Nomadicsage.com @2024
Nomadicsage.com @2024
What careers truly allow you the flexibility to both travel and earn an income? These top 20 travel jobs provide opportunities to explore internationally while working remotely or on-location in new destinations.
Whether you dream of digital nomadism, traveling for months at a time, or just the occasional work trip abroad – consider roles in these travel-friendly industries.
In this blog post, we’ve curated a list of the 20 best travel jobs that will satisfy your wanderlust and help you create a fulfilling career on the move.
So pack your bags, and let’s dive into the world of travel jobs!
As one of the most popular travel jobs, digital nomads enjoy location independence working from laptops via the internet anywhere in the world. Roles include writing, programming, design, virtual assistance, and more.
Explore globally as long as you have a laptop and internet connection.
Being a digital nomad allows for complete freedom and flexibility in where you choose to base yourself.
Many digital nomads become location-independent by working remotely for companies based in high-cost-of-living areas while living abroad where their salary goes much further.
This enables extended travel at a low cost.
Teach English abroad through organizations like TEFL/TESOL in over 50 countries. Immerse yourself in local culture while earning abroad.
Requirements are typically only a degree and TEFL certification. Great for long-term travel across Asia, Europe, and beyond.
As an English teacher abroad you not only get housing provided in many cases, but also the opportunity to learn a new language while being immersed in another culture firsthand.
Many find becoming fluent in the local language enhances their experience of living in another country greatly.
Travel the world for free on airline routes while earning competitive pay and benefits.
Based in one city routes vary weekly, allowing discoveries in new destinations. Takes commitment to schedules but a quality travel career.
Flight attendants earn the benefit of drastically reduced or free flights which can be shared with family/friends.
Many use these flight passes to continue exploring internationally even outside of work assignments.
The travel perks make this a unique job within the aviation industry.
Live and earn onboard luxury cruise ships sailing globally.
Jobs in guest services, entertainment, dining, and more provide room/board with monthly pay.
Experience cruise life visiting beautiful tropical ports for months at a time.
Cruise ship employees spend much of the year at sea visiting new ports 1-3 times per week.
This allows living and earning in multiple international destinations without the time or costs associated with traditional travel between places.
Take temporary nursing contracts around the U.S. or abroad, earning competitive weekly pay plus housing if in expensive areas. Utilize your skills in different regions and cities, gaining both experience and travel. Flexibility for exploration.
As a travel nurse, you’re able to spend weeks or months fully immersed in new locations and learning about local healthcare practices. Many travel nurses use these contracts as an opportunity to truly experience new cultures through extended living abroad assignments.
Lead guided tours of your local expertise, whether in cities or natural areas globally. Require some regional history knowledge through education or personal experiences living there previously. Directly share your passion areas with visitors.
Being a tour guide is rewarding as you help travelers explore destinations you’re passionate about. You gain in-depth knowledge of places that can also be leveraged for free time exploring outside working tours and activities with visitors.
Build a remote career by sharing your travels through engaging photos and storytelling online. Grow partnerships for sponsored trips, digital products, and books. Work on your schedule while continuously exploring new destinations worldwide.
With travel blogging, your office is the entire world. Popular bloggers can enjoy press trips where their accommodations and some activities are paid for by tourism boards looking to promote different places. Over time the income potential from blogging can fully fund extended trips abroad.
Live and work aboard stunning luxury yachts internationally. Deckhands, engineers, and servers onboard private yachts sail year-round, touring incredible ports others work a lifetime to access. Valuable skills in a glamorous, roaming environment.
As a yacht crew, you will learn to sail and gain soft skills in hospitality and customer service catering to ultra-high-net-worth clients. The job provides a chance to experience exclusive destinations usually out of reach to most.
Thanks to modern technologies, many roles like copywriting, graphic design, programming, and online customer support can now be done remotely. Work virtually from anywhere globally that offers reliable WiFi with self-motivation.
