This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Have you ever been on a coast to coast, cross country road trip? Have you ever gone out west or I guess gone out east? Coast to coast road trip is fun. It's adventurous and also be expensive. Unless of course you turn the highway into a revenue stream.
That's what we're gonna talk about today. An idea from a caller. We're gonna map out five travel friendly side hustles that can cover your gas, your hotels, your food, maybe even a little profit along the way. This route from a listener is gonna go from Rhode Island to Los Angeles 3,000 miles. She wants to know how can I get some road specific income?
How can I capitalize on the fact that I'm passing through dozens of cities and small towns? Well, as I said, let me give you a couple of ideas. Hopefully it's helpful to somebody out there. Stay tuned for her question and my answer. [Music]
I'm Kendra, a long time listener who first heard you at World Domination Summit.
And I'm gearing up to drive from Rhode Island to Los Angeles next month. It's a bucket list trip, but I'd love the journey to pay for itself. Or at least offset gas and motels. I already run a couple of small hustles online, but I'm curious, what kind of on the road gigs or creative money ideas could I tap along the way? Any suggestions for earning while literally crossing the country?
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Hey Kendra, I think you can think of the journey in three layers. Number one, portable income that you already control. So, you know, before departure, schedule your existing online work in some focused sprints. Like what are some early mornings you can do at the hotel Wi-Fi or maybe every 400 miles, you have a dedicated office day. And that baseline revenue just covers some of your baseline expenses.
And everything else we add to this point is on top. So part two, layer number two, along the way gigs. So, you know, these kind of rely on being in motion. Some of these things may work, some may not, but I've heard about a couple of apps. One's called Rody, one is called Citizen Shipper.
These apps match drivers with unusual deliveries like lost luggage, musical instruments, sometimes even rescue pets. You set your route. You're like, "Hey, I'm going from Boston to Chicago." For example, you claim a job that will fit your trunk space and you get paid on arrival. These runs can bring in a couple hundred dollars, not life changing money, of course, but we're looking for some small money and you're already going that way. But what about U-ship vehicle relocation?
U-ship, just Google that, you'll find it, U-S-H-I-P. People pay to move cars cross country. So if you don't necessarily need the car that you're taking on this coast to coast road trip, basically you fly out to a point of origin, you drive this person's car, they cover the fuel plus a driver fee. So this could actually pay for half of your hotels along the way. And then the third layer is kind of making the trip itself an asset.
So I don't know if you're posting a whole lot on social media or if you have an interest in being a creator, but what about a TikTok or IG Reel series, $50 a day coast to coast? And every day you're like filming one money making task per day and you're sharing the story. I've known some people who've done this in different ways. Friend of mine once went to all 50 states and worked a minimum wage job, ended up making a documentary out of it. So people are interested in that kind of thing.
That could be something. Maybe there is local to local arbitrage. Maybe there's something you can buy in one city and sell somewhere else. What about stock photos and B-roll capture? Want to capture your national landmarks, quirky roadside signs.
I don't know if you're going to get rich doing this, but again, the earnings are long tail. You're trying to build a passive trickle while you are sleeping in the hotel. Last but not least, I do want to say treat the each stop as both an adventure and a marketplace. Don't necessarily think you have to make money everywhere you go. It's fun to have an adventure.
You might actually find something along the way that ends up being your next side hustle for whenever you're settled. So I'll leave you with that today, of course. Send me some pictures from the road trip. Listeners, let me know what you're up to. Comments, questions, experiences, sidehustleschool.com.
We'll continue to feature them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners as they launch and grow their projects. Thanks for tuning in today. I'm your host, Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
