What an exciting time for you! Whether you’re in the dreaming stage, the planning stage, or the “you’ve already gone and done it” stage, it’s exciting! There are so many things to consider and figure out before you can launch into full-time living. One of the most asked questions is how to make money while full-time RVing. This article is by far NOT the only ways you can find to support yourself and family - but it is all the ways I have found when answering this question for myself. 

When we launched, I was a professional, successful wedding photographer/videographer. It was our family of 6’s only income. My husband was my second shooter, and I had a whole team of photographers/videographers also working for us. I was consistently shooting about 6 weddings per weekend, all over the country. We made a decent living - and I was proud of that business, as I’m fully self-taught and built it from the ground-up, by myself. 

Then COVID hit. 

We were already full-timing at this point. My husband had been a stay-at-home Dad for 4 years, by now, as we had 3 kids under 5 before we launched. COVID devastated us financially - as it took our only career right out from under us. Of course, I still have that business to this day - (photographyandbeyond.com) but when you have over 300 weddings on the calendar for the year 2020, and all but a handful cancel - needing to refund most of what people paid in, cancel contracts for our team members, etc. You can just imagine how detrimental that was to our only income stream. 

I found myself with really no job, and a family of 6 to support. I should also let you know that the only degree I have is an associates degree. I’m one of those people that went to school plenty of times for different majors, and then decided I wasn’t passionate about that and switched to something else, never finishing a single one. 

The first thing I did – which is what everyone can do - is go to Indeed.com, flexjobs.com, ziprecruiters.com, etc. and I applied for every single remote job that I was qualified for. It didn’t matter what it was. If I had the qualifications, I applied. Some were not even remote. I figured, if I could get someone on the phone and tell them my situation, especially during COVID, maybe the non-remote position would turn remote for me. 

Don’t you know? That’s exactly what happened! I applied to so many places that when I got the call for an interview, I quickly accepted and then at the end of the call, I had to ask, “And what exactly is this for again?”. I got off the phone and told Dan, “I have an interview - but I really don’t have any idea what it’s for.” 

Turns out, it was for a commission only, health insurance sales agent position. Sales was my only previous experience for the job. It is normally an in-person, in-office position but since everyone was remote for the current time, I was able to accept the position as a remote agent. I was up-front with my hiring manager when I got hired to let her know that even when things went back to normal, I would always be remote. I also let her know that I was totally worth it. Sometimes the best thing you can do during your job hunt is to be confident and sell yourself - even if it’s not for a sales position. 

Since you can now consider our family “seasoned” RVers, I have found many more ways to earn an income while traveling full-time. The most basic, easiest one for everyone, in my opinion, is networking. Whether you have a job/career that requires networking or not, you should always be networking with other like-minded people. What I mean by this, is get out there and go to pot-lucks and RV community functions, hang out in the hot-tub or at the pool or pickleball courts. Join all the RV travel groups you can on facebook and other social media. Mingle. Talk, talk, talk. And most importantly, listen and dig for information. Everyone has their own little treasure trove of ideas, resources, maybe an inside connection to a new possibility for you. 

Even though I am set in my career, I am a career lurker in all of the RV groups. They are filled with a wealth of information, and at least a few times per week, someone will ask the question, “how can I make money on the road”. Read every single response. I landed my side-gig by doing just this! I actually was looking for something for my husband, since our kids are all teens now and don’t really need him constantly, like they did when they were younger. I was looking to see if there was something he might enjoy doing to help us out a little bit, since working isn’t a requirement for him. Just something to occupy some time the kids are not requiring. I found someone working as a hotel reservationist. It is a referral-only position, so I reached out to ask about it. Of course, it’s sales - which is something he despises, and I love - so Bam! Landed my side-gig without even trying! It does become easier to find little places to earn income once you let go of those corporate-type thoughts and practice living outside the box a bit. 

To those of you that are now rolling your eyes at me and are saying to yourself, “that’s great for you - but so overwhelming for me. Where do I even start?” That’s ok. Start by mingling and picking peoples minds about what they do. That may just give you an idea for a business you could start, or a new place to look. Apply for every single job you can find that you are qualified for. And then, dig deep. Sit quietly for a few days and think about what you enjoy doing. Are you a crafty person? Can you knit, crochet, make jewelry or wood-work? Can you develop lesson plans for homeschooling and sell them on Etsy? Do you love taking pictures? You can simply start taking pictures of landscapes or flowers, insects, animals, etc. and sell digital prints. Can you walk dogs or deep clean other peoples RV’s? Can you offer to keep others’ children so they can have a date-night? There are so many simple things that you could do almost immediately, such as these. Basically, all the things you might’ve thought of when you had a sticks and bricks home. 

Once you start earning just a little money, finding more ways to earn money will come naturally. 

In addition to the above ideas, I’ve also known families that had the means to purchase property in different places to either renovate and flip, or to make rental properties out of them, providing residual income. I’ve also known many families that do Door Dash (I actually did that for a bit before landing insurance - it’s great fast cash) or Uber. Door Dash is great for traveling. Once you move to a new location, the app reloads and you can keep right on going in the new city. Keep in mind with door dash, that sometimes you have to travel an hour or so to get to a populated enough area where door dash is available. For those times, just make sure you can leave for work in the morning and work a good portion of the day to make it worth the hours drive, just like you would if you lived an hour from your employer. Teaching English online is another very popular remote job. VIPKid and Cambly are two of those platforms, among others. Outschool.com is often used for income and is so broad. Basically, you teach what you’re passionate about: Photography, fishing, mechanics, playing an instrument, baking/cooking, making comic books, etc. Some people even just have Lego parties where they spend time with kids that join their class for an hour and they build legos together via zoom. Check it out - I bet you can come up with something there! 

I sure hope you haven’t let earning money keep you from exploring this beautiful country! When you set your mind to something, you can make it happen. It is easier and easier to find remote work post-COVID. It takes tenacity and persistence, but hopefully this article helped give you some ideas that can move you in the right direction and you can continue to build on. In addition to reaching out to me (I’m always willing to chat about ideas!), there are so many people in our traveling community that are open to help anyway they can and give their ideas too. 

Take the risk! Fly by the seat of your pants for a bit! It’s worth it!