23 High-Paying Jobs that let you see the World!

“The world is your oyster; If you have a lot of money, you can have anything you want.” This proverb first appeared in Shakespeare's play ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor.'

Going on a world tour, traveling to exotic destinations or taking a sabbatical to volunteer in a remote location. The chances are that at least one of these appears on your bucket list right now. Subsequently, we predict that ‘’money’’ appears among the top 5 barriers preventing you from realizing those travel aspirations on your bucket list?

Guess what, you can travel the world and live in various countries while still earning a really good income. The best part is, you don’t have to be a flight attendant, airline pilot, high-powered CEO or work for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to do so.

Here is our top selection of 23 jobs that can make your travel dreams a reality:

Permanently Employed Professional jobs

You don’t necessarily need to quit your permanent job, forget all the experience you have gained and the degree you studied so hard for to go and give surf lessons on a remote island. There are numerous opportunities for graduate professionals with or without experience to travel abroad for extended periods but still, receive their monthly salary and benefits from their employer-based in their home country.


Female yournalist aiming the microphone towards the point of view

1) International Journalist – $75,000 to $120,000 / year

Your degree in Journalism or English Literature plus a few years in the ‘’ground’’ office working your way up the journalistic ladder will improve your chances to put up your hand for an opportunity abroad. This is a highly prestigious and competitive industry, so landing a foreign war correspondent role or an investigative documentary gig about Rhino poaching in Africa does not come easy. Negating on a high starting salary at first and joining the larger media houses to gain experience on the international desk will pave the journey to scout for global assignments.


Cameroon Embassy Washington

2) Foreign Affairs (Diplomat) – $30,000 to $100,000 / year

“Advancing American interests abroad, encourage peace, support projects for prosperity and offer foreign aid, while protecting American citizens in foreign countries.” Sounds like a line from the series “Madam Secretary,” but this is in a nutshell what a role in the foreign services field entails. You will be working permanently for the US Government, deployed for 18 months – five-year stints at a time in a single country, before being moved to the next one. Masters degrees in Economics, Foreign Languages, Political Sciences, and Policy Administration are preferred. Roles are available in Managerial Affairs, Public Diplomacy or Economic Policy Making, to name a few.


View through window with reflection street of confident geopolitical analyst is typing text message on mobile phone, while is resting after videoconferencing via laptop computer during his business trip abroad

3) Geopolitical Analyst – $51,000 to $92,000 / year

Multinational enterprises with assets, interests, offices or significant client bases in foreign countries will often resort to the expertise of a geopolitical analyst to assess investment risk and also overall security threats in those foreign countries on behalf of the home country employer. As an analyst, you may spend extended time frames in one country or even a few years in one region. These analysts usually have degrees in a specialist field like mining, law, engineering or finance coupled with post-tertiary qualifications in politics and economics. For a mining specialist, a role as an African Commodities Specialist may be suited, or if you have a Masters in Finance and Banking, you may be beneficial for your expertise regarding the Micro-Finance Industry of South America.


Anthropology - hands of an archeologist revealing human skull from dirt

4) Archeologist – $58,000 to $78,000 / year

Not your typical Indiana Jones or “The Mummy” type role, but with your Archeology academic tenure, you have more opportunities than the average museum job. From Egypt to Estonia to Ecuador positions are available across jungles, deserts and cities around the world to find physical reminiscence of ancient civilizations.


Above view of a management consultant analyzing data with her client

5) Management Consultant – $78,000 to $130,000 / year

Whether it is a turn-key project, production process improvement initiatives or organizational restructuring, the job of a management consultant involves frequent local and of course international jet-setting (however the size of the jet depends on the profit ratios of your employer). Qualified lawyers, actuaries, engineers, and scientists usually with an accompanying MBA are sourced as Management Consultants.


international buyer looking for items

6) International Buyer – $60,000 to $80,000 / year

These roles are like those of Personal Shoppers, just on a gigantic scale pertaining to budget, procurement volumes, and contractual obligations. You will be visiting international trade shows and exhibitions to discover potential new product lines, meet with production and manufacturing facilities and spend time in governmental trade and industry departments. The products can range from retail like clothing and shoes, up to engineering components or manufacturing materials. Buyers in the retail industries usually have marketing and logistics qualifications while technical buyers are often engineers or finance experts.

