Unique Ways to Fund Life on the Road: Make a Living Without Your Laptop

For some travelers, working a remote job that can be done entirely online is the one-way ticket to living out their dreams of being nomads. For others, the thought of spending hours upon hours looking at a computer screen is the worst-case scenario, especially when parked in extraordinary locations with all their temptations (trails and vistas and lakeshores and forests!).

We have great news for you if you fall into the latter camp: Remote work, though increasingly popular, is not the only way to make a living on the road. It's entirely possible to establish cash flow and travel full-time without tying yourself to Zoom calls and Slack messages. In fact, there are plenty of unique ways to fund life on the road that will get you into the great outdoors. Ahead, learn about 12 ways to make money while traveling that don't require remote work.

Seasonal Guiding Work

If you're already an outdoorsy person, there's a good chance you have a set of skills you can turn into a paying job. Guiding work, such as leading hikes, backpacking trips, rafting trips, climbing routes, and fishing charters, is an extremely popular career path among full-time travelers. Some people return to the same guiding job year after year, using their off-season to travel; others job-hop and travel to new locations to work during different seasons.

For instance, you could guide glacier treks in Alaska during the summer and guide kayaking trips through the Florida Everglades in the winter. The exact guiding jobs you're eligible for depends on your existing skills, skills you're willing to learn, and certifications you're willing to get. Most guiding jobs require a wilderness first aid or (more commonly) a wilderness first responder certification because guides are responsible for their clients' lives out in the field.

To become a seasonal worker, check out these websites:

CoolWorks
Indeed
ZipRecruiter
Basecamp Outdoor
Outdoor Industry Jobs
Outdoor Industry Association
Local and regional tourism agency website
The guiding company you're interested in

Seasonal Tourism Jobs

Don't fret if being out in the field isn't your jam. Some of the best seasonal jobs aren't quite so high-octane. Resorts and hotels, for instance, often hire additional staff just for their high season months. In some remote areas, such as Alaska, you might have luck getting a seasonal gig as an auto mechanic or other trade industry job due to an influx of travelers, thus an influx of customers, for such businesses in the summer months.

Other non-guiding seasonal job ideas include:

High-season retail
Gear repair (such as in bike, ski, or surf shops
Restaurant work (chef, line cook, bussing, dishwashing, serving, hosting)
Trail building with the National Park Service, National Forest Service, or state or county organizations
Park staff (National Parks, state parks, country parks
Park medical staf
Housekeepin
Bartending
Camp counselor

Some places to find seasonal tourism jobs include:

House Sitting

Watching other people's homes while they're away can be a paying job, or it can work like an exchange—that is, you get to stay in nice locations for free, and in return, you take care of the home and sometimes plants and/or pets. This is an especially viable option if you don't want to live in your rig full-time. House-sitting can be a nice break from road life while still allowing you to experience new places and cultures.

House-sitting gigs can be found on:

Work Camping (Workamping)

This type of work is becoming more popular. Essentially, businesses—often campgrounds, farms, retreats, and other types of business with a lot of space to manage—hire RVers to work on the property and provide a compensation package that typically includes a free or heavily discounted RV spot.

Common workamping gigs include:

Campground hosts
RV park groundskeepers
Maintenance workers
Housekeepers
RV park office workers
Lifeguards

The Workamper website is a great place to find tips for this lifestyle, and Workamping Jobs is a job board specifically for this type of work. Amazon Camperforce is another option: This program relies on the seasonal RV workforce to do various jobs in Amazon Warehouses in select states. In addition to paying hourly wages, Amazon also covers a portion of monthly camping expenses, such as rent for an RV space at participating campgrounds.

Farm and Ranch Jobs

Working as a farmhand or ranch-hand is a great way to spend more time outside and is an excellent option for individuals who thrive on physical labor. While not super common among modern farms, it's possible to find short-term work—as short as a day's worth—by visiting a farm and asking in person if the owner has work available.

Otherwise, inquiring at co-ops, markets, and other farming-central locations can help you get a foot in the door. You can also check with Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, New Agrarian Program, U.S. Department of Labor, Work Away, and Beginning Farmers. Posting on local Facebook groups can also be helpful.

Fairs and Festivals

Do you love music festivals, fairs, carnivals, Renaissance festivals, or other similar events? If yes, consider building your travel plans around temporary jobs in these settings. Similar to guiding work, it's possible to work continuously for one company (either traveling with the event year-round or returning at a specific time of year annually) or hop from gig to gig to expand your travels. Some ideas within this sector include:

Ticket sales and/or concessions
Audiovisual technician
Venue manager
General event staff
Bartending
First aid or emergency care
Animal handler

Depending on the type of job, of course, you'll need different qualifications and skills. Carnival Warehouse is a great site to find amusement industry jobs. Local classifieds are another place to look.

