3 Ways I’ve Gotten Paid to Travel (And 30+ Ways You Can, Too)

After my first trip abroad to Mexico at the age of 10, I was hooked. The vibrant colors of papel picado waving in the ocean breeze high above the streets, the charred scent of chili peppers roasting at the street food stalls, the sweet, nutty taste of a straight-off-the-grill corn tortilla. Every experience was like seeing the world in an entirely new light. From that first trip, I knew I needed travel in my life. What I couldn’t fathom then was that I could actually get paid to travel for a living.

Now, two decades later, I still bask in the beauty and feel like a kid again every time I touch down in a new place. But more than that, I’ve found ways to incorporate travel into my career and get paid for my adventures. And I want to teach you how to get paid to travel, too! Ready to take some notes?

My Windy Journey to Get Paid to Travel

When I started looking at colleges in 2007, online business wasn’t really a thing quite yet. Sure, people had blogs and were travel writing, but it wasn’t openly shared how to make that a career. So, knowing that I wanted to be paid to travel, my thought was I needed to work in the travel industry.

I scoured the country for schools that had very specific requirements:

• A tourism and hospitality management program,
• an equestrian team,
• and a big city campus.

An odd trifecta, I know, but I found it at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Now, prior to what I like to think are my best “get paid to travel” gigs, I also traveled by getting an internship for a cultural hotel company in New Mexico doing sales and marketing. Plus, I was in a sales and marketing manager role for a tour company that allowed me to manage all trade shows and travel to fun places like San Diego and NYC. But today, I want to touch on ways other entrepreneurs can leverage!

Gig #1: A Travel-Centric 9-5

The first way I truly got paid to travel was by planning all North American events for a manufacturing company. Some people do this as contractors, but I had a full-time role where I was responsible for all the client-facing events, VIP events, and President’s events. These took place across the U.S. in places like Vegas, Dallas, and Mexico.

My job was to:

• Lead the development of retreat and meeting visions and goals
• Cultivate the content, manage speakers and presentations
• Literally, plan every detail from travel to swag to surveys to travel to catering.

This is an overly simplistic view. It was a big job with a lot of C-Suite stakeholders. But I was really damn good at it if I do say so myself.

With these responsibilities, of course, came traveling to and running the meetings on-site.

Paid travel.

Now, I also had colleagues who planned events in Europe, Asia, etc., and they got to travel across borders worldwide to plan events in places like Germany and Hong Kong.

The issue was I got burnt out quickly. But I’m eager to infuse this into my own business in the near future. I plan to leverage this in my current business with retreats and group trips in the future! If you’re a coach or service provider who can execute your services in a fun destination, you can start acting on this now…

Here are a few examples of how you can infuse travel into your online business:

• Writing retreats
• Yoga retreats
• Self-discovery and healing retreats
• Coaching VIP days in incredible destinations
• Fitness retreats

Do you have a business where you could offer one of your current coaching offers in a cool location? If you want help brainstorming or planning, I’m your girl.

Or, if you prefer the 9-5 route, here are a few steps you can take to land a job like this:

• You may need to apply for a few event coordinator roles first. I had about seven years of professional event experience before I got paid to travel and plan events. Some companies you may want to look through are American Express Meetings & Events, BCD Travel, or companies like BoomPop or Moniker that are planning offsite for companies around the world.
• Get an event planning certificate. While I don’t always think higher education is necessary for writing jobs, landing a corporate job in travel does get easier with a degree or certificate in tourism and hospitality or event planning.

Gig #2: Freelance Copywriter

Long story short, after COVID hit, I left the events industry. I did a deep dive into my skills and what I could offer. After side hustling for a creative outlet as a freelance writer, I decided to give it a go full-time during the pandemic. And that’s how my copywriting business was born.

I’ve worked with global event planners, venues and hotels worldwide, companies doing work with artisans in places like Nepal and Mexico, and more.

So naturally, I gravitate towards jobs that involve travel but on the writing side. But one day, I stumbled across a gig on Upwork that was paying $3,000 to attend a conference in D.C. and write a round-up. That was the only deliverable – attend 12 hours of sessions and one round-up. Easy peasy. I had zero experience in the niche (oil and gas/ politics), but I figured, what the heck, I love D.C. and am a writer with at least some testimonials at this point.

I took my portfolio, catered it to what they were looking for in the gig description, and after a discovery call, landed the gig for the next month. It also helped me hit a five-figure sales month in my business. Win-win, right?

It was one of the coolest writing jobs I’ve had to date. I got to explore the city in the afternoons, visit my sister, who lives in the area, meet high-level politicians, and learn a lot about an important industry I formerly knew nothing about. Above all, making money to travel.

If you want to become a freelance copywriter, check out this blog post for in-depth tips and my free masterclass on how to start an online copywriting business.

