Making money on the road is usually the number one thing that holds people back from traveling full- time or making the jump into van life. We’ve been told for so long that it isn’t possible and it’s too good to be true. This day in age though.. that’s just not the case. It’s entirely possible to earn a remote income that makes you just as much, if not more, money than you make in an office. It takes a lot of hard work and you have to trust yourself enough to make the initial leap, but it can be done. This is a list of some jobs that you can absolutely do if you’re dedicated! I will say that some of them may have to be combined at first to create a full income before one of them really takes off and you can work solely on that. But do what works best for you! If you prefer podcasts over blogs, check out my episode here where I dive into even more details!
LISTEN TO MY PODCAST ALL ABOUT SOLO FEMALE VAN LIFE
1. BLOGGING & AFFILIATE MARKETING
Some people think blogging isn’t as big as it was a few years ago.. Wrong! This is actually how I earn my income full- time. Blogging can be super profitable when done correctly, and it’s so rewarding to share your experiences and stories with other people. Affiliate marketing is the primary way I make money through this website along with ads and working directly with a few of my favorite brands. I struggled for awhile to figure out how to make enough money blogging to actually turn it into full- time. It wasn’t until I invest in an amazing course that taught me absolutely everything I know. Nomadic Matt is one of the top bloggers in the world and shares tons of information in his course. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to get into blogging and making real money from it! You can learn more about his course here.
2. SEASONAL WORK AT NATIONAL PARKS
National Parks are constantly looking for new people to work in the restaurants, gift shops, hotels, campgrounds, entrances, etc. You can get a job bartending, housekeeping, camp counselor, or pretty much anything you think you can do. The best part about most of these jobs is that they are seasonal. You only work there for about 3-4 months and then you can pick up and leave for your next adventure. This is a great way to earn money during a certain season and have it last you for awhile or work at different national parks all over the place throughout the year. The jobs are almost always full- time, you get a campsite to park the van, and you meet a ton of travelers while working in a beautiful place. It’s kind of perfect. This is the website where you can find all the different openings and info for each park!
3. SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE ON YOUTUBE
This one takes a little time to build up before you make a full- time income but once you get the ball rolling, you can make really good money. People love living vicariously though travelers so sharing your experience can be super interesting for those them. It’s also a great way to share your knowledge for anyone considering this type of lifestyle. I’ve had people who had never heard of van life find me on social media, and now are in vans! Inspiring others to live a lifestyle that makes them happier is one of the greatest feelings. There’s no reason you can’t do it! Nomadic Matt also has a course on starting a successful Youtube career which I recommend if you want to take it seriously from the beginning. You can learn more about that one here!
4. CREATE A TANGIBLE PRODUCT
You may have some super cool talent like creating jewelry, drawing or painting, or any other tangible product. If you can make anything that you can sell, you have a full- time job on the road. You just have to work on building your social media and getting the word out that you’re selling it! There’s tons of people already on the road that do this and make great money selling their unique stuff. Giddi from @ourhomeonwheels makes jewelry and started a small business on the road called Carteo Handmade. It allows them to travel as a family of 3 in their van.
5. REMOTE DATA ENTRY/ADMIN WORK
If you have ever worked in an office.. of any kind. You can likely do light admin work. It usually consists of putting numbers into spreadsheets or other tasks that can be done entirely on your laptop. This may not be your dream job but it will pay well and allow you to travel. I have a lot of friends who do this on the road and they love it because they always know how much money they’re going to make. That can be a challenge with some of these other options but this will allow you to get a steady paycheck if you’re a little more nervous about it. Upwork is a great website to look at for different options and people looking for data entry or admin work!
6. AIRBNB EXPERIENCE
I’m always surprised how many people don’t know about this one! Airbnb isn’t all pretty rentals and apartments across the globe. It also offers really cool experiences now in different cities. If you’re a yoga instructor, you can set up an experience like “1 hour of private yoga on the beach”. People looking to do something fun and different will sign up and you can teach them! It costs you nothing because the beach is free and you can have them bring their own mats. You can also sign up in a few different cities since you’ll likely be traveling. You just block your schedule off when you won’t be there. There are dozens of options though if yoga isn’t your think. Teach people how to paint. Take them on a tour of the city. I recommend checking out the website to get an idea of what other people are doing!
