Hey everyone, how’s it going?
It’s Ernest from Trip Asute.
In this video, we’re going to cover an interesting topic -- how to turn your travel into a side
hustles that can pay for or offset the cost of your trip.
(light chiming music)
As you all know, traveling is expensive!
That’s why so many of our videos revolve around points and miles, and how we can use
credit cards to earn rewards to offset the cost of our travel.
So today, I want to talk about some ways that you can earn money through traveling.
Most of these methods are active forms of income, while the last one is more passive.
And I promise that travel blogging and vlogging is not one of the side hustles that I’m
featuring in this video.
Not that it’s isn’t a valid side hustle, but it’s is a ton of work and probably not
practical for most people.
Before we get started, if you’re new here, welcome to our channel.
Trip Astute is a travel channel that is focused on sharing ways to make travel easier, affordable,
and more enjoyable.
Traveling can be stressful and expensive, so we’re looking for ways to help you maximize
your experience through travel tips, points and miles, and innovative gear.
If that sounds interesting to you, please consider subscribing.
So, let’s jump straight into five ways that you can earn money or reduce the cost of your
travels.
1. Housesitting: This isn’t really an income generating side-hustle, but it can be a great
way to offset the cost of your accommodations.
If you’ve even seen the film “The Holiday” with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, you probably
have an idea of how this works.
However, rather than swapping houses, you can go on websites to find people who need
help housesitting or pet sitting while they are away.
This often means that you can stay in their home, much like an Airbnb, though you’ll
actually have to complete some daily tasks like watering plants, getting the mail, or
caring for a pet.
Three sites that offer housesitting opportunities are MindMyHouse, Nomador, and HouseCarers.
Keep in mind that these sites typically require you to have a membership to the site, which
starts at $20 per year.
Though Nomador has a Discovery option which lets you browse listings before committing
to a membership plan.
The drawbacks to housesitting are that you’ll have to adjust your travel schedule to the
homeowner’s needs and schedule.
Also, depending on the situation, you’ll give up some of your freedoms.
But since lodging can be one of the largest expenses while traveling, this could be a
great way to offset the cost, especially if you have flexibility in your travel schedule.
And you never know if you might end up running into and falling in love with Cameron Diaz, Jude Law,
Jack Black, or Kate Winslet at your destination.
2. Transporting goods via air travel: This is one travel side-hustle that I’ve always heard
a lot about, but have never actually tried.
Being a courier has existed for many years, but it’s even easier now with sites like
Airmule and Grabr.
Airmule is basically a courier service where you transport a box or container as part of
your baggage.
You basically register on the site and enter your travel information.
You’ll then enter your trips into their system.
If you’re selected, you’ll be given a box at the airport with photos, descriptions,
and documentation on the contents.
You then check-in the bag and once you get to your destination, you retrieve it from
the baggage claim and pass it on to the Airmule representative.
You’re not actually delivering anything.
Instead, you’re using your baggage allowance to transfer a box or container from one airport
to another.
Airmule is currently limited to only a few airports.
It looks like the service is geared toward transporting items to and from China, but
it looks like they are expanding to new locations in the future.
To use the service, it’s currently limited to California or New York flights to and from
Chinese cities.
Each Airmule Travel Box earns $150 each way, and Airmule travelers are allowed up
to four boxes per trip.
The first thing that came to mind when I was researching the service is “what if an airport
or government official questions me about the package?”
Airmule advises in their frequently asked questions that you should tell the official
that you are an on-board courier and present the digital manifest.
Airmule even says that travelers have the right to inspect their Airmule Travel Boxes
before check-in.
That being said, I do think that there is some risk involved with transporting someone
else’s stuff.
You would need to weigh the risks and determine if it’s the right thing for you.
I, personally, have reservations on transporting items that I cannot vouch for.
Even if I know what the contents are and I believe that there are controls in place by the company,
I wouldn’t want to get in trouble because the contents turned out to have been tampered.
And given that some countries have extremely strict penalties if you were charged with
smuggling goods, I don’t know if it’s worth the risk.
That being said, when I researched Airmule, they did seem to have a lot of great reviews
online.
So again, it’s determining your comfort level with it.
To be honest, I don’t think that I would try it since I tend to be a bit more risk-averse
when traveling.
Since you often don’t the same personal protections when you’re in another country,
I find it scary to think of what could happen if someone were to tamper with items inside
a box that I’m personally carrying.
This leads me to another service that might address some of your concerns with Airmule.
It’s called Grabr.
Grabr is a similar service, but a bit more personal and hands on.
The service links both shoppers and travelers.
Suppose someone in Brazil wants to buy a pair of sneakers that are only available or cheaper
in the US.
And suppose I had an upcoming trip to Brazil.
The service would connect us and see if it makes sense for me to purchase the item and
deliver it to the buyer.
We can agree on a price on the platform and Grabr can handle the payments digitally.
When I arrive, I can meet the person in a public place and Grabr will send me the payment,
so I don’t have to worry about exchanging money.
Grabr also promotes the service as a great way to not only earn money, but also connect
travelers with locals.
