I am a digital nomad at heart and even though I can’t afford the fast paced travel that many nomads out there are aiming for, slow travel is working great for me.
However, it doesn’t matter if you visit 30 cities in 30 days or just one country in 3 months: you’re still a nomad and, most likely, you would never say no to some extra money. I sure know I wouldn’t!
And even though you have tons of options to make money while traveling the world, it never hurts to have a blog.
On the contrary – it might become your main source of income. Or at least generate some extra pocket money for little work – or at least for work you’d really enjoy doing.
Many of my nomad friends – and you meet a ton of amazing people while on the road – are not really digital nomads.
Many of the nomads I know still have traditional jobs that allow them to save more or less and afford some travel – be it a few weeks or a few months. Then, it’s back to the grind to save some more because being a nomad is not cheap.
It’s a constant race to save as much as possible then travel as much as possible. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.
While this is obviously still a great method and it definitely works, there is one question that I ask all the nomads that I meet and are not trying to make any extra money via blogging or the internet:
“Would you really say no to getting some extra money for your travel, by doing the thing you love the most?”
Of course, the answer is usually no.
Nobody would say no to extra money and the chance to add at least a few days of extra travel from basically no work – as I consider doing things you love “no work”.
Plus, as I said, you could actually end up making a decent living from your blog, like many do. But don’t just jump head first to quit your job for this! Not yet, at least.
Why should ALL nomads have a blog?
When I started blogging, I was like all people out there: I had no idea what it was and how it should be done. As a result, I managed to make a whooping $300 in my first six months of blogging.
But that was in 2008… and guess what? I’m still blogging full time (and fortunately for way more than $300 every 6 months).
Starting a travel blog is easy (on any kind of blog, actually). You don’t need a lot of money to invest when you start. Actually, it’s one of the very few businesses that you can start with a budget of under $100.
Sure, you will spend more if things start to pick up, but just for testing things out, just for seeing if you can do it, $100 is not a huge risk in my opinion. The best part is that it’s low risk if you really stick to a schedule!
The best part? You can earn money by writing about things you love – like your travels, for example. But anything goes!
Just think about how many amazing stories you have. Think about your great adventures, the ton of incredible photos you have, the cities you visited, the places you saw… all these are pure treasure.
Even though the blogging world is saturated by travel related blogs and websites, the demand is always there and people are always looking for a fresh voice, a unique take to a subject or simply for somebody who can answer their questions better than others might.
People love to travel, people love to read about the experiences of fellow travelers, people keep reading and searching for information. You can succeed too.
You WILL have people reading you, you WILL be able to make at least some extra money for the road (or a big pile if you are lucky!)
You could spend one hour per day – or more if you can – while relaxing after a bath in the sea, while resting after a long hike or during a ride: you could spend that time to write an article about your adventures (or really, anything else!) then publish that on your blog.
You will be surprised to find out how many people would love that. This is an opportunity and by not doing anything, by not trying, by ignoring this for whatever reasons you have, you miss out on something big. You miss on some extra money for your travel. You personally sabotage your own dreams!
I think you should change that right now! And change is a lot easier than you think!
But wait… isn’t it too complicated to start and run a blog?
Most people are afraid about the fact that they’re not tech-savvy enough to start and manage a blog. But the truth is that everything is extremely easy and all you have to do is be able to click some buttons.
Now it’s easier than ever to get started and you can literally have your blog running in under 30 minutes.
Then all you will have to do will be to start writing the articles and see the money flowing your way. (This will actually prove to be the most difficult part, not the technical details!)
The steps you should follow are easy:
1. Choose a cheap but reliable hosting company like Bluehost.
2. Choose your domain’s name (aka blog’s name) and register it through your hosting company (depending on the plan you choose, it might be free – otherwise it’s around $12 PER YEAR!)
3. Install WordPress on your blog through your host’s panel (just a few clicks)
4. Install a reliable theme like GeneratePress which is free to use, but has an option to upgrade for a low fee. You can read my full GeneratePress review here.
And this is it! You are now a proud blog owner and you can start making money by writing about things you love.
It is that easy to start a blog and you should do it now. You should know, however, that it’s not a “get rich over night” scheme by any means and most people fail because they don’t really put in an effort and don’t stick to a schedule.
Remember my initial story about starting up and making $300 in six months? You should have similar expectations, as blogs need time to age and built an audience.
During this time, you will also learn more about blogging, how to write and what to write about. But it will be fun and you will succeed, guaranteed, as long as you stick to a solid plan.
Just think about the fact that so many people make a decent amount of money from their blogs.
I’m not talking about the superstars making tens of thousands of dollars per month – they’re already on another level, with employees and doing it full time (which is still something you might end up doing if that’s something you’d like).
But even working part-time on a blog, you can easily make an extra $1,500 per month or more. Depending on your niche and how well you do it, you can easily double that monthly earnings.
At this point, you can consider switching to doing this full time and increase the income even more.
It’s not guaranteed it will happen – and most people fail. But those who do fail because they just don’t stick to a plan, they get discouraged, they don’t learn and read and don’t improve with time.
Now decide if this is an opportunity you afford or want to throw away. And be honest with you: if you don’t have a blog, now it’s time to change things and make it happen. Now it’s your time to shine, now it’s your time to take your dream to the next level!
