Is a traveller and earns in the region of (4,5)

'is' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their -s form, I don't see how they can define each other.

'a traveller and earns in the region of' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'region' could be 'e' (E region is an example) and 'e' is located in the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?