Earn Money – There’s something truly liberating about hitting the open road during your retirement years. Being able to set your coordinates to wherever takes your fancy and live with a minimalist daily schedule is an alluring prospect for many of us, whether we’re currently enjoying our retirement or are on the verge of meeting this milestone.
The idea of exploring the country without any restrictions can feel like a pipedream for many retirees. For many of us, there are financial barriers in place that dictate just how far we can go, and how much we can do when on the road.
But what if there were ways to earn money as you travel? Thankfully, the digital age has presented us with many opportunities to earn a decent living online. Or if you’d prefer to stay off the grid, there are options here too.
We’ll be outlining some of the top ways retirees can earn money as they travel below, so read on to map out your next adventure ventures!
Enter competitions and giveaways
If you’ve ever entered free competitions in Australia, you’ll know all too well that there are opportunities out there to win big. All that’s required is just a little bit of luck, and perhaps a bit of attention to detail when filling out your entry applications.
What you may not know, however, is that there are actually more opportunities out there than you may think – and your odds of winning can improve with each additional competition that you enter. And if you play your cards right (i.e. enter all the right competitions), you may be able to add some funds to your travel budget!
But how do you know you’re entering all the ‘right competitions’? A good rule of thumb is to look at these three factors:
- The prize or prizes that are up for grabs
- The competition entry requirements
- Eligibility requirements for prospective entrants
Cash or gift card prizes
Cash or gift card prizes are always good, because you know that you can redeem them anywhere, but what if your prize is something physical that may be more difficult for you to carry around? Yes, you could sell the prize, but you’d have to do so quickly to stay on the road.
That being said, there are physical product prizes that may even come in handy for travelling retirees. For example, you could decide to enter a competition where you’re in the running to win outdoor and camping equipment.
Looking at competition entry requirements and eligibility criteria is also important for making sure that you’re not wasting time with any of your entries. For a lot of email entry competitions, you may find that your chances of winning are fairly slim, just because of the sheer number of entrants that these competitions attract. Instead, competitions that require entrants to submit an answer of ‘25 words or less’ – or maybe even submit their own photograph or piece of writing – are less likely to receive a larger number of applicants. This means that your chances of winning improve substantially!
Take on a freelance job
With freelancer platforms and marketplaces available right on the screen of your smartphone, it’s now easier than ever to find remote working opportunities. All you need to do is outline what services or skills you could feasibly offer while on the road, and then set yourself a profile on freelancer platforms. You could even create your own website to present yourself as a freelancing professional. Your own professional website could be a great way to attract high-quality clients who may be able to provide you with more frequent or steady work.
And that’s the beauty of this money-making strategy in a nutshell. Freelance jobs have the potential to become steady income streams if you develop strong relationships with the people that require your services. So build yourself a strong portfolio of work and make efforts to cultivate strong professional relationships. You could find yourself with a bit of a booming business on your hands!
Work a hospitality job
If you’re looking to travel to any tourist hotspots, chances are you’ll be in and around hospitality enterprises that may be in dire need of extra staff for their peak season. So why not offer your services and take up a few casual shifts?
For those living the van life, working in hospitality can be an easy way of filling your days in between big road trips. Enjoying a few short weeks of work in a regional town or popular tourist destination can allow you to feel a little settled between longer legs of your ongoing journey. That, and you can stay in these tourist destinations without burning through your own funds by taking advantage of any job vacancies with local cafes, restaurants, or even pubs, if you have your RSA.
Just be sure to let any prospective employers know about your plans to keep travelling! Not all employers may be happy to offer highly temporary working arrangements, so it’s definitely best to disclose your circumstances well in advance.
Become travel bloggers
It’s no secret that there’s always a high demand for travel content on the world wide web. People just love a little escapism here and there, so being able to engage with other people’s adventures in real-time is always guaranteed to be a delight.
So why not supply this evergreen demand by creating your own travel blog? All you have to do is set up a domain and add a few ‘journal entries’ here and there to keep readers updated on your adventures. If your website starts generating enough traffic, you could be approached by brands who are interested in advertising with you. You could even add Amazon affiliate links to your website, allowing you to make commissions whenever a site visitor clicks through on a link and shops on Amazon.
If your blog gets big enough, you could add a social media profile or a YouTube channel to your digital presence. Running these social media channels provides additional opportunities for advertising or managing paid partnerships with brands or local businesses.
Sell your travel photos
Last but certainly not least, if you don’t really have the time or – let’s face it – the energy to manage a travel blog and an accompanying travel YouTube channel or social media page, then there is still one highly lucrative way you can profit off of documenting your adventures. We’re talking about selling your travel photos and scenic footage you’ve managed to record during your time away.
Travel photos are always in high demand by magazines, newspapers, and digital publications. This is because the cost of procuring these location-based photographs themselves is naturally far higher than just paying for the right to use photographs taken by freelancers.
And the same goes for travel footage. Video footage like panning scenic shots, drone footage, and even 360° camera footage can be used for editorial purposes by a range of different media bodies. If you have some decent, high-resolution footage captured across your journey, then you may be able to make a tidy sum from selling these assets to stock agencies.
As you can see, earning money while you travel can require a little bit of creative thinking. But rest assured, there are plenty of opportunities out there for those who are willing to take them, and perhaps even to make them. Just keep an open mind, and dabble in a few new crafts, hone some digital skills, and take on a few freelance gigs and projects, and who knows – you may find yourself turning a profit as you explore the wider world!