7. RENTING OUT YOUR VAN
Did you know you can rent out your van for a pretty good chunk of change on Outdoorsy? You can make up to $200 a night depending on what your van offers. Some people rent their van out for let’s say $150 a night for 2 straight months and they earn enough money to travel for 9 months after! I know you probably want to travel full-time and year around. But if this is the only way to make it work, why not start out this way? You can also just rent it out when you’re visiting family or taking a few weeks off. It can be really good extra cash instead of the van just sitting in a driveway! Outdoorsy is my personal favorite rental company.
8. DIGITAL PRODUCT OR COURSES
I’m sure you’ve seen these while scrolling through Facebook or Instagram. There’s an e-book and course for everything these days! But they actually bring in a lot of money if you’re digital product is niche enough. If you have background or experience in something that can be shared, consider writing it down and selling it! Digital products are the best because you don’t have to manufacture anything or worry about shipping. Once you create it, all you have to do is market it. Sweet and simple.
9. SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER - FIVERR
Fiverr is another great freelance website that you can sell your services on. If you are working on growing your social media or have experience with it, help other people do it! A lot of businesses and companies don’t have time to worry about their Instagram account. They would rather pay someone else to do it. Fiverr allows you to put your services up where tons of employers are looking for people to help. Not to mention, you may even be able to do this for multiple different brands to maximize your money.
10. TRAVEL NURSE
Okay I’m not going to pretend like I know a lot about this because.. I don’t. But so many people have emailed me saying that they are travel nurses and want to do van life. So if you have your license and want to work as a nurse on the road, I know it’s possible. Definitely ask your nursing friends what they know and do a little digging. This would be perfect for a nurse interested in van life!
11. DOG WALKING & BABYSITTING
Not exactly a glory job but I have done a my share of nannying to know that there is money in watching other people’s children. When I was saving up for my second van, I nannied full- time while doing my website just to make as much as possible. There are apps like UrbanSitter where you can look up anyone in the area that needs a one- time emergency sitter. You can make $60-$100 bucks in one day! These are usually parents who had something come up immediately or the standard sitter cancelled, etc. You can also try dog walking for Wag. After setting it to your current location, it will update you any time someone needs a walk nearby. You make roughly $12-$20 per walk which is 30 minutes of your life. Not bad!
12. ASK YOUR CURRENT CORPORATE JOB
A few of my best friends thought they would have to quit their job to do van life but approached their bosses and were told they could actually work remote! Don’t underestimate your place of employment especially if you have a good relationship with them. Even if your current position can’t be done remote, they may have something else you can do. It would at least offer a steady paycheck with a company that you’re already familiar with!
13. FREELANCE WRITING
This is another one that I’ve done quite a bit of personally! When you start getting traffic on your blog or website, people often reach out to have you guest post or freelance something for their publication. You can also reach out to them if you have an article you really want to write and want to bring in a new audience with it! Upwork has a lot of freelance writing opportunities as well as different Facebook groups. One tip for this is to always have 2 or 3 blog posts already written and ready to be published. That way if a publication agrees to have you write something, you can send them a summary of the options you already have ready to go!
14. EDITOR OR PROOFREADING
Another one that can be found on Upwork or Fiverr. There are a lot of authors, writers, bloggers, etc. that need someone to proofread their writing. There’s usually some kind of grammar test involved at the beginning to make sure you are qualified. But this is a job you can do really easily from the road and if you are a writer yourself, you’re likely already qualified to help edit someone else’s work! It’s great extra money and can be done full- time once you build up experience.
