How to Generate Consistent Income as a Freelancer While You Travel the World

I’m a freelancer who also likes to travel, but to do that I have to generate a (fairly) consistent income year-round. Since I started freelancing, I’ve made various decisions about my work/life balance. They’ve included taking (most of) the summer off to spend time with family, going on vacations for a few days or weeks at a time, and spending more than a year on the road, freelancing while also home schooling my two kids.

Sometimes my clients won’t even know I’m not “at my desk” (though they might notice emails arriving at odd times). Other times I’ll let them know I’m taking my annual leave and simply won’t be available for a week or two.

I live in the UK where a significant amount of annual leave is the norm, and my domestic clients expect their content creators to take that level of time off over a year. I’m a little more careful with some of my long-term US clients. I’m aware that not everyone in the US thinks that level of leave is a responsible approach to running a business. Some of my clients will simply never know I’m traveling, and any content they’re expecting will get to them on time, even if I’m on a beach or up a mountain on the day it falls due.

Here’s how I run my freelance writing business, while I’m on the road, and also how I prepare before taking off to do a little traveling.

Working on the Road

I find that working while I travel is a great way to see the world and keep my income flowing in. Here’s how I do it.

Invest in the Right Equipment

I travel very light, but I do make sure I have all the tools I need with me. This is mostly just my laptop, phone, chargers, and Kindle. I read a lot as part of my research and usually send all documents, as well as books, magazines and articles, to my Kindle. It’s an easy device to read while I’m on that beach, up that mountain, or wherever else I am.

Wi-Fi and Data

I make sure the places I’m staying have good Wi-Fi and am prepared to go and work somewhere else if it glitches. I’ve worked in coffee shops, fast food outlets, local libraries, co-working spaces and golf club receptions. I’ve worked in a gazebo in a marina and by a hotel pool. I always buy an international data package for my phone as well, so if the Wi-Fi fails I can usually use that as a hotspot.

Plan (and Schedule) Your work

I plan to work less while I’m traveling, and I schedule when I’ll do it. Sometimes I’ll get up an hour or two earlier than I would otherwise need to every morning. Sometimes I’ll do one full, super-productive MAD (Massive Action Day) of work during a week-long trip.

Preparing to Go Offline

If I’m going to be traveling and not working, I have a few ways to keep my income rolling in (and my clients happy) while I’m away.

Batching Content Creation for Clients

I tend to create content in batches in advance. If I know I have a certain number of articles to submit per month — and I’m taking a month off — I make sure the content is created in advance, in batches, and it’s ready to go. I might spread it over the month or two months before I take off, or do it all the week before I go, depending on the volume I’ve committed to.

Creating and Scheduling My Own Content

I’ll create content for my blogs and newsletters in advance and schedule them to go out as usual. Sometimes I’ll schedule social media posts too, or just prepare them in advance and get them up while I’m in one place for a while and can monitor replies. I’m rarely 100% offline. I usually check work stuff (very briefly) once a day. But it really is a quick check-in. I know exactly what I have to look at online and can do it in 15 minutes or less.

Letting Clients Know

I tell clients I’m traveling if I know they’ll be okay with it. A lot of my day-to-day work is for a UK content marketing agency. Most UK companies give their salaried employees five to six weeks of paid leave a year, so they’re fine with me going AWOL for approximately that amount of time in any 12 month period. It’s kind of expected.

Passive Income

I rely on my passive income streams. That’s things like affiliate marketing, my digital products, and my e-books. I have a total of around ten income streams as a freelancer and most of them continue to earn for me whether I’m at my desk or not. When I’m back in work mode, I focus on creating more digital assets that can earn me more money over time.

Using Downtime

Even if I’m offline completely and in full ‘re-charge mode’ I’ll use that as thinking time. Writers and content creators need that, more than we realize sometimes. I tend to end up coming up with new ideas, brainstorming around new topics and projects, and generally being pretty productive, even though I’m trying not to be.

These tactics tend to keep my income fairly consistent while allowing me to have adventures and see the world. When you’re freelancing, no-one is giving you any paid time off. You have to set your business up to provide that for you.

Karen Banes is a freelance writer specializing in entrepreneurship, parenting and lifestyle. She writes articles, website content, ebooks and the occasional award winning short story. Her work has appeared in a range of publications both online and off, including The Washington Post, Life Info Magazine, Transitions Abroad, Brave New Traveler, Natural Parenting Group, and Copia Magazine. Learn More About Karen