What do you need to travel with a family?
Money is probably the main reason you’re not doing exactly what you want today. If you had £20,000 a month passive income would you be doing the school run and dealing with a boss?
When Keri and I were young, we could travel by saving up or finding work in interesting places that often included bed and board.
Travelling as a family, that isn’t an option.
The way we make money while travelling has to mean:
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We can do it from anywhere.
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Not take up time as a family.
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Make enough to pay for worthwhile experiences and stay safe
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Be fun.
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Benefit the world and set a good example.
This blog, will share the three practical ways we make a living while travelling. We’ll share the pro’s and cons we’ve experienced. We’ll also share resources so you can learn more about how to implement the solution that will work for you.
Our main sources of travel income are:
“Wait! How much money do you need to make to travel?”
You don’t need much, it’s often cheaper to live abroad than in the UK.
If you have other questions about family travel, like:
- “What do you do about education?”
- “Where should we start?”
- “How do we not drive each other nuts?
- “What happens if we get sick?”
Sign up for our email series to get more practical insights about travel with a family.
1. Freelance work.
Lots of jobs don’t care how or where you work as long as you get results.
If you are not required to hang around an office or workspace trying to look busy. You can work in a way that’s right for you.
Learn to work around your life rather than the other way around.
I do around 3 x 1-hour consultancy calls a day.
I try to do these early mornings and in the evening so my day is free for the family.
This helps generate cash flow we put into other sources of income.
In our email series, we share interviews with other families that work in different ways.
For now, think about the work you could do from anywhere.
This could be:
- Creative; like design or copywriting.
- Sales– Commission for closing sales over zoom
- Consulting – valuable insights for businesses or lifestyles.
- Admin- Book keeping, PA, data entry
- Teaching – english as a foreign language
Pro’s:
- Get paid now.
- Say “yes” to work you enjoy. Say “no” to work you don’t.
- Keeps your mind active if you like a challenge,
Con’s:
- Can limit you.
- You will probably need internet and workspace wherever you travel.
- Will have to miss out on some family time or activities.
- Often requires you to have a specialist skill.g
2. Airbnb
What if You Have a Mortgage or Rent a Property?
Funding family travel while maintaining a mortgage, rent, and bills can feel overwhelming. For us, selling our house wasn’t an option, and even renting it out full-time seemed risky.
- What if we hated travelling?
- What if unexpected costs cropped up?
- What if the world turned upside down again and we needed to come back quickly?
Our solution? Airbnb our home.
Why Airbnb?
Airbnb gave us the flexibility we needed. Whether you have a mortgaged or rented property, it’s surprisingly easy to get started, with only a few hoops to jump through.
Here’s how we made it work:
- Securing Sentimental Items: We locked away anything we couldn’t part with in a separate room.
- Keeping It Simple: Most of our furniture stayed put, and decluttering became a bonus side effect.
- Flexibility: We opened our calendar for bookings while we were away and could close it anytime we needed to come back.
- Affordable for Guests: While our house isn’t fancy, it’s a practical, budget-friendly option for families visiting Devon, especially compared to hotels or camping.
How It Worked for Us
Airbnb paid a nightly rate that more than covered our mortgage and bills. Plus, we used a portion of the service fee to hire local friends for deep cleaning after each stay.
We also:
- Cleared out loads of clutter.
- Fixed those “we’ll get to it someday” home repairs.
- Upgraded our kitchen after a one-week trial run—something we’d put off for years!
When we returned, we found our house was in better shape than before we started.
Management Options
You can manage everything yourself to maximize profits or outsource to specialist services that handle bookings, cleaning, and guest communication.
Pro Tip: Avoid long-term lets. One guest we had tried to negotiate endless discounts, complaining about minor issues like moths and window cleaner!
Why We Stopped
Today, our online business covers our expenses, so we no longer rely on Airbnb. But during our early days, it was a fantastic solution that worked for us without compromising our values or community.
Could Airbnb Work for You?
If you want to learn more about Airbnb, including potential earnings and practical tips, click here.
Pros
- Easy to set up.
- Covers bills, freeing up cash for travel.
- Motivates you to declutter and improve your home.
