How to Live Anywhere and Work Any Time

And how to live a lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of.  A few years ago, an expat would have a limited choice of work options.  Most would work for big corporations, some would teach and only very few actually worked for themselves.  But thanks to the intertubes anybody who is prepared to develop the right skills and live pretty much anywhere and do whatever they want!

Recently, I’ve been chatting with a number of expats and lifestyle design enthusiasts on what they have found to be the most successful career (if you can call it that).

The Jobs

With just an internet connection and a little bit of determination you could be sitting in Bangkok bar, sipping a cool cocktail and writing about “How to Live Anywhere and Work Anytime”.  (btw, im unfortunately not sitting in a Bangkok bar).

Travel Blogger

Although there are millions of travel blogs, there are only a select few that earn a full time living.    After taking a look at the top blogs written by individuals who live off them, I discovered a few things.

• Most pro Travel Bloggers have multiple blogs/gigs – They setup a main blog and then have niche sites for say “Sydney Backpacking” that has a bunch of ads.
• They Sell Ebooks – This is becoming a huge trend.  These top travel bloggers have written ebooks or guides that they sell on their blogs.  Topics include lifestyle design, personal finance, budget travel and personal development.  There is currently a huge hunger for this type of content and these guys are cashing in big time.
• They Have Been Doing This For A Long Time – Before they packed their bags and set off, most of these bloggers had been writing and promoting their blog for at least a year.  So don’t expect overnight success

So in conclusion, if you want to be a travel blogger, pick a niche (or two), create and sell downloadable products and be prepared to work without any profits for a year.

Graphic Designer

I was tempted to just put “web designer”, but I have found,  that it makes sense to try and broaden your skill set and also design logos, banners and other graphics.

Graphic Designers need only a computer, internet access and coffee to work.   This means they can do their job pretty much anywhere in the world.  After talking with a number of expat designers, here are some trends I picked up on:

• They sell “downloadables” on marketplaces such as ThemeForest and GraphicRiver.  They seem to enjoy having a reliable backup source of income.
• Most also have a blog.  Which includes a portfolio, free downloadable items and good design resources.  This is used as a primary source of marketing.
• They use sites such as eLance, Guru and GetAFreelancer to find work.  Instead of waiting to jobs to come to them, they actively seek out work.

Of course being a graphic designer takes a lot of skill.  You will need to constantly refine your skills and keep up with the latest trends.  And perfect communication skills are also essential.

Podcaster

Ok, so I don’t know of many pocasters who can live and work anywhere and still earn a full time income.  But, im sure that it can be done – so here’s a challenge.

So just imagine sitting on an exotic beach filming your own travel guide.  Surprisingly there isn’t a huge amount of this type of video content in high quality, so there is a real opportunity here.

Podcasting requires only a Camera, laptop and an internet connection.  Here are some things you should consider:

• Go HD – There is a real thirst for high quality HD content at the moment.
• Live off donations and ad revenue.  Leo Laporte and famous podcaster makes over $1 Million per annum.  I don’t expect you to make anything like that but all you need is a small slice of that pie to live off.

Just like blogging, podcasting will take just as much of not even more work.  And don’t expect to be paid any time soon.  One disadvantage podcasting has over blogging is a lack of ways to monetise such content.

Freelance Writer

Much like a travel blogger, except instead of solely maintaining your own sites/blogs, you will be writing for other people.

Good quality writers are in huge demand write now.  If you’re a native english speaker and have basic article writing skills you should be able to land a gig or two without much trouble.

After speaking with two talented freelance writers, here are their tips:

• Find jobs on ProBlogger, eLance, Guru.com, GetAFreelancer
• Expect to start out by writing “crappy” articles on Life Insurance and Fad Diets
• Write, Write, Write.  In order to earn a full time income, you will need to be writing and researching all day.
• Maintain your own Blog, with ads and links to your work.  This will be a major part of your marketing and will provide income.

Freelance writing is hard, hard work.

The Cost of Living

Thailand,  Peru, Tunisia, Malaysia are just some of the amazing destinations around the world that you could be working in.    These countries and many others can be lived in for just $20,000 a year.  Most of the worlds population lives of $2 a day.  Of course, you are aiming for a higher standard of living.  And that can be achieved with substantially less income in certain countries and the motivation to cut back on certain luxuries we all can easily live without.

What would you rather – a Netflix subscription or a stroll on the beach in Phuket?

Cheap Cities/Countries to Live in:

The number next to each country is a Cost of Living index.  This takes into consideration the 2009 Mercers Cost of Living database and rental accommodation costs (as you probably won’t be buying).  The lower the number the cheaper it is to live.

• Tunis (Tunisia) - 58.4
• Chennai (India) – 57.7
• Quito (Ecuador) – 56.3
• Mexico City (Mexico) – 55.5
• Auckland (New Zealand) – 54.0

Do it Now

I’m a hypocrite, I know, as I’m not doing it now.  But if you keep putting it off and off because of another silly excuse it will never happen.

What I’ve done is set myself a date, worked out the income I need and keep a handy list of bookmarks to beautiful destinations, as motivation sitting on my desktop.

Further Reading

Travel Full-time for $14,00 per year
Becoming a Digital Nomad

Photo by – soopahgrover

Tagged as: lifestyle design, travel