How To Make Money From Your Phone Anywhere in the World
Unless you're a backpacking, hostel-hopping type of globetrotter, it can get pretty expensive fueling one's wanderlust.
While many resort to becoming an influencer or travel blogger to help fund (or underwrite) getaways, there are of course other options that allow for making money while you're traveling. Thanks to the proliferation of apps for our smartphones, it's possible to earn cash or gift cards from virtually anywhere in the world. Admittedly, none of these apps will make you rich—or even pay enough to cover the costs of traveling. But they can help you generate a few bucks while you're sitting in that airport lounge, hotel room, or anywhere else.
Here are eight apps that allow you to make money from your phone no matter where in the world you happen to be.
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Briddgy
The Briddgy app promises you will "get paid for traveling." You can accomplish that by delivering products for locals in whatever country you happen to be visiting. Here's how it works: book a trip and add your travel details to Briddgy, after which you will be sent delivery offers. You act as a courier in (or from) the destination you're visiting, meaning while there, you buy requested products and deliver them. Once the delivery has been made and confirmed, Briddgy pays you back for the purchase and pays you for making the delivery. Payment is made within one week of delivery confirmation.
"There are millions of people who would like to purchase an item from the country you are traveling from, be it original French perfume from France or new headphones from the US," the Briddgy website states. "If you have some extra cash to purchase a product and receive it with extra reward after you deliver it, you can make up to $600 on a one-way trip."
Briddgy guarantees that you'll be paid, thus eliminating any worry about laying out money that won't be recouped.
SurveyJunkie
A personal favorite of budget lifestyle expert Andrea Woroch, SurveyJunkie, an online market research company, pays you for your opinion and participation in surveys.
"It's a great tool to kill time while waiting to board a flight, taking a train to and from work, or watching television," says Woroch.
SurveyJunkie awards points to those who complete surveys and accumulated points can be redeemed for PayPal payouts or e-gift cards from such well-known retailers as Target, Walmart, or Amazon.
Slicethepie
Yet another app that wants your opinion and is willing to pay for it, Woroch recommends Slicethepie for music lovers. "You can get paid to listen to and write reviews for new songs," says Woroch.
Who doesn't have time to listen to a song or two while on the road, or sitting an airport? Slicethepice pays you to write reviews of not just songs, but also fashion items, accessories and even commercials, before they're released. The reviews you write are provided as feedback to the artists or fashion designers.
Payments are based on what Slicethepie calls your "Star Rating," which is essentially the quality of the reviews you provided. The more detailed and constructive the review, the more you earn. In addition, some review categories pay more than others. Payouts are made via PayPal.
Gigwalk
Like so many of the apps already mentioned, Gigwalk was created to help businesses collect data, but it also helps these businesses execute remote tasks. That's where you come in. After downloading the Gigwalk app you can register to be a Gigwalker, which essentially involves completing simple tasks like taking photos of buildings, stock checks inside stores and more.
Users can apply for gigs through the app's map or a gig list. After being hired for the gig, you submit work directly through the app. The beauty of this app is that you can choose only the work that interests you and the tasks range from five minutes to a few hours with payouts (via PayPal from $3 to $100 or more.
Gigwalk users rave about being able to work literally from anywhere you want, when you want, making it another ideal choice for travelers.
Roadie
Are you headed on a road trip? If there's a little extra room in your vehicle you might consider signing up for Roadie, which offers gigs that involve delivering items throughout the United States. Think of it as an ingenious (and practically effortless) way to help offset the costs of your road trip.
Roadie payouts range from $8 to $20 for local deliveries and more for larger and longer hauls. If you're planning a road trip anyway, why not make some money while driving?
Foap
In our Instagram and social media-obsessed world, this one seems like a no-brainer, really. The Foap app allows you to make money from your photos and videos. Simply upload them to the Foap platform and when a brand or agency purchases the media, you get paid.
In addition to uploading your random photos, Foap users can also submit photos and videos to one of the platform's more exclusive "Missions," which are specific photo and video assignments or requests from brands. To earn cash for Mission images you must follow the guidelines provided in a Mission brief and upload the type of imagery being requested. The Mission rewards paid out on Foap range in value from $100 to $500 and generally, there is only one winner.
Non-Mission photos you upload are sold for up to $10 through the platform and Foap splits the proceeds with you, meaning you might make as much as $5 per image.
Swagbucks
If you're sitting around waiting while traveling, why not watch a few entertaining videos or movie trailers to pass the time and get paid to do so? That's how Swagbucks works. All you have to do is watch videos, shop online, or search the web and you'll earn points. Accumulated points can be redeemed for a variety of gift cards including Visa cards, Amercan Express, Amazon, Walmart and Home Depot. Alternatively, you can choose to get a cash payout from PayPal.
Earning these gift cards will take you some time however, a $3 gift card from Amazon for instance, requires 300 Swagbucks points, while a $5 gift card requires 500 points and many of the other gift cards require thousands of points.
Fiverr
Though this option is a little more involved, Fiverr (which bills itself as the world's largest marketplace for digital services) is popular among many globetrotters and digital nomads who spend their days traveling.
All you need to do is set up a profile on the Fiverr freelancers marketplace and begin offering up your creative services. The app and platform can be used to sell practically any talent you may have including writing, translation, social media management (which, conveniently enough, can be done from your phone), project management, song writing, and more.
As long as you don't mind working on these projects wherever you happen to be around the world, the Fiverr app can be used to develop a steady income stream.
