Traditionally, when one thinks of travelling, they think of expenditure. It is still an alien concept for many when we say – ‘You can earn money by travelling’. It was alien for me also couple of years ago but being an avid follower of channels like National Geographic and Discovery, I knew that there are some people out there who are having one hell of a time and getting paid for it.

There are many ways you can get paid to travel. It will obviously not be a cakewalk and you will have to do meticulous planning with lots of trial and error. Here are some of my recommendations:

1. Learn a new language: If you have a thing for new languages, you may want to learn few of them. Apart from English which is the most widely spoken language in the world, you can learn French. Other than France of course, French is spoken in Canada, Switzerland, parts of Italy and most of the north African countries. Spanish is spoken in most of Latin American and South American countries. If you get good hold over these languages, varied opportunities of jobs will be available for you including being a translator or a tour guide that involves considerable travel and meeting new people. You could even teach the language once you become an expert.

Some of the good school of Languages in New Delhi are:

French: Alliance Francaise, Spanish: Instituto Hispania,

2. Volunteerism: Many people choose to volunteer in a school or a Non profit organization in Asian or African countries. Sometimes they are paid a stipend and sometimes not. However, if you build up a good profile and are really passionate about contributing and adding value, you can get good stipend for you work.Some of the good websites to find volunteer jobs are:a) Volunteermatch.org, b) Idealist.org, c) HandsOn Network

3. Become a photographer or a travel writer or both: This requires a lot of passion for the work. I mean, you can be a photographer or writer only if you really want to be one. And travel is what ultimately follows if you are good at it.

Over time it is very important to find a niche in both Photography and Writing. If you deliver good content and have good number of readers, you may get invited by a tourism board for FAM trips. You can also be an expert in one very specific area like, wine tasting, Italian cuisine, bicycling in northern Spain, or spiritual tourism. That will help you grow as an expert and you will soon be much sought after.

However, a nice or good number of readers do not happen overnight. Many Travel Writers start but soon give up out of impatience. Meticulous planning and patience is needed to be good at it.

4. Take up a job on cruise ship: If you love to travel and be in hospitality sector, you might want to consider various jobs on a cruise ship. Although working on a cruise ship requires lot of work since you will be serving tourists, but your work will involve a lot of travelling nationally and internationally. Most of the jobs on cruise ship are well paid with all the expenses taken care of.

5. Jobs in hotels or resorts: Hotels and resorts are generally at tourist places and can offer a great opportunity for interaction with travelers. Many resorts have openings for bar tenders, scuba diving instructors, or performers. If you are good at these things, there are many opportunities for you to work with resorts all over the world. Most of these jobs require training and certification. So you really have to be good at the job to be in demand.

 

‘Share with us the ideas that let you travel and earn’

 

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