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You may be in awe to see that nowadays so many people can travel all over the world. Round the world trip are becoming round the world lives, with nomads of all ages deciding to give up a life of comfort and 9 to 5 for an adventure where every day starts with a completely new discovery - and sometimes a new country too.
However, practically speaking, those people need money too - although they do not pay a rent and it may be that they just crush on people couches without paying accommodation - at least once in awhile you need to eat, wash your clothes, buy new shoes or even afford a minimal Internet connection to share your travels to the whole big world via social media.
How they can do this? In most cases, life as a nomad involves a lot of efforts, freelancing or working remotely full time. Finding time to do some quality work in-between city tours and hiking adventures is not easy, but given the rewards of the beautiful views and insightful human and emotional connections and experiences, it is very much worth the effort.
If you are considering to switch to nomad life or just want to take a leap of faith and go round the world for a limited amount of time, we will give you some hints about how you can get the best of your time and afford to pay that Michelin meal or book that tour that will definitely show you a completely different side of the country and place you are visiting.
Time management for (very) successful people
When it comes to (almost) everything, time management is a very important skill. The earlier you learn it the better for your professional and even personal success. Either you have to deal with a busy daily schedule or looking to get the right balance between travel and work, a good planning of your time will help you get the best of your life.
I, personally, always carry an agenda with me, where I am filing different work assignments, various professional and personal appointments and various deadlines for my works. Some days look full as crazy, some are so relaxing, and in those days, it is the right time to start planning some travel-related activities. You can also use Google planning which will announce you online about incoming appointments.
It may take some time until you will achieve being the best manager of your time. Such a planning starts with a careful assessment of your own needs in terms of sleep, eating, daily habits - some of us are very efficient in the morning, others keep their sharp minds for the afternoon.
Keep a track of your usual work achievements and observe, for instance, how much does it take to perform some basic tasks: sending emails, writing a specific kind of request - and writing in general - organising your daily program etc. Based on this, you know how much does will it takes in the future to so some freelance-specific tasks.
Learning how to focus better and avoid distractions while performing some work duties is also very important for saving time and getting the best of the day. During your work, avoid any kind of social media distractions, create a friendly environment around and start doing your work. You may finish a good paid project in just a couple of hours and save enough money for two full days of travel!
Calculate your assets
You don’t have to be rich to travel the world (although a healthy 6-figure inheritance is always recommended)! You have to be smart, calculated and well focused on your aims. Also realistic, as you may dream at least for a short second that life on the road may be less expensive than one well settled sedentarian one, which is not always truth - especially if you have a weakness for luxury hotels, for instance.
Although you rarely save money while you travel, at least you can settle a smart budget planning which includes short-, medium- and long term projections of your financial needs. You can set a specific budget for the day covering: food, rent, various attractions, local transportation and move towards those limits. A proper documentation of your travels before you start your adventure, will help you get the best of local deals.
If you are lucky enough to have properties left back home, a monthly rent would definitely make you feel light about your budget. Selling your house and saving part of the money into a bank account where your assets are growing steady while you travel is also a good financial investment.
ABC of Freelancing
In most cases, travellers afford their lifestyle through hard freelancing work though. Be smart and before you leave your job, be sure that you get the best recommendations and contacts that you can use later for various freelance gigs. Take some online classes to improve your skills or even learn a new one and put those skills at work while on the road. Learn how to pitch an article to a magazine or to write content for a website, learn how to code and set up a website - by far, one of the most favorite skills for travellers, improve a foreign language and learn some basic and advanced translation skills that may keep your account happy and your travels going.
Taking some classes that will help you career change and learn a skill that can be practiced regardless of your geographical location is a good professional decision that may help you be successful, regardless the length of your travels. Some of the most sought freelancing jobs overseas are: yoga trainer, nutritional coach, virtual assistant, SEO expert, social media assistant, PR consultant, proofreader and editor.
Some may want to use their contacts but other will be brave enough to get signed to large freelancing online networks as Freelancer.com, Upworthy or Fiverr, to name only few of them. As all those networks require a well built portfolio and some good feedback too, you can eventually start using them long before you are starting your travels, in order to increase your chances for success.
Full time job while on the road
Having a full time job with a flexible schedule is a really lucky card. If you are too good for your company to lose you, you may get the chance of continuing to do your usual job within your specific schedule. Some of the jobs that suit such a best-case scenario are: accountant, social media and PR consultant, editor, photographer or illustrator.
You need a good internet connection and some flexible program, which may involve working 4 full hours in the morning and other 4 full hours late in the evening. You will sleep less, would need to check your mail more often but at least you get all the advantages of a full job and the security of coming back to a job when your travels are done. Plus, in some cases, all the benefits of paid pension benefits or health insurance continue while you are on the road.
Get your blog and put it at work
Did you ever dream about setting up your own business? If you travel and you are serious about it, creating a business related to your favorite activity and making money out of it is a tremendous achievement.
You may start a blog first as a hobby, only to document your travels and keep your people back home updated about your plans, but if you are serious about what you do and always keep in mind to create the best content adding the best photography, little by little you will get noticed - especially if you are using the right SEO-strategies - and be offered opportunities to review hotels and restaurant meals, to get advertising and press trips.
The most successful bloggers around, making serious money out of their once-hobbies always took serious their online jobs, always delivering the requested their high-quality articles in time and approaching seriously their topics.
Making good money out of blogging doesn’t happen overnight though, and you may need to spend a lot of time learning not only about technical issues related to your blog - blog maintenance, how to post, coding aspects - but also about how to write. Put some time aside to learn the basics and get connected with other bloggers and successful influencers, be ready to learn new skills - like video - and invest in some quality camera and photo tools, but at the end of the journey, if you are very serious about it, success will come and a life of travels is waiting for you.
Warning: Which means, in fact, more work for you, as the stakes in the industry are very high and you need to work a lot to stay on the top. But at the end of the day, there are so many good adventures and memories and incredible places you’ve seen and the effort is worth every single second.
What do you think? Ready to try your chance of exploring the world while continuing your professional career? Feel free to share with us your adventures and experiences!
