So you’ve thought about your travel goals and you know that your dream would be a lot simpler if you could have a main source of funding.
You’ve decided to do something different this year and go on a trip, maybe to Thailand, Vietnam, or Australia!
For most of us, traveling the world is just a dream. But not for all of us! You just have to find a way to make it all work financially. And one of the most interesting options that you have, is to become an online course creator and use the revenue you generate from your courses to finance your lifestyle.
Courses can be a fantastic way to generate some extra income on the side while you’re traveling. If you’re not familiar with what online courses are, they are digital products that people purchase and consume online. They come in all different shapes and sizes but typically contain hours of video content, worksheets, templates, and other resources that help people learn about a certain topic or improve their skills in a certain area. The great thing about courses is that once you create them, they can continue to generate revenue for years to come with very little additional effort on your part! And the best part is, you can create them from anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
So, whether you’re living in a van, traveling around Southeast Asia, or working from a coffee shop in Europe, you can create and sell online courses! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Are you passionate about a hobby or activity that you enjoy? Why not share your knowledge and expertise with others by creating an online course teaching people how to do it? For example, if you love to surf, you could create an online course teaching people how to surf. If you’re into photography, you could create a course teaching people how to take better photos. The possibilities are endless!
- Do you have any professional skills or experience that others might find helpful? Whether you’re a web designer, marketing expert, or software developer, there’s a good chance that others would love to learn from you! Why not share your skills by creating an online course?
- Are you currently working in a field that you’re passionate about? If so, you probably have a wealth of knowledge and experience that others would love to learn from. Why not create an online course teaching people what you know?
- Do you speak more than one language fluently? If so, you could create an online course teaching people how to speak your second (or third, or fourth!) language.
- Do you have any other ideas for courses that you think people would love? If so, go for it! There’s no limit to what you can create.
There are several ways that online courses can bring in some extra cash while still enjoying all the benefits of your travels and adventures.
How to Use Online Courses to Finance a Travel Lifestyle
First, one of the simplest ways to do it is to become an affiliate with some of the major platforms, like Udemy or Skillshare. By promoting these platforms to your audience, you will, over time, create some revenue, depending on the size of your audience. These platforms are extremely popular, and you probably have heard about them already as they are often promoted on YouTube.
But by far, the best way to finance your travel lifestyle is to create your own online courses and sell them.
Here is how you could do this:
- Spend some time, which could be weeks or months, recording a course
- Publish it on an online course platform as well as on your own website
- Launch the course and promote it
- Continue to improve and promote your course after the launch
- Once you are happy with the level of revenue that you have, you can now afford to absent yourself from the course for weeks or even months
- Go ahead and plan and enjoy your trip, knowing that you are still earning revenue during your absence – your course keeps working for you
- Try to connect once or twice a week to answer questions, this should only take a couple of hours a week.
As you can see, once the upfront effort of creating an online course is done, you can afford to spend less time on it and use the revenue to finance a trip. This works because an online course, once it’s launched and live, does not require your constant presence anymore. You can pre-record them, upload them and make revenue from them 24/7, 365 days a year.
You might, of course, have to record new versions after a while, but still, you could go traveling for months and have a great revenue stream that takes very little of your time to keep going.
Depending on the number of courses you create, the size of your following, the subject of your courses, and how long you’ve been hosting your courses, you can earn anywhere from $1,000 to several million in lifetime earnings, to give you an idea of the best case scenario.
Some instructors, like Mitch Asser and Charles Du, for example, earn hundreds of thousands of dollars or more annually depending on these circumstances, while others only make a little extra cash, which is nice too.
In Conclusion
If you decide to create an online course, think about covering a subject you’re enthusiastic about.
This might be anything from tips on how to travel on a budget to where to look for the greatest offers, or any other skill that you have that took you years to learn.
Focus on learning what people are interested in by visiting online forums and personally asking them if they would like additional information on this topic after deciding what sort of content would be good for your audience and how it should be delivered.
Also, ensure you choose a reliable course hosting platform to host your courses.
When you reach the point where you have enough passive income to travel, you won’t have to put in as much effort to earn from it and won’t have to worry about running out of money.
Like with all assets that generate passive income, there is work to be done upfront, it’s not a silver bullet. But the concept is that you don’t get paid by the hour, and you have enough to finance your travel lifestyle.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. If you are thinking about creating an online course, here is a complete step-by-step guide detailing everything you need to know about the whole process: How To Create an Online Course? (Complete Guide, includes Free PDF).
Creating and selling online courses is a great way to finance your travel lifestyle! Not only will you be earning money while you’re on the road, but you’ll also be building up a valuable asset that can continue to generate income for years to come. So what are you waiting for? Get started today!