15. PHOTOGRAPHERS
I saved this one for last because it is pretty specific to the person. You have to have the proper equipment, editing programs, and desire to take photos! But it is worth adding because there are so many photographers who travel full- time because they photograph people everywhere. These days if you build up a social media following for your work, you can get a lot of clients that way. If you love photography, this is definitely something to consider doing as a job. Nomadic Matt has another course specifically for photography if you want to learn this trade as well! I will say it a million times.. investing in your business is crucial if you want to see growth. Learn more about that course here!
Those aren’t the only broken ones. You may want to check the rest of the post for these
Your links to Nomadic Matt’s stuff are broken
HI!! GOOD DAY,
I CAME ACROSS YOUR SITE AND READ A FEW OF THESE QUESTIONS, YET IT’S PRETTY HARD TO FIND JOBS THAT I WOULD WANT TO DO REMOTELY, THERE ARE NONE I CAN THINK OF THAT I QUALIFY FOR IN ORDER TO START MY JOURNEY IN VAN LIFE, WHICH I WANT TO START UP SOON. I FELT THAT I SHOULD GET THE JOB FIRST WHILE STILL CURRENTLY WORKING AT MY CURRENT JOB UNTIL I KNOW I CAN MAKE ENOUGH ON THE ROAD IN ORDER TO LEAVE MY CURRENT JOB BEHIND AND THEN SAVE UP ALL I CAN UNTIL I START IT… WHAT SHOULD I DO? I FEEL LIKE IM OVERTHINKING IT BUT IT WOULD BE THE FIRST TIME I DO THIS AND I DON’T WANT TO BE SCAMMED ON ANY REMOTE JOBS SO I GIVE MY PERSONAL INFO TO NOT KNOWING IF IT’LL WORK. IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT? LOL ANYWAY! IM REALLY STRUGGLING AND REALLY JUST WANT TO DIVE INTO THIS WITH NO HASSLE BUT ALL I KNOW HOW TO DO IS BARTEND AND DO HAIR, COOK, CLEAN, AND DRIVE, THAT CAN BE FAST CASH, WITHOUT KILLING MYSELF BUT I DOUBT THEY HAVE STUFF LIKE THIS REMOTELY. PLEASE HELP TELL ME WHAT TO DO SO I CAN PUSH THIS DREAM FORWARD WITHOUT FEAR.
I can relate this this. Did you have any luck?
It is always the same jobs on all the sites. PLEASE be different and find some jobs regular real people can do IF you really want to HELP 😉
Hi
I live in china and i really wanna start van life and travel around Asia and Europe but i don’t know how to start 🙁
This blog is awesome ! thank you 🙂
Hi there – I really admire what you are doing! Way to live and way to go 🙂 Can you point me to where I can find out about the exact tools to get wifi in remote areas and ways to replicate the fast and download computer capability out of the van or a hotel room so you can work anywhere? I am not a fan of sharing wifi in hotels or coffee shops … so slow!
Check out cradlepoint
Hey Sydney! This is a great post. I would like your opinion on this. I am a full time teacher but I would like to experience van life. Apart from the summers, would it be possible to do van life with a nine to five typical job? Just seeking your opinion.
Hey great blog!!
I’ve been thinking about van life for wayyy to long now. I’m living my dreams through youtubers and bloggers like you. I’m 29 years old, from Montréal, Québec in Canada. My partner of 10 years and I are going through some things, that makes our future together very uncertain. After the confinement I will be shopping for my very own Van to hopefully be able to travel to the United States in january 2021!!! I’m stoked! I don’t remember the last time I’ve been this excited about life.After reading your blog I posted an application in Data entry!
I just wanted to take a couple minutes to thank you for this great blog.
Lots of love from Québec! Cheers!
Hey.. i am from Toronto.. have been tjinkinh of a van life for sooo long.. i wonder if there are people from out belt looing for the same life and can take aleap.. the blog is immensely great.thank you..
Hello! Im from Quebec City, lived in Guelph up until last month, when I moved back to Québec City due to covid. Doing this is in my 2 year plan.. my life has been turned upside down this year, and I am making the best out of it!
Cheers from Québec!
I was reading this post and am intrigued to know if you did it at the end or not 🙂