Fixed Duration/Expat Roles

Another avenue to pursue, when you have been bitten by the travel bug, is to consider fixed-term contracts or expatriate opportunities which are usually from 3 months up to 3 years. For the more extended contracts, you are often provided with flight tickets back and forth to your home country. In these roles, you could be working for your home employer at one of their sites abroad or be employed by a foreign organization.


oil worker and oil rig

7) Oil Rig Worker – $60,000 to $150,000 / year

It's foreign and mostly offshore in countries where Oil and Gas Exploration or Mineral Extraction are dominant industries. There is a high demand for skilled workers in this field thus the reasons for lucrative salaries and travel benefits being offered. On the upside, you can be placed anywhere in the world according to your location of preference, on the downside you will be stuck on an oil rig in the ocean for most of your time there. You also get ample vacancies in onshore (land-based) extraction plants, but again you may be placed in a very remote, very uninspiring city for months or even years.


Goolge Adwords image of its website

8) Technology Evangelist – $56,000 to $120,000 / year

Nothing to do with traditional religion. These technological advocates work for companies like Google or Windows and travel the globe to attract and accumulate platform users on a large business scale (not individuals like you and me). They are responsible for building critical mass awareness regarding a particular technology platform through events, demonstrations, interviews, and roadshows in the foreign locational target area. Apart from the technical know-how (software engineering, architecture, infrastructure, programming), a technology evangelist requires skills in marketing, advertising, branding, promotion and sales aspects of a business.


Class of kids

9) English Teaching Abroad $2000 -$5000 / month plus flights and accommodation

Professional English teachers are high commodities across the globe from Asia to Europe, to Africa and South America. English Teachers are employed in foreign countries to assist primary, secondary and even adult learners to master the language. Some countries require a college degree as the minimum entry requirement while others expect a TEFL or TOEFL course to be completed before arrival. These jobs offer abundant options for traveling and exploring as you work a typical 8-10-hour day, generally, have weekends off and get leave days in accordance with the school holiday calendar.


Two paralel Cruise ships from above

10) Cruise Ship Professionals $45,000 – $100,000 / year plus accommodation and meals

If one thinks of cruise ship jobs, positions like waiters, cleaners, kitchen workers, entertainment providers or beauty therapists come to mind. Of course, these jobs offer excellent traveling stints, but not always at the best pay rate. You can however still find enticing work on a cruise ship at the higher end of the salary scale. Medical Doctors, Engineers, Accountants, and Programmers are also instrumental positions to ensure the smooth operational, health and safety conduct on cruise liners. Take note though that you may not be as flexible as your guest relations or entertainment co-workers to jump ship as often to go exploring the cultural and scenic treasures of the land.


Au pair watching her pupil colouring a drawing

11) Au Pair – $800 / month plus food, accommodation and study allowance

Love kids, but more importantly do they generally like you? If yes, then a job as an Au Pair may be just the role for you to live and travel abroad. With expenses like food and lodging provided as part of your salary, this is a smart way to save money and then use the funds to travel and explore during your off times. As a bonus, most host families will pay for your air ticket and grant generous leave days. Au Pairs can be employed in infant care, children or adolescent supervision. You can expect to prepare meals, transport kids to school and extracurricular activities and help them with homework.


Nurse helpen a patient top view

12) Travel Nurse – $5000 to $10,000 / month plus accommodation

Travelling Nurses are usually assigned for projects that range between 13 and 26 weeks in duration, but often live in a foreign country for a few months at a time. This kind of schedule allows for lots of traveling time between assignments. To secure opportunities you would need to be a registered nurse, and if you can speak or understand an additional language or two, your chances are even better to land exciting opportunities. Nursing jobs available include public or private healthcare institutions or medical facilities managed by NGO’s or international aid organizations.

