7 Lucrative Location Independent Jobs You Can Do From Anywhere
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For many of us, ditching our 9-5 and traveling the world is the ultimate dream. But is it a realistic one?
Indeed, there are numerous location-independent jobs available, but a significant worry for many is their financial viability.
No matter how badly you want to make a lifestyle change, it’s tough to go through with it when you’re accustomed to a stable, comfortable salary. In the end, stability can be quite alluring, especially for some of us!
When I started my investigations into becoming a digital nomad, I was looking for validation that I would be able to (at minimum) replace my salary.
While blogging for a living and globetrotting was my ultimate dream, I had no interest in scraping by doing work exchanges or volunteering in hostels.
That is an effective means of facilitating travel for some individuals, but my primary goal has always been to establish a career online. Ideally, I wanted a career that would allow me to seamlessly transition into a traditional job role should the need arise (it’s always beneficial to have a contingency plan).
I’d worked diligently to reach a standard of living that was comfortable for me, and I didn’t want to give it up just to get out of the office (most days).
Desperately looking to validate my dream lifestyle, I turned to Google.
I soon learned that there are aaaaall kinds of different location-independent jobs that allow you to work online, from anywhere in the world. In this digital era, you can accomplish almost anything online!
Exploring various location independent jobs can provide valuable insights into achieving a fulfilling work-life balance.
I quickly realized that there were plenty of work opportunities in the digital space, and that developing a 100% remote career was realistic.
I was officially sold. I learned how to leverage my writing and social media skills to land freelancing gigs and quit my job 6 weeks later.
Note: I had not yet replaced my income by then, but I knew the luxury of free time would enable me to grow my online business quicker than staying in my job.
If you’re looking for a way to work online and travel, or stay home with your kids, or you just want to find a way to avoid human interaction in general, the following is a selection of different jobs that will allow you to do so.
This is not a complete list, but these are some of the most common remote jobs. I also included resources on how to start or learn more about these options!
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VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Becoming a virtual assistant is a fantastic way to transition into online work. Business owners hire virtual assistants (or VAs) to help with all kinds of tasks, ranging from email management and graphic design all the way to blog management and content creation. If you have limited work experience, or you’re not quite sure where to begin working online, this type of job is likely a beneficial place to start.
Many people seem to begin working online as a virtual assistant, offering a wide range of different services, and then later transition into more specialized lines of work. This is a wonderful way to explore your interests, particularly if they are varied. Some individuals go from VA to Online Business Managers, agency owners, or bloggers. Abbey Ashley went from VA to online course creator, and now she’s trained thousands of others on how to launch their very own Virtual assistant business. Her Facebook group, Virtual Assistant Savvies, is a wonderful place to go for support with your online business, whether or not you’ve already started it!
Required skills:
There is no formal experience necessary to begin selling services as a VA. You should know how to provide the services you want to offer, but it doesn’t have to be “work” experience. If you put in the time to learn desirable online skills, such as social media management, graphic design, blog management, and more, you can begin offering these services right away.
And, as you gain more experience, you can increase your rates!
Average Salary
Salaries in the online market can vary greatly, and the amount you’ll charge your clients will be dependent on your experience, skillset, and the types of services you provide. Some VAs charge hourly, while others sell fixed-rate service packages. With that said, average hourly rates seem to run anywhere from $15 to $60 per hour.
How To Get Started
No formal training is required, but investing in courses CAN speed up the process.
If you’re interested in courses, check out:
For free resources, visit:
FREELANCE WRITER
If you love writing, freelance writing is an obvious choice for starting your career online. More and more companies are increasing their online marketing budgets, and they need talented individuals to create compelling content that will further their business. Whatever your field of expertise or interest, there’s bound to be freelance writing work available. The fact that there are jobs in some of the more obscure fields may even surprise you!
Average Salary
Contrary to what you may have heard, writers actually CAN earn money. Indeed, they can earn substantial income. Many freelance writers earn 6 figures. Of course, you can’t expect to earn that much immediately unless you have tons of experience. If you’re starting as a complete newbie, it would be reasonable to earn anywhere from $20k to $60k in your first year, though it’s entirely possible that you will earn more!
Required Skills
The most important skills to be a successful freelance writer are good spelling and grammar (or good editing skills) and a love for writing. If you love writing but don’t feel like you’re particularly talented at it, don’t worry; you can always improve your skills! Just get started and work on getting better along the way.
How to Get Started
Holly Johnson’s course, Earn More Writing, has been the best investment I’ve made in my writing career. She explains exactly what you need to do to launch or improve your writing career. If you’re looking for a course, this is the one you should take. It also provides you with access to a fantastic Facebook group full of other freelance writers of varying experience levels.
Free Resources
Not ready to invest? The Copywriter Cafe is a fantastic Facebook group for anyone looking to begin working online, especially copywriters.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Social media management is one of the most popular location-independent jobs, by far. If you’re fond of social media and enjoy creating content, perhaps working in social media management is appealing to you! You can specialize in one platform or offer service packages that cover multiple platforms.
