Working Overseas

Remote Jobs > Free Nomad Guide > Working Overseas

FastCompany's article, titled The Digital Nomad’s Guide To Working From Anywhere On Earth, states that "Still, the majority of digital nomads are freelancers or small business owners, and a disproportionate number of them are developers or content creators of some kind."

We have managed to start earning income within only a few months of traveling by starting a blog. Jenny has taught English in Japan as well (and I have a friend that teaches English in South Korea as well). You could start a blog or teach English abroad as well, or you can try an alternate option. Here are a few ways that we think will work best.

Remote Work

You may have heard of "remote-work", but have you ever tried to find a job that allows you to do it 100% of the time and from anywhere that you go? Most remote work is temporary, for a few weeks at a time, and permitted as part of your regular job (if it is allowed). Other remote jobs will allow you to work remotely 100% of the time, but require you to be situated in a specific region or country. One of the best ways to learn for and find remote work is through our Remote Training Program.

If you find it too difficult to find a remote job, you could consider working as a freelancer or consultant. This is similar to working at a regular company, but you are not an employee of any particular company. Instead, you are either affiliated with a consulting group or you’re self-employed, and you work on a contract basis with a number of different companies that you come across. We have found a number of contract type jobs on Upwork, Fiverr and 99Designs. There is a great walk-through on how to market yourself successfully as a freelancer/consultant at The Hard Refresh: “How to Earn More Money Freelancing”.

However, if you’re serious about finding a remote job, we would recommend doing a little extra research and finding a company that allows for 100% remote work without being location specific. Many remote working jobs will still require you to stay in your home country or come into the office at least once per quarter. That being said, after the 2020 pandemic, more companies are opening up to the remote-work option!

Check out RemoteCo: "We are all about Remote Work."
To learn all you need to know about remote work and outsourcing.

A few other sites would recommend remote work boards - but most are focused only on technical jobs. Here are a few of the Remote Work Boards that might be worth checking out: Working Nomads, Jobbatical, Flex Jobs, Remote OK, The Remote Working Company, We Work Remotely, Remote.co, Jobspresso, and Skip The Drive.

Teaching English Abroad

Most of the best travel bloggers started by teaching English Abroad. Drew Binsky started out by teaching English in South Korea. Nomadic Matt started out by teaching English in Thailand. The couple from Goats on the Road (Nick and Dariece) started out by teaching English in China. Even Jenny (from our site) started out by teaching English in Japan. This is the most proven, hands down, easiest way to start out - there’s no real competition. The pay is fair, you work around 35 hours per week, the cost of living is usually quite low, and thus you’ll be able to save a decent amount of money. They are mostly located in Asia: Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Thailand - which all have great expat communities and amazing cultures - however you can find them in Latin America and even Europe (we explain this in detail at the bottom of the article written about Jenny’s experience in Japan)!

Here’s what you’ll need: A Bachelors Degree (any type, but actually not always necessary in Latin America) - and usually also a certification, such as the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), or a CELTA (the premier qualification: Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults). Generally, contracts are 1-year and renewable, but you can just switch to a different country if you want to keep traveling!

We recommend this TEFL option if you want to start out by teaching English abroad. Make sure that you check the country/program you are interested in to see which language test they require. If they require anything other than TEFL, check GoOverseas to find alternate programs. Curious what certain countries require? Scroll down to the bottom of this article.

Additionally, if you are not a Native English Speaker, you may still be able to choose this option; however, it does depend on the country and the type of visa you are applying for - but you will generally also require a TOEFL in that case.

Starting a Business

What seems to work the most often in real, non-hypothetical, life is launching and growing a small business. Starting a business may seem more difficult than the other options to many people, but it really doesn't have to be super complex. It could be as simple as a Blog. Starting a business is the primary way to prevent yourself from having to work forever. The first 2-6 years could be tough, but once you’ve made it you may never need to work another day of your life. It’s what we write about in Path 1 of the Nomad Guide.

Also, in the end it will allow for the greatest flexibility in location as well as the greatest flexibility in working hours and income generation. You just have to have the drive and dedication to actually put it together and make it work. Many businesses can be set up with little or no initial costs, but if you believe you have a breakthrough idea and will require some money to be raised to get it started, try looking at seedrs.com.

Volunteering / Work Exchange

This method may offer you a free place to stay and usually even free meals, but they don't typically pay you any more than that. So, you could look at this as a really great way to save the money that you currently have instead of doing actual work - but it really is work that essentially pays you in room and board, so you may not see any actual cash. You may be doing some good deeds around the world, though!

We’ve met a few people who travel this way - and they say that you really learn about the people and the culture of the country best through this method. Get started by looking up workaway.info, wwoof.net, or helpx.net to see if there is a place that fits your volunteering desires. For more advice on WWOOFing, check out this page.

Scuba Diving Instructor

Perhaps the most free that I've ever felt was while I was scuba diving in Dominica, an island in the West Indies of the Caribbean - between Martinique and Guadalupe. I had taken my initial Open Water Diver courses there and loved it so much that it became a bit of an addiction. The thing is, you could literally forget about everything that's going on in the world while you're doing it - that's how getting it is!

The best part is that you could do this as a career and get paid for it in just about any part of the world that toys want to visit! To learn more about how to make this career a reality for you, check out these amazing articles:

Cruise Ship Work

Have you considered working on a cruise ship? Wandering Earl shows that you can explore many different destinations: from Alaska to the Caribbean, Europe to South America, the South Pacific to Southeast Asia. Pay of USD$2000-$3000 per month to start (up to $6000 depending on position), very few expenses (room and meals are provided), access to crew bars, crew lounges, internet cafes, hot tubs, swimming pools, a crew gym, crew-only sunbathing decks, crew parties, discounted tours in each port, international friendships, and 2-4 months of vacation per year. Interested in this type of lifestyle? Check out Wandering Earl - the authority on cruise ship jobs.

Bar Work

This is usually the fall back plan - and/or staple job - for many endless travelers. The pay is widely variable as you will likely make most of your money on tips. Tips are dependent on the popularity of the place you are bartending at and the tipping custom in that part of the world. This type of work is usually seasonal if you’re in a tourist area, or it could be year-round if you are hired by hostels. It is also one of the easiest types of work to find while you are traveling.

Learn more about this exciting lifestyle by reading “How to Bartend Around the World - A Nomadic Lifestyle”

Do you have great advice that you think should be on this page? If so, send us an email with the information and we'll likely add it. Also, unless you say otherwise, we'll add a special 'thank you' after the advice you've provided on this page. If you'd like us to give your website or blog a shout-out along with the 'thank you', please include your site link and we'll be happy to add that as well. Thank you for your help and support!