One of the top questions I field concerns finding work on the road. I fund my travels through freelance writing and SEO work – this is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, but there are a lot of options out there for remote based work.

Seriously.

I’ve come across websites, ideas, and opportunities over the past three years that can either support a more nomadic lifestyle or even build up secondary income to make money doing something you’re already passionate about.

This is not the moment where I spam you and offer an e-book on lifestyle design and entrepreneurship, but rather just a collection of sites and services you may find intriguing and useful.

Websites, Services and Ideas for Working Remotely

There’s something for everyone here – hands on work in the field, building a business opportunities, teaching English…if you want to travel and work but don’t know where to start, start here:

Freelance Work

If you have a marketable skill, writing, website design, graphics, things of that nature, then you may just be the lucky handful who can successfully travel and work from the road. You get double bonus points if you are already a freelancer. For those freelancers already planning a trip, make sure you have clients in place and some jobs that you know will come in as you are traveling. If you plan to travel and work as a freelancer in your trade then line up as many contacts and jobs as you can ahead of time and carefully plan out when you will go without internet!

Freelancers may also need to slow down; I have stopped traveling quickly to save money and it works out well because costs lower significantly and it’s even a bit more fun than rapidly trying to see everything in one go. If you travel slowly a week in some places, a month in others, then you can travel for a lot longer on your initial funds and you can focus intently on a single freelance project before starting up again! It’s usually very easily to negotiate a discounted apartment/guest house rate for a month or more!

Consider these freelance job websites:

Elance and oDesk: Depending on your skill-set, Elance and oDesk are great places to pitch for work and offer niche services. Building up a full freelance business can take years (and works best with word of mouth from happy clients) but getting started now is a step in that direction.

Craigslist: Craigslist has opportunities in nearly every major city all over the world. This is good to keep in mind for remote work – don’t just post and respond to opportunities on your local Craigslist, check out work in Europe, and if you’re outsourcing, India and other regions have English speakers hawking their skills. Craigslist is a bit less reputable than the other two sources of freelance work, so keep that in mind: vet your jobs, be choosy, ask questions and take precautions!

Teaching English/Skills

There are several options–if you have the ability to work for a University (ie. a masters degree) then consider finding online teaching jobs. Otherwise, there are numerous ways to teach various languages and skills through the itnernet, through Skype, and other mediums.

Buddy School: This is a no-brainer and the threshold for entry is quite low. No matter what language you speak, there is likely someone looking to learn it. You can also do it right now to build up a base of clients if you plan to travel, or bring in an easy secondary income.

Notably, you can teach whatever you want or whatever skills. Though teaching your native language is an easy option, any other hidden skills and hobbies that are teachable by Skype can be offered on Buddy School.

Tip: As you’re getting started, low-ball your rate ($10 an hour for English teaching) and invest a small amount in an advertisement on the site (US $20) to get your first few clients. At that point reviews from those clients propel you higher in the free searches and you can raise your rate. A friend here in Thailand completely supports herself using Buddy School and used this advert/$10 method.

Englishtown English Language Teaching: Much more stringent requirements than BuddySchool, you have to have a University degree, be a native English speaker, and have a year of experience, but the classes are online and provide flexibility if you meet these requirements!

Working While Abroad

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms:  Referred to as “WWOOF-ing, this site offers travelers and nature lovers the information and connections all over the world with organic farmers who are willing to trade accommodation and food in exchange for hard work.  This is a great way to neutralize travel costs, see a different side of a country (these farms can be remote) and keep travel costs low.

Word of Mouth: The number of work opportunities that have fallen into my lap on the road are astounding. If you’re open to a variety of fields then consider getting a nest egg to propel into traveling, and then seek out work on the road – the work is there but many places aren’t advertising online, so walking into an NGO, a café, a hostel, school and looking for local work is surprisingly effective.

Travel Photography and Writing

Unless you already have avenues to sell your photos this is not a great path to money…it is very hard to sell travel photography and I know professionals who don’t make money from selling prints online, but rather from specific gigs they’ve gotten through networking and exposure within the industry.

If you are going this route and you have very little experience in the market then I highly recommend Matador U for their two schools. Not only do they provide training, but you’re paying for the community and expertise of others helping you find those paying jobs!