How To Start an Online Side Hustle Using Workaway
It’s super easy to travel long-term with Workaway on a minuscule budget. With most hosts providing accommodation and food in exchange for volunteer work, it’s possible to travel for years with very little in your bank account!
But there’s no getting around the fact that you do need some extra cash for your travels. Boat tours in Hạ Long Bay, museums in Amsterdam, and pub crawls in Melbourne aren’t free. Learning how to start an online side hustle could help you achieve your sustainable travel dreams.
It was the answer to mine! I volunteered through Workaway for around five months a few years ago while building my freelance writing portfolio and blog. Even though I still volunteer abroad, I can mix things up by staying in coliving spaces and taking trips I pay for in between.
I’m sharing my tips on how to start an online side hustle while volunteering with Workaway so you can earn extra money too!
Pick an Online Side Hustle You’ll Stick With
Choose an online hustle you are passionate about and could see yourself doing as a full-time day job. Whatever you pick also needs to fit your travel lifestyle and volunteering commitments. Many long-term travelers enjoy a part-time job as a TEFL teacher, but you need to be available at certain hours.
I’d recommend starting an online business and being your own boss while volunteering with Workaway. You can set your routine and won’t need to work to another company’s per-hour or per-week schedule.
Some days, I worked for three hours in the morning on my freelance writing tasks before volunteering while my fellow Workawayers slept in. Other days, I didn’t work at all! The flexibility of my remote work and the passion I had (and still have!) made it easier to sustain in the long term.
Online Side Hustle Ideas:
- Sell digital products (courses, design templates, etc.)
- Monetize a YouTube channel
- Start a podcast and sell ads
- Start a paid community (Substack, Patreon, etc.)
- Transcriber or translator
- Online Tutor or Fitness Instructor
- Online Life or Business Coach
- Teaching English (TEFL) Online
- Virtual Assistant
- Video or Podcast/Audio Editing
- Photo Editing
- Copywriting
- Voice Over Artist
- Graphic Design
- Web Design
- Customer Service
- Digital Marketing Services (social media management, creation, etc.)
- Social media sponsorships (Instagram, TikTok, etc.)
- Affiliate marketing
- Bookkeeping/Accountancy
- Sell your photography
- Training and consulting on an expert topic
You may need specific qualifications or to learn different skills to be successful in one of these jobs. Keep those extra costs in mind!
Related blog post: 20 Fun Ways To Make Money for Your Travels
Choose Compatible Workaway Projects
I don’t know about you, but I’d find it difficult to start an online hustle if I couldn’t get online.
Many amazing Workaway experiences are on isolated farms and homestays. These opportunities can be life-changing, allow you to make intimate connections with locals, and have digital detoxes.
However, most aren’t a good fit when starting an online business. Never mind WiFi, sometimes electricity can be unreliable in these places!
You might not win friends if you spend all your spare time hunched over your laptop. Always let your Workaway hosts know your remote work plans upfront. You’ll have a much more harmonious experience if they’re on board.
Volunteering in hostels while figuring out how to start an online side hustle worked best for me. The WiFi was good and there was lots of space to work. In such a large group of friendly Workawayers, there were always people to hang out with when I wasn’t volunteering or building my remote career.
Aside from electricity and WiFi, consider anything else you might need at your Workaway project to support your online side hustle. TEFL teachers and voice-over artists need quiet spaces. Photographers need a dry, secure place to store their equipment.
Related blog post: How This Workawayer Built His Freelance Career While Travelling the World
Stay in One Place for at Least a Month
Recently, I spent a month in Italy and stayed in six different cities. It was so difficult to keep working on my side hustles! There were always new places to explore so I didn’t want to spend that time at my laptop. Plus, it was impossible to settle into a routine before I was away again.
The same can be said for Workaway opportunities. Stay for at least a month so you can find a good rhythm. For example, I volunteered at a hostel in Edinburgh for over three months. During that time, I saw so much of the city and took day trips while finding pockets of time to work.
Balance Cultural Experiences With Work
This ties into the last tip of how to start an online side hustle while on a Workaway exchange. Don’t work on your online side hustle so much that you don't interact with anyone or explore the local area.
Workaway is about giving back to the countries you visit, which is very difficult if you only work on yourself.
Related blog post: A Beginner’s Guide to Becoming A Digital Nomad
Research Legal Requirements
Starting an online side hustle is free of red tape… Until you actually start to earn extra income!
This is great news but do your due diligence. You’ll need to have the correct visa and to file your taxes properly. You might need to apply for a digital nomad visa or working holiday visa if you spend a long time in one country.
Bear in mind you likely won’t be able to mix remote work with Workaway volunteer work. Some hosts who run businesses may want to hire you for online skills - and that’s awesome! But they will need to pay you an hourly rate and you’ll need the proper work permit.
There are indirect ways to use your online side hustle skills at your Workaway opportunity. Language exchanges can offer vital experience if your goal is to teach English online, for example.
Related blog posts: Top 10 Countries To Visit on Your Next Working Holiday
Find an Online Side Hustle Travel Buddy
It’s much easier to stick with a goal, whether weight loss or learning a language, if you have a partner keeping you accountable. It’s the same when figuring out how to start an online side hustle too!
Ask other Workawayers at your project if they also have a side hustle so you can arrange to work together. You can also use Workaway’s Find a Travel Buddy tool to ensure you’re volunteering with like-minded travellers.
Work Hard… but Don’t Forget to Play Hard
There can be many distractions when working on your online side hustle, but you must stick to a plan to see real progress. While 40 hours a week is too many, three is likely too few. Make a prioritised list of things you need to do, take courses, and set SMART goals.
But don’t forget the reason you are travelling and volunteering in the first place. I’d often leave a blog post to finish the next day if a group of solo travellers in the hostel wanted to play Uno. I happily shut my laptop when offered a free ride to the local town while volunteering on a yoga retreat in Spain.
How To Start an Online Side Hustle in 7 Simple Steps
Learning how to start an online side hustle while Workawaying is simple in theory, but never easy in practice. It’s always difficult to balance working, volunteering, and travelling. Keep reminding yourself why you’re doing it: to create a fulfilling life of sustainable travel. I have no doubt you’ll succeed.
About Rebecca
Rebecca caught the travel bug when she spent a summer as a camp counsellor in the USA during university. She quit her job in 2017 and started volunteering with Workaway as she grew her remote freelanc
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