11 Best Jobs for People Who Love to Travel

The beginning of a new year tends to prompt a fair amount of introspection. It’s a good time to take stock of your situation and think long and hard about whether you’re really content in your current job. Does it still stimulate you, or do you feel like you’re stuck in a rut? And if the latter, what would make you happier?

The answer could be a profession that allows for more movement and flexibility, especially if you’re the sort that easily gets restless. A career that feeds your desire to wander might be exactly what you need, and, fortunately, today there are plenty of jobs for people who love to travel—jobs that make room for remote work as well as jobs that require regular trips to far-off places.

If either of these sounds interesting to you, you might want to consider moving into one of the below 11 professions (and if you need help tailoring your resume to the specifications of a job ad for one of these professions, consider putting a free resume builder to use).

1. Travel Writer

As a travel writer working for a publication, website, or agency, you will, for obvious reasons, get lots of opportunities to tour the globe. The catch is, it’s a rather niche field, but then any role in online content production should yield similar benefits. As a digital writer or editor, you can produce or refine copy for websites, blogs, e-marketing campaigns, social media, and other platforms, all from afar. It wouldn’t really matter where you’re based (as long as you meet deadlines), so you could change your location regularly.

2. English Language Teacher

You almost certainly already know someone who’s headed off to an exotic destination to teach English as a second language (ESL) in schools. It’s one of the more popular jobs for people who love to travel, it’s fairly easy to obtain the required certifications, and there’s a big demand for teachers in places like Vietnam, China, South Korea, and Brazil. There are even organizations that’ll hire you to teach subjects online via Skype, which means you can base yourself anywhere that has a good internet connection.

3. Photographer

Photographers need to be where the great pictures are, and if you work for a lifestyle magazine, website, or stock library, that often means journeying to beautiful locations. This is particularly the case if you position yourself as an expert in travel or wildlife photography, but sports photographers and photojournalists typically move around a lot too. Even wedding photographers get the chance to globe-trot—if you’re talented enough, couples will be willing to fly you all over.

4. Web and Software Developer

As long as developers and programmers have the tools required to do what they do—conceptualize, code, build, and maintain websites, apps, programs, and systems—they can work from wherever they want. It’s one of the reasons this is such a popular profession within the digital nomad community. All the work can be done online, remotely, and meetings with clients can be held via video chat.

5. Climate Change, Resilience, and Sustainability Science Specialist

Climate change is a global problem, so even those working on local solutions to sustainability issues typically find themselves interacting with communities beyond their own borders. A specialist in this field might be the go-to project manager for several countries or states in a region, which will necessitate regular trips between cities. And even if you, as a researcher or sustainability officer, stay put most of the time, you should get the chance to attend annual conferences abroad.

6. Travel Nurse

While most nurses work from one location, there is, in fact, ample room for movement in this profession. Due to nursing shortages in various areas, hospitals and other institutions tend to hire nurses to step in for short periods of time—usually between four and 13 weeks. By hopping from one temporary assignment to another, professionals can enjoy the benefits of switching bases frequently. While this option is predominantly available to nurses, some physical therapists, occupational therapists, and doctors make it work too.

7. International Relations and Foreign Service Officer

If you’re passionate about politics, economics, and global affairs, you could always pursue a job within the ranks of the government and work as a diplomat or foreign service officer. These professionals are typically based at an embassy or consulate abroad and are tasked with advancing the interests of the U.S. and its citizens. Alongside these occupations, a government position in civil service or public health should also afford the opportunity to explore new lands.

8. Events Manager

Planning and coordinating major events like music festivals, conventions, award ceremonies, and sporting competitions can be incredibly stressful, but a job in this field often comes with the perk of regular travel. Managers usually spend a lot of time at the site of the proceedings, which could be just outside of town or in an entirely different country, so between organizing programs, catering, and other logistics, they can squeeze in some adventure too.

9. Film and Video Producer

It’s not the easiest industry to break into, but the film world is ideal for workers with wanderlust. Whether you’re shooting a blockbuster, commercial, or corporate training video, you’ll likely be based on location for a few days to a few months, and if you’re lucky, said location will be somewhere picturesque. You don’t have to be a director, actor, or producer to benefit from the travel perks of the job; even runners and lighting technicians get to move with the crew. This is, without a doubt, one of the best (and coolest) jobs for people who love to travel.

10. Virtual Assistant and Customer Support Specialist

In the digital age, many companies are outsourcing admin functions to virtual assistants or hiring employees to offer customer support to consumers via online platforms. While not the most thrilling of jobs, both options allow for remote work, so you could relocate often, live in different cities, and still earn a wage. You just need to be highly organized (as a virtual assistant) and have great people skills (as a customer service agent), along with speedy internet.

11. Manager at an International Company

Work your way up the ladder at any business with offices around the world and you’ll almost certainly get the chance to globe-trot. Large corporations send more established employees abroad fairly regularly to run training programs, attend meetings, set up new offices, and secure new clients. So, you might not need to change careers to feed your love of travel; just apply for a job at another company in your industry that has a foreign presence.

Since 2005, LiveCareer has been helping job seekers create resumes and cover letters via its free resume builder and cover letter builder tools. Also available are collections of free, professionally written resume templates and resume examples, all of which are organized by industry and job title.