How to travel and make money, guest blog post from Kathleen of @thetravelrobin.
Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.
Hi, I’m Kathleen and I’m a wife and a mum to two girls. I live in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. You may have heard of it, it’s famous for Betty’s Tearooms and the spring water.
Why I set up The Travel Robin
After having lots of jobs over the years and a very long break to be at home with my girls, I decided I wanted to work again. Fundamentally, I wanted to do something for me. I only wanted to work for me, it had to be around my family, in my time and on my terms.
So, I set up The Travel Robin and I am now an Independent Travel Agent. I’ll be honest though; I actually fell into it and had no experience at all! I was on holiday in Dubai, in a scroll-hole on my sun lounger. Watching someone post about how often they were on holiday and how much they were paying…and it was considerably less than what we had paid. I wanted a bit of that. In fact, I wanted a lot of that. Travelling as a family is not cheap! The older the children get, the more expensive it gets.
We came home from Dubai and I got in touch with the lady I was following. We chatted, she explained how she was getting the great prices, and how I could do the same by becoming an independent travel agent. It involved a bit of mandatory training, and I’d be good to go with getting better value holidays. That’s all I wanted.
She told me a bit about an affiliate link I was also getting and how I could share the same opportunity with others like me. I wasn’t remotely bothered about that bit, nor did I think I would ever use it. I went with it because I was there for the better value holidays! Whilst I was busy writing up my bucket list of places to visit, I did all the maths and due diligence.
I love to travel
I love travelling and always have. So far I have ticked off Mauritius, a safari in Kenya, city breaks to New York, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam, Florence, and Paris. I have crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, flown over the Grand Canyon in a helicopter, tasted New England in Boston and Cape Cod. I’ve had a flutter in Las Vegas, skied in some of Europe’s greatest resorts and been to the World’s tallest building in Dubai. My new list had some pretty strong additions…Thailand, The Maldives, more safaris, more American National Parks, Morocco, Brazil, Santorini, Albania, Petra. The list actually goes on and on.
So, I stepped up and got involved with the help of the lady I was following. She’s now my mentor and helps me with any questions I have. Trust me, in the beginning I had lots! Then I was off, within no time I was booking us to go to Abu Dhabi. A 5-star luxury hotel in half term and the savings were covering what I was paying to be part of this programme. Quite frankly, I was so happy and excited. I had a huge saving on the hotel and I was so happy when I booked the flights and I earned commission on them.
I literally had no idea when I started all of this that every travel booking has commission built into it. As a travel agent, I now earn that commission for myself, what a bonus! I was laughing. I naively thought that was that and I would just move on to booking our next holiday. However, it didn’t work like that at all.
How I started to earn money from travel
People started asking me to look at booking holidays for them too. My friends were my biggest supporters and let me book their trips. So then I was earning commission from their bookings too. Word of mouth took effect and strangers started contacting me asking for quotes and making bookings. It was growing before my eyes and I was really enjoying it.
What I really love is the fact that I am my own boss and as such, I choose which bookings I make. I choose when I work and how much time and effort I put into it. There is no-one for me to answer to. My mentor is still there for me and a great support, but the questions have definitely dried up a bit.
It’s like anything, the more you do, the better you get and the more your confidence grows. My biggest regret is that I only found this opportunity one year ago. I wish I had known about this when I was a new mum. I could have done so much from the nap-trap or the endless hours of sitting and feeding. The affiliate link that I wasn’t remotely bothered about started to come into its own.
Getting started
It’s human nature to chat and share what we are up to in everyday conversations. I was doing that, chatting away, but for no reason, other than the fact that I was, and am still, so excited about the benefits of this opportunity. So, then a few people started asking if they could do it too. Quite simply, yes. All they had to do was use my affiliate link (that I wasn’t bothered about!) they got set up, did their training, had me as their mentor and got going with their personal travel bookings. As I said, I didn’t pay any attention to the affiliate link, but it turned out that when I shared the opportunity and someone joined for the benefits that I wanted, I was rewarded financially too.
All of a sudden I was travelling for less. I was earning commission on all bookings I was making for my own family, friends and clients. Then I was earning money every time someone wanted to do what I was doing. There is no cap on how much I can earn and it barely took any time for me to cover the costs of my investment.
As a fully ABTA and ATOL protected company, we have access to around 80 suppliers to book holidays. Ranging from package holidays, cruises, accommodation, flights, transfers, airport car parking, hire cars, travel insurance, UK mini breaks, event tickets or something completely bespoke. Whatever it is, I have access to it. It’s helped people that already have full time jobs that want an extra income. It has given people a cheeky side hustle. Also it’s helped people that simply wanted to save money on holidays.
Why this job suits me as a Mum
Growing your own business is something you choose to do at your own speed. There’s no secret here…If I can do it, you can do it. I found out about it by accident on Instagram and I just went for it. I am so grateful I took that leap of faith. It has been an amazing business opportunity for me. It captured me and it changed the way I travel.
More importantly though, it got me back to being me, instead of always being referred to as ‘just a mum’ (which I might add, I don’t agree with at all, being a mum is the most important job ever). It got me out of my comfort zone and it grew my confidence no end. My friends are shocked at the transformation in me and they love it.
How you can travel and make money
If, as a mum (or dad), you are looking for something different to do, something to get ‘you’ back, something to increase your confidence, something to earn a side income from or if you simply love travelling and want to do more of it, get in touch and we can talk about how I can help you. I am on Instagram as @thetravelrobin or email thetravelrobin@gmail.com
