Talking about money is weird, but I think the time has come.
Every week I get around half a dozen emails along the lines of “how can I make money traveling?” or “How do I monetize my blog?” I’m always a little bit loathe to answer, not because it’s a secret, but because as time goes on, I think of myself less and less as a person who makes money by traveling, and more as a person who is lucky enough to have a job that allows me to travel. Almost anyone would have a hard time emulating my career choices, which have been a mix of luck, taking absurd risks and crazy hard work.
Nonetheless, I understand why people are curious. So, skipping anything super personal like actual numbers (let’s just say it’s less than I made before I quit my office job, but still enough to get by and the number is growing each year), here is a breakdown of how I make money traveling and to travel:
Contents
Why Wait To See The World
A lot of people seem to think that travel blogging is the key to some sort of passive income lifestyle, where you live on the beach and drink cocktails and write stories all day. This honestly makes me laugh. Anyone who tells you they make a full time living off of just their travel blog is either lying or selling a boatload of text links (not the greatest long-term strategy).
My Why Wait related income breaks down into a few categories:
Advertising and Sponsored Content
Look over to the right on the sidebar, you see those ads? Those are just part of the advertising I sell on this site. The bulk of the rest of it is in the form of sponsored content.
What is sponsored content? It’s when a company pays me to post about them. An example would be when I helped Samsung promote their SOS Island competition. I always put a disclosure at the end of these posts so you know they were paid for.
I used to sell a lot of sidebar text links back in the day when it was quick and easy money. Nowadays the text link market is seriously drying up so I have turned my focus to other more reliable income streams.
Sponsorships
Sponsorships are different than sponsored content in that they involve a long-lasting relationship with a company. For example, I’m currently a Zipcar Brand Ambassador so every once in awhile I’ll write an article on how their services enrich my life and travels. Again, I always disclose these relationships so you guys know what’s going on.
Affiliate Marketing
A tiny, but important component of my income. The way it works is that when you buy certain products through links on my site, I get a portion of the proceeds. I really only have two major affiliates that I work with: Travel Blog Success (my husband’s company) and Amazon. Amazon pays in store credit, which is super important because it allows me to buy more books!
If you’re looking for help building a great blog or making money this way, I really do recommend Travel Blog Success. My personal blogging tips are here.
Writing
My sites most important function business-wise is that it’s a platform for promoting myself as a writer and a brand. Over the past year, I’ve transitioned from making a living selling links to making the bulk of my money via freelance writing. I much prefer this as it’s stable and I really enjoy it.
At this point in my career, I don’t do a lot of pitching to newspapers or magazines. That might be something I pursue in the future, but right now it’s really hard to find the time. I much prefer to form lasting relationships with companies where I write for them on a set monthly basis. I’ve done writing projects for companies like Viator, Room 77, Eurail, and RoamRight travel insurance.
I get a lot of emails asking me how to break into freelance travel writing, and I never have a good answer to give. I’m assuming most people don’t want to hear: start a travel blog and write for free for three years until companies start contacting you but that is how I started to make money traveling, eventually.
Need to get down to business but having trouble concentrating? Why not visit one of WeWork’s numerous workspaces around the world. Each one has a unique vibe so go ahead and find one that works for you!
Everything Else
I’m definitely a bit of an internet jack of all trades: I’ll try anything once to make some money. In the past year here are a few of my other income streams.
Ebooks
A Year Without Make-Up was so much fun to write and so cool to share with everyone. I’ve made some money off of it (although maybe not as much as I initially hoped). I would definitely love to write another ebook, or even better, a real book.
Navigate Media Projects
Navigate Media Group is a collective of bloggers who work together as a marketing and social media agency. We’ve worked on projects with Samsung, Visit Finland and more. Hopefully, in the future I will be working with them on sponsored campaigns that will help me make money traveling and put more money in my pocket (you will hear all about these things as they become realities).
So far the most worthwhile project for me financially has been our BlogHouse projects. I poured a lot of time and energy into putting together the Toronto Bloghouse and made a small stipend for my efforts. This is something I would definitely love to do again.
Photography
I’m definitely not the best photographer out there but I do manage to capture a cool shot once in a while. This year I’ve started licensing some of my photography to tourism boards and tour companies I have worked with.
