What sort of college degree would allow me to find a career traveling the world?

Nicholas,
First off, Congratulations! Pursuing a college degree in any field is an ambitious and commendable endeavor.
Instead of focusing on your degree, let’s focus on success. Success in any field is a derivative of considerable self-knowledge. The more you know about yourself (your skills, talents, abilities and passions) the easier it is to be successful. To that, I would recommend some free self-assessments and deep reflection on what classes and extracurricular activities you enjoy and do well with.
Many people pursue certain college degrees because they are popular or are associated with high financial rewards (doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc…). This is not very often a good approach to a lifelong profession. Individuals that do not like working with people may not be cut out for the medical or legal professions. Likewise, someone that cannot stand math will have a difficult time working towards an engineering degree.
This may sound a little confusing, but the richest people I know never really pursued money. They found areas, topics, industries at a young age that they were interested in, and they then pursued learning more and getting better in these fields.
Regarding your ambition to travel the world, I commend you as well. Have big goals and don’t lose sight of them. Common sense and logic may have lead you to a degree in International Business (business is conducted everywhere in the world and having an “international” specialty in business can only be better), but it is not the only route to traveling the world. Many athletes, musicians (EDM DJ’s, performers, etc…), politicians, doctors, etc… travel the world as well. The key is being very good at what you do, and you will be able to go anywhere to do it.
Depending on your college and your financial resources, many study abroad opportunities are available in every college degree imaginable. If the finances are not available, you can get creative. Everything, from enlisting in the army ROTC Program to volunteer non-profit opportunities can make travel available at no or low charge.
To wrap things up, I have three key suggestions:
1. Follow your heart. What do you enjoy? What are you good at? To travel the world while making money, you will have to be good at something. And, to be good at something you will need to work hard at it. The good news is, if it is something you enjoy, it is not that hard to spend a lot of time on it or get better at it.
2. Apply yourself in school and get good grades, but your most important studying should be what is not taught very often in school – success! I was told years ago that to be successful was easy. All one needs do is find successful people. Study what they do. Then replicate/do what they do. Be careful here. What society sometimes tells us is success, is just a selfish collection of material goods. Truly successful people may have money, but they don’t always show it. Truly successful people do not need to boast about it or flaunt it. Truly successful people are always contributing/making a positive difference. If possible, find one or more mentors (successful adults in areas that you are interested in) to be of assistance. If you are truly interested in business, read stories of successful business people. Read business magazines. Seek out and speak with successful business people. If you are interested in other areas (medical fields, music, sports, etc…) find stories and people that are succeeding there as well. Always stay curious and always give 100%.
3. Focus on giving not getting! This may sound like a strange one. The more you give, the more you get. Individuals that don’t work hard, or hardly work, don’t have much to show for it. On the other hand, those that are working hard (hard work is enjoyable when it is something that you enjoy with a goal), are making contributions, and society pays handsomely for contributors.
In summary, let your heart and talents pick the degree. Most any degree can take you around the world. Don’t stress too much over the degree (worried about picking the wrong one). Studies show that within 10 years of graduating college 70% of people are working in fields that are not related to their college degree.

Life and learning is a great gift. Pursue it every day with your whole heart and mind and it will pay you handsomely.
If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me.
Best of luck to you in the future,
Gerard Baltrusaitis
Internship Employment Specialist

Hi Nicholas!

You asked a very interesting question. Here are some suggestions:
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2389-jobs-travel-lovers.html

Best of luck. Please keep me posted. I would like to follow your progress!

In today's global economy, there are plenty of industries and career paths that will allow you to live or travel abroad. Private companies are doing business all over the world, these days, and they hire people to live and/or work at their offices, abroad. Companies who do business internationally, need to hire project managers, engineers, scientists, IT consultants, sales and marketing teams to conduct business for them, all over the world. Companies like Oracle, FEDEX, Cisco, Marriott, and American Express, for example, all hire people to travel and do business for them, all over the world.

The U.S. Government is another very large employer that offers assignments abroad. USAID and the U.S. Department of State are always hiring. They even have internship opportunities, fellowships, and work/study programs, that can help you "get a foot in the door". Check out their career websites, to see if anything interests you. [URL in "next steps", below.]

Becoming an expert in a foreign language, culture and/or politics is another path to international employment opportunities, both at private companies, as well as in the U.S. Government. Employers especially need people who are fluent in one of the more difficult languages, like Mandarin or Arabic. Other useful languages are Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Russian.

Good luck, and safe travels!