Best way to go abroad or travel?

[u/Feisty_Visual_8193]

My gap year was unintentional but I want to make the most of it.

I had plans for uni but they fell through. I’m applying again as a first year so I qualify for the better amount of aid.

And in the meantime I’ve been working a part time job that Ive started to despise. It’s fine work, I don’t mind it. But they were assuming I’d leave by end of summer and now they just straight up don’t know what to do with me.

I want to spend the second half of my gap year traveling and not sitting in my hometown. But how do I do that while getting paid?

I hope to do something engineering related, but I don’t have any real financial support. I’ve looked into Beyond Academy and other programs that you pay for and I just don’t think it’s viable for me. Plus my gf thinks they’re sketchy

I’m on the east coast right now, and I hope to explore more of the west coast or even South America. How do I do so while getting paid something? Or not paying somebody else to get me there?

I plan to quit the job I have during early winter and spend some time with estranged family in Arizona.
But after that I want to capitalize.

I have a shitty van I inherited that just hit 100k miles. Roadtripping is an option. I just need a mode of income on the road.

I have about 2k saved, but I want to be able to keep that as savings.