Itinerant work when you are constantly on the move

July 14, 2012 6:18 AM

Itinerant income when always on the move? Help me a career, or at least an income, that fits the itinerant life.

I may have an opportunity to travel for a couple of years in the future and I would like to be able to earn some extra money while travelling. The type of travel is likely to be on a schedule that doesn't allow for weeks in one place, so many casual/temp type arrangements are a bit difficult.
I am prepared to study (for years for a qualification if necessary) or invest some money now if it results in a marketable skill. I can't, however, do something like an apprenticeship that requires full-time work.
Examples I have seen that fit the bill of turning up some place with a reasonable chance of landing some work within a day or so:
- sign writer
- barber
- knife sharpener
- chimney sweep
But I am keen to hear other suggestions. Especially if they might be perhaps more lucrative (I suspect supporting yourself as a chimney sweep is hard work)
My talents run toward the cerebral; writing, computers, selling but I am ok with wood work and general handiness.

posted by bystander to Travel & Transportation (16 answers total)

Barbers usually have to be licensed. These seem to all be from another century. How about dog walker, waiter, dishwasher, bartender?
posted by Ideefixe at 6:35 AM on July 14, 2012

Will you have internet acccess while you are traveling? A friend of mine does writing tutoring/editing through Pearson's SmartThinking program. You set how many hours you'd like, and then the schedule is flexible.

Happy traveling!
posted by shortyJBot at 6:37 AM on July 14, 2012

If you can get an ESL teaching certification, you can teach English whenever you are in a non-English speaking country (through private tutoring if the country in question requires teacher registration to work at a school). And in English-speaking countries there are still often opportunities to teach ESL in immigrant populations, although it might be harder to find full-time equivalent work in those cases.
posted by lollusc at 6:52 AM on July 14, 2012

Yes to internet access. Agreed barbers need to be licensed (and apprenticed where I am from) but it was an example I read in a magazine story where a chap turned up at carnivals and such to cut hair. It helped he was specialist in rockabilly cuts.
posted by bystander at 7:02 AM on July 14, 2012

I knew a doctor who traveled and was able to earn money by working at the Emergency Room wherever he went. Not sure if that was arranged in advance?? Phlebotomy or other medical tech skill might work, too.
posted by CathyG at 7:02 AM on July 14, 2012

I can't, however, do something like an apprenticeship that requires full-time work.

Well that would seem to exclude going to medical tech school, let alone medical school, internship and residency, haina?

It would be great if you could get a job, permanent part-time or consultant, at a firm where telecommuting is allowed, and just turn in your work when it's done.

The type of travel is likely to be on a schedule that doesn't allow for weeks in one place

would seem to rule out ESL or any other kind of teaching except workshops lasting a few days -- right?

I can't imagine too many occupations where you just roll in, announce your arrival, and get to work. Your list does sound very 19th century.

Maybe find out what programming-type work, design work, etc. (i.e. "things you do on a computer") is hot right now and learn those skills/that programming language/etc. so that you can do that kind of work for many different companies anywhere via internet, specifying that the closest you will be able to get to live conferences is via Skype.

This actually seems like a very modern way to plan your work life, even when you're not travelling.
posted by DMelanogaster at 7:12 AM on July 14, 2012

The obvious that comes to mind when I see that your talents are towards the cerebral, i.e. computers and writing, is to work towards setting up some kind of writing gig from different parts of the world.
posted by infini at 7:23 AM on July 14, 2012

Knife sharpening isn't as common as it used to be, and so my impression is that the people who regularly need knives and scissors sharpened already have "a guy" (so to speak). It's also common for sharpeners to have relationships with local stores (like sewing stores where people drop off their shears to be sharpened). I am not sure I'd trust my $100 chef's knife to a random dude, is all I'm saying.

It could be a function of my locale (MN) though so hopefully others will give their opinions on that one.
posted by cabingirl at 9:27 AM on July 14, 2012

Check your MeMail.
posted by Sternmeyer at 9:28 AM on July 14, 2012

Knife sharpening is a great business and could give you a lot of room to maneuver. Go for it!
posted by parmanparman at 9:30 AM on July 14, 2012

If you write and know your tech stuff, check out SkyWord's program for IBM Midsize Insider. You have to be able to write well and know what topics will suit an IT professional in a midsize business (general tech news is not good enough). If you know that, you can make $40+ a pop per article. You can get up to an additional $40 for readership, but they tend to be slow in publishing articles, cutting into you readership. Still, it's a few bucks. They pay twice a month to Paypal.
posted by skypieces at 9:44 AM on July 14, 2012

I know a guy who makes things out of balloons and travels around setting himself up at festivals and bars twisting balloons. I think he might also sometimes get hired for parties. It doesn't seem terribly lucrative, though.
posted by geegollygosh at 9:47 AM on July 14, 2012

I've met people who do (what I would consider) dull jobs in social media and SEO as a telecommuter, pulling in a full professional salary while traveling the world. They worked the same amount of hours as a normal employee, though, so the changing locations were ultimately more a backdrop to the job than vice versa.
posted by threeants at 12:13 PM on July 14, 2012

Do you have a safety net? Most of the people I know that move around a lot for jobs (admittedly mostly creative fields) a safety net set up (extensive network of generous friends so they aren't always relying on the same people for a couch/ticket home) or family/SO that is always there for them. They also tend to be generous/charismatic so there is a positive "trade" for their freeloading.
posted by saucysault at 4:18 PM on July 14, 2012

"freeloading" is not meant in a pejorative way, my mental thesaurus has let me down.
posted by saucysault at 4:22 PM on July 14, 2012

Things you can do from anywhere you have internet:
- Programming/software development.
- Design.
- Writing.

Things you can do in the random place you are:
(One depends on speaking the local language, one depends on the local language being different.)
- English conversation.
- Teaching workshops.
- Busk. (You may need permits to do this in some places.)

I would advise software development. It pays the best and if you develop your own application and offer it for sale on a popular marketplace (say, Apple app store) it can generate supplemental income without you doing very much.
posted by Ookseer at 5:15 PM on July 14, 2012