It’s up to you to design service packages that appeal to your skill sets and the needs of your prospective clients. These days, businesses in nearly every industry, they are looking to create a social media presence to attract and engage with their customers.
Another great thing about freelance social media work is that there is plenty of room for business growth. You can start out managing a couple of platforms and eventually build your business into an agency with dozens of clients and employees of your own!
Average Salary
The average salary for social media managers really varies depending on their experience levels and the types of packages offered. Salaries range from $30,000 for entry-level SMMs to well over 6 figures for experienced (and specialized) social media managers.
Pro tip: You can boost your income significantly by becoming a Facebook ads specialist.
Required Skills
All you need to get started as a social media manager is a basic knowledge of at least ONE social media platform. You can easily build your skills from there.
BRANDING & WEB DESIGN
I’m sure you already know that it’s possible to be a web designer from anywhere with a WiFi connection. But did you know that you can become a web designer without learning programming?
It was news to me too.
There are many small business owners and bloggers who want professional-looking sites that they will be able to manage on their own with minimal tech skills. This is where designing sites with the help of a theme can be a real asset—they’re much more user-friendly for your clients.
While it is true that you can build a much fancier website with knowledge of CSS, JavaScript, and HTML, you can also do a fantastic job by mastering web design using themes. Of course, these sites often come with a lower price tag, but trust me, you’ll still be able to charge enough to earn a substantial living. You can earn even more if you combine your web design skills to offer branding services as well.
Average Salary
The average salary really varies depending on skills and experience, but I’ve seen website and branding packages priced anywhere from $500 to $5000 USD. I’d say you could expect to earn anywhere from $20k to $50k in your first year if you start with minimal experience.
Required Skills
You will need to first master using a website theme—the Divi Theme is a popular option, but many designers also build sites using the SquareSpace platform. It’s also ideal to have some creativity in visuals and design, which you can develop along the way. A fantastic way to start building your skills is by designing your own site (say, to market your services). As long as you commit to continuing to strengthen your knowledge, you’ll do well!
How to Get Started
There are tons of free resources out there that will help you develop branding and web design skills. YouTube is a fantastic place to start; look for videos about how to create a brand design or a logo. Furthermore, pick a web theme you’re interested in working with. You can find countless SquareSpace and Divi design tutorials online.
Also, read the SquareSpace or Elegant Themes (Divi) blog to learn about the platforms in-depth.
Courses
The Bucketlist Bombshells offer a Tech Skills and a Design Skills course. When you combine the two courses, you will gain all the foundational knowledge necessary to start offering branding and web design services to clients. It might sound difficult to believe, but it’s true. Learn more here.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Offering graphic design services is a wonderful way to work while you travel. You can work on projects ranging from branding packages and logos to social media graphics and more. You can even sell digital products, like fonts or logos, in an Etsy or Creative Market shop!
Clearly, a career in graphic design necessitates some design skills, which you can acquire over time. If you’re someone who is drawn to visual work or design already, this might be the perfect online job for you!
Average Salary
The average salary for graphic designers within the US is about $45k per year. For freelancers, there are tons of factors, including the breadth of different projects you take on, as well as your skills and experience, that will contribute to the amount you can expect to earn, but one of the best things about this profession is that there is tons of room for growth!
Required Skills
To be a graphic designer, you obviously need design skills, but they don’t need to come from formal training. If you’re new to graphic design, you will need to take the time to learn programs like PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign, among others.
How to Get Started
Once again, YouTube is a fantastic place to start, but if you want to learn quickly, consider investing in a course.
ENGLISH TEACHER
There are tons of different ways you can teach English while traveling the world. You can get a job at a language school and teach English on the ground in a foreign country of your choice, or you can work for an online language school and teach from the comfort of your home or Airbnb. If you’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit, you can even offer language classes of your own, privately!
There are certain perks to each of these options, and you’ll have to decide which works best for your lifestyle. Many of the foreign language schools will offer you a housing and meal stipend while you work for them, which can make up for the fact that they don’t necessarily pay a fortune.
Alternatively, online language schools often offer bonuses if you refer other English teachers to start working for them. This can be a great way to pad your income. And of course, if you offer your own independent classes, you get to call all the shots, which is an obvious perk.
Average Salary
The salary for English teachers in foreign countries varies from location to location. Sometimes it’s as little as $1000 USD per month, but sometimes much more. There are usually extra perks, like having living expenses or flights covered. Plus, the salary is generally enough to live comfortably in whichever country you are based.
When teaching online, the salary usually starts around $18–$20 USD per hour, and performance and referral bonuses are often available.
Required Skills
The requirements for teaching English vary depending on the school or company you work for. Many companies require you to have a Bachelor’s degree to be eligible for employment. Usually, they prefer to hire native English speakers and will sometimes specify that they require a Canadian/American accent, but it really depends on the school. Often, formal teaching experience isn’t required, though some schools may offer higher salaries or preference to individuals with teaching degrees or certificates for teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL).
How to Get Started
- Check out the TEFL website for job opportunities and certifications
- Oxford Seminars offers a TEFL certificate that is well respected
- VIPKid is one of many companies that hires online English teachers.
