by Nancy Collamer, M.S.
Nancy Collamer, M.S., is a career coach, speaker, and author of the upcoming Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit from Your Passions During Semi-Retirement. She is one of the country’s leading experts on lifestyle-friendly careers and her advice has been featured in numerous media outlets including NBC Nightly News, the New York Times, CNN, Redbook, MORE, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Fortune. Based in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, Collamer works with clients around the country by telephone. She holds an M.S. in career development from the College of New Rochelle and a B.A. in psychology from UNC/Chapel Hill. She can be contacted through her Web site at www.mylifestylecareer.com.
How would you like to actually get paid to travel during your retirement? Thanks to the Internet and the global economy, there are now more options than ever for earning an income while traveling in the United States or overseas. If your retirement plans include dreams of spending time in cool places, read on to learn six fun ways you can earn while enjoying life on the road:
1. Train to be a tour director. Tour directors are hired by tour operators to lead groups of people on multiday excursions in different locations throughout the world. As a tour director, you’ll be responsible for keeping your charges entertained, engaged, safe, and on schedule while you travel from site to site. According to Frank Slater, president of the International Guide Academy, tour directors earn an average of about $3,000 over the course of a ten-day assignment, in addition to receiving compensation for all costs associated with their travel. This is a job with tremendous growth potential; more than 80 million Americans travel on group tours annually, and with the baby boomers entering retirement, those numbers are likely to increase over the next decade.
Helpful resource: International Guide Academy (www.bepaidtotravel.com).
2. Work as a part-time tour guide. If the thought of globe-trotting for a living as a tour director has you worried about spending too much time on the road, you might prefer working as a tour guide in your own city and state. The variety of tours being offered is growing all the time: you can lead food tours, ghost tours, tours that cater to grandparents, and tours unique to a specific locale or historic site. Most guides are able to work on a part-time basis, earning $20 to $50 per hour (bilingual guides can command up to $75 per hour).
Helpful resource: You can earn a Certified Tour Professional certification through the National Tour Association (www.ntaonline.com).
3. Work as an interim inn sitter. If you’ve ever dreamed about running your own bed-and-breakfast, but worry about the headaches involved with owning an inn, consider getting trained to work as an inn sitter instead. As the name implies, inn sitters provide temporary relief for innkeepers who need to get away for a few days; it’s the equivalent of being a Mary Poppins for the bed-and-breakfast set. Inn sitters can work at different properties around the country and overseas. Most inn sitters work on a part-time basis, traveling to assignments as their schedule and lifestyle permits.
Helpful resource: Professional Association of Innkeepers International (www.innkeeping.org).
4. Work and live in the national parks: How would you like an opportunity to live and work inside the splendor of our national parks? If you want to experience our parks as more than just a mere tourist, you’ll be pleased to know that the parks hire people for a wide variety of jobs, including botanists, gift shop sales, administrative posts, maintenance workers, and oral interpreters. Most positions are seasonal and, in addition to paying a salary, many parks offer their employees access to subsidized housing and meals.
Helpful resource: Consult the parks’ official Web site at www.nps.gov to search job listings.
5. Teach English overseas. Even in a weak global economy, the opportunities to teach English overseas are robust. In most instances, all you need to qualify for a teaching job is a bachelor’s degree, but candidates with either advanced training or a degree in teaching English as a second language (TESOL) have access to greater job opportunities and earnings potential. Your compensation can range from a small living stipend to salaries of $50,000 or more, depending on your expertise, experience, and location.
Helpful resource: TransitionsAbroad.com (www.transitionsabroad.com) has listings for teaching jobs, as well as other listings of overseas employment.
6. Do house sitting/property caretaking. Can you imagine getting paid to live in a beautiful chateau or estate in an exotic location? It’s not a fantasy. In exchange for providing services as a house sitter or property caretaker, you can live rent-free in accommodations that include ranches, castles, estates, and farms. In addition to enjoying free rent, your compensation might include a work stipend, meals, or travel expenses.
Helpful resource: Caretakers Gazette (www.caretakersgazette.com) is an excellent site for finding information and listings of opportunities.
Intrigued? I hope you’ll take the time to explore the resources provided to learn more about the many exciting opportunities for blending travel, income, and adventure. And no matter which option you choose to pursue, I wish you safe travels and happy trails!