So, it’s been your lifelong dream to drive from one side of the country to the other. Not only do you want to drive across the country, but you want to make money doing so.
You might think that you can’t make money while driving from sea to shining sea. It isn’t, and here are a few ideas that will help you put some money in your pocket while you’re traveling.
Let’s be honest and say that some of these ideas may be a little far out there, but you need to be creative when trying to come up with ways to fund your cross-country road trip.
Table of Contents
12 ways to get paid to drive a car across the country
1. Turn your car into a moving billboard
If you want to make some money driving cross country, you’ll need to be able to pay for gas along the way. One of the best ways to get paid for your road trip is by turning your car into a moving billboard.
You can try to find companies who are willing to buy advertising on your car. If you have a car that is in good condition, you can try to get companies to advertise on the outside of your car or even on your roof.
Ensure that you let potential buyers know if you plan to get some publicity along your journey. The publicity will make advertising on your car more appealing because a larger audience will see the ads.
You can get started with Carvertise.
2. Drive for Uber or Lyft
Let’s say you’re going down the highway and you see that someone on Uber or Lyft needs a ride that’s not out of the way on your trip. What you could do is pick up the passenger and then drive them wherever they need to go.
Along your journey, you can pick up people along the way to help offset the cost of traveling. The goal here would be to find as many people who want to go as far as possible so that you make the most money that you can. Customers who want short rides aren’t going to be your ideal customer; you want people who are going on long trips like to the airport, for example.
3. Turn your adventure into a YouTube channel
You could turn your entire trip into a YouTube channel that people can follow you along the way. You could record your travels on your phone along the way and then post them to your channel. You could interview people along the way to have a lot of content that people want to see.
You might consider investing in a camera so that you can record better videos. Don’t forget that you can live stream using YouTube, and you can do that while driving. You might want to have a person live stream with you so that people know that you’re not alone.
4. Start a blog
Take a laptop with you and blog about your adventure across the country. You can write about your journey, what you see along the way and how much fun you’re having.
The more that you write on your blog, the more exposure you’ll get. Every night before you go to bed, you can write a blog post detailing everything that happened. You might want to write articles on other platforms such as Facebook and Twitter for more exposure.
You can start a blog and snag a free domain with HostGator here.
5. Take pictures and sell them to stock photo sites
If you have a good camera that can take some great pictures, you could sell them to stock photo sites. Pictures of the countryside and details of interesting buildings that you pass along the way and pictures of people are all things that people will want to see.
You might want to see if you can find any stock photo sites willing to pay for pictures that belong to them exclusively. If you have your own photography site and sell photographs, this will be easier for you.
6. Find companies that will pay you to deliver things for them
You can contact companies who would pay you to deliver things for them. You might want to see if there are any companies in the area you’re passing through that would be willing to pay you for your service. You’ll want to see if the company is willing to pay for your gas and for your time.
You would probably end up delivering some somewhat unconventional items, and that’s why they would pay you instead of a delivery service. Make sure to get anything in writing and make sure that the company is going to pay you.
7. Find people online who need help moving
If you know anyone who is moving, you might find people online who are looking for help moving. They will need help packing, loading, and unloading, and driving their belongings to their new location.
The critical thing here is to find someone who needs their stuff moved far away. The person may live in Indiana and need someone to help move their things to Florida or a nearby state. If you have a truck or a van, it will help you get even more people who need help moving.
8. Put ads online asking if anyone is looking for a travel partner
Sometimes people need a ride from one part of the country to another. You can search for people who need a lift, and you can ask them to help you pay for the gas and other expenses. There is a risk here because you’re traveling with strangers.
You’ll want to, at the very least Google, the person before you decide to travel cross country with them. It’s possible that you can find several people who need a ride, and they will help fund your trip.
9. Ask people on GoFundMe to give you money
You can use GoFundMe to ask people online to give you money. If you can give someone a compelling reason to donate money, they might give you a few bucks. You don’t have to ask for a lot of money on GoFundMe, but you should make a video and tell your story.
You do want to be honest and make sure that people know what you’re going to use the money for. If you’re going to use it all for gas, for example, people will feel more comfortable giving you a few bucks. You’ll want to explain that this money will help pay for your trip and not something sketchy.
10. Set up a Patreon account
Patreon is great because people can give you how much they can afford. The more money they give you, the more stuff they get access to. You can set the amount they pay you from a dollar to lots more money.
Patreon is usually best for those people who are doing something every month for a long time. If you think that your journey will last months, this is a good option. However, you could turn it into something people can donate for much longer if you dribble the content you produce and release it over months.
11. Turn your adventure into an indie film and get money for it on Kickstarter
You might want to turn your adventure into an indie film and use Kickstarter or IndieGoGo to fund it. You can get much more money on Kickstarter, and it’s very easy to do. You might be able to find some people who would give you a few bucks for your film.
You could use this money to pay your expenses for the entire trip across the country. You could also get some help with your filming process and give yourself some money for the gas. Kickstarter also has a great way of sharing your journey if you can get more people to donate.
12. Buy local items and sell them at flea markets across the country
Every region of the country has things that are specific to it. As you pass through every area, you can find items that you can buy in bulk and sell them at flea markets along the way. For example, you could buy things only found in New York City and sell them in the Mid West.
Buying and selling items like this is risky because you don’t know if people will buy them at the flea market. If, for example, you are into antiques and can spot some unique items along the way, you’ll probably have a better chance of selling them than you would souvenirs.
Get paid to drive across the country: The bottom line
There are many ways to make money while traveling, and these are just a few. You’ll want to find a way that works for you and is reasonable and safe for you to do. Every state and every part of the country is different, so it’s good to embrace these differences.
You shouldn’t hit the road with an empty wallet and only the gas in your tank. You should have some money or, at the very least, a backup plan in case you’re not able to make enough money on the road to sustain yourself. You very well could hit some dry patches where you have no money coming in and find yourself flat broke without any options.
The trip you take will change your life forever. You can’t travel across the country without experiencing things that will leave a lasting impact on you. Try your best to preserve those memories so that you can look back on them in the years to come.