With remote work, you can choose a lower cost of living area internationally while serving clients in higher pay scale regions. This enables working standard hours back home and using off-hours to explore your host country.
Gain insider destination knowledge and potentially free trips helping advise clients. Work from home or an agency with travel perks like airfares or hotel nights for top producers. Experience events internationally through industry travel.
Travel agents learn about new places through online conferences, networking trips arranged by suppliers, and FAM tours to learn about destinations firsthand. This travel and knowledge becomes part of the value they provide guiding clients globally.
Lead exciting activities like hiking, rafting, and climbing in natural areas globally. Guide clients safely exploring national parks, mountains, or coastal regions. Usually requires certifications. An active lifestyle career exploring diverse terrains.
Adventure guiding not only allows sharing your passions for the outdoors but also a chance to live amid stunning scenery. Many find immersing oneself in remote natural landscapes renews their perspective on life and the environment.
Work with international organizations, universities, or remote positioning to provide translation services virtually or on location. Travel may involve business trips or living abroad for short-long terms in diverse cultural environments.
Translators and interpreters gain cultural understanding by serving organizations or governments operating globally. Some roles involve longer-term relocation where you continue studying languages while experiencing new places firsthand.
Study subjects like wildlife, environment, anthropology, or agriculture through international projects. Requires degrees but provides chances to live and embed within remote, breathtaking natural settings globally collecting data. Hands-on scientific work.
Field research allows getting hands-on experience with various scientific disciplines. Many find living for weeks or months in isolated natural settings deeply enriching as it also involves integrating with rural indigenous communities in different regions.
Organize international volunteer teams assisting communities globally through charities. Coordinate programs, housing, and community involvement on the ground. Experience new cultures while fulfilling meaningful impact work. Travel perks and housing are provided.
As a volunteer coordinator, you directly spend time overseeing programs in destinations worldwide. This provides prolonged periods of experiencing new cultures through capacity-building initiatives and living alongside locals.
Contract with travel publishers, tourism boards, or individually for remote clients needing content. Travel is paid to capture landscapes, culture, and events worldwide. Build a portfolio and contracts to continually explore through your visual storytelling craft.
Freelance visual content providers travel extensively documenting different areas. Over time, shots from various regions showcase to potential clients the range of destinations you’ve experienced firsthand through your artistic style.
Provide administrative, creative, research, and online support services remotely for digital nomad clients. Travel freely as long as tasks are completed from wherever an internet connection can be established. Set your schedules.
Virtual assistants gain the flexibility to live anywhere while providing remote services. Many travel extensively between client work, using spare time between tasks to experience new places as they work their way around the globe.
Sail stunning superyachts across oceans professionally, learning navigation and seamanship.
Crews live quarters aboard visiting ports year-round and exploring incredible international destinations few see. Experience life at sea.
Professional sailing crews spend months continuously cruising, getting to know nautical regions intimately.
Upon retiring from a boat, many crew have expertise spanning international waters and ports usually exclusive to the ultra-wealthy.
Join cruise lines, resorts, or tourist attractions internationally as dancers, singers, magicians, and more, providing entertainment for visitors.
Live and perform various global ports gaining cultural experiences. Housing and salary included.
Entertainment crews gain experiences living in multiple destinations.
This allows seeing new places through visits, while also learning about an array of world cultures through interactions with diverse audiences aboard ships or at sites.
Live and assist with farming, construction, hostel work, or other jobs in exchange for housing/activities through programs like WorkAway, WWOOF, or HelpX.
Build skills volunteering worldwide temporarily or long-term. Minimal costs involved.
Work exchange lets you be embedded within local communities globally, learning skills while immersing yourself in new cultures. Opportunities range from organic farms to architectural restoration.
Some volunteers base abroad for months integrating fully.
Travel independently finding short-term jobs like hostel work, farm/farm stay work, teaching English, or odd jobs along your route. Affordable way to travel living locally and gaining cultural immersion wherever you go. Learn independence and flexibility.