It definitely looks like an interesting and compelling way to earn money.
It’s more involved than Airmule since you actually have to shop, transport, and deliver
a product to someone else.
But since you’re buying the product, it feels almost safer to me since you can vouch
for what you are actually carrying.
Though the drawback is that you do have to deliver the product to the buyer, which Grabr
recommends doing in a public place.
If you do decide to use Grabr, you want to make sure to research the local laws.
You don’t want to end up in a situation where you’re transporting a good that could
be restricted or illegal at your travel destination.
For example, I know that drones can be a mixed bag when traveling.
Some countries won’t even let you bring them in and can force you to check it in at
the airport.
You would expect that the buyer would know the legal situation, but just in case, I would
research the local laws and restrictions of your destination to be safe.
3. Transporting good or pets via ground travel: While the two services that we discussed are
for international air travelers, there is a similar service for those of you in the
US that are taking a road trip.
There is a service called Roadie which allows you to connect with other people and businesses
that need something transported across the country.
This could be anything from products, furniture, or even a pet.
It’s kind of like Postmates, but geared for longer road trip deliveries.
The site claims that you can earn up to $60 for a local delivery and $650 for a long-haul
delivery.
Roadie claims to work with several big name brands, but also allows people to register
on the site if they need something delivered.
Roadie also offers up to $500 of insurance protection for free on every gig and has options
to increase the coverage up to $10,000.
If you have an upcoming road trip, you might want to register on the site to see what’s
available on your route.
It could be an easy way to make some additional income while traveling.
4. Babysitting: This might or might not be something that you’re interested in trying.
Though if you love kids and want to travel for free, this can be an awesome opportunity.
Companies like Adventure Nannies can help connect you with families that are traveling
and looking for a babysitter to accompany them.
Compensation includes an hourly rate, along with your meals, accommodations, and transportation.
There are obviously a lot of things that you would need to consider before pursuing this
travel side hustle.
Most of all, you would need to enjoy working with kids and be able to have flexibility
during your trip.
Rates on the site start at $15 per hour.
And though you will be working while traveling, you should have some time for yourself.
The Travel Placement Counselor at Adventure Nannies will help you negotiate a salary
and create an agreement so you should have some structure to your work schedule.
Again, this isn’t going to be an attractive option for a lot of people.
But if you’re someone who enjoys working with kids, this could be an amazing opportunity
to travel around the world for free.
5. Selling stock video: Now this is a travel side-hustle that I am very familiar with.
As you all know, I like to include a lot of b-roll in my videos.
Basically, I use these videos to help illustrate what I am discussing.
It takes a lot of time to incorporate this footage into my videos, but I feel like it
helps make the videos more interesting.
Also, I secretly use it to cover up a lot of the cuts that aren’t very smooth.
I probably have OCD when it comes to editing, but I really want our videos to look professional
and visually appealing when you watch them.
Hopefully, that comes across when you’re watching our content.
As a result of my OCD, that also means that I am constantly capturing footage that I think
I’ll need in the future, especially when I’m traveling.
In fact, I’ve built a huge library of b-roll footage on my server at home.
And while I use a lot of it for our channel, I've also been able to take that footage and
sell it to stock video companies.
I’m not going to lie.
It’s a lot of work, but if you’re someone who is capturing interesting video footage
while traveling, especially with a stabilized camera or drone, you can often use it as stock
video footage.
The process entails editing the footage, color grading it, and then curating the clip.
Curating means determining the right description and keywords for the clips so that it’s
searchable online.
Though once you get your clips online, they are basically there waiting to be sold.
And what I’ve found is that oftentimes, the same clip will sell over and over again, making
it a nice little passive income stream.
I personally use a service called BlackBox.
They are basically a platform that allows me to collaborate with other creators who
can help me with parts of the process.
For example, if you’re not comfortable with color grading or curating, you can actually
partner with others on the platform who can do it for you for a percentage of your revenue.
BlackBox offers my clips to five of the largest stock video agencies, including Shutterstock,
Adobe Stock, Pond 5, Storyblocks, and VimeoStock.
Rather than having to upload to each service individually, BlackBox handles the process
for only 15% of your net sales.
The time savings alone is worth the cost of the service.
In terms of prices, 4K video clips can sell for around $200.
Though most of my sales have been lower resolution versions of my clips.
The stock video services will offer your clips at different resolutions in order to get sales,
even if it’s not at the maximum resolution and price.
If you’re interested in trying it out, I’ll include our referral link below.
I’ll probably also do a full video on BlackBox and how I’ve been able to turn it into a
passive income stream with my travel videos.
I do have a lot of tricks and tips that I’ve picked up from doing it, as well as equipment
recommendations for capturing quality video clips.
If you’re someone who is an avid drone operator or even a recreational videographer, it’s
definitely something you should look into as a lucrative and fun passive income stream,
especially when you’re traveling.
Have you tried any of these travel side hustles?
Do you have any other suggestions?
Let me know in the comment section below.
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Until next time, travel safe and travel smart.