Planning a vacation, especially outside your primary station can be a huge money drain even if you are getting a paid one. While many people look forward to their vacation period, there is no rule that says you must only spend money.
With a few ideas you can actually earn extra bucks while on the road.
One way to do so is by earning fees on your soon-to-become idle vehicle(s). In this part of the world, car renting is not yet a ‘thing’ but ride-hailing is. Many corporate individuals with vehicles in very good conditions are leasing out their car to Uber or Taxify drivers and earning money from doing so.
Rather than letting the car sit in the garage or at the airport parking lot accumulating dust and debt let someone willing to pay for riding in style use it. Ride-hailing company like SmartCab provides insurance and free internet for riders and drivers. With Uber you can make between N40, 000 to N100,000 a week. So if you were staying outside for a week, imagine that amount coming to your account just from your vehicle.
Secondly, consider renting out your space. You will be away anyway and your house will be empty. You can commence the process by registering your house on Airbnb. The site can easily connect you with travellers who are looking for a place to stay while on their travels.
Third, you can offer to provide supplies to people in the destination you are headed. But to do this, be sure what the immigration in that country allows or does not allow people to bring in. They may be friends living in the country where you are going and are in need of supplies from Nigeria for instance. Offer to buy and sell it to them at a reasonable price.
The next idea is to consider making videos of your travel and uploading them on websites that rewards for the effort. For instance, GoPro gives a financial incentive on its platform for footages shot on action cameras. Winners can partake in the $5 million worth prizes annually.
If your destination is the United States, you can create an account on GoPro and post your raw and edited video clips and photos. There are Shutterstock and iStock which pay contributors royalties that can range from a few cents to more than $100 whenever one of their images is downloaded.
