Doing Archaeological fieldwork has been my main way of coming up with bean money on the Road. It is an interesting profession, to say the least, and you can do it anywhere in the world where humans left signs of previously dwelling; that is to say- almost anywhere. It is also profession that demands you to travel, so it keeps you perpetually roving around the planet from site to site.

The credentials needed for this work are varied. Officially, you need a B.A. in anthropology or archaeology with an archaeology field school, but it has been my experience that a field school alone oftentimes suffices. Field schools can cost anywhere from $500 to $3000 depending on where you do it and if you want university credit for it. But do not be put off by this price tag, as you will surely make this money back during your first month of professional work. There are links below to archaeology work and field school resources.

Travelogue posts about Archaeology- Song of the Open Road Travel Blog posts about doing archaeology while traveling the world.

Past Horizons- A website with many volunteer opportunities around the planet. Really good. 

Shovelbums.org- The main website for finding professional archaeology fieldwork opportunities in the USA. Also has information on international field schools.

Archaeology Fieldwork.com- Website with tons of information on working in cultural resource management (C.R.M) in North America. Also has a large collection of links of contract archaeology firms from many places on the globe.

Archaeology Field School in Ecuador- Florida Atlantic University's field school where I received my archaeology training.

Information about archaeology fieldwork and traveling:

Archaeology Field School- Question about how to enroll in an archaeology field school and fieldwork as a way to travel while making money to travel.
Archaeology Education and Work- How to get into doing archaeology fieldwork while traveling to make money for travel.

Teaching:

Those of you who have not engaged in this type of work before may think that it is a little presumptuous to think that you can score a job as a teacher in a foreign country with no prior experience, little education, and no other skill other than the ability to speak your native language. . . and be paid $12- 20 an hour for it. But it is true. The luck of the draw at being a native speaker of a western language (mostly English) is an employable skill all throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. I know many wanderers who jump from country to country, school to school, just teaching English. They seem to make a really good living at it too.

Take Loren Everly (www.loreneverly.org) for instance. He teaches for a 6 months in South Korea and then travels for 6 months through China, Tibet, Nepal, and India and then picks up another teaching position in Saudi Arabia where he will probably work for six months and then travel for another six through the Middle East. Teaching English is a true ace in the hole for us itinerant Anglophones.

The credentials needed for teaching English are varied. Often times, like in China, you can just walk into a private English school, say that you want a job, and be working the next day- being paid more than you can make in the USA. But some other countries desire teachers with a little more education. For instance, often times to get a good teaching position it is a good idea to take a TEFL or ESL course and to have a University degree. These are not absolute requirements by any means, but if you have both of these certificates you NEVER have to worry about finding work in most corners of the world. Anyway, from my experience, I think that it is a good idea to take a short course in teaching English. I have never had one before and I had to learn how to teach my native tongue the hard way: I was stuck up in front of 40 Chinese people and told to "teach." I pulled it off, but I think that it would have been vastly easier if I was a little more prepared.

English teaching certifications do not cost that much either, and you will surly make back all of the money that you put into one of these courses during your first month of teaching. The types of these certifications are also varied, as you can can take full semester, one month, two week, and even internet courses. In point, if you have one of these little certificates you will have a much easier time procuring work that is already easy to get. There are links for places where you can gain these certifications on the left hand side of this page.

But again, please remember that credentials for teaching English are not essential- I don’t have any (other than a little experience).

Teaching English Resource Links:

Dave's Esl Cafe- One of the best resources on the internet for finding English teaching positions around the world.

TEFL International- Teaching English as a Foreigner Language training center. 

TEFL Online- Online certification for only $325.

Farm work/ Odd jobs/ Temp. employment

This category can be a much more open, to the wind style of working on the tramp. It is actually pretty easy to secure such temp. work on farms or in cafes, and there are various ways to go about it. One way is the internet. Just search for jobs in the location where you want to work. Or you can use a travel work database, as there are many all over the internet.

Another way of finding farm work is to learn the harvest cycles of the area that you wish to travel through. Then go to a rural center during this time, ask around for the meeting place for seasonal farm laborers (usually a café or restaurant), and get there early in the morning to await the arrival of a farmer that needs to hire some extra workers. There are seasonal harvest cycles around North America, Europe, and Australia that I am familiar with, and you can just travel these rounds picking up work as you go.

Volunteering with an organization, such as WWOOF (willing workers on organic farms), can also be a great way to get your room and board paid for you while tramping, as well as a good place to meet up with other travelers.

Working as wait staff/ nature guide/ hotel staff in tourist towns during the in-season is another way to make up some pretty good money while on the Road. All you have to do is go to one of these towns right before the tourist season and ask around. There is a good chance that you will come up with some kind of work pretty easily.

If you have any questions about how to find work while traveling please do not hesitate to ask me. I have been picking up work on the road for the past eight years and have worked as everything from an Archaeologist to an English teacher to a gardener. Just email me and I will try to help you out the best that I can.