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How To Make Money While RVing

BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 58 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Are you looking for ways to make money while traveling?

We’ve met many amazing people while RVing. Some are retired, but others are like us and also trying different things in order to make their traveling dreams a reality by making money while traveling on the road.

Everyone does something a little different to make money while traveling.

So, yes, it is possible to make money while traveling full-time! In fact, there are many ways for anyone to make money on the road.

This factor is something that holds many potential full-time travelers back, but it shouldn’t! Don’t let making money on the road hold you back from living your dream, because even though it may seem big, it’s something that can usually be worked around.

One of the first questions I am asked as a full-time RVer is what I do for money. Some assume I’m a bum, others have asked if we are trust-fund babies, but most are blown away by the fact that working while traveling is such a possibility in today’s world.

Related articles on how to make money while traveling:

Here are some of the many options for how to make money while traveling.

 

Start a website to make money while traveling

This is what I do to make money while RVing, so I had to include this one first. Like I always say, I never realized I would be earning as much income online as I do now.  Don’t feel like making money on the road is unattainable, because everyone has to start somewhere.

No, blogging is not a way to get rich quickly, but it can be a way to make side money or even a full-time income if you put enough hard work and time towards it.

You can make money through advertising, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, reviews, partnerships, e-courses, ebooks, and more. You can read all about how I earn a living online in my monthly online business income reports, where I describe how I make over $50,000 online each month.

You can create your own blog here with my easy-to-use tutorial. You can start your blog for as low as $3.49 per month, plus you get a free domain name when signing up through my tutorial.

Also, many of you ask what I’m using for internet. I’m using a Verizon MiFi Jetpack. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best option out there for most RVers, especially those who are trying to make money while traveling.

Related articles:

Telecommute to make money while traveling

In this day and age, some people are able to work for others straight out of their RV. At the campground I am currently at there are four RVers who telecommute to their jobs Monday through Friday.

Sometimes your employer may allow you to take your current position and make it a remote one. Other times, you may have to search for telecommute positions. These jobs do exist and are growing in numbers.

I recommend reading Forbes’ article Work From Home: The Top 100 Companies Offering Telecommuting Jobs for more information on telecommuting jobs.

 

Check job boards at campgrounds

There are often jobs listed on campground bulletin boards. Someone may need help in the local area, a business may be hiring for temporary work, and so on.

This leads to the next possible option for making money while RVing.

 

Work at a campground

Work camping (or workamping) is when you work at an RV park or campground.

Many, many campgrounds (including ones on the beach, at national parks, national forests, and more) are looking for workampers, and this can be a good way to get your stay for free.

I’ve met many very happy workampers. They stay for free in some of the most beautiful places. What’s not to like about that?!

As a workamper, you may:

  • Work in their office
  • Help clean up RV sites and the RV park
  • Clean bathrooms
  • Guide RVers to their sites
  • Make food

Workampers can be paid by a provided RV site during their stay, an hourly rate, or a mixture of the two.

 

Find jobs in the places you are visiting

There are many instances in which you may decide to stay in a city for longer than just a vacation, and there are many things you could do in order to earn a living.

If you want to make money while RVing, you could try one of the options below:

  • Bartend or work at a restaurant
  • Work at a hotel, motel, campground, or hostel
  • Help out on a farm
  • Tutor
  • Get a temporary job at a store

 

Freelance write or become a virtual assistant

Freelance writing and virtual assisting are some of the very first things I did to make money online.

Freelance writing can be a fun way to make money while traveling, plus you can usually freelance write from anywhere in the world (some positions ask you to be in-house, but the majority I’ve seen allow you to be location independent).

Another online job, somewhat similar to freelance writing, is virtual assisting. I know many freelance writers who provide this service as well. A virtual assistant helps a business run more smoothly. You can be contracted for one project (such as collecting specific data for research), or it can be a continuing job such as replying to e-mails.

Related articles:

 

Take surveys to make money while traveling

The great thing about survey sites is that they allow you to make extra money from the comfort of your home (or RV). They won’t make you rich, but they may allow you to make money on the road with minimal work.

Some survey sites I recommend include:

It’s best to sign up for as many as you can to receive the most surveys and make the most money. These are all legitimate survey sites, and occasionally you may receive free items to test out too.