Mobile Repair and Handyman Work

Particularly handy individuals can make a living on the road by helping others fix problems with their cars, RVs, homes, or other property. It definitely takes time to build up a reputation in this industry, but it's certainly doable and you'll also achieve the satisfaction of helping others along your way.

Building a simple website and establishing a social media presence to bring awareness to your brand can go a long way in terms of gaining clients and customers on the road. Alternatively, you may be able to apply for temporary jobs at shops and garages along your route, especially during high seasons.

Travel Healthcare Jobs

Are you already a nurse, doctor, EMT, or other healthcare professional? There's a large market for licensed medical professionals who are willing to travel for their jobs. In a lot of cases, housing is provided, but you could also opt to travel to the job in your RV or van and live out of it for the duration of your contract. In between contracts, you can take time off to travel.

There are tons of helpful websites for finding travel healthcare jobs, including:

Fitness Instructor Jobs

This option is best for certified fitness professionals who plan to stay in one area for a relatively long amount of time, at least a month or more. If you can coordinate far enough in advance, it's possible to line up jobs along a planned road trip route.

Or, you can hopscotch to whichever area you're able to pick up a job at—to each their own. Another option is to start your own mobile personal training business, though this will take considerably more marketing and brand-building.

ZipRecruiter, Indeed, and Google Jobs are some places to find fitness industry jobs, but also take a look at the job boards from certification agencies, such as the NASM job board and ACE Fitness job board.

DoorDash, InstaCart, Rideshare

Depending on where you'll be and what type of vehicle you drive (this option might be best suited to individuals with trailers who can unhook their passenger vehicle), you can make your own schedule and make decent money by picking up driving gigs.

Many travelers make an earnest living rotating between various apps, including DoorDash, Instacart, Uber, Lyft, and Spark. It may not be an “outside job,” but is, for many individuals, a preferable option to being stuck at a computer for long periods of time.

Modeling

Brands are always looking for models to cast in both print and video marketing content—and no, you needn't be a natural-born supermodel to do this. In fact, in a turn of tides, many outdoor and adventure brands want to cast talent who actually live the lives that the brand portrays. For instance, a mountain bike clothing brand may prioritize casting talent that actually rides mountain bikes; a fishing rod brand would love to cast models who have fishing experience.

To start doing this kind of work, you could sign on with an agency, but it's possible to make it on your own, too. Check out forums and threads online and join Facebook groups where brands and content agencies post talent calls. You can pick up as many or as few gigs as you'd like and plan your road trip route around them, or choose to only do gigs on your pre-planned route.

There will definitely be some required laptop time if you go this route, as you'll need to source gigs, prospect new clients, and communicate with your clients. But instead of being chained to your computer every day, the bulk of your work could include galivanting around beautiful outdoor spaces and interacting with products and brands that align with your lifestyle.

Photography and Videography

Do you have a knack for capturing moments in time or creating engaging videos? Pursuing travel photography and/or videography is an exciting option. While these jobs do require some computer time—mainly for finding clients, editing, and delivering the content—much of the work is done outdoors in beautiful locations.

There are a few ways to go about this. You could shoot photos on your own time and sell them online as stock photos. Or, you can shoot branded content for travel, tourism, and outdoor brands for them to use in their marketing materials. Another option is portrait photography; yet another route is wildlife or landscape photography, which you can license for use in publications, on websites, and in films.

Becoming a credible and reputable photographer or videographer takes time. If you're willing to put in the work to market yourself and hone your skills, this industry can be particularly lucrative.

Your online presence will be incredibly important: A curated social media feed and website can do wonders in terms of securing paying clients. Networking, too, either in person or online, is important for photographers and videographers.

How to Find Jobs on the Road

Though you're looking for a job that doesn't require you to be online all of the time, the best place to start looking for one is…online! It's important to stay connected in the digital age, as most companies don't advertise jobs in newspapers or on physical bulletin boards with flyers anymore. For the most part, jobs are advertised online.

Plus, being online gives you access to dozens of job boards that can help you find exactly the type of work you're looking for, such as outdoor seasonal work for nomads. Not to mention, an internet connection allows you to get in touch with specific companies by finding their contact info on the web (because who keeps Yellow Pages with them anymore?).

Staying connected also means you can efficiently search and apply for jobs on-the-go, so your travels don't have to come to a halt while you're in between work.

Learn more about how to get Internet in an RV and how TravlFi can help you stay connected with 4G and 5G wireless internet while traveling full-time.