Given my background in social media for global brands like Adobe and the New York City Marathon, at the start of our trip we talked about becoming travel influencers, attracting a following on social media and landing sponsorship deals with hospitality and travel brands, to cover some of our expenses — or at least snag some vacation-related freebies. After all, micro-influencers, people with 10,000 to 50,000 followers, can bring in a few thousand dollars per post.
But I'd already had full-time jobs in social media and didn't want documenting our travels to become a full-time job, especially since we don't feel comfortable posting pictures of our child's face publicly online.
Similar to my experience with finding opportunities via Facebook and Twitter, a friend from college told me about leads she's found by joining relevant public networking groups on Slack. I haven't tried that route yet, but the next time I'm in a dry spell I will. After all, Digiday has declared Slack the new place for marketers to network and find jobs.
Some other friends have told us about TrustedHousesitters, a paid membership site where travelers can find a free place to stay in exchange for watching someone's pet, and WorkAway.info, another paid membership platform where you can find opportunities to trade manual labor for meals and a place to stay as you travel. Because we were traveling with our baby these weren't the best fit for us, but they may be avenues we consider in the future.