- Flexible: stop and start whenever you want.
- Helps provide affordable holidays for families.
- Most guests are lovely!
Cons
- Can be stressful to prep the house before leaving.
- Requires admin while you’re abroad (unless using a service).
- Not all guests are easy—avoid long-term lets!
- You’ll need to check with your landlord or mortgage provider for restrictions.
3. Online business.
Why Freelancing and Airbnb Weren’t Enough
Freelancing and Airbnb helped us fund our travels, but both came with limitations.
Freelance work often demanded too much time, which defeated the purpose of travelling and spending time together as a family. Similarly, Airbnb required us to be on call to solve occasional issues, which wasn’t entirely passive.
That’s when we turned to online business.
Building Our Online Business
Our website, AlittleMoreOutdoor.com, allows us to earn money while focusing on what we love: travelling, learning as a family, and exploring the outdoors.
At first, the idea of starting an online business was daunting—especially for technophobes like Keri and me. It’s not something they teach in schools, and it felt completely alien. But we discovered that it’s surprisingly simple when you approach it correctly.
Our best advice? Build a business around helping people achieve a goal you’re pursuing yourself.
You don’t need to be an expert. Our success isn’t because we’re travel gurus; it’s because we’re real people facing the same challenges as others. We share our honest experiences, including what works and what doesn’t.
As we travel and learn, we make mistakes. Then we share those lessons to help others avoid them.
Pros of an Online Business
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- Unlimited earning potential: Income grows as you reach more people, not from working more hours.
- Passion-driven: We get to work around things we love—outdoors, travel, learning, and making a difference.
- A family learning opportunity: Building a business teaches us new skills alongside our kids and encourages everyone to pursue their passions.
- Passive income: We create assets that keep earning money, even when we take breaks.
Cons of an Online Business
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- It takes time to get it right: Especially when starting alone.
- Trial and error: Be prepared to experiment to find what works for you.
- Requires investment: You’ll need to spend time and money learning new skills or outsourcing tasks (like marketing or web development).
Online Business Models We Use
1. Affiliate Marketing
We naturally recommend products and services that help us achieve our family travel goals. Companies pay us a commission for these recommendations when people take action through our personalised links.
For example, if you click on our Airbnb link—www.airbnb.co.uk/r/kerii35—Airbnb pays us if you book or become a host, but it doesn’t cost you extra in fact we often are able to offer discounts and special offers.
We also recommend useful gear in our online shop and in our blogs.
Pros:
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- Easy —all you need is a personalised link.
- Align with your values – Focus on products you believe in.
- Follow your passions- Works with any niche or product.
Cons:
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- You need a platform – a blog or YouTube channel for example, a base and brand that people trust and find valuable.
Want to learn how affiliate marketing works? Watch a free workshop here.
2. E-commerce and Physical Products
We’ve also created our own products, like bags and shoes designed with our audience in mind.
You don’t need to be an expert. We work with manufacturers to customize products and then use platforms like Amazon to handle storage, logistics, and sales. This allows us to focus on living our lives while our products sell.
Pros:
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- Simple- Platforms like Amazon simplify selling.
- Repeatable -Once set up, the process can often be repeated.
Cons:
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- Investment- Requires an upfront investment in inventory.
- Logistics- Navigating shipping and packaging can feel overwhelming at first.
- Competition- You’ll need to stand out in a competitive market.
Watch a short video on how this process works here.
How to Start Your Own Online Business
Knowledge is just one piece of the puzzle—the hard part is taking action.
If you’re ready to explore how to apply these business models to your interests, passions, or expertise, we recommend these resources from Launch You:
- Modern Wealthy Course: A 7-part introduction to understanding online businesses, helping you decide if and how to get started (~£20).
- Launchpad Toolkit: A comprehensive resource with step-by-step training and website-building tools to get your business off the ground (~£800).
Need extra help?
Launch You also offers additional 1-1 and group coaching if you want it, to guide you through every stage:
- Prepare: Plan your business and its structure.
- Launch: Build and take it online.
- Grow: Learn to market it profitably.
Click Launchyou.com to find out more about the support available.