Backpacking jobs provide ad hoc work to supplement the budget between destinations.
In summary, pursuing a career that allows traveling the world does not require being tied to a traditional 9-5 desk job. As technology enables remote work and the sharing economy grows, more options emerge every year blending the opportunity to earn an income with exploring globally. For each travel job profiled, whether you prefer long-term expat assignments or squeezing in occasional work trips between moves – do your research to find the right fit integrating your skills, experience, and travel dreams.
The most important attributes for any traveling career are a passion for continual learning, resilience to new experiences outside your normal comfort zone, and diligence with formal training or certification where needed. With planning and perseverance, you can structure work into an adventure spanning continents. Whether pioneering location independence or enjoying periodic escapes abroad through your profession – choosing a travel career path is one of the most impactful decisions enabling you to truly live while you work worldwide.
While some roles like yacht crew, adventure guiding, or translation work benefit from prior experience, many travel jobs are entry-level and will provide training. English teaching abroad is often the most common first travel job that mainly requires a Bachelor’s degree and TEFL certification. Volunteering abroad also allows one to gain experience without formal qualifications.
Costs vary significantly depending on the travel job. Digital nomading has a low startup requiring only a laptop and internet access. Teaching English or working holiday programs have moderate fees of $1-3k for certification and arranged visa/flight packages. Others like yacht crew are free to join with some uniforms provided but savings are recommended for living abroad periods between yachts.
Higher wages are possible in travel jobs like commercial pilots, travel nurses, remote tech roles, and popular travel bloggers. Flight attendants, yacht crew, and cruise staff receive competitive salaries and benefits too considering travel perks are part of total compensation. Entry-level jobs are modestly paid though stable if seeking budget-extended travel over high income.
Most jobs are listed on specialized travel job boards like CruiseShipJobs.com, InternationalTEFLAcademy.com, and GoOverseas.com. It’s also wise to check the company career sites of airlines, hotels, tour operators, and international organizations directly. Networking within communities online or through alumni of study abroad programs can reveal hidden opportunities too.
Absolutely. Roles like pilot, travel nurse, or tourism manager often involve multi-year careers spent mainly abroad through various international postings. Others transition experiences into new opportunities – teachers become guides or bloggers parlay travel content into remote freelance careers. With experience, many digital nomad jobs allow lifelong location independence earning remotely.
The key is understanding workplace expectations versus personal time. For example, yacht or dive crew live onboard but have free time in new ports. teachers’ work contracts but travel dates in between. Set boundaries and pace yourselves to avoid burnout – schedule major travels during approved vacation periods when possible. Respecting work responsibilities helps maximize travelers long-term.
Often housing is provided as part of cruise ship, yachting, and teaching jobs. Remote roles allow cheap rentals globally. Short-term housing is readily available through services like Airbnb. Finding long-term rentals abroad requires more effort but skills like language ability accelerate immersion. Volunteers usually get accommodation support via charities. Advanced research eases comfort in settling into new destinations.
Save money throughout your contract period to fund travels in between. Look at work exchanges and seasonal jobs at summer camps, ski resorts, or adventure operators. Teach private English lessons. Consider establishing an online side business. Apply for funded programs like teaching assistantships giving housing/stipends when studying abroad further. Travel hack flights and accommodation when transitioning between places.
Yes, there are! Consider applying for wildlife vet positions with international conservation organizations in places like Africa, Australia, and Asia. Zoos also offer temporary international postings. You could volunteer at animal sanctuaries globally too. Some vet nurses take “locum tenens” short-term contracts filling in at practices abroad. With experience, opportunities open up caring for livestock/herds on agricultural placements long-term.
Acquire skills and qualifications employers seek like certifications, languages, and internships. Save funds as a backup. Research destinations in-depth for cultural understanding. Build social connections who can recommend opportunities. Practice flexibility through short-term travel initially. Keep health/documentation in order. Most importantly, remain positive – treat each experience abroad as valuable for personal and professional growth on your travel path!