The Bottom Line
I won’t lie: cobbling together a living from all of these moving pieces isn’t easy. I work, a lot. More than in my old job and for less money per hour. I’m actually doing very well compared to a lot of travel bloggers out there, but I’ve been doing this for nearly five years now. What I do is unique to me, other bloggers make money traveling differently. Here are a few posts from other bloggers on how they make a living:
How I Make Money to Travel the World– Art of Adventuring (my other half!)
How We Fund Our Permanent Travels– Never Ending Voyage
This is How I Fund My Long-Term Travel Lifestyle– Expert Vagabond
How We Do It (And Why You Shouldn’t Listen to Us)– Hecktic Travels
How Do We Earn a Living? – Raising Miro
How to Go Freelance and Not Starve– Indecisive Traveler
Answers to Questions About our Work Life Balance– Edventure Project
How to Afford Long-Term World Travel: How Travel Bloggers Do it– Lash World Tour
How I Fund My Travels Around the World– Never Ending Footsteps
How Much Money Does This Blog Make?- Goats on the Road
About Page– Legal Nomads
About Page- Adventurous Kate
Do you have any other suggestions on how to make money traveling? We would love to hear!
Pin for Later:
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means that if you click and purchase something through these links, Steph and I make a commission at no extra cost to you.
However how much of it depends on grit and factors in your control, and how much of it depends on ones you CAN’T control?
I’m not a travel blogger, but yes, the question does come up on how to monetize blogs, and its no easy feat. I’ll be using some of your tips, there is also Sverve and BlogHer, if that helps.
Thanks for this post, Steph! I’ve just decided to try monetizing my hobby blog that’s been ten years in the making. Like you said in another post, it’s driving me a bit bonkers that there is no basic model. I know everyone will have unique opportunities and streams, but it’s so helpful to look at various models and either say “definitely not for me” or “I could try that!”
Cheers, and looking forward to keeping up with you!
p.s. found you because of PTBA’s roundup that included your WV issue. #supportsteph!
Thanks!!
I’m also interested about sponsored trips but I also want to learn how to do balanced reviews because there’s this tendency to gear toward the positive when it’s sponsored. I have a disclaimer when it’s sponsored but I am having a hard time writing about the negative aspects of it, if ever there’s some.
This is definitely a challenge, especially for someone like me who tends to write about mostly the positives whether I’m sponsored or not. I think a lot of it is just having the balls to go there without fear of repercussion. Also remembering the importance of putting your audience first.
I just don’t agree with the “freelance” option, I’ve tried and it’s really complicated, it is too competitive, and it would be something that would need of our time (a lot of it) in order to generate income, when one travels want to know places, in conclusion: Or you go outside and know places or stay at the hotel “freelancing” until you have enough money to move to your next destination.
It’s definitely not for everyone, but it is what works for me.
What other options exist?
Great post.
Would be interested to know yours or any other travel bloggers thoughts on the table here:
http://onestep4ward.com/motivational-monday-hits-money-blog/
Obviously there are lots of variables but do you think the figures are realistic?
Honestly, I’m not sure I understand what Johnny is saying in this article. Where is the money coming from in his model? Text links? ads? If it’s text links I would say definitely not, as that industry is nearly dead.
What I’ve founds is that the amount of money you can make blogging isn’t necessarily tied to the amount of page views you get. It’s much more about how you market yourself and how creative you are about creating income streams.
Thanks for sharing the tips. To add some value to your post, I think people can also earn money by having seminars and workshop teaching others about travel and everything else on the travel business.
Thanks steph. As a newbie I wasn’t aware of all of those secrets method. I agree to follow your affiliate marketting strategy which is really worthy.
This is a great article. Thanks for being real & giving the honest truth on travel blogging. I kind of do it, I guess. But not to the extent that you & the above mentioned travel hackers do. I’m not put off taking it further. It’s just good info to know going forward. Cheers – Trav
making money via internet is never work for me (so far) ….. but i’m still looking for ways to make some passive income …. i read a lot of articles teaching people how and what to do but none of them really works or maybe too complicated for me.
I don’t know many people who have successfully managed to set up significant passive income. I suspect it’s a lot harder than many bloggers would have you believe.