Funding your travel and 12 ways to earn money while travelling Australia full time

Most of us would love to be in a position where every day feels like a holiday right? We all want to leave the daily grind behind, after all, it is exactly that. A – Daily – Grind. We do that same thing day in, day out, just to pay our way through life and to hope that we one day will be able to buy a nice home and live with some kind of security. For us, it’s driving in excess of 60km per day, 6 days a week to and from work. It’s working in excess of 55 hours per week. It’s driving the kids to various after school activities and part time jobs. It’s busy. Life is busy. We all need to wind down from time to time, but wouldn’t it be great to wind down for 12 months?

There are many ways you can fund your travel. With some researching and brainstorming, it’s not really a difficult thing to get into, most people just don’t know where to begin and how those who are already doing it, continue to do it. Clearly there is a way, as so many people are moving to this way of life, it’s just finding what is going to work best for you.

Let’s start with what you already have.

Your home.

If you have a mortgage or own your home, you’re a step ahead already. Here you have 2 options.

*Rent the home out – renting your home out may seem a little daunting, after all someone else will be living in your castle. However, that someone will be paying your mortgage for you, leaving you with your property wealth, plus a base to come back to if and when you cease your travel. It certainly is good to have that base, as so many people we have spoken to are afraid of the unknown and want the added security of a home if they should no longer travel at some stage. We will be keeping our home, and our children will be residing there as it would cost them so much more if we were to rent our home out to people through our land agent and have our kids find somewhere else to be. Just doesn’t make sense. However, having said this, we certainly won’t be living on income from the kids staying in the home, so in this regard, we lose some potential funds that would normally have been available.

*Sell the home – here you just may have a nest egg which will allow you to travel for an uncertain amount of time without having to do any other work along the way. Whatever equity you may have in your home can be used as part of getting you on the road, or keeping you on the road longer. So, for example, most travellers allow up to $1000 per week on the road if they are not staying in one place for a long period of time. If you have $52,000 cash left after the sale of your home and all the fees are paid, then looks like you will be set for a year. (Err, providing nothing unexpected pops up). You are already in front. Well done! And in selling your home, also frees up any maintenance and general upkeep costs of the home, plus the ongoing fees such as rates, connections etc.

*Selling belongings – If you are going to sell the home, chances are you are going to want to sell everything in it. Generally, you will find that the need won’t be there to keep your lounge suite, for example, if you won’t have a home to keep it in. Things like these are the bigger items that travellers decide to purchase if and when they finish up travelling. Most homes that have contents insurance are valued around $100,000, so with that in mind, you should be able to make some decent money from what you see around you right now. Obviously you won’t get new prices for the items, but if they are in good condition, you should see a nice return.

Then there are other vehicles. We have 5 cars, a boat, 4 caravans, and a trailer. If we were selling our home, we would keep only the tow vehicle and the caravan we are going to tour in. So we would fund around 4 years travel just there. Most families have at least 2 cars including their tow vehicle, so potentially a few thousand dollars there just by selling the second car.

*Savings – In this day and age, it is quite common to not have a big fat savings account. Our world is just so full of expensive things, things that need replacing often, we want for more and everything is just so commercialised. It’s harder to keep a lot of savings when the price of fuel, food, utilities etc just keeps going up while the average wage sits without an increase. So if you have savings, well done, you’re doing great. You can certainly utilise this to fund some, depending upon how much you have, or if not all of your travel. And while you are still in your planning stages, there is no better time to boost that savings account. Pick up extra shifts at work where possible, reduce your current spending, do without that extra coffee on the way to work, or even get a second job if your time allows you. Getting a second job may seem over the top, however, with the extra money you will put away, you will be adding to the dream of travelling for months at a time, or even with no set return date. There will be an end to all the hard work, it will pay off eventually.

*Accrued holiday pay – Standard full-time employees are, most of the time, eligible for 4 paid weeks of holidays each year, called annual leave. And the good news is, if you don’t use them, they stack up! Most employers are happy to discuss paying you these holidays in cash while you still work, or if and when you leave your job, you should be paid out this money. That’s potentially thousands more for your savings.

*Long service leave – If you have been in your current job for 10 years or more, chances are, you are going to be eligible for long service leave. This can definitely fund a good portion of your trip, as it can potentially be worth thousands of dollars to you. You could perhaps talk to your employer and see where you stand with regards to long service leave entitlements. But you are only eligible if you have been with the same employer for 10 years or more.

*Superannuation – this one is more applicable to older travellers. Building up your superannuation account all your life will now pay off if you are past the age of accessing the money you have. Even though it is not recommended for younger travellers with super, you still can access it if you are and can prove you are in a financial hardship situation. But beware, you will be so heavily taxed.