 

Amazon Camperforce

We recently had out-of-town visitors. One of them works for Amazon’s HR department, and she was telling me a story about RVers who work for Amazon. I was completely confused and had her explain it further to me.

With Amazon’s CamperForce program, they are looking for RVers who can work at their company “picking, packing, stowing, and receiving” packages. They offer hourly pay, a completion bonus, referral bonuses, and paid campsites for those that join their CamperForce program.

Technomadia has a great blog post on this – Workamping at Amazon.com – Was it Worth it? They talk about their first-hand experience of the good, bad, hours, and pay while working for Amazon under this program.

 

Proofread to make money while traveling

You can proofread for many different people and make money while traveling. Court reporters, bloggers, book authors, and more may need help with proofreading. Pay can vary, but most earn around $500-$1,000 in their first two months. Plus, it can all be done from wherever you are!

I recently interviewed a successful proofreader and she stated, “Those whose eyes are drawn immediately to errors in text, love punctuation and spelling, and overall enjoy reading would be a much better fit for this type of work.”

Related: Make Money Proofreading By Becoming A Freelance Proofreader

 

Sell products

Selling products both online and offline is another possibility to making money on the road.

I’ve heard of some who sell items they collect while traveling, those who create crafts to sell at local craft fairs, and so on. Etsy, eBay, Craigslist, and countless others are great places if you decide to sell items online.

Related: How Melissa Made $40,000 In One Year Flipping Items

Are you interested in learning how to make money while traveling?

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  2. Aliyyah @RichAndHappyBlog says

    March 28, 2016 at 5:48 am

    I aspire to be an online entrepreneur myself. Eventually, I want monetize my blog to the point where it replaces the money I make from my day job. I also have other income streams in the works such as an online course and an ebook. So far, I’m learning that consistency is key to getting things done and being successful. I need to keep working at my goals every day.

    Reply

  3. Christine @ The (mostly) Simple Life says

    March 28, 2016 at 6:33 am

    I bet it’s been really interesting to meet people making incomes in so many different ways, I hope someday we can do a combination of these. My husband is almost done with his web development degree, so he may be able to telecommute or freelance. And I’m interested in trying some freelance writing along with my blog.

    Reply

  7. Ree Klein says

    March 28, 2016 at 9:20 am

    Great list, Michelle! We don’t live full time in our RV, but we hit the road every chance we get. I sell on Amazon both FBA and FBM. For the products that are fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) I don’t have to do anything except make sure there is enough inventory in stock so we don’t run out before coming back home.

    For the products that I fulfill (FBM), I do one of two things:

    1. If I know we’ll be in places where there is a post office nearby, I bring my inventory with me and fulfill orders from the road.

    2. If we’ll be dry camping with no post office in the area, I set the “Fulfillment Latency” field to a number of days that will ensure I’ll be home before the order must be shipped. This is important to do so that you don’t ruin your seller rating by being late on shipments.

    Easy! I love making money on the road and hope we can start to be on the road more than at home (although I love my home, too).

    Reply

  8. Eric Bowlin says

    March 28, 2016 at 10:05 am

    Related to selling things…I met some people before who were “Fair Followers.”

    They had some random product that they sold. It wasn’t anything amazing, just some trinkets. They would essentially pay for space at all the fairs around the country and just travel and set up at them and live on the road. They said the money was actually pretty good, easily earning a 50-75k per year, and they had basically no expenses other than their RV.

    If you had a product to sell, and no school-age children, sounds like something really fun to try out for a couple years.

    Reply

  9. Kimmy Burgess says

    March 28, 2016 at 10:26 am

    Yes virtual travel consultant is a good career option to look out for. Which not only offer enhancement of knowledge, but financially growing too. In case of job cuts one can always apply for such freelance virtual travel consultant to earn hefty in a better manner.

    Reply

  10. Chelsea White says

    March 28, 2016 at 10:37 am

    My husband started telecommuting to work at the end of 2015. It’s be great, because we were able to pick up and move to a new state purely because we wanted to. I love the sense of freedom we have now. I’ve been kicking around the idea of starting my own website with the intention of eventually being able to give up my 9-5 job, so thanks for this article. Your hard work and success is an inspiration!

