3 Types of Teaching Jobs to Make Money While Traveling
For those who are living abroad and want to earn some extra money to see more of what’s out there, there is a need to make money to pay for rooms, food, and bus fare.
Teaching English and other teaching-related activities are a means to make some money to supplement travel expenses for a weekend trip.
Ways to make money include tutoring, writing, and generating income will help meet those travel goals.
Online Tutoring Services
One of the easiest ways to begin earning money while traveling is online teaching and tutoring.
Many of these services pay by the hour or minute spent speaking to students on their platforms. Some of these platforms include websites such as Cambly, which pays .17 USD per minute up to 10.20 USD per hour. Other platforms such as Preply and Italki allow tutors to set their own hourly pay but may take a commission. Preply takes a 33% commission that lowers to 18% based on how many hours tutors work on their platform.
An alternative means to online platforms is finding an online job directly by checking TESOL job boards. GoOverSeas.com, and Bridge.edu job boards are good places to start a search for online English teaching jobs, or you can go directly to The TEFL Org for you to find English Teaching Jobs easily.
These jobs can be direct contracts with companies and organizations, requiring at least part-time hours (somewhere between 20 and 40 hours per week depending on the job), but also providing steadier pay and other benefits (such as lesson plans and other resources) than working as an independent tutor.
Here are 10 great reasons to travel the world
Whether you tutor directly for a company or work as an independent contractor on a platform, these TESOL positions will have various requirements. Some require a TESOL certificate and a four-year degree while others simply ask for their tutors to be native speakers, or a TESOL certificate will be required, but there will be no requirement for a 4-year degree.
Think about your needs and lifestyle to determine which will work best for you. Someone working a full-time job who wants to earn a little extra money on the side would benefit from a service that allows more flexibility and has no minimum hour requirements. Those who are more serious would probably benefit from applying to a service with a minimum hour requirement, or a monthly or yearly contract might be a better option. More information and links to these platforms can be read about here.
How to learn speed reading
Some general tips for teaching online include:
- Maintain a consistent schedule so you and your students can work together.
- Setting aside time to learn about your field and how to better teach in it.
- Knowing when to take a break (a consistent schedule will help with that).
- Be flexible with your working times. Depending on where your students live and where you live, you might be waking up at 4 a.m. to teach someone who’s winding down from their work day at 6 p.m.
Differences between studying abroad and distant learning
Online Proofreading and Editing Services
Many students and people across the globe aspire to study at American, British, or Australian universities. Some want to attend medical school or business school, while others want to spend a semester in a study abroad program.
Sometimes they are professionals with a good command of English but need a little help writing a cover letter in English. Many of these students need to write cover letters and other materials in English to meet their goals, but they may need or want a second pair of eyes to look at their materials for them.
Fortunately, there are plenty of online proofreading and editing services people can sign up for to do remote work. Websites such as Polished Paper, Scribbr, and freelancing job websites (such as Fiverr and Upwork) offer entry-level to professional-level jobs for would-be proofreaders and editors.
Proofreading and editing are also services you can offer to students on online tutoring platforms if they aspire to go abroad or land a job at an American or British company. This can help them meet goals and help you earn a living by paying your way through the next day trip to Paris.
Blogging
Another means to make money online in addition to teaching online is through blogging or vlogging. An advantage to blogging is that if it’s done right, well, and consistently, it’s a means to attract readers and advertisers. Writing about travel is low-hanging fruit, too. It’s pretty easy to share photos of what you saw and write about it.
This money-making method is low-entry, but takes time to develop. Smartphones have cameras for pictures and video, laptops are great for writing articles, and video and photo editor, and most of this stuff can be carried in a pack. So long as there’s a good internet connection and a power outlet, you’re in business.
In order to monetize a blog, consistent and regular posting is necessary; aim for posting around the same time of day or night around the same time. Posting something, even if it’s a short 200-word blurb about a cute little café you tutor out of, beats posting nothing. This helps with traffic and engagement, as you can attract and retain readers. As you keep this posting schedule up, you can eventually begin to use tools such as Google AdSense and affiliate links to generate passive income.
Learn how to create an online business
Affiliate links to tutoring platforms, writing services, and other ESL and travel-related issues could be a good thing to focus on if you write about traveling and teaching English on your blog.
While you can blog about your travel, you can also publish lesson plans for other teachers to look at. There are a metric ton of TESOL lesson plans on the web, but many of them are of terribly low quality. Creating and publishing high-quality ESL lesson plans you use in your own teaching could draw in traffic from fellow teachers seeking lesson plans or ideas to use in their own classroom.
This can be a separate part of your blog away from but still related to the main travel and teaching side of things. Another idea related to this is selling a book of lesson plans and activities in a bundle for a few dollars. Keeping some of your individual lesson plans free as a taster could incentivize people to purchase an e-book for more materials they can use for themselves in their classrooms.
On a final note about blogging, you can use the space to advertise your tutoring and teaching services. This casts a wider net and may attract prospective students. There are no guarantees it will happen, but it never hurts anything to let people know what you can offer.
Check this guide on creating your own blog
