Hi there! Today I have a guest post from Christine owner of Wealthy Way Online, she is a blogger who is looking to take her online income to the next level. Originally from New Zealand, she’s planning to be location independent, traveling around while leveraging the currency and sampling the world’s best desserts.
Let me know if you would like to guest post on RFI.
When I first set out traveling in 2010, I had no idea what I was going to do for money long term. I knew that I wanted to travel for an indefinite period of time, a lot longer than average. In my experience I have found short 2-3 week holidays to be relatively expensive for the length of time, and you don’t have enough time to really settle into a place. I wanted to travel long and slow.
During my travels I created a travel blog, The Wrong Way Home, that eventually started to make some money. As time went on, I thought of more ways I could make money online and settled on freelancing. Eventually I moved more towards advertising and started to build up a network of blogs. Now I make all of my money online. After 1.5 years at home, in just over two weeks time I am heading off to become location independent with my partner.
How Will I Mix Working and Travel?
1. Outsource as Much as Possible
Currently I employ two virtual assistants (one part time and one casually) as well as three writers on an as-needed basis. For the blogs that authored by me, I write my own posts, but for the blogs I have that are more ‘lifestyle’ than personal, I outsource the content. This is to save me time so I can instead focus on sunbathing on the beautiful beaches, watching my partner surf and snorkelling.
2) Work Smarter, Not Harder
Generally 20% of the work yields 80% of the result, while the additional 80% of work only brings in 20%. As such, I am looking to work smarter, not harder. Because my line of work is advertising, my ‘salary’ is not fixed, it is not based on any hourly work. It is based on performance and what my clients have available. This means I can generally get by pretty well with 10-15 hours work, allowing ample time for fun.
3) Move Towards Passive Income
While I really enjoy the work I do, it is not quite at the level I want to be. Ideally I would move towards a more diverse income and something that is passive, so that it is not dependent on me working. I have a few projects in my mind, but I haven’t committed to starting any yet. I know this is the best move for me.
4) Utilise Transit Time
When traveling there’s a lot of down time, including time spent waiting in airports, on planes, boats, trains, taxis – everything. I tend to buy a location sim when I’m traveling and tether it to my laptop so I can use it wherever. It can be a little challenging working in confined spaces, but personally I find it great to get ahead so when I arrive somewhere new I can spend my time out exploring instead of working.
Working online is a great way to allow yourself to have the ultimate freedom: location independence. My partner and I are planning to move to Panama because of the lower cost of living, the stable economy, the great weather and surf and also because there will be no tax on income derived overseas.
Are you interested in becoming location independent or do you prefer to stay put and go on holidays? Let me know in the comments below.
I haven’t bought a house yet because I don’t want to be tied down.
And I can’t wait to hear more about Panama in the future! I hope it’s the paradise it seems to be!
That sounds like a pretty fantastic plan! Thank you for reminding me again of the 80/20 rule and to get my butt in gear on the important stuff, not on the futzing around stuff.
Enjoy Panama, lots of my friends have been and absolutely love it.
I too would like to become location independent, but I think as of now that is pretty far off into the future. I am working on building up a passive income, but right now my debt is the #1 priority.
I read up some more on Panama after reading your post though, and it really sounds great there. They have a ton of incentives for people to move there.
People tend to think it’s easier for others to work from anywhere because fear is coloring their thinking. That being said, stories about working from anywhere are nearly always about writers. Though it can require contact with others, it’s mostly a solitary activity and one that uses a single tool.
Sounds like a very sound plan to me. And thanks for providing this overview because I’d like to have a go at living in different countries and writing in about four years time. One thing I have problem figuring out in specific situations is the Pareto rule (20:80 rule): how do you know a priori which activities are on the 20%?