Getting Paid to Travel?

Ever since deciding on writing this blog and going to Thailand, and really giving some thought to just what I want to get out of my life and my career – there has been one single question that I have been batting around in this brain of mine – a question that I’m sure thousands of others before me and after me will ponder. The question is a simple one, yet there aren’t any simple answers.

How can I get paid to travel the world?

While there is certainly opportunity for the rich (or at least those willing to piddle away their savings) to take an extended break for a week, a month, or longer to vacation, travel, and explore; the ultimate desire for those with wanderlust is to make a livelihood from doing what they love to do – travel. Sure, there are business opportunities, such as working for multi-national corporations or being a pilot, flight attendants, or travel writers for Lonely Planet or National Geographic, but the vast majority of these opportunities are for those who are willing to work for free or very little, or those with very specialized skill-sets.

While the ideal of taking a year-long break to travel the globe is mighty appealing, and I envy those individuals who temporarily abandon their career to pursue their passon; I am unfortunately of the mindset that I can’t simply put my career on an extended hiatus in order to travel. Call it an American attitude towards overworking ones-self and being too focused on career-advancement and salary, but I really wouldn’t feel completely comfortable if I ever decided to give a big F-you to capitalitism, forget about money, and just grab a backpack, an around-the-world plane ticket and go. Nope, for me, there has to be a purpose, there has to be a financial opportunity, and it has to be a stepping-stone to future business endeavors. For me to travel the world, it has to be either part of my own business venture, or as part of my job.

If you have sat down with me at all in the past 3 weeks, I may have pitched an idea to you regarding a business plan that essentially combines a social networking site, a financial guide for young professions, a brokerage firm, a venture capitalized mutual fund for the masses, and an environmentally friendly bottled tea beverage – all of which are wrapped neatly around the idea of inspiring and helping people realize their passions. Trust me, it all fits together if you give me 5 minutes to explain.

But, ignoring the daunting task of starting my own overly-ambitigious company, an opportunity presented itself to me today that may just allow me to travel the world while leveraging off of my already obtained experience and knowledge as a CPA. And the best part is that I wouldn’t even have to leave my current company. You see, unbeknownst to me, this opportunity was already put in motion several weeks ago by a colleague….. and wait for it… with me specifically in mind, despite the fact that they had absolutely no idea of my desires for world travel.

Alright- enough suspense – I may have the opportunity to travel the world for several months next summer as part of an engagement that my company is bidding on to audit the Peace Corp. The job would entail traveling to various world-wide PeaceCorp destinations in order to provide accounting consulting services to individuals working in worldwide PeaceCorp offices. To explain, one of my old managers from the Big-4 accounting firm that I used to work at, has recently transferred over to my current company to work in our government accounting department. He is planning on bidding on several government issued RFP (request for proposals) in order to audit government agencies. He has already put together my company’s proposal, and specifically asked if I would be willing to work on the engagement if we won, and asked for my resume to include in our proposal - which I gladly provided.

So, there you have it – if my company can somehow win this work, then I’m on the engagement, and I’m getting paid to travel to world. Mission – Accomplished – cross your fingers.

In the meantime, if anybody does have any other ideas for a business model in which people are paid to travel – please don’t hesitate to suggest it to me in case this engagement falls through.