But, a few things you can do now to become a freelance copywriter are:

• Think about what professional skills you have to-date. You don’t have to be a writer to become a freelance copywriter. What I typically have my coaching clients start with is determining where their professional expertise lies and pitching in that space.
• Create a portfolio. This could mean doing some discounted or free work for an individual you’d like to work with or simply creating a few conceptual pieces that solve a problem for your audience.
• Figure out your sales and marketing funnel. Do you want to focus on cold-pitching? Prospecting within your network? Upwork or Fivver? There is no right or wrong way to start. Choose what you feel most comfortable doing because that’s what is going to drive that forward momentum.

Gig #3: Travel Writer

After a few years, I realized that copywriting really didn’t set my soul on fire. But telling stories about my travels did. So, I wanted to think about how I could tie the two together – and the answer smacked me right in the face in the form of an Instagram ad advertising how to become a travel writer.

I thought to myself, “How the hell didn’t I think of this?”

After a conversation with my copywriting coach the very same week where she claimed my desired path sounded more like journalism than copywriting – I knew I had to give it a go.

So, I pitched. My second pitch ever was accepted by Matador Network to write a story about a recent trip I had taken to Mexico’s Hotel Xcaret Arte. When I say I had fun writing it – that’s a massive understatement.

I finally felt like all the work I had put into my career up to this point was culminating in one single piece.

But that wasn’t where it ended. After I got that article published, I got the feature in an online publication for women travelers and landed two press trips to Mexico. While the first pieces were written about travel I paid for by myself, now I was literally getting paid to travel. To indulge in local cuisine and talk to chefs about the culinary scene, to go on catamaran tours with other powerful women writers, to glamp under the stars in the Mexican desert.

It’s literally a dream.

The best part, though? I landed these jobs with less than 550 followers on social media.

I think there’s a big misconception that you have to have a massive following to land gigs like this. You don’t! You simply need to build an online presence that shares your passions and your voice, and the right jobs will align.

So, if you want to become a travel writer, the steps I would take are:

• Determine your beat. Your beat is your area of expertise. For me, I focus on luxury travel and cultural experiences in Latin America and Spain because that is what truly sets my soul on fire.
• Write! Part of the reason I started this blog was to create a living portfolio of my work. If you don’t want to start your own blog, pitch guest posts on other blogs or online publications and use those to build your portfolio.
• Be at least semi-consistent on social media. A lot of the entry-level press trips will likely have some element of content creation. Now, I had about 65 posts over the span of a year and a half when I got chosen for the press trips, so it doesn’t need to be anything too crazy. Just share your voice and show you can take a semi-decent vertical video, lol.

How These Opportunities Changed My Life

For a while, I felt lost. I was labeled a job hopper. But worse, I truly felt like I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.

I was never taught that every experience is a stepping stone to your next chapter. And now that I look back on everything I did, all the skills I built, all the connections I made, all the work I did – it’s all led to this life of freedom and travel, thanks to entrepreneurship.

It’s allowed me to step into my power, believe in myself, accept that I’m not destined for a “traditional” life path, and ultimately, embrace who I am.

It’s allowed me to shape my own story, tell the stories of others, and help women who are feeling lost like I once was write their next chapter.

If getting paid to travel is something you want to do, don’t let the naysayers get in your head (including that little devil on your shoulder) and tell you you can’t do it because you can. All it takes is a little grit, a lot of determination, and the courage to keep going until it happens for you.

30+ Ways to Get Paid to Travel Based on Skillset & Passions

While my paid travel gigs were mostly writing and event planning focused, there are so many ways you can get paid to travel. Here are just a handful of them:

If you’re a coach or an aspiring coach…

• VIP days around the world
• Group retreats that facilitate your transformation
• Travel coaching – in-person sessions in unique locales or going on trips with clients
• Public speaking – start offering keynotes

For those who are great writers…

• Travel writer
• Travel blogger
• Copywriter for travel and hospitality brands (maybe not immediate travel – but trips down the road to visit your client and attend meetings!)

If you’re the most organized person in your crew…

• Destination wedding planner
• Retreat planner for coaches or businesses
• Travel agent or planner (this is coming back, and now is the time to get in!)
• Tour company owner offering small group trips
• Virtual assistant or online business manager

For those who are visually creative & love social…

• Travel vlogger or influencer
• Brand photography & videography (travel for brand shoots!)
• Destination wedding photographer

For those who are free spirits & love the outdoors…

• A workstay at a farm or home abroad (Worldpackers and Workaway are great options you can check out)
• Yoga instructor – you can teach online or get gigs wherever life takes you

If entrepreneurship isn’t your thing…

On the other hand, it’s not all about being an entrepreneur all the time! Here are some career paths that may be great if you don’t want to start your own business:

• Yachtie (Yes, I’m a shameless Below Deck fanatic and would have done this if I knew it was an option in my 20s)
• Airline staff
• Travel nurse
• Tour guide
• TESOL teacher
• Global event planner
• Art curator
• Sales director
• NGO (non-governmental organization) work
• Tour operator employee
• Cruise ship entertainer
• Hotel jobs internationally
• Au pair or nanny work
• Any remote job!

Want Done-for-You Pitch Templates to Get Paid to Travel?

Now, if you want to infuse more travel into your business or life – I have two resources for you!