Gig Economists jobs that let you see the world

Freelancers, Gig Workers, Virtualists, Digital Nomads. These titles all refer to those individuals who form part of the growing gig economy (which has no relation to economics by the way).

Gig Economists are independent workers who provide their services and skills on a short-term, temporary or contractual basis to individual clients or corporations based anywhere in the world. Their work delivery outcomes can take place via digital channels thus the only non-negotiable requirements are internet connectivity and digital devices (plus perhaps a PayPal account).

The job opportunities are endless, and services rendered in any type of field imaginable as long as the ‘’end product’’ can be emailed or shared on a cloud platform. Payment arrangements are either by the hour, milestone or completed project. As a Gig Economist, you can expect to work for multiple clients simultaneously to excellent time management skills is vital to success.


Female Web designer designing behind her desk

13) Web / Graphic Designer – $1000 -to $6000 / month

A flair for design, knowledge of creative software programs and familiarity with online platforms. Designers with code writing skills are very much in demand and also those designers whose talents reach beyond designing into website hosting and maintenance. Graphic/Web designer duties go far beyond the stereotype of ‘’ making stuff look pretty’’. Check out this list of the rest of the 99 reasons to engage with a Graphic/Web Designer.


Girld recording a vlog promoting make-up

14) Bloggers & Vloggers – $500 to $25,000 / month

These diggers make a living from writing or vlogging about any topic, trend or issue that is significant enough to attract an online audience. Creating awareness, attracting an audience and maintaining a subscriber presence are just a few of the hurdles to jump before establishing a large enough follower base to render a steady income. (This often takes years to accomplish). Income generally comes from advertising, affiliate sales, books, and influencer projects or online events like webinars. The most successful bloggers/vloggers started their careers as a sideline hobby while still having a normal day job to pay the bills. Intricate knowledge of social media platforms and the analytics behind them is essential as well as a combination of marketing, advertising, and sales capabilities. (Knowing how to post and share is not regarded as intricate knowledge)


virtual recruiter working on the beach in business clothing

15) Virtual Recruiter – $3000 plus commission / month

An anywhere, anytime role, because right at this moment someone is looking for a job and somebody else is looking for talent. That’s where you come in as the career curator, talent magnet, and recruitment advisor. Virtual Recruiters can work for themselves, or agencies or companies. You can recruit in any industry of your choice, but the idea is to find a niche area and stick to it. Virtual Recruiters conduct research, form relationships with candidates and clients, take job orders, send resumes, schedule interviews and facilitate offer processes. All you need to get started is a laptop, internet connectivity, phone and copious amounts of drive and perseverance.


young translator introducing Arabian businessman

16) Freelance Translator – 10 to 40 cents/word

Translators are individuals who convert content from one language into the right context of another language. You obviously would need sufficient verbal and written ability in a second language, but there is no need to be a language purist. Multiple tools for grammar, punctuation, tone of voice and sentence construction are available to help you with your translation projects. The best way to start is by joining a translation service provider. The type of work can range from 300-word assignments to 50 000-word manuals to convert. Just don’t get lost in your own translation?


Coach training with student

17) Graduate Coach – $15 to $30 / hour

If your favorite childhood game was “teacher-teacher” then this could be your time to shine. Many companies offer online graduate and student coaching services which may include assistance with assignments, particular subject areas or thesis projects and final dissertations. For these, they hire online tutors and coaches usually with Masters or Doctorates that will offer tutoring assistance in specific topics. Payment is usually by the hour, and you can have numerous students as part of your coaching portfolio. Duties as a Graduate Coach include online consultations, offline document reviews, topic ideation, proposal brainstorming, editing, and proofreading.


