How I Make Money While Travelling the World

I don’t often talk in detail about how I make money while travelling ~ mostly because it’s never been a straight line, and it’s never really fit into a neat one sentence explanation.

But I’ve been working online for several years now, and since stepping away from the traditional 9–5 in 2018, I’ve slowly built a way of living that allows me to travel freely and spend months at a time in different parts of the world.

So if you’ve ever wondered how I earn money while spending summers in Paris, working from a mountain in Guatemala (as pictured above!), or making Bali feel like a second home ~ this is the more in-depth version on what I do for work, in what way and how much I actually earn.

First, a little backstory (travel before working online)

After graduating with a Psychology degree in 2013, I knew one thing for sure: I was NOT ready to jump straight into a conventional career.

While most people around me were applying for graduate jobs, I felt a pull to experience life first. To travel. To live in the cities I’d dreamt of for years. To see what adventures I could have before settling into one place, one job.

So I did. Throughout my twenties, I lived in London, New York, Brazil, Paris, Copenhagen and Berlin ~ picking up internships, short-term roles, volunteer projects, au pair positions and marketing jobs along the way to support myself in each place.

At the time, I told myself I was also “building experience” to also add to my CV. And in a way, I was.
But what I didn’t realise then was that living and working in so many places was expanding and shaping me into someone who would eventually find it impossible to return to a traditional career path. 

Burning out and the turning point

In 2016, I landed in Berlin and joined an international PR agency full-time. It was the first job I genuinely planned to stay in and grow within.

Over the next few years, I was promoted several times and on paper, things looked good, but internally, my sparkle was fading. The culture was toxic, the workload unsustainable and I also couldn’t shake the feeling that the work I was doing was meaningless. 

All prime ingredients for a burnout which is eventually what happened. And that experience forced a question I could no longer avoid: Is this really how I want to live?

From that place, I started searching for another way ~ one that would allow me to work for myself, choose my environment, and reclaim the sense of freedom and excitement for life I’d slowly and sadly lost.

My first step toward self-employment ~ starting a business

In 2019, my first business baby Homemade Studio was born ~ a Berlin-based platform  that connects creatives with unique homes and spaces for photo shoots. Think Airbnb, but for production locations.

My co-founder and I had no business background and very little money. But we had an extremely strong desire for independence and to build something of our own. 

It was messy, exciting, challenging, overwhelming at times ~ and also one of the most formative experiences of my life.  

Freelance work alongside it

In the early days, we weren’t able to pay ourselves a salary for a while. So alongside building the platform, I took on freelance work to support myself.

That work came in the form of social media and influencer marketing for GetYourGuide, a role I still have today. I write captions, source content, and assess creators for collaborations ~ all remotely, without meetings (so time-zones are never an issue), and pretty much on my own schedule.

That combination ~ building something long-term while having pretty steady freelance income ~ is what allowed me to truly begin this travelling laptop lifestyle and working remotely from anywhere in the world. As a little side note: I even starting a candle brand during COVID ~ something I loved creatively but let go after a few years as I my travel-focused lifestyle picked up and I realised that digital work, rather physical product was far better aligned with the life I wanted to live.

Where things are now

Today, I still run Homemade Studio and continue my freelance work. But more and more, my energy is flowing into That Freedom Lifestyle ~ this blog, and the personal brand growing around it.

Over the last few years, as I’ve spent months at a time living in different places, I began creating digital travel guides for the destinations I felt I’d truly gotten to know. So far, they include Berlin, Paris, Hoi An, Ubud, Oaxaca City and London. Each guide features my 33 absolute favourite spots and experiences ~ the lesser-known gems most tourists never see.

The feedback from people who’ve read and used these guides has been incredibly encouraging and it’s been deeply heart-warming to see how much they’ve helped others experience places in a more meaningful way. It’s made me realise they really do have a place in the world!

Alongside this, I launched this blog February 2026 as a kind of digital home ~ a space to share more of my journey. Not just travel tips, but a way of living that prioritises freedom, intuition and meaning. My hope is that it becomes both a source of inspiration for others and a business that’s naturally woven into the life I’m already living.

I also occasionally collaborate with brands and boutique hotels ~ opportunities that have come from building a consistent social media presence over the years. I’m very selective with what I say yes to, only working with brands that genuinely align with my values and the lifestyle I share here.

Is the future an unconventional patchwork of income streams?

As you can see my work-life is pretty diverse and it got me thinking whether this will actually become the new norm. I recently listened to a podcast featuring several AI experts discussing the future of work and when asked how they’re preparing their children for what’s coming, one of them said something that really stayed with me:

“It’s the age of generalists. I want to raise high-agency generalists. In the future, I imagine them having a very high velocity life where they may be writing a book, organising a festival, having a podcast, starting a business and being part of someone else’s business ~ all at once.”

They spoke about a future made up of short, dynamic chapters ~ mini careers that last a year or so, before flowing into something new.

As someone who’s never felt called to do one thing forever, has had many ‘mini careers’ over the last 15 years and currently works on multiple things, I am clearly ALL FOR THIS.

It’s exciting to believe that we’re finally entering an era that finally makes space for curiosity, pivots, and multi-faceted lives. An era where we’re allowed to build unconventional patchworks of income and identity, don’t you think?

What freedom my work offers

I’ve absolutely come to believe (and this wasn’t always the case) that we don’t have to choose one path, one job or one version of ourselves.

We’re allowed to build lives made up of multiple income streams ~ rooted in things we genuinely enjoy, things that feel like natural extensions of who we are. Work that supports our life, rather than consumes it. A way of making a living while making a life.

I won’t pretend this path is the most straightforward one though. It does come with uncertainty, extra admin and plenty of moments where you have to trust yourself (and the universe) more than any external structure.

But for me, the freedom it offers, in time, in place, and internally, has been worth every challenge that’s come up along the way. For the last few years, I’ve worked around five to six hours a day. I don’t deal with office politics. I could book a flight tomorrow and work from anywhere in the world with a stable wifi connection.

I have space to wake up slowly with a cup of tea and a chapter of my book, to learn a new language (currently German eek), to go to workout classes at any time of day, and to have real capacity for myself and the people I love.

Income transparency and definition of success

Just to be transparent, because I know people are often curious ~ throughout 2024 and 2025 my average monthly income was around €4,500 gross, based on my recent tax assessment.

And if you’ve followed my journey on Instagram, you’ll know that across those two years alone I spent a month in Thailand, four months in Vietnam, two months in Bali, five weeks in Paris, ten weeks in Greece, two months in Guatemala, three months in Mexico, three weeks in Italy, three weeks in London and several months in Berlin each year.

And it was easily done. In fact, it felt like more than enough. Especially knowing that I’d already proven to myself I could find joy and a way to travel with ease earning much less (on my first six-month laptop trip to Bali in 2022, I was closer to just €2,000 per month).

However, that’s not to say I don’t want to earn more this year and the next to come. I do. And I’m actively exploring ways to increase my income. But not at the cost of the life I’ve intentionally created ~ one that feels so spacious, nourishing and deeply mine.

My definition of success and wealth has changed so much over the years. It’s no longer about how much I earn, but how I get to live. It’s about freedom ~ waking up and feeling like my days belong to me and knowing that the way I live actually reflects what I value.

And if this way of working and living resonates with you, even just a little, then I hope this post serves as a gentle reminder that there are many ways to build a life. You’re allowed to question the ‘norm.’ You’re allowed to take a different route. And you’re allowed to define success entirely on your own terms.

If you have any questions, please feel welcome to leave one in the comments and I’ll reply 🙂