How to Make Money While Traveling: the Suitcase Method

The simplest way to make money while traveling needs no skill and no laptop: carry, in the spare kilos of your suitcase, something a person is waiting for at your destination. You were taking that trip anyway. The person on the other end saves on shipping, or finally gets a product they cannot buy at home. Here is how it works, what you can realistically earn, and the rules that keep it stress-free.

The usual ways to make money on the road

Every guide on the topic lists the same ideas: remote freelancing (writing, coding, translation), teaching languages online, selling photos, running a blog or a video channel. They all work, but they all require a skill, hours of work during your stay, and often months before the first payment.

Other options, such as house-sitting or work exchanges, mostly save you money: you get free accommodation, rarely a paycheck. They suit a long trip far better than a ten-day visit to family.

The simplest method: your spare baggage allowance

On a long-haul flight, an economy ticket often includes one 23 kg checked bag plus a cabin bag. Most travelers never fill all of it, especially when they fly with a single half-empty suitcase or come back from a short stay.

At the other end of the route, people are waiting for a phone that costs less elsewhere, a skincare product they cannot find locally, a spare part, a gift for the family. Shipping it is expensive, slow, or simply impossible. Your spare kilos have real value, and that value is what the person pays you for.

How it works in practice

On Colia, you post your trip: departure city, arrival city, date and available space. People with a request on your route propose a deal, or you pick from the open requests yourself. You talk in the chat, you agree on a reward, and you only accept what suits you.

On handover day, you check the item with your own eyes before taking it. If it does not match what was agreed, you refuse the handover and the deal is cancelled. On arrival, you hand the item to its recipient and receive your reward in person, in cash. Colia takes no commission.

How much can you really earn?

There is no fixed rate: the reward is agreed between you and the person asking. On Colia it never goes below €5, and for a product you buy on someone's behalf, never below 10% of its price. For a small item that slips easily into a suitcase, expect something like €5 to €30. For a valuable purchase, the reward follows the price: 10% of a €1,000 phone is already €100.

To be clear, this is not a salary. It is extra income on a trip you were making anyway, and two or three items can cover part of your ticket. The travelers who earn the most are the ones who fly the same route often and build up good reviews.

Get started in four steps

The rules to follow

You are responsible for everything in your luggage, at security and at customs. Never carry a sealed package whose contents you have not seen, nor anything banned by the airline (spare batteries in the hold, liquids over the limit, flammable products) or by customs in the arrival country.

Traveler customs allowances cover your personal belongings and gifts. An item carried for someone else in exchange for a reward may have to be declared: check the rules of the arrival country and, when in doubt, declare it. Depending on where you live, this income may also be taxable.