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Successful jobs requiring travel?

What types of jobs or careers would let me live in the US but travel internationally every couple of months?

  • What types of jobs or careers would let me live in the US but travel internationally every couple of months? After living abroad for a couple of years, I've moved back to my hometown in the US. I had an incredible experience abroad but I was ready to return home, and it has been nice to be back and feeling a little more settled. Now that I've been back for many months, I miss traveling and I've developed a desire to get involved in work that would make a positive impact on the world. But I don't think I really want to move to another country for years at a time again. I have started looking for jobs that would allow me to maintain a home base here while doing occasional/frequent travel abroad for weeks or months at a time, but I feel sort of blind as to what my options could be. Most of what I've found so far are for people who are specialized in areas like finance or IT. I'm not in those fields, and anyway I would rather do something that is more about helping people or solving problems to help disadvantaged populations have a better chance at leading a satisfying life. I live in the midwest, speak Spanish, used to live in South America, am currently freelancing in web & graphic design and I'm considering taking up freelance translation. Although I think I'd like to get out from behind the computer and do more work directly with people, and get experience that could help me grow into a meaningful career that motivates me beyond the need to make money to support myself. Do you have any ideas for jobs that would allow me to be based in my midwest city AND interact with the international community? My brain is about maxed out with this right now, so your ideas and suggestions would be so welcome!

  • Answer:

    Ha, I think you're me! This is literally the way I want to spend my life, too. The only way I've worked it out to something that even resembles what you (we) want in life is to define "work" differently. I "work" for a giant ad agency as a copywriter, and my home base is in New York. But I also work for non-profits. I feel like my corporate work is bankrolling my other work. The value of going corporate for me ("Suck it, monkeys. I'm goin' corporate!"), is the pay and vacation time. Not because I actually go on real vacations much; I like to spend that vacation time going to volunteer to use my skills in writing*, communications, and Spanish translation for non-profits. In October, I'm headed to Nicaragua for two weeks to to work with a medical non-profit to do some quick-n-dirty communications work for clean water. If I didn't have my corporate job, I wouldn't be able to afford to do this. My decent salary affords me to live like a real adult in New York, spend weeks away working with non-profits on the "sly," and buy plane tickets to developing countries. In addition, the more time you spend at your company, the higher you get, and the more they send you places because they need you there. I've already been to France this year, and might have to go to London in a few weeks. That's not directly "working with people who need it," but hey—at least it's still travel. *Don't judge said skills by this comment! :)

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My sister does this... sorta. She has her masters in law and she works for NGOs, doing policy development and social development on a global scale. She's worked all over the planet, and even when she is in one spot she does a lot of travelling to and from different locations all over the world to run conferences. She also does side consultant work and those projects often take her from wherever her home base is to someplace else for weeks/months. Very busy life, very exciting, but be aware that life has major life costs. Because you are rarely around for extended periods it is near impossible to have a relationship or develop social connections like that. It would take someone pretty special to be okay with dating someone who is gone for months on end. She has loads of friends, but they are all over the world and sees them very rarely. Part of the problem is that she is moving around so much, and the other part is that the people she meets are usually people doing similar jobs with similar amounts of travelling and bouncing around.

gwenlister

My boyfriend teaches standardized tests and does academic tutoring. It is a fully scalable job (meaning he can work as much or as little as he likes) and there are many opportunities for remote working via Skype and other online platforms. He spends 8 weeks (or more) abroad during the summer, and during the year he is free to come and go as he pleases. If it is within your power to ace a standardized test, then that is a route that might appeal to you.

jph

Go to work for an NGO, maybe? There's a (slightly skewed) look at this sort of work in The Sex Lives of Cannibals. The author's wife does this sort of work and accepts an assignment on a remote island of the South Pacific. The author invisions paradise; hilarity ensues instead. Mission work might also be what you're looking for.

jquinby

I'm a people person, good at listening and connecting with new people. Be a trainer at a company that has overseas call centers. The couple that I know travel in country monthly and overseas 1-2 times a year. Whatever job you get, don't complain about the travel part of it to coworkers who don't get to travel; it's tacky!

soelo

A friend of mine works in software development - something that's used in defence. He travels internationally once a month or so to meet clients overseas. PEople also move fluidly within global advertising agencies.

mippy

I have some friends who work in international development fields (public health, economic development, etc.) who do this, but those jobs are indeed pretty rare. Typically, you need to have significant experience working abroad and/or an advanced degree (preferably both).

lunasol

I work in the film industry as a freelancer. A typical job is from 5 months to a year, after which I'm a free agent. I don't punctuate every finished gig with travel, but it's definitely a possibility. I've taken a number of long trips over the years, anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months. I'd travel more and for longer periods of time if I made more money, but if you plan it out right, it can definitely work out. That said, there are some pretty whopping downsides to it, and you have to live in either New York or Los Angeles for it to even be an option.

Sara C.

I have a friend who works for Chemonics which does international development and she seems to travel internationally pretty frequently while being stationed in DC the vast majority of the time.

forkisbetter

Freelance writing if you're lucky and strike the right connections.

fivesavagepalms

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