If your dreams are to explore the world, but your demanding career has you in a committed relationship with your office desk, you don't need to put your travel goals on hold. Between many employers opting to keep roles remote and offer top jobs for international travel, you have more options than you think.
1. Translator
Training required: Some roles may require you to be a certified or accredited translator, but many will administer their own exam to test your fluency level.
Why becoming a translator is a top pick for traveling professionals: In addition to the role paying well at $70,000 on average, being a translator keeps your fluency in another language refreshed for travel. Not to mention that you're often translating important documents related to court or insurance, and it's often benefiting someone who could otherwise be in a vulnerable situation.
2. Recruiter
Training required: While there is no required training or certification, most recruiters have a background in human resources, business administration, or sales.
Why becoming a recruiter is a top pick for traveling professionals: Many recruiters are working as freelancers post-pandemic. Though your 9-to-5 hours may be comprised of meetings, interviews, and emails, the larger part of your schedule and weekends can be dedicated to scratching your travel itch.
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3. Amazon FBA Seller or Dropshipper
Training required: As an Amazon dropshipper, you're responsible for supplying the inventory of a product (in essence, fronting the inventory costs), but Amazon handles the day-to-day operations and customer service. It will be in your best interest to research distributors and product merchandise before signing any dotted lines.
Read insights from expert guides like these or check out Amazon's site to learn more about being a dropshipper. Do your research to make sure it's a good fit for you.
Why becoming an Amazon FBA Seller or dropshipper is a top pick for traveling professionals: This career allows you to have the passive income that most of us yearn for. Amazon carries much of the responsibility, handling customer service returns, shipping, and day-to-day communication. Meanwhile, you're free to travel, explore, or work a different side hustle with minimal oversight going toward Amazon.
4. Coaching, Online Education
Training required: The training or certification required will depend on your industry. For example, a business coach or personal trainer may need a specific certification from an accredited organization.
Why online coaching is a top pick for traveling professionals: A coach is able to design their schedule and clientele list around their specific wants, needs, and niche. You're able to develop meaningful programming and create a working environment that is conducive to your lifestyle.
5. Graphic Designer
Training required: While many graphic designers attend college or an art institute to learn design work, many are self-taught.
Why becoming a graphic designer is a top pick for traveling professionals: As more companies lean into the digital and e-commerce space, there is a high demand for those who can help with branding and conception. Not only will picking up new clients and projects be less challenging, but you can also often knock off tasks and assignments during your "creative hours."
6. Content Writer
Training required: Similar to graphic designers and recruiters, the technical skills of a copywriter or content writer can be acquired through training, higher education, or sites like SkillShare.
Why becoming a content writer is a top pick for traveling professionals: Copywriters and content writers give a brand its voice and are vital to a marketing team. You're able to work from almost any location as long as you have Wi-Fi. Be mindful of deadlines and quick turnarounds, and you'll be able to enjoy yourself as a professional abroad.
Shutterstock7. Digital Marketing Consultant
Training required: Digital marketing is an ever-changing and evolving industry; having updated certifications and training will help you when securing a remote digital marketing role.
Why becoming a digital marketing consultant is a top pick for traveling professionals: It's a vibrant subdivision of media, and your travels could even influence how you approach project work. It is a very demanding career, but this could be the perfect option if you're looking for a steadier paycheck and working environment while enjoying a city (or many cities!) long-term.
8. Nanny
Training required: Most international nannies are expected to stay up-to-date with their health and safety certifications like CPR and first-aid training. Nannies who hope to work for more influential families or make a more lucrative career would be wise to receive additional education in areas such as early childhood development.
Why becoming a nanny is a top pick for traveling professionals: Many recent graduates itching to live abroad will become a nanny because it's a rare opportunity to travel while having your room and board paid for by a family. Often nannies will help working parents with day-to-day household responsibilities, cooking, and tutoring. To protect yourself, we encourage you to use an accredited organization such as the International Nanny Association website when seeking employment.
9. Online English Teacher
Training required: According to the International TEFL Academy, "Online language schools typically require their English teachers to hold a legitimate (accredited) TEFL certificate. A professional-level TEFL certification will provide you with the skills and qualifications you need to get hired to teach English online, even with no prior experience in education."
Why becoming an online English teacher is a top pick for traveling professionals: Not only are you traveling or living abroad, you're able to help teach children and foster important life experiences for them.
10. Virtual Assistant
Training required: VA veteran and The Horkey Handbook's founder, Gina Horkey, shares this for aspiring assistants: "A high degree of motivation, good communication skills, and a desire to learn are equally, if not more important."
Why becoming a virtual assistant is a top pick for traveling professionals: Whether traveling for a client or off on your private adventure, virtual assistants can take work wherever they go. One VA, Lori, shared her experience traveling, "My client is based in Tanzania, East Africa. I've been here for about five months too, working for them as they sit in their office further south down the coast. I went to meetings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with my client. That opportunity certainly wouldn't have happened had I still been in Canada."
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak