Five Ways To Make Extra Cash While You Travel

Some jobs come with a built-in requirement for travel, like teaching a language abroad or working in sales. But if you want to travel for fun and earn some extra cash in the process, there are a few options for that, too. You won’t get rich with these side gigs, but they might pay for a fancy dinner or your museum admission.

Illustration by Angelica Alzona. Photos by unsplash.com, Tim Gouw, skitterphoto.com

Sell Your Travel Photos

You’re taking loads of pictures anyway, you might as well try to make a little cash with them. Sites like iStock, Alamy, Shutterstock, and Getty Images make it really easy to sell stock your own stock photography. You just upload your pictures and other users can ask to buy them if they like them. There’s also an app called Foap that allows you to upload directly from your phone. With Foap, brands and businesses will also post assignments for specific countries, cities, or regions. You can look for assignments in your destination, snap a few shots, then submit them. Your results will vary, but it’s kind of fun to use the app anyway.

If you have a GoPro, you can enter their daily contests, which include travel-friendly categories like “Unusual Transportation” and “Stories from the Road.” They pick a new winner everyday and give away $US500 ($692) for photos, $US1000 ($1,384) for raw videos, and $US5000 ($6919) for edited videos. It’s a long shot, but you’ll have fun taking pictures in the process and you might even become a better photographer.

Deliver a Package

If you’re taking a road trip, you could make some extra cash delivering packages along the way. If you’re holidaying in the US you could try Roadie which connects drivers to people who need things shipped to certain destinations, some of which may be on your route. Depending on the gig, they can pay upwards of a hundred bucks, especially if you’re travelling long distance. CitizenShipper is a similar service but for pets.

WorldCraze is also worth considering: it’s a service that lets you deliver goods from your country of origin to another person at your destination. You just enter your cities and travel dates, and the site will show you any available assignments. You decide on an amount with the Buyer, and WorldCraze takes 10 per cent of the cut.

Rent Out Your Car or Parking Spot

Instead of paying to park your car at the airport, you could try to rent it out instead. Carhood lets you park your car at an airport for free by lending your car out while you’re away. In addition, the car owners get 25 per cent of the profits if their car is successfully rented out, along with a free car wash. The service is currently available in Sydney and Melbourne airports.

While your parking spot back home is free, you might as well rent that out while you’re travelling, too. Parkhound, Findacarpark.com.au Carparkit let you list your parking spot, whether it’s your driveway, dedicated space in a lot or garage, or any other parking spot you own. The amount of money you can make obviously depends on location.

Volunteer While You Travel

Depending on your destination, you might be able to work on an organic farm. You won’t earn extra cash, exactly, but you’ll get a place to stay and some free food, which frees up your budget for other travel expenses.

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is the easiest organisation to search, and they have volunteer opportunities in 120 countries over the world. You get a full day’s worth of food and accommodation and typically work between 4-6 hours, which still gives you plenty of time to explore your destination. The drawback is that you may have to pay a small fee to join (it’s $US30 ($42) for Hawaii, for example), and that can offset your savings a bit. Most volunteer positions require at least a week’s worth of work, but you can also negotiate this time directly with the host if you’ll only be available for a couple of days. The farm’s description will tell you what languages the hosts speak.

HelpX and Workaway are less popular options, but they still offer the same deal: you travel, you work, you get a free place to stay. With HelpX, some jobs require as little as two hours a day, but then you only get accommodations and have to cook your own food. Depending on the gig, if you work a full day, hosts might throw in activities like horseback riding or sightseeing trips. Again, make sure to check out the reviews to see if the free board and food is worthwhile.

With Workaway, you can browse specific volunteer opportunities and apply for them. Some of the jobs are just individuals who need help with various tasks, though. It’s sort of like Airbnb meets Airtasker.

These organisations don’t have strong safety policies vetting hosts – it’s all based on trust and reviews, so you’ll want to vet hosts carefully. Most farms come with ratings and reviews from other travellers, so make sure to research them carefully.

Walk Around and Donate to Charity

Chances are, you’re going to do a lot of walking while you explore your destination city. While the app isn’t specifically meant for travel, Charity Miles lets you earn points for various charities, and it will actually tell you how much your habit will impact that charity. For example, walking seven miles might have an impact of 17 minutes of Parkinson’s Research. It’s not cash you can pocket, but if you like the idea of giving back, it’s an easy and fun way to do it for free, while you’re probably walking around a lot anyway.

Again, you’re not going to strike it rich with any of these apps or services, but they still give you something fun to do on your trip, whether it’s hanging out on a farm with locals or taking beautiful photos of all the spots you visit.