18 jobs for people who love to travel

WANT some more long weekends in your life? Here are the best ways to do it on the corporate card with jobs that will let you travel the world.

Want to get more travel in your life? You might want to look into one of these jobs.

WHO says you have to trade in your suitcase for a briefcase and stay chained to a desk?

Plenty of employment opportunities require frequent travel, and one of them might be right for you. Don’t wait until you’re retired to see the world; look into one of these 18 jobs that allow you to travel while you work.

Flight attendant

It may be the most obvious travel-related job, but it’s also one of the most accessible: You don’t need a specialised degree to become a flight attendant, and most major airlines only require prior customer service experience and certification. The hours are frequently erratic, and the work isn’t always easy, but you’ll get a glimpse of hundreds of cities across the globe during your career. A bonus perk? Free or discounted flights for you and your family.

Au pair

Do you work well with children and know a second language? If so, becoming an au pair might be a good option for you. Au pairs live with a host family in a foreign country and provide childcare services such as babysitting and assistance with schoolwork. You’ll receive a small salary on top of your room and board, but you also get to fully immerse yourself in another culture as an extended member of a family.

It’s an obvious one, but being a flight attendant is an easy way to see lots of different countries.

Peace Corps volunteer

As the title “volunteer” might indicate, you won’t exactly be making six figures working with the Peace Corps. But if you don’t mind living on a budget, you can become part of a worthwhile organisation that lets you travel the world and make a difference at the same time. Assignments typically last two years and involve working to advance education, health care, and economic and agricultural development in a community abroad. The Peace Corps also provides housing, health benefits and student loan deferment — not to mention an excellent resumé talking point.

Event co-ordinator

We’re not talking local events like parties and weddings. A job coordinating large-scale events like festivals and trade shows could be a golden opportunity for travel lovers. Meet with potential vendors from across the country, then travel to the event location to help oversee everything from setup to breakdown.

Imagine rocking around the world with Beyonce as an event co-ordinator on her tour.

Cruise line worker

Working on a cruise ship is a travel lover’s dream gig: You quite literally make a living travelling the world, all while receiving free food and accommodations. Whether you’re a restaurant server, a shop clerk or a performer in the cruise’s entertainment line-up, there are opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds to work on one of these “floating resorts.”

Travel tour guide

Imagine spending your days guiding fellow travel lovers through a bustling European metropolis, or perhaps a small local village is more your speed. Wherever you want to go, popular travel destinations are always in need of friendly, knowledgeable guides to lead tourists through city sights and cultural excursions. Study up on the history and culture of your city of choice, and don’t forget to brush up on the local language!

Make the world your office as a travel tour guide.

Destination wedding photographer

Every wedding needs someone to capture the newlyweds’ big day. For couples that choose to host a destination wedding, the photographer they hire must be willing to travel to their location of choice. With a high-quality camera and a great eye for photography, you can get paid to spend a few days on a beautiful, sunny island (or wherever the wedding is) documenting the most special day of a couple’s life together.

International aid worker

If you want to travel for a living while making a real difference in people’s lives, consider working for an international aid organisation like USAID. With this job, you can visit struggling countries and help its residents recover from dire situations such as natural disasters and famine. You’ll need a background in a field like health, agriculture or education and a strong interest in social work, according to How Stuff Works.

Forged wedding singers, being a wedding photographer could see you working in dream locations.

Archaeologist

Archaeologists travel the world to recover and preserve artefacts from past human cultures. Careers in archeology require frequent travel, often to remote regions of the earth.

Auditor

A career as an auditor will provide you with a lot of great travel opportunities. Sure, you may not always get to see the most exotic locations, but auditors often spend a few weeks or more at each stop, making it one of the few careers where you have time to explore the new places you visit.

Exploration geologist

Exploration geologists help resource extraction companies identify the most profitable places from which to extract natural resources. Since extraction tends to happen in places that aren’t very well-populated, exploration geologists get to travel to some of the most remote regions of the world, and can be away from home for months at a time.

Archaeologists and geologists get to travel the world to remote locations. Pictured, Mayan Archaeological Park in Copan, Honduras.

Consultant

Companies hire consultants to fix specific problems. Because their knowledge is so specialised, a consultant’s client base is often spread all over the country (or even around the world). Maintaining a positive relationship with clients requires regular on-site visits, making it a perfect job for people who love frequent travel.

Field service engineer

When it comes right down to it, field service engineers are essentially travelling customer service representatives. When a customer needs help with the installation or repair of a product, field service engineers are dispatched to help. If employed by a company with worldwide clients, this career can require extensive travel to interesting places.

Civil servant

If you want to combine your love of travel with your love of your country, then a career as a civil servant could be right for you. The Department of State has hundreds of job opportunities listed on their website, and with more than 250 embassies around the world, there are plenty of opportunities for travel.

Even working as a civil servant could see you travelling the world.

Athletic recruiter

Athletic recruiters travel the country (and sometimes the world) to scout and recruit athletes. Generally, athletic recruiters are employed by colleges and professional sports organisations. If you love sports and travelling, this is one of the few careers that will let you do both (without being an athlete).

English teacher

A benefit of speaking one of the world’s most popular languages is that there are people all over the world who want to learn it. Teaching English in a foreign country is one of the easiest ways to get out and see the world. Many teaching positions in foreign countries do require a certification, but you can easily get one in about a month’s time.

Teaching English in a foreign country is a great way to work and travel. Just don’t make a role model out of Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher.

Travelling nurse

The travelling nursing industry developed in response to the nursing shortage in the US. Travelling nurses move around the country from hospital to hospital, bouncing from one temporary position to the next. It’s a great way to see the country, and the pay and benefits are excellent.

Oceanographer

If you love travelling by sea and have a passion for learning more about it, then there is probably no better career for you than that of an oceanographer. Oceanographers often split their time between laboratories and research ships, where they can spend months away from home visiting remote regions of the ocean.

This story originally appeared on BusinessNewsDaily and is republished here with permission.

Additional contributions by Kevin Spence, CEO and founder of Career Thoughts.

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