4 Potential Ways to Work While Traveling Abroad

As a travel enthusiast, exploring the world as often as possible speaks to you unlike anything else. But you also realize these adventures cost big bucks, forcing you to save up and eventually open your wallet to fund them.

In order to help fuel your passion for traveling with the funds you need, you may want to look into work opportunities in the countries you visit while traveling abroad. As Expert Vagabond notes, these jobs fall into three categories:

  • Expat jobs: As a U.S. citizen, you’re still able to take on long-term jobs in another country.
  • Digital nomad jobs:This type of work can be performed anywhere with a computer and internet connection.
  • Vagabond jobs:These are typically more hands-on roles you can score as you travel.

With all this in mind, here are four potential ways to work while traveling abroad.

1. Bartender or Server

You’re bound to see a wealth of “help wanted” signs at the various restaurants, cafés and/or bars you come across. But no matter if you’re in Spain, Morocco or Japan, the tasks servers and bartenders perform are essentially all the same; you just have to understand the local language and customs.

So if you consider yourself a bona fide linguist who has a good grasp and understanding of different languages, you can easily hang your hat in a foreign locale for several weeks or months and work one of these jobs.

Of course, holding down this type of job will not only allow you to sharpen your foreign language speaking skills, but it will also provide plenty of opportunities to save money before you depart for another city or country.

2. Contract Work

If you prefer to figuratively take your work on the road with you, contract work opportunities are a great option. These jobs typically require a portable electronic device of some kind, along with a Wi-Fi connection. So while you won’t be able to take on such jobs while venturing through remote jungles, you can certainly earn a nice income while sitting in a café in Paris.

Looking for ideas to get the ball rolling? One good example is to become part of the ever-growing direct selling business as an independent distributor. If you happen to have a large network of contacts, both personal and professional, then you may take a liking to companies like Amway, which manufactures and distributes 450-plus consumer health and wellness products.

Another great example of contract work is freelance writing for a publication back home. For instance, you can likely become a travel writer and get paid to blog about your adventures.

3. English Teacher

As The Blonde Abroad notes, there are a number of non-English-speaking countries, particularly in Asia, that pay people to teach English. Some of the most common countries in need of ESL teaching include China, Japan and Taiwan.

But if you’d rather not take on a long-term teaching job that would force you to live in a single location for months at a time, you could also look for English tutoring opportunities, where you work with a small group of students for shorter time periods.

4. Online Retail

Websites like Etsy allow you to launch your own store and sell your own handmade items. Depending on what you plan to create and sell, this can be an ideal way to bring in some extra income while traveling abroad.

For example, smaller items, like handcrafted earrings and bracelets, can be crafted in your hotel room, boxed up and then mailed from a local post office to your customers.

But if you find it difficult to craft specialty items and manage an inventory while traveling, you could hire an assistant or turn to a trusted friend back home to handle the boxing and shipping.

We are happy to present this collaborative post to offer valuable information to our readers.


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One thought on “4 Potential Ways to Work While Traveling Abroad”

  1. It’s nearly impossible to find educated people for this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks

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