Making money while travelling – is it possible?

As a 17 yr old solo traveller the answer was a resounding “Yes!”; after all, I had no choice. The money I had saved from my Saturday job, along with the sale of my bicycle and beloved pool table, would keep me on the road for a month at a push. But this was not enough to satisfy my longing to see the far corners of Europe.

Armed with a flute that I could barely play and a bag of crayons, I set out to conquer the streets of the continent. I had recently attained a grade 5 in CSE Art (for those too young to remember this qualification, let’s just say I wouldn’t have got a lower grade if I hadn’t bothered turning up for the exam). However, I did possess a decent memory, and having copied a drawing of Donald Duck and Dumbo many times on paper, I was now confident of replicating these sketches on the streets of European capitals.

And it did work out. I never got rich, but I did usually earn enough for a hostel bed, and also had many strange and wonderful encounters along the way. The picture above is in Copenhagen, and I soon learned the classic trip of spending five minutes to get the pictures looking nearly finished and then three hours to “fine-tune” them.

I am too old now (and too self-concious) to impose my lack of musical or artistic ability on the world. However I wonder how others manage to plug the hole of decreasing cash while travelling? I don’t see so many amateur bit-part street urchins trying to scrape a few cents together anymore. Many cities require you to have a licence; turf wars are more common these days. How has the internet changed the potential to clock up the miles and keep the bank balance healthy?

Writing has to be one option, although few will manage to get someone to pay them for writing about their travels. Those with location independent work can potentially travel and not even inform their paymasters of their whereabouts; a wi-fi connection is all they need to keep working, although it requires serious discipline to actually enjoy the holiday and not get distracted by work.

Those staying for longer in one place can teach English or engage in some seasonal work. But given the number of young people travelling for long periods of time these days, I wonder what ingenuity people have used to make their few cents to stay on the road. Comments welcome as ever!