Van Essential: Making money while living in a van

It is the big question isn’t it? Everyone wants to know how to make money while living in a van.

In the beginning, I was lucky enough that I had regular income that financed my life on the road. I had my own online business that was created years before I became a nomad. During the years I’ve been traveling, it had stopped growing and eventually declined to the point that I was not earning enough to justify the time it took each day to operate. At the end of 2016 I closed down the business and like so many others in this lifestyle, I had to figure out how to make a living while keeping my nomadic lifestyle. To some it may seem an easy answer. I hear the following all the time;

First, just put ads on a blog and the money will come pouring in, right?. The reality is that making money on a blog is not a reality. Right now I put only a few hours a week into Van-Tramp.com (I’d rather be doing other things) and the ads on this site earn a whole $10-$15 each month. Sure, I could put more time in to generate more traffic and earn more, but the hourly wage would not change, and my happiness would definitely drop. In my experience, ads will pay well less than minimum wage. Making a living by placing ads on a blog is a myth, nothing more.

So how about those Amazon affiliate links? Sure, I write posts that feature Amazon items and link to them via an Amazon affiliate link, and even get a few nickels each time anyone clicks through and makes a purchase. However, the earnings average out to about $15 per month again. Yes, I could write more blog posts featuring Amazon items and possibly generate more income, but again it comes down to an hourly wage in my mind; hours invested per dollar earned is always going to be pretty poor for blogs. (PS – you can click my affiliate link right now if you want). Sadly, another myth on making any real amount of money.

Lastly, we always hear of these YouTuber’s that earn thousands of dollars each week vLog’ing about their travels. Don’t fool yourself that it is common. They are the fraction of a fraction of percentage of the population of nomads and they put many hours every day into their work, and thousands of dollars each month into the gear, filming, and processing, to bring in that kind of money. Once again, the time invested for the money earned will be minimum wage or less… and then only if you are a 20-something female that prepares her vegan food – topless – in a pristine Vanagon (or what ever van is the fad this year). Us middle-aged dudes… we will only get a few nickels per month for our efforts.

Let’s just be honest; the previous three paragraphs are the hard truth. Anyone who thinks they are the first to think up a #VanLife blog or a YouTube channel as the answer to their financial woes stands in a very long line of people soon to find out that they wasted a lot of time and money. It’s been done, and over-done, for many years and by many people far more experienced in all areas. There is no easy money to be made just because you have an Internet connection and a van.

However, there are some viable and realistic options – for some folks – to earn enough [extra] income and remain on the road indefinitely. Obviously, you can always find a job that allows you to work remotely, but you already know about that, and how difficult it is to acquire one. For the rest of us, what do we do?

1. The simplest is to take on seasonal jobs while at each location. That may require longer stays in certain regions, but working for an hourly wage at a ski resort, or amusement park, during the high season can start your next travels with a nice load of extra cash. Some states have a minimum wage nearing $15 per hour, which can really boost a savings account for a frugal van dweller. I once took on a job at my local gym for six months to earn a nice sum, all while getting my membership for free and daily hot showers. The extra income paid for my trip to Hawaii, and a nice boost to the savings which would supplement my regular income for the following two years.
2. Then there is always the Amazon Camperforce which hires tens of thousands of seasonal workers every year during the holiday season. They pay well and may even fix you up in an RV park for free or cheap. Amazon works people hard, but a few months of hard work can finance the rest of the year of frugal traveling for some. However, there are thousands of people applying for the positions, so Amazon can pick and choose who they wish to employ. You may not always get a position.
3. If you are a good writer, there are many online sites that will pay for articles, though they may be on a subject you have no interest in. I’ve never done this personally (I’m no writer) but I know of others that do this for extra cash. I do not get the feeling it is a sole-income type of deal, but a few dollars here and there can help stretch what you already have in the bank account to extend the nomadic lifestyle you want.
4. If you lead a more stationary life, there are always tasks that you can do for others in your area, for a fee. Utilizing sites such as TaskRabbit you can run errands for a busier (and richer) person. Basically, this is the white-man’s version of sitting out in front of Home Depot waiting to score a day-job.
5. Unorthodox, but still valid; Donating plasma is becoming very popular across the states. There are a lot of hoops that need to be jumped through, but someone donating plasma the twice per week maximum, can earn $400-$500 per month in just a few hours of ‘work’. The one I visited required that I was a resident of the immediate area, but that may not be a requirement for them all. Considering how much you get paid for the one hour of work ($40-50) it could be combined with others to really supplement that bank account.

For me, I took another route. In 2017 I started learning a new trade; software coding – something that I had wanted to learn for many years. I already had some knowledge in that area so it was an easy subject to pickup. I downloaded some free software and code samples, watched online tutorials, and within a short period of time I was able to create my own apps and start selling them on the app stores. Or I can take odd jobs on services like Freelancer if I so please. Personally, I enjoy doing my own things on my own timelines, so I’ve kept my coding to my own projects so far.

There are numerous other professions that are quite friendly to a nomadic lifestyle., and with a little planning ahead (if you are one to plan ahead) and a little time, anyone can learn trades that are nomad-friendly; programming, web development, transcribing… what ever makes you happy.