Through my years of working and backpacking around the globe I’ve built up a wide and varied range of work experience. I’ve managed to find a job everywhere I’ve wanted one and this is mainly through hard work, a bit of charm and experience in the types of job that are easy to find as a traveller. So today I’m hoping to get you inspired. I bring you (in my opinion) the easiest five jobs to travel the world with! These are easy jobs to get, easy jobs to do and you earn good money. Gotta be a winner!
1. Bar Work
I’ve worked in bars in five different countries to date and I LOVE bar work. There are bars everywhere and, as far as I can tell, all you need to work in a bar is enthusiasm, to be sociable and outgoing, and to be hard working. It’s an easy type of job to get into, and it offers you lots of interacting with staff and customers, good steady money in a job which means you don’t spend much and tips. Bar work is one of the best jobs you can have as a traveller.
I could earn over $AU1,000 a week when I worked in an Irish Pub in Parramatta, working about six or seven shifts and milking the tips. The other huge advantage of working in bars is that you are working on Friday and Saturday nights, therefore you can’t be going out spending money! It’s an easy way to save money.
How to get a bar job? I normally just call into the pub and ask the manager straight up for a job. Failing that, drop them an email before you arrive in the country, expressing how keen you are to work there.
Some countries require an alcohol licence and certificate before you can legally work there, so be sure to check that out. In Australia, I got my RSA and RCG for example. In Europe, it’s a lot less strict and you can easily get bar work in places like England, Spain and Greece. Bar work gets busier in the summer months in those places.
2. Farming
In places like Australia and New Zealand, farming work is ridiculously EASY to come by. Just get your working holiday visa sorted and head to the wilderness. I did most of my farming work in Tasmania, working with vegetable harvest mainly. However, I also milked cows in Colombia on my mate’s farm.
How to get a farming job? Ask around and stay in the wilderness. You’ll find the job comes to you before you look for it. A good website to check out is Wwoofing – volunteer opportunities. In Tasmania, I was employed by Work Direct. I’d recommend them of course!
3. Boats, ferries and cruise ships
I worked for a couple of different ferry companies up until 2009 and I highly recommend it. My job was fairly straight forward, working on the restaurant on the England to France ferries. Easy work, easy money, good social life and always at sea, travelling!
I loved it and managed to save a lot of money. The perks also included free food and discount on hotels and cigarettes (which I used to buy and sell on). I also worked on ferries sailing to the Isle of Wight, Guernsey and Jersey and loved my life at sea. But life took me elsewhere after that. Cruise ships are also a good option for – as high profile bloggers such as Wandering Earl knows – saving a bucket load of money travelling this way.
How to get a job on ferries or cruise ships? In places like New Zealand and England, summer time are the peak periods for working on car ferries as they get busy. Check out Condor Ferries and Interislander for job options.
4. Teaching English
You’ll find that a lot of the high profile nomads and backpackers have done a stint teaching English. Naturally I got into this too, teaching in kindergartens, primary schools and summer schools in Hong Kong over the last few years. If English is your first language, then what are you waiting for? Get your online TEFL, TESOL or CELTA certificate and get teaching.
How to get a job teaching English? Make sure you get some kind of TEFL as well, although I have to admit I started teaching without one, but have since got my certificate.
5. Flight attendants
Believe it or not, in 2001 I did a course to become a flight attendant. Then a banking job came up and I got pre-occupied with that instead. That’s the way my fate took me and I’m happy with that as I think deep down I didn’t really want to be living every day of my life up in the air, it’s a bit of a claustrophobic place to work. Having said all that – the perks are GREAT and I have some friends who have managed to travel the world just from working on aeroplanes.
I hope these five tips help you along the way to get out there and live your travel dreams. If you have experiences in these five fields of work, you can literally work anywhere in the world as I have done for the last ten years or so.
Safe travels and don’t work too hard!!
For more tips on getting paid to travel, check out this selection of travel careers and how to get them. Or drop by our Travel Jobs section to see what's available now.
Don't Stop Living | Jonny Blair
I'm Jonny Blair, a travelling Northern Irishman. Since leaving my hometown a decade ago, I have managed to visit over 70 countries and almost 500 towns or cities across all seven continents. Along the way, I have worked in countless jobs! Join my journey on Don't Stop Living: a lifestyle of travel as I provide you with tips and inspiration to live your travel dreams! Safe travels!
