How to get paid to travel the world

What’s the best job in the world? Many people might say one that allows them to travel the world doing something they love. So it’s no surprise that jobs that have a travel component are highly sought after.

In March 2017, Tennessee-based luxury holiday house company Third Home, which gives millionaires the opportunity to swap homes with one another, attracted global media attention with a publicity stunt offering ‘the best job on the planet’. The company placed ads for candidates interested in staying in luxury homes around the world, writing blog posts and posting pictures of the properties on social media. One lucky person scored $10,000 per month for three months to complete the assignment.

For those who didn’t win the temporary job lottery, there are plenty of other ways to get paid to travel the world. From archaeology to international aid work, there are plenty of rewarding careers that require a passport.

Head of the class

Nick Carr, 41, was teaching guitar at schools in Melbourne when he embarked on a trip to Japan and took the opportunity to teach English to Japanese students. He soon decided to return home and complete a Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at Deakin University. ‘I enjoy being an expat; I enjoy being in a different culture. Once I had a Master of TESOL, I could go to any country in the world and find work quickly,’ he says.

He was soon in Japan working in a respected international school. As soon as he started teaching, Carr found he was applying everything he’d learned in the classroom and he felt confident too. Although it was a challenge to adapt to the volume of work, ‘the highlight was seeing students achieve their goals,’ he says. He’s back in Melbourne for now, completing a PhD, but knows that wherever he decides to go next, there’ll be eager students waiting to learn from him.

See countries through a different lens

Jay Hynes, 43, studied photography at night during his first year as an advertising art director so he could learn more about the photo shoots he was directing. The extra tuition paid off when he took his passion for the art of photography and turned it into a job. ‘I was fortunate enough to have the chance to shoot a few commercial jobs while still being an art director. Then one day I just thought, “Okay, now’s the time to shoot full time”. So I saved for six months, quit work and moved into a photography studio,’ Hynes recalls.

The gamble paid off and soon he was recommended for a role shooting stills as part of a campaign for travel company APT. ‘The actors, agency and crew completed a shortened APT tour and shot along the way,’ Hynes explains. The work took him to places including Canada, Vietnam and Cambodia. While he’s now Melbourne-based, he still happily takes international assignments. For those looking for work that comes with frequent flyer points, Hynes says that getting to see the world on company hours is beneficial, but it’s no holiday.

When he’s working on an international shoot, he needs to prepare beforehand, work all day on set and then process images at the end of each day. ‘The hours are really long and the shoots are hugely demanding. Everyone has to pull their weight, so you form pretty strong bonds with those around you,’ he says. But he adds that when he’s seeing different countries through his lens and staying in amazing locations along the way, he knows made the right career move.