How I Made $161K Whilst Travelling as an Artist
How I Made $161K Whilst Travelling as an Artist
If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be sitting on a tiny balcony in Greece eating olives for breakfast, laptop closed, Stripe notifications pinging while my business brought in $161,000, I would’ve laughed in your face.
Hot Takes:
The set-up
Boundaries
How to start building
You’re not alone
If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be sitting on a tiny balcony in Greece eating olives for breakfast, laptop closed, Stripe notifications pinging while my business brought in $161,000, I would’ve laughed in your face.
Because back then I was the artist doing everything manually. If I wasn’t glued to my laptop, nothing happened. The idea that you could actually earn money whilst travelling as an artist felt impossible… like something reserved for influencers who “accidentally” built businesses on the side of their Euro summer.
Fast forward to earlier this year where I spent two weeks hopping between Santorini, Paros, and Mykonos with my family, while my business not only survived, but thrived.
And before you roll your eyes.. no, this isn’t one of those “work 1 hour a day from the Bahamas” kind of stories. This is the exact mix of systems, prep, and boundaries that let me earn $161k whilst travelling, and how you can too.
1. The Set-Up That Made It Possible
Here’s the part most people skip over… this didn’t happen by accident.
I didn’t just pack my bags and trust that money would somehow roll in while I was drinking Aperol spritz on a sunbed.
This is what I did before I got on that plane..
Automated my offers → My courses and digital products were ready to sell without me having to send a single email myself.
Built a team → My team, which I’ve been building for years, held down the fort completely - delivering work, replying to emails and not needing me for a thing.
Planned my content → I batched and scheduled Instagram posts and emails weeks in advance so my audience never felt like I disappeared.
The biggest takeaway from this was… if you want to earn money whilst travelling as an artist, you need your business to run on systems and processes that always require you.
2. Boundaries Are Your Best Friend
Look, I still had to do a tiny bit of work while I was away.. But I wasn’t mad about it.
I carved out one hour every morning with a coffee in hand, before the beach to reply to anything urgent and that’s it! Then I shut the laptop and went off to actually enjoy my trip.
Once I realised my value isn’t in being online 24/7, then you can allow your systems to do the heavy lifting, so you can step back without everything collapsing.
3. The Revenue Breakdown
Let’s talk about what actually kept the money flowing while I was away because none of this happened by chance.
It was a mix of design projects that my team was working on while I was away, my mentorship program running smoothly in the background with recurring payments and a new launch my team had covered completely, and a steady stream of digital product sales that are fully automated.
That’s the kind of magic you can expect when you build a business that doesn’t rely on you every day.
4. The Reality
I won’t lie and tell you it was all sun, swims, and cocktails (i’d say 95% - which is pretty good, right?). There were moments where I stressed about Wi-Fi, worried about missing something important, or checked my inbox at 11 p.m.
But the biggest thing I had to learn myself when I was over there is.. you can learn to trust your systems. You can learn that your business won’t collapse just because you took a nap or missed a notification.
The only reason I could relax on that trip was because I’d done the work ahead of time and because I’d started building the kind of revenue streams that don’t rely on me showing up live every single day.
5. How You Can Start Building This Life
This part is for you if you’ve ever thought… “How do I even start earning money whilst travelling as an artist?”
Here’s where to start…
Get clear on your offers → What can you package into a product or service that doesn’t rely on your real-time availability?
Build a simple system → Start with automated email sequences and a booking system that works while you sleep.
Batch your marketing → Pre-schedule content for the time you’re away so your audience doesn’t notice a gap.
Shift your mindset → You don’t have to be “on” 24/7 to be successful.
6. You Don’t Need to Do It Alone
Here’s what I know for sure.. I wouldn’t have figured all of this out alone.
It took mentors, community, and a willingness to try (and fail) before I learned how to create a business that supports my life, not the other way around.
And that’s exactly why I built Secret Artists’ Business.
If you’re ready to earn money whilst travelling as an artist (or just finally take a day off without panic), SAB was built for you.
It’s unfluffy mentorship for full-time creatives who are done winging it and ready for real strategy, sustainable income, and actual freedom.
Together, we’ll:
Untangle your business so you can see what’s working (and what’s not).
Build scalable offers and passive income streams that bring in money whether you’re at your desk, at school pick-up, or halfway across the world.
Create a system that supports the life you want — whether that’s a holiday in Greece or simply a slow Friday morning at home.
Your business can be both profitable and peaceful. You just need the right plan, the right support, and the right people in your corner.
ENROL TODAY and start building the version of your business that lets you live the life you’ve been imagining.
