How To Make Money While Travelling Australia
For decades dreams of making money while travelling Australia on a working holiday have afflicted many Australians and foreigners. Thanks to the World Wide Web and our increasingly global culture however, money making options for living the gypsy lifestyle have significantly expanded.
No longer is a working holiday reserved for backpackers traipsing the countryside in beat up vehicles from farms to bars.
With the boom of online blogging and social media, every man and his dog it seems is trying to get in on a piece of “the nomadic life”without having to dig too deeply into their hard earned savings. And why wouldn’t they!?
So what does a working holiday in modern day Australia actually look like?
Fund Your Holiday By Working Online
Many social media, IT, design and research jobs can be carried out almost completely online these days. If you work in any of these areas you may consider taking advantage of your skills on the road.
Jobs that can be done online include:
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Blog Writing
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Creating You Tube Videos
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Instagram - take amazing pictures and develop a following
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Offering Search Engine Optimisation & Search Engine Management
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Managing client’s Social Media pages and accounts
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Computer programming
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Graphic Design and Web Design
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Data Entry
- Public Relations
Where to find online work:
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Craigs List
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99 Designs
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Design Crowd
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eLance
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Freelancer
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Get A Coder
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Gumtree
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Guru
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Instagram
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People Per Hour
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Project 4 Hire
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You Tube
- Your Social Networks
Potential problems to consider:
When joining freelancing websites you’re usually competing against thousands of individuals often from developing countries who are ready to undercut you every which way.
Try using your social networks to find anyone looking for someone with your expertise. Associates of colleagues and friends are way more likely to pay for quality work if you come with a recommendation from someone they know.
Internet connection availability can be sketchy in certain parts of Australia.
Always take this into consideration if you’re in the middle of a project and looking at moving onto a new location.
A lot of new avenues of income using social media and the web require quite a bit of time to generate enough of a following to make any decent money.
If you are planning on using this as a solid income, you will need to start your blog, channel, picture taking, well in advance of leaving.
Alternatively you may contact people with existing blogs etc, or who may require a blog for their website, and get them to commission you to do some work for them.
Advice:
Always check with local businesses where you are staying if they need any social media, IT or design work done. You’ll be surprised how many might say Yes!
Fund Your Holiday By Selling Stuff On The Move
If you’ve got radical art and craft skills, or are just plain good at selling stuff, you may be able to make a good income selling your wares (or other people’s) all across Australia.
Items you may sell while on holiday:
- Arts & Crafts
- Music
- Baby, glamour and family photography
- Memberships
- Tupperware, Cosmetics or other Home-based Commission Incentive Products
Where to sell stuff when on the move:
- Local Markets
- Local Shopping Centres - Pop-up Stalls
- Online Stores - Ebay (art + craft), Etsy (art + craft), Made It (art + craft), Art Web (art), TuneCore (music), CD Baby (music), The orchard (music), Shutterstock (photography), iStockPhoto (photography)
Potential problems to consider:
If you need to post goods remember that postage from remote locations can cost a lot more.
Make allowances for this in your postage and handling fees.
Shopping centres and local markets may not have availability.
Always contact towns well in advance to ensure you will be able to sell your wares on arrival.
Stock up on supplies whenever you can so you don’t end up not able to make anything.
Advice:
Think of goods and services people in rural areas rarely get the chance to purchase or indulge in. These will be your biggest hit, as regardless of quality demand will always be high.
If you are part of any organisation or membership programs, approach them and see if they would consider giving you a cut if you sell any memberships while you are travelling the country.
Fund Your Holiday By Lending A Hand
No matter where you go there are always people looking for someone to help out with odd jobs; some of which require trade skills, and some of which simply require time and effort.
Popular help jobs include:
- Handyman/Tradie/Garden work
- Driving other peoples cars, vans or rental vehicles.
- Bar work
- IT work
- Farm work
- Cleaners
- Waiters/Waitresses
- Hairdressers/Beauticians
Where to find help jobs:
- airtasker.com - all kinds of odd jobs
- Gumtree.com
- Harvest Trail - farming jobs
- HelpX.net - free board in return for work
- Newspaper
- Online job search sites
Potential problems to consider:
Work is often seasonal, and accommodation will be more expensive during peak seasons.
Brush up on skills suitable for off-season work, or time your travels around the country based on peak seasons.
When driving other people’s cars you usually only have a short time to get from point A to point B so you might not be able to do as much sightseeing as you planned.
Always check how much time you have and who is responsible for insurance and fuel costs.
Advice:
In remote locations that don’t have many trade services, promote you are coming before arrival and set up a day or week to do all the town’s jobs.
Fund Your Holiday By Doing Relief Work
They say that a change is as good as a holiday. If you can’t afford to take time off, maybe you should consider doing what you normally do, just somewhere different.
Popular relief jobs include:
- Camp Hosting
- House Sitting
- Managing/Caretaking in hotels, caravan parks and stations
- Nursing
- Teaching
Where to find relief jobs:
- Aussie House Sitters
- Happy House Sitters
- Holiday Relief Managers
- Jobsearch.gov.au
- National Park Websites
- Relief Teaching
Potential problems to consider:
Your workload will often be the same as at home.
No matter how tired you are make it a priority to see or do something new each weekend (or spare day off).
If accommodation is not provided, finding short-term accommodation can be difficult.
Consider taking a caravan or motorhome with you, or seek advice from your prospective employer for the best accommodation options in town.
Before You Go
Get an ABN and any insurance you may need!
Get business cards!
Brand your vehicle!
DISCLAIMER* Please note, this advice is general in nature and we strongly recommend consulting the product manual and where relevant, a professional installer.
