Gustave Flaubert once said that “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” We all come changed from our travels. We gain experience, we see other people, their lives – and somehow it changes our mindset.
That is the main reason why people want to travel: they want to get out of their small world to see the beauty around them and let it change them.
However, since traveling is not always a cheap pleasure everyone can afford, people are looking for ways to make money on their trips to make the ends meet.
If you are among those people wondering how to make money on travels, then this article is exactly what you need. We will share some valuable lessons on how to monetize your trips.
Ways to monetize your travels with writing
1. Start blogging
One of the options you have here is blogging. It requires time and dedication unlike what many people think about this occupation.
Bloggers have to write even when they have no inspiration, so before you decide to dive into this area, make sure you realize all the responsibility put on you with this decision. Sure thing you can write from time to time only when you feel like sharing your thoughts, but this will translate to no revenue and a small audience.
Meanwhile, real blogging is hard work. Not only you need to get the talent, but also discipline yourself to get deeper into this area. Everything changes so fast, that a blogger might lose track of all the popular trends that are on the wave right now.
However, being a blogger can be a lot of fun. You get to interact with people, find soulmates, communicate with those that share the same interests with you and even find friends for life.
So, if you have traveling experience, you can start your own blog.
Make sure to create a content plan that will contain different adventures you had traveling. Plan posts that would be different but equally engaging. Do not repeat the same topic several times and make sure that you use proper grammar and punctuation in the text.
Once you get the ball rolling, you will be able to sell the space for ads on your blog and join different affiliate programs. These are two main sources of income for bloggers. So, try it if you want to get paid for the experience you have.
2. Write a book
To write and publish a book, you need to have some connections. It might sound silly, but with connections, it is easier to get into the niche and have your work see the world. Book writing requires money, energy, and lots of assistance.
First of all, to compose a book you need to take very good notes and have a diary that you can use in the process. So, next time you go traveling you need to write every little detail down. You might want to use the voice recording to save time, but later you will need to convert speech to text and work on it.
Before you get into the book publishing process, you need to make sure you have enough funds and determination. You will need certain investments to start with, as it might be expensive. However, you can save some funds if you use a proofreading service to check your paper instead of hiring an editor. There are many great services that offer amazing proofreading opportunities. So, you can keep your pockets full by using their help.
For instance, you can use Grammarly for this matter, as their app offers you a chance to check your grammar, punctuation, and even suggests better words if you repeat some words too much.
You should also be ready to spend much time promoting your book. Social media, official presentations, interviews, ads are all ahead of you. You need to learn how marketing works, find your target audience and present them book in such a way that they will want to buy it. Besides, the revenue won’t come right away, so you cannot expect the immediate effect.
Nevertheless, can you imagine how amazing it is to see your name on the cover of the page? Exciting, isn’t it?
3. Run a Facebook page
You can always launch a Facebook community where you will share the ideas, memories, recommendations, and whatever else you have to share with the readers and start writing on Facebook regularly. The important thing for the Facebook community is having images.
Most people comprehend the visual information easier. Therefore, to run a group on Facebook, you need to have enough visual materials to support your articles. Besides, images increase readers’ interest in the first place. So, having them is essential.
However, the main goal of having a page on Facebook is to promote your services or products. So, unless you are a blogger or an author, there is no much sense in running the group and crafting high-quality content for no reason behind it. So, before you start doing this make sure you have a clear goal in mind.
4. Start writing magazine articles
Another great idea of how to monetize your travel experience is this one. Send out your articles to popular magazines and get paid for the knowledge and experience you have to share. You will make more money if you can come up with a series of articles and not just one piece.
Besides, if you are good with photography, you can add your pictures to the articles and have the magazine owners pay for it.
You can start with some local newspapers, as without good recommendations and references it might be hard to get your article published in a big popular newspaper.
However, with time, as you get experience, and get known within certain circles, you can aim for the stars and offer your articles to the giants of the area.
You will have to work closely with editors if you want to get published or obtain some knowledge to deal with this part of the job yourself.
But once you get the ball rolling, it will be hard to get over it.
And also do not forget about the online magazines. Most people read about travels online. They search for good destinations, best offers, and trip advice.
So, if you can offer them what they are looking for, then you are a perfect journalist for the online publishers.
The only thing you need to do now is to identify the magazines you want to work for, create a short email which will describe what you have to offer them – and get the job. Describe why you believe your article fits in the general idea behind this magazine as well as what sequences you might also offer them.
These are four main ways of how to monetize your travels. See what you can do – and go for it. If you are not that experienced with writing, then you should probably start with articles, not the book. But if you feel confident and have all the necessary resources, then contact the publisher’s and see how you can collaborate with them on this.
Sounds like a huge step, but we’re sure it’s worth it.
What do you think?
Author bio – Lori Wade is a freelance content writer for Thriving Writer who is interested in a wide range of spheres from education and online marketing to entrepreneurship. She is also an aspiring tutor striving to bring education to another level like we all do. If you are interested in writing, you can find her on Twitter or Google+ or find her on other social media. Read and take over Lori’s useful insights!