There are options though to earn some money while on the road and they don't all involve having to have a work visa for the country you are heading to.

Below are some ideas to help your budget and hopefully prolong your travels.

1. Freelance travel writing

Just about every traveler who can write wants to be a freelance writer. Okay maybe an exaggeration but the idea of doing what you love and writing about it for profit is very appealing.

There is no short-cut into this field. Pre-requisites would be an excellent command of written English. It is becoming more important to develop your own style as well and keep that consistent.

Another popular tip is to write in a style or from an angle that is far removed from the mainstream. Following this advice will also help you create your own style.

There are heaps of resources on the Internet to assist a budding career as a freelance writer. You could make a start by visiting our freelance travel writer section as we are always on the look out for new material about solo travel.

2. Running a web site and making money from the web

More and more people are running web sites as a hobby. If you have a popular web site you can some money from affiliate marketing and of course you can maintain your site from any Internet connection in the world!

Affiliate marketing, in a nutshell is collecting commission on sales and traffic that you divert from your site to a merchants site. A simple example of this is the solo travel books section on this site. If a visitor clicks on one of the books they are redirected to Amazon and if they purchase the book (or any other one) then we will get commission for referring the buyer to them.

It is pretty simple and can be a very effective way of creating income from a web site. Affiliate schemes have been running almost as long as the Internet and are well established businesses.

Successful webmasters can make very good money and many people do this full time as they can earn more than they could in an ordinary job. Of course it is not as easy as throwing a site up with a few links and sitting back and waiting for the cash to roll in. Like anything it takes time and effort and is no get rich quick scheme.

Here are some pointers.

• Decide on a theme for a web site and start developing some content
• There are many easy to use web page creation packages such as Frontpage and Dreamweaver that can give you professional looking sites.
• You will need a host for the site. You are better of paying for one (maybe US$5 a month) than going with a free one as you don't their banners etc
• Once you have a live site you will need traffic and lots of it!
• Now you can add some affiliate links and start earning money.
• You can use Adsense from Google as well to generate income.
• Finally make sure your site is quite niche and that you are interested in the subject otherwise you are likely to become bored with the project.

There is a huge amount of resources on the web about making money from your site. Start off by typing affiliate marketing into a search engine such as Google or Yahoo and also read up on AdSense.

The only link you need to start off with is www.webmasterworld.com which is a great resource. You will learn a huge amount about affiliate marketing from the forums. Read, read and read again.

3. Teaching English as a Second Langauge (TEFL / ESL / CELTA)

English is now recognised as the world language for commerce, science and the Internet and across the world children are eager to learn the language.

Some of the most exotic locations in the world have a demand for English teachers and the opportunities to meet new people and earn good money are plentiful if you are prepared to look.

Here are some points to consider if you are thinking of teaching English.

• You really need a University Degree or similar these days to compete particularly in high salary countries like Japan and Korea.
• In countries where there is huge demand (e.g. China) you might get away with just a diploma or a CELTA, ESL qualification.
• Do as much research about the area and the school before committing.

The best Internet resource for English teaching is Dave's ESL Cafe.