BLOGGER
Ah, blogging. For many of us, this is the ultimate dream job. After all, getting paid to write exactly what you want for your site and earning a living at the same time is pretty much the ultimate creative dream. But is it realistic?
I can’t tell you from personal experience, as I haven’t achieved it (yet), but I’ve read enough income reports to convince me that blogging is an attainable goal. It just doesn’t amount to a livable income as quickly as selling services does.
Blogging is a long-term commitment, and there are no shortcuts in order to monetize your work. It requires a lot of work upfront, long before you ever earn any money, which is why it’s best pursued by those who are passionate about the process rather than just the end goal.
Average Salary
The beauty of blogging is that your earning potential is basically uncapped. You can earn anywhere from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars each month, depending on your monetization strategy.
Required Skills
There are no skills required to get started with blogging; however, it helps if you have writing skills and a mind for content marketing. However, there are plenty of resources, free and paid, that will help you get where you need to go. Throughout the process of growing your blog, you will learn various new skills, including but not limited to photography, SEO, email marketing, web design, social media management, copywriting, and content marketing.
How To Get Started
You can learn to build a profitable blog on your own, but you’ll likely accelerate the process by investing in courses for $1000s or getting in touch with me.
Courses
If you want to build a profitable blog as fast as possible, courses are a great way to make sure you’re focusing your efforts in the right areas. There are endless blogging courses out there on everything from starting a blog to affiliate marketing to driving traffic to your blog from various sources. While general courses can be helpful in the beginning, as your blog grows you’ll likely do best by investing in targeted courses that focus on the areas you most need to improve.
If you’re serious about building a blog business, get in touch with me at hello@janineintheworld.com so I can ensure you have the right products, which will get you started the fastest way possible and won’t cost you more than $150 USD.
There are many remote jobs available, but these are the most popular and easiest to start, even with little experience.
Are you considering working online? If you have any questions about it, I’m happy to help as best I can! You can get a jumpstart by purchasing a domain and web hosting from BigScoots.
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🏨 What’s the best way to find accommodation in Mexico?
Expedia.com is wonderful specifically for reserving high-end luxury hotels and resorts and is by far the best for reserving flights. Booking.com is awesome for affordable hotels in Mexico. VRBO specializes in apartment and house rentals, making it a wonderful place to find long-term stays.
✈️ What’s the best way to find affordable flights?
In my experience traveling to and within Mexico, I LOVE Expedia.com because they simplify rate comparisons between different airlines. I’ve always come back to Expedia.com because of how wide the selection is of airlines to choose from that go to Mexico. Great pricing is another reason, too!
💸 How should I exchange money in Mexico?
Have you ever heard of the company named WISE? WISE is an app that offers the best solutions for individuals and businesses traveling internationally, providing the fastest and most cost-effective way to convert money into a foreign country’s local currency. It is the least expensive and fastest way to transfer money from your home country’s bank to one in a foreign country.
🚖 How do I find a safe airport transfer?
I recommend GetYourGuide.com for airport transfers anywhere in Mexico. It’s almost as excellent and simple to use as Uber, in my humble opinion. I’ve used them LOTS.
🚗 What’s the best way to find rental cars in Mexico?
I recommend Booking.com. What I’ve found is that their price comparison tool is updated multiple times daily, making it easy to find and prepare to snag the best deal possible because of the inclusion of fire sale types of discounts.
Other companies don’t include these short-lived discounts in their price comparison because they sync once a day (typically overnight) with each rental car company. The Booking.com tool for comparing rental car prices is what I use for car rentals in Mexico. I’ve yet to have complaints about them.
🚐 How do I book bus tickets online in Mexico?
Book your tickets with Busbud—the site is in English and takes foreign credit cards.
🤿 How do I find cool activities and tours in Mexico?
TripAdvisor is the usual website and service I use for finding fun things to do; it has great options and it’s much faster to book with them since they organize their personalized recommendations for you if you’re signed in.
🇲🇽 How can I experience Mexico like a local?
Travelers can hire a local guide through GetyourGuide.com. You’ll be able to tailor tours based on your interests—it’s basically like experiencing a destination with a local bestie!
🧳 What’s the best luggage for Mexico?
Unless you’re staying at a resort, a travel pack is recommended. I’ve used travel backpack from Osprey for the last 8+ years.
👯♀️ How do I connect with fellow travelers in Mexico?
Join my Female Travelers in Mexico Facebook group, a supportive community of fellow Mexico travel enthusiasts, where you can find answers to all your travel questions!
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BigScoots.com is who I use for managing my WordPress website (which they help you make changes to and teach you as part of their service).
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Join my Female Travelers in Mexico Facebook group, a supportive community of fellow Mexico travel enthusiasts, where you can find answers to all your travel questions!
I love this post! You gave me so many things to look into!! Thanks for all the recs!
Hoorah! I’m so glad you found it helpful. I remember how impossible it felt to do this type of work before I actually started trying to do it. I almost settled for an office job instead… a fate I wouldn’t wish on ANYONE. 😛