    Reply

  12. Josh says

    March 28, 2016 at 12:21 pm

    This is something my wife & I have intentions of doing in a few years, once our little family grows up a bit. It is amazing how many opportunities can become reality with an internet connection.

    Reply

  14. Linda says

    March 28, 2016 at 4:34 pm

    Thanks for the survey site list! I signed up on Opinion Outpost last week and have been thinking I need to search for more survey sites.

    Reply

  15. Emma Healey says

    March 29, 2016 at 4:29 am

    Great list Michelle. The only limitation to earning money whilst travelling these days is attitudinal. There are so many interesting and varied ways to hustle together an income if you put your mind to it. I think the key is to be willing to wear many hats – I’d happily clean campground toilets if I got to RV around the US!

    Reply

  17. Eddy says

    March 29, 2016 at 9:27 am

    I am a big fan of affiliate marketing and this is how I make money online.

    Michelle, thank you for sharing some nice and decent ideas on making money on the road.

    Reply

  19. Ravish Sundriyal says

    March 29, 2016 at 1:47 pm

    A really insightful post, there were many new things I noticed. Great research and thanks for sharing proven tactics. Can you suggest few sites where I can go for a proofreader job? Thanks

    Reply

  21. Crystal Suarez says

    April 1, 2016 at 9:17 am

    I can’t wait to become a full time RV’er! But first, I’m getting my freelance writing business up and running! Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

  23. DNN says

    April 8, 2016 at 8:46 am

    Michelle,

    This is a really great blog because very few people know that it’s possible to make money online while traveling. As long as they have a durable laptop and reliable Internet connection in addition to having a quality speech recognition program installed on their laptops so they can create content, they’ll always have a way to stay meaningfully engaged with their audience and increase the probability of earning commissions from promoting affiliate programs on their blogs or websites. I just purchased a brand-new Dell Inspiron on 11 3000 series to win one touchscreen and looking forward to installing my Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition program on it so I can create content on the fly when out and about on the road.

    Reply

  24. Vickie says

    May 26, 2016 at 6:15 pm

    Great article! One thing you did not mention as far as a way to make money is Network Marketing. My husband and I travel a lot, recently staying 2 months in Florida in our rv and earn 5 figures every month traveling or not. There are many good companies out there. Look for one with products you can get behind, a team who will help you be successful a simple system and we wanted a company that the major growth was in front of us. As long as we have phone service and occasional internet we are in business. We don’t have to keep a supply of product because we are manufacturer to consumer. (Kind of like Whole Foods meets Amazon)

    We are looking at traveling even more and selling our home in NM. We’ll see!
    Vickie B.

    Reply

  26. Tammi Velez says

    July 10, 2016 at 6:29 pm

    You know, I am a Tupperware lady and one of my friends who is too just sold her house and she and her husband took off just this week. She has a great Tupperware vehicle and can take it anywhere – off they went!

    Another Tupperware friend of mine always has parties when she goes RVing – things can be sent straight to hosts and customers. I love jobs which allow people to move about unrestricted!

    Reply

  27. Jayant Gosain says

    April 12, 2017 at 5:50 am

    This is amazing. Earning while on the road sounds weird to some people but it is an idea for those who knows the potential of the internet.
    Thanks for sharing it with us.

    Reply

  28. Sue Stimers says

    November 2, 2018 at 4:59 pm

    My husband and I are getting ready for full time traveling in our travel trailer. We live in it full time and go from campground to campground around Carson City, NV because we have a small motorcycle gear store there. We have joined a network marketing company and are looking forward to building that up to supplement our retirement income. The company we joined does not require stocking inventory or taking and delivering orders, so it works well for full timers. Something to look into if you want more money for traveling.

    Reply

  29. McKenzie Allyshia says

    December 30, 2018 at 8:43 pm

    I really, really enjoyed reading this post. After getting our tow-behind, my husband and I have dreamed of traveling more. I recently purchased a small indie makeup company that I am able to do in our RV, but it is still very small at the moment. I would love to be able to look into other options as well to make traveling more possible!

    Reply

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