Earn a small amount of money online while travelling

Earn money online while abroad – there are a few legal ways to earn some pocket money online, for example 20–100 euros per month, if you are patient and organised. Online surveys, content creation and small browser tools will not make you rich, but they can help with small travel expenses such as local transport, phone credit or groceries.

Earn with online surveys (YouGov and similar sites)

There are many websites that pay users to answer surveys. Unfortunately, most of them are slow, confusing, or very low paid. Sometimes you answer several questions and then the system tells you that you do not qualify, without any reward. Other times you spend 25–30 minutes on a survey and receive only a few cents. Some panels are also scams, so it is important to be selective.

Over the years, as remote workers and digital nomads, we tried different options. Many were disappointing, but a few were acceptable if you only want a little extra money or gift cards.

Earn with YouGov

Up to now, the most reliable survey panel we have used is YouGov. In our experience, YouGov does not send surveys that you cannot join and does not throw you out after several questions. All the surveys you complete give you points. The number of points depends on the length, usually between a few minutes and around 15 minutes.

You can control from your account how often you want to receive surveys and you can always delete the email notifications if they feel too frequent. Surveys can be completed from a computer or on your phone.

When you reach a certain number of points, you can convert them into rewards such as Amazon vouchers or cash-out options, depending on your country. Reaching your first payout takes time, so patience is essential. For most people this will mean small earnings, for example a voucher every few weeks or months, not a regular salary. Still, for travellers on a budget, it can be a simple way to cover some minor expenses.

Earn with Quora (history and current situation)

Quora is a question-and-answer social network. For several years, Quora had a Partner Program that paid selected users for asking questions. If your questions were interesting, well written and attracted many answers and views, you could earn money.

To have a chance to earn, questions needed to be:

• clear, grammatically correct and genuinely curious
• relevant for the community
• able to attract answers and ongoing discussion

Some partners managed to earn good money by creating high quality questions, especially when they also answered their own questions with detailed and useful content.

2022 update: discontinuation of the Partner Program in English

In 2022 many partners, including us, received an official message from Quora announcing the end of the English Partner Program. Earnings on existing questions continued only for a limited time and the program was later closed for other languages as well. The screenshots in this article come from that period, when the program was still active for English.

2024–2025 update: current monetisation on Quora

Quora has experimented with different ways to pay creators. Space subscriptions and advertising revenue sharing were available for a while, but these programmes are being discontinued. At the moment, the main way to earn directly on Quora is through Quora+ revenue sharing, an invite-only programme that rewards some writers for content read by paying subscribers.

This means that for most users Quora is now mainly a place to build authority, share knowledge and send people to your own projects (blog, newsletter, courses) rather than a direct source of money. If you enjoy writing and answering questions, it can still be a useful platform in combination with your own website.

Earn with your blog or your YouTube channel

If you like writing or creating videos, you can try to monetise a blog or a YouTube channel. This path takes more time and work than surveys, but it can become a more serious source of income in the long term.

Building a website or a channel is not easy and results are not guaranteed, but if you are passionate about a topic, producing content regularly becomes more sustainable. The internet has allowed many people to turn a hobby into a side income or even a full-time job. For most creators, though, earnings start slowly and grow only after months or years of consistent work.

YouTube now has an expanded Partner Program. With around 500 subscribers and enough watch time you can unlock basic monetisation tools like channel memberships or tips. To earn a share of ad revenue, you usually need at least 1,000 subscribers plus either a minimum number of watch hours in the last 12 months or a high number of Shorts views in the last 90 days. Requirements can change, so always check the latest rules on YouTube’s official page.

On Twitch, creators first apply for the Affiliate programme and later, when they have a larger audience and more streaming hours, for Partner status. These levels unlock different ways to earn such as subscriptions, bits and ads. As with YouTube, reaching these thresholds takes time and consistent content.

In many countries a channel with a strong niche, realistic expectations and good financial planning can bring in a modest but meaningful income. Just remember that it usually takes a long time to reach this level.

If you want to learn more, you can explore:

• YouTube Partner Program
• Twitch Partner and Affiliate programmes
• Google AdSense for monetising your own website

Earn with Slice

Slice is an experimental browser extension that shows extra ads while you browse. In exchange, you receive a small share of the advertising revenue. You install the extension, allow it to display additional ads on the pages you visit and earn small rewards that you can cash out in different ways.

In practice, the average earnings reported by users are very low, often a few dollars per month. During our trial, for example, seeing more than one hundred extra ads produced only a few cents. We do not recommend Slice if you hope to earn serious money.

There is also a privacy aspect. To work, the extension needs broad permissions in your browser. Always read the privacy policy carefully and decide if the trade-off between a little extra money and more tracking is worth it for you.

If you are still curious, you can find more information here:
addslice.com

Do you know other interesting remote work opportunities?

If you have tested other legal and ethical ways to earn a bit of money online, especially for travellers and volunteers, please let us know. We will keep this page updated.

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