list that allows you to travel the world is a position in the airline travel industry.
This is one of the best travel jobs to have because as a person in this career field, you can work on national or international flights, but the major perk is that you can fly anywhere in the world for free or at discounted prices.
You also get discounts on hotels and car rentals. These benefits often extend to your immediate family members, as well as your parents!
Of course, to be a pilot, there is a rigorous amount of training involved. As a flight attendant, there are minimal requirements it only requires a couple of months of paid training.
After that, you could be assigned to a flight crew, pick up extra flights, or take time off and travel.
But you actually don’t have to be either to get these perks. You can be a customer service agent, the person who works the counter and gates at the airport.
You could work in baggage claim or out on the airfield. There are quite a few job possibilities that offer amazing travel perks for both you and your family!
Travel Nurse
Being a nurse allows for schedule flexibility, pays well, and some positions, such as a travel nurse, will send you to areas that need help in the short term.
There are different levels of training for a career path in nursing, and a registered nurse (RN) can expect to make upwards of $75,000 while a Nurse Practitioner (NP) is a person with a master’s degree in nursing who can earn upwards of $115,000.
You can find a variety of nursing programs to get started, but finding a nurse practitioner program is a great suggestion to boost your income if you already have a nursing degree.
English Teacher
Being an English Teacher is in high demand throughout the world, and there are plenty of organizations that hire native-born speakers to travel, teach, and live in a foreign country to teach English.
If you’re native speaking and have some communication ability or teaching background, consider teaching English as a second language (ESL).
Numerous countries and companies are willing to pay for your knowledge and skill.
You can also sign-up to teach remotely from your own home and use those proceeds to travel, though we think it better to teach abroad and travel on the company dime rather than your own.
Going this route also allows you to immerse yourself in the country and culture, plus learn a new language too!
Travel Writer or Photographer
A career as a writer doesn’t require a permanent location, nor does it require a lot of training or education.
If you have a knack for telling stories or have been complimented on being detail oriented and offering solid advice, you can become a professional travel writer. It’s a lot of work, but the rewards can be well worth it.
There are all types of writer jobs and careers you can pursue, from working with brands on blog posts, to reporting to copywriting, to travel guides, marketing, and more.
If you have an eye for photos, being able to capture stunning travel photography could be your ticket to earn money while traveling around the world.
What’s more, there are travel writing positions and blogs that hire writers so you can make money while traveling. Be sure to check out this list of steps to become a travel influencer if you’re looking to perhaps start off on your own.
From the New York Times to Conde Nast, and more, they will pay you per article or hire you as a contributing writer in addition to sending you on location to experience the destinations you write about.
Whichever you choose, a good idea is to make sure you create multiple income streams so that you aren’t dependent on any one source of income.
You can also make your money go further by focusing on budget travel so you can save your money for experiences and memories instead.