Tech traveller: Work away

Put your digital know-how to good use on the road and earn money while you travel. Who ever said that a holiday can't pay for itself?

By Kate Russell
Published 3 Oct 2017, 16:00 BST, Updated 12 Jul 2021, 11:48 BST
Photograph by Getty Images

If you've got the travel bug so badly you don't want to come home, there are several ways to earn cash while on the move. Many digital skills can be employed anywhere you have a computer connected to the internet: accountancy, administrative support, design, translation, sales, marketing — the list is practically endless. Register with sites like Upwork and Fiverr to tout your abilities in a professional marketplace. If you start doing freelance jobs before travelling you can build up a good reputation for a more secure income.

Perhaps you just need a little extra spending money on a long-haul trip? Friendshippr is a social app that turns your personal network into a shipping network, connecting you with people who need something delivered where you're headed. There's no formal payment plan but the app encourages users to 'reward' couriers. Obviously, make sure you know what you're carrying and can trust the person sending it.

Or, how about earning cash for just walking? OK, it's not cold hard cash but BitWalking lets you accrue credit by simply putting one foot in front of the other; then you can spend your points with one of its digital content partners, including Spotify, Tidal, Netflix and Mubi.

To earn money from your travels in the purest sense, head to IQPlanner, where you can plan and blog about your trip with locations, reviews, photos and videos to share with other people. The platform monetises this content through affiliate links, so if someone spends money with an affiliate partner after following a link from your blog, you receive a small commission.

Get the gadget: Root7 Corkcicle Canteen

As the weather starts to turn cooler, it can be hard to decide whether to take a hot or cold drink on-the-go. The Root7 Corkcicle Canteen has you covered on both counts as the high-tech design keeps drinks piping hot for 13 hours, or ice cold for 25 hours. Lightweight and stylish, it's also very tough and won't break like a traditional flask if you drop it. You could also choose the Root7 Tumbler, which doesn't hold the temperature for quite as long (three hours hot and nine hours cool), but the cup-shape design is easy to drink from — just right for taking your morning coffee with you if you're heading out at the crack of dawn.

RRP: £25


Kate Russell is a technology reporter for @BBCClick and author of Working the Cloud

Published in the October 2017 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK)

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