*Work while you travel – one thing that makes a holiday a holiday, is the fact that you are out of your every day four walls. You’re in a new place, seeing different things and feeling great! So working while you travel wouldn’t be so bad would it? No. You’ll meet lots of lovely new people, you’ll learn some awesome new skills and keep funding your everlasting travel. Some travellers only work when their funds dry up, others work quite frequently. If you’re lucky enough to be in a position where you don’t have to work, then great, but if not, working while travelling wouldn’t be like your current daily grind.

There are many different types of work that is readily available, and quite easy to snap up. From nursing jobs, to caravan park managing, truck driving, even the local town convenience store may need an extra set of hands while you’re visiting. There are a few pages on social media platforms where travelling families can pick up work while they’re on the road.

Families Travelling Australia

Families On The Road Travelling Australia

Families Travelling Australia 2021 & Beyond

Australian Rural & Remote Jobs

You can also search internet sites like the following to be on the lookout for work:

*Indeed

*Seek

*Air Tasker

*Job Search online

*CareerOne

*Camp ground attendant

The name says it all. Some national parks frequently look for new attendants to look after simple things around the parks as a trade for free accommodation. If you are looking to stay in one place for a while and recharge, this may just be for you. More often than not, you are not paid for this role, but free accommodation is always a good thing. In return, all that is required of you generally is to maintain the facilities, greet new guests, show them around and answer any questions they may have and just make sure there is nothing untoward going on at the camp ground.

*Photographer

If you have some great photography skills and a great camera, this may help to keep on the road a little longer. While it won’t make you a millionaire, it can be traded for accommodation and services in a town you may be visiting, or you can just straight out sell your photographs to the local council, caravan park etc for a couple of hundred bucks per photo. But you will need some good skills for this to be viable.

*Farm hand on stations

Farmers always need a hand on their large properties, so they put the call out for people who would be the right fit for the many different types of jobs they have available, in exchange for free accommodation, services (ie power and running water) and wages – amounts agreed to by both parties. This would be a great experience for many kids, as being on a remote station for a time would be something that not too many kids would have the wonderful opportunity of seeing.

*Remote working – if your job permits, you could consider continuing your work remotely. All you would need is your computer and a good internet connection and you are well on your way. Most workplaces that have this facility encourage their current employees to consider this as they are already well versed in the work and the employer would not need to spend hours training your replacement if you were to quit.

*Fruit picking / harvesting

Many travellers like to stop at certain times of year to delve into fruit picking. It’s relatively easy and is widely available. There are many farms these days calling out for fruit pickers while watching their fruit go to waste as they just can’t get the pickers in while overseas travel is not allowed.

*Blogging – This one requires time. So many hours put into blogging could pay off down the track, but it is definitely not something you can rely on while beginning. It takes a long time to see an income from this, but when you do, it’s a good feeling. If you are still a way off from your departure, you are on a winner, as you have time to get cracking and building your new income stream and hopefully it will be consistent when you hit the road. You have to really enjoy writing for this one to work for you though, and having said that, I just love writing. From blogs, to tips and advice, to fiction, narratives, reviews and just personal experiences. With this skill, there are different ways I can earn money and assist in funding our travel. But if you don’t enjoy the art of writing, it will soon become a chore, you will lose passion and with loss of passion comes loss of good content, and in turn, loss of revenue.

*Vlogging – This one is pretty much the same as blogging, however it’s primarily limited to one media platform and it’s videos instead of writing. You’ll need minimum 10,000 viewing hours and 4000 subscribers before the creators will allow monetising your work. So, again, if you have some time ahead of you, this may work well.

*Online businesses – There are many of these out there, you just have to nut out which is going to work best for you and your needs and circumstances. Always be aware of the illegitimate ones, so it’s a good idea to spend some time weeding out the bad eggs and not getting lured into the ones that are going to cost you a lot monthly to be a part of, but never really tell you what they are all about. Most of these will be pyramid marketing, which actually has been outlawed in Australia, hence why these types always advertise in the US currency.

*House sitting

It’s a new trend going on now where people who want to holiday use an app to find a house sitter when they don’t have friends or family to do it for them. It’s generally safe, by way of the house sitters go through a scrutiny of checks, including police clearances, and will not be permitted if any untoward activity is found about them. You can simply work out with the owner of the home to park your caravan in their driveway, and that way you can utilise their services, as agreed, and you get paid while enjoying free accommodation.

*Dog sitting

This one works the same way, where you can look after travellers beloved furbabies and get paid for doing so. Our daughter would have thrived on this as she is an avid animal lover. Again, relevant checks are done, to ensure safety all round.

So, there are many ways to fund your trip, which makes it something that most people can do. It’s all about leaving your comfort zone and going the unconventional way. It’s a big step, especially if you are going to sell your home, but you may just be thankful that you took the leap and went for it. You may just wish that you had done it sooner.

Learn more:

*Preparing for the Big Lap – Finances

*Preparing for the Big Lap – Setting the date