Young male hand visible playing poker with some stacks

18) Internet Poker Player – $1000 to $30,000 / month

Say what now? In fact, a profession that is on the increase among gig economists. Your affinity to numbers and the ability to play for hours on end gets you a seat at the online tables. To make real money from this lifestyle takes a lot of trial and error (and losing money too!). Although you don’t need a poker face (as no one can see you) the ability to keep emotions in check and stay cool calm and collected under pressure is a definite ‘’entry level’’ requirement. The expert players suggest starting small and leave the “go big or go home” strategies for baseball.

Jobbattical Backpacker

The raw essence of traveling vagabond tradition where you: save a bit of money to go to your desired destination, work a few weeks or months to save money, to travel to and around your next destination, where you work a few weeks or months to save money (and keep on repeating the cycle)


Bartender behind the bar

19) Bartender – $1000 to $4000 / month

Every town, city or metropolis has either one, a few or a couple of hundreds and the job description is standard all round: take the order, mix, pour, serve. Being a conversationist with a few juggling skills will help to fill up the tip jar a tad quicker. Places with lots of tourist traffic will probably have more bartending opportunities than a 100 resident town in the middle of Alaska, so be strategic when picking your spot. The freedom of jobs that let you see the world, is that at the same time its dead easy to jump onto your next gig when you desire.



Fitness instructing a client

20) Travelling Fitness Instructor – $53,000 to $57,000 / year

Gyms, resorts, and recreational facilities all make use of ad hoc Fitness Instructors often to fill in on short notice or to take over classes when an instructor is on leave. Be clever about it and offer your availability to a few gyms in close proximity to one another to guarantee a constant inflow of teaching slots. You can also look for in-house opportunities at hotels, resort estates or health centers. Fitness Instructors who can teach a variety of class disciplines will get continuous work opportunities. Offer something unique like floor ballet or hula hoop yoga, for instance, to differentiate your teaching talents for the rest of the competition.


Fitness instructor

21) Sports Instructor – $36,000 – $80,000 / year

Are you a Golf Pro? Or perhaps King/Queen of the slopes? It's all jobs that let you see the world. How about an avid Mountain Biker with the medals (and scars) to validate your competence? As a sports instructor, you may need to move around a bit according to the seasonal demand for your skills set, but with a bit of planning, you can have a steady income all year round. Apart from the standard holiday locations like hotels, resorts, and cruise liners that may want your services, you can also look at schools, universities or sports facility providers and secure a few longer-term freelance opportunities in the cities of your choice.

Message therapist giving shoulder massage

22) Massage Therapist – $50 to $200 / day

Wellness and wellbeing is the new road to sustainable physical emotional and mental health according to the experts. Therefore, as a Massage Therapist, you are ideally placed to lend a ‘’hand’’ to those tired, exhausted and deflated souls spending their holidays in pursuit of ultimate R & R (rest and relaxation). You would need to be certified and have at least a year or two worth of experience to add credibility to your applications. Travelling Massage Therapists can find work at holiday resorts, spas, and hotels in and around popular tourist areas. You can also start your own pop-up massage parlor on the beach, in the forest next to a hiking trail or beside a lake where there is lots of tourist traffic. Just ensure that you have the necessary permits for such endeavors.


Forest Firefighter By Vince Fleming 1

23) Forest Fire Fighter – $50,000 to $80,000 / year

Perhaps not the first position that comes to mind when considering traveling jobs, but perhaps the chance to earn 40k in a six-month season may change your mind. Also, you get the chance to make a real contribution by protecting lives and the environment. Like a forest fire first responder you need to be extremely fit, able to work very long hours and in heated conditions. Assignments usually last for six months with food and lodging included. Thus you can save quite a bit of money. Then, its six months off where you can go and travel to your heart's content before jumping into the fire again.

Time to Travel, with a job that let you see the world
After reading all of this, the prospects of exploring other countries, meeting new people and experiencing foreign cultures seem less far-fetched now doesn’t it? Time to have another look at that bucket list perhaps?

It’s your move now……..