Are you tired of the daily grind? Who can blame you? With a boss constantly peering over your shoulder and boring coffee room conversations, there must be other ways how you could make a living? And you’re certainly not alone, with the telecommuting population growing immensely in the past few years.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people work, with many forced to work from home. Maybe working from home has made you realize that you’re tired of the daily slog, or perhaps you’ve even thought about it before the pandemic.
Be that as it may, you’re probably reading this because you want out. One of the perfect ways to do this is by becoming a digital nomad, where you can work whenever you want, and, as a bonus, you’ll get to travel and see the world.
But what are some of the things you can do to make this reality? Here, we’ll give you a list of the best ways to ditch your job and earn money as you travel the world.
Option 1: Start A Blog
Blogging is an excellent way of earning money while you travel. It gives you total freedom of working when and where you want. The fact that there are many bloggers out there earning over five figures a month is a testament that it certainly is possible. Remember, though, that it takes time and patience for your blog to let the dollars roll in, so you might not want to quit your day job just yet.
Also, blogging opens up several other income streams like display ads on your site, affiliate marketing, and selling digital products, which on their own can give you a healthy income.
When it comes to earnings, the figures vary wildly. For example, a survey of 1,500 bloggers revealed that 9% of them made between $1,000 and $10,000 per month, 4% made over $10,000 per month, and the vast majority made less than $100 per month. Keep in mind that the last-mentioned were all blogs that were less than two years old.
Option 2: Become A Freelance Writer
Freelance writing is an excellent way of earning money. You can do it on its own or even as a supplement to your blogging, and you’ll need the least outlay in terms of equipment or courses to learn additional skills. From here, you can venture into copywriting, where you write persuasively but also get paid more.
With more companies moving online, there are a lot of opportunities for freelance writers, and there are several freelance platforms that offer a variety of work, from blogging to web content, ghostwriting, and copywriting.
According to Glassdoor, freelance writers earn about $42,120 per year on average.
Option 3: Become A Freelance Editor And Translator
Tying into freelance writing to a certain extent is freelance editing and translating. Here you use your language skills to edit writing for other writers or translate their writing into another language.
Like freelance writing, there are a lot of opportunities out there, and you can work for companies, publications, blogs, or use freelance platforms to get editing and translator jobs.
When it comes to earnings, freelance editors and translators earn anything between $35 and $50 per hour.
Option 4: Become A Software Developer
If you’re not into writing, you could always look into becoming a software developer. Obviously, you have to learn the skills first, so this takes longer than writing and editing to earn an income.
Luckily, there are a lot of resources available online for you to learn, with many of them being free. Keep in mind that doing a course or two is not enough, and you have to build up a portfolio of work before you can start applying for jobs. And speaking of jobs, you can either apply for a full-time remote job or look at any available freelance platforms for software development projects.
It’s estimated that freelance software developers earn about $113,000 per year.
Option 5: Digital Marketing Services
Companies are increasingly looking to digital channels for their marketing strategies. Digital marketing is becoming one of the most effective marketing strategies out there. This means that there are a lot of opportunities and that it can be pretty lucrative if you’re skilled and you get a few good clients.
You can do anything from social media ads to SEO consulting by providing digital marketing services. Here, you should have some skills or experience, though. Still, like software development, there are a variety of online courses and other resources available for you to learn and build up a portfolio.
Once you’ve done this, there are a lot of job boards and freelance digital marketing platforms where do you can start looking for work.
The average salary for a freelance digital marketer in the US is about $66,000 a year.
Option 6: Become A Virtual Assistant
Becoming a virtual assistant is an option if you’re good at admin. As a virtual assistant, you’ll work with brands and businesses and do dedicated tasks for them, including scheduling appointments, making travel arrangements, making phone calls, and managing email accounts.
Like many of the other jobs in this list, you can find virtual assistant jobs on freelance platforms, and there are even dedicated virtual assistant platforms where you can apply.
Freelance Virtual Assistants make anything from $1,200 to $10,000 per month.
Option 7: Teach English Online
As a native English speaker, you have an asset that many companies are willing to pay you for. There has been a huge demand for native English speakers to teach online in the last few years.
To do this, you need a steady internet connection, a quality headset, and the ability to converse with people worldwide. Although you don’t need a degree with many of these jobs, you’ll still probably need a TEFL certification before any company considers hiring you. Fortunately, these don’t take time to complete and don’t cost much money.
To find jobs, you can look at any available online teaching platforms to see their requirements and how to apply.
Typically, you can find anything from $14 to $23 per hour by teaching English online.
Option 8: Become A Transcriber
Another option would be to become a transcriber. There are a variety of platforms online where you can apply to be a transcriber, take a short test, and if you pass, you can start working.
Here, you’ll listen to recordings or watch videos and convert the content into text. To do it properly, you need transcription software, a headset, and possibly a foot pedal. Luckily, most transcription platforms provide the software, so it’s up to you what headset you’ll buy and whether you get a foot pedal.
The average salary for freelance Transcribers is about $15 per hour.
Time To Quit?
You have a few options available if you want to quit your job and become a full-time digital nomad. Remember, each option has its pros and cons and barriers to entry which you’ll have to consider depending on the time frame you’re looking at.
Despite this, it’s possible to make the switch soon and work on your terms while you travel. So get out there—the world beckons.