Posted by admin at May 12, 2014
To travel the world is a popular bucket list item to so many people, for so many obvious reasons I mean, you have not lived till you have seen a larger part of this organic spaceship that we commute in, Earth. But herein lies the problem, it is a large spaceship and getting from one port to starboard will take some resources.
It all comes down to money. So the main conception in most people’s mind is that you have to be rich to be able to travel the world. That line of thought seems to be common sense. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be. There are people who travel the world who earn average income. At the top of this class of people are the sharers, the authors of public diaries on experiences in travel, yes the travel bloggers.
Like Napoleon Hill said: “You are the master of your destiny”, I believe that whatever you want in life, you have to put in the design. If it is the world you want to see, then you must decide that to see it and make plans for it. You need to access yourself, your strengths and needs and come up with a personal formula that can sustain you on your travels. It might require improving your skill set to make you more employable or choosing to seek employment overseas, short-term or long as you see fit. You can also adjust your employment to work from home if you can (and home could be in Peru or the Maldives, your choice). Best of all, if you have a viable business or rental property that can finance your trips then you are golden.
Here are some of the ways these individuals source financing for their glogbe-trotting habits:
- Setting Up a Business: My absolute favourite would be to set up a business at home before you leave, such as renting out a room or apartment that you own and have the funds come in monthly or annually as the case may be. This plan will require calculating the cost of travel and living expenses and then figuring out how much rental property to own to cater for at least 50% to 60% of the cost. It might take a long time for some people, but amazing things happen in your mind when you have a laid down plan of action. Write it down first and let your brain get to work! I started working on this after reading up on this topic as travelling is also my passion. Another variant of this is to think about a business that can necessitates that you travel to meet clients, holding speaking engagements and training in a specialised skill, for example. it all depends on you skill set and a little bit of luck.
- Your current work: Can you re-organise your current job to work from home? If you can, then, make your home anywhere. Imagine being paid as much as you are now, but you are living overseas in a destination of your choice, or if you are anything like me, a nomad, you are taking short trips to a new location every week or month. Now, this depends on if working from home is a possibility in your current job and just like any other success in life, you’ve just got to ask for it. The same way you ask for a raise, you can also ask for a more flexible time structure and base it on your performance. In the right office, under the right management, if you can deliver, and even out perform, you stand the chance to have you wish granted.
- Teaching English as a second language: Popular in Asia (China and South Korea in particular), all you need is a TEFL international diploma certificate and you are good to go. Being from a western English speaking country is an advantage. The downside here is that you have to be willing to hang around to get the job.
- Waiting and Bar-tending: These skills can save you in a pinch and business owners pay well for them. In addition to that, opportunities to work at these places are plenty and you can get one irrespective where you go (even if people don’t drink alcohol, people eat! And they are going to need service).
- Cruise Ship duty: Locating the right countries that have cruise ship tours and getting on board as crew could be a way to travel for free and also get paid. The downside is that crew members work long hours with no off days but at the end of a contract, you can reap the fruits of your labour. You might also need to get some form of training or license on crew duty.
- Photography: This depends on your skill, and you ability or capture amazing art with a camera. Various online services can pay for your work to add to their stock photo galleries. Also if you are any good, you can run your own stock photo service or full time gallery and make money.
- Social Media: Basically selling and advertising using their blogs and the social media, affiliate marketing and Google Adsense. You will need a strong network of followers, a social marketing strategy to be able to pull this one off, This, I admit is the most enigmatic item on the list for me, not being a social media guru and all.
- Freelancing: Do you have a skill that you can readily sell, online or otherwise, well why not make money off it. There are plenty of online services that cater for this such as Elance and oDesk, the downside being that there is a lot of competition for available jobs and the money is merger.
- Working on a farm: Ok, so this might be in the odd job department, but you want to see the world right? Now the job is dependent on the location: common fruit picking jobs include grapes in France, strawberries in Denmark, wild berries in Scandinavia, olives in Italy and kiwis in New Zealand. Also if you think contributing to the making of the finest wines, is odd job, try street performance or janitorial services, not that I hate anyone of these but they are not for the faint-of-heart.
UPDATE New Year’s Day 2017: Personally I am thinking of a combination of these strategies above. I am currently on the verge of completing my aviation projects and will need some time to travel.
- Working in tech will avail me the opportunity to get into contracts that I can manage remotely as in strategy 2.
- Strategy 6 and 7 can be combined, there is a fine merge between good looking images with social media, each promotes the other. I am already good in fine arts but I will need some training in photography.
- Finally, Setting up a business, strategy 1, is the underlying bit that runs through the entire plan.
As I type this, I pause to stare out of the train window. The hills of Nevada look peaceful in the evening sun.
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