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moving to a new country every four months, taking breaks for other adventures in between, and running small businesses and writing books along the way.
travel also amplifies all the existing problems you already have.
location independent business,
There was a much better chance of my home being burglarized in LA than in Reykjavik, for example, but I still find myself more cautious and mindful of such things when I’m overseas because the environment is so unfamiliar.
Dangerous animals, diseases, drugs, and scams are issues you will likely worry about at some point while traveling. Being mugged, burgled, pick-pocketed, or ripped-off are also valid concerns.
Money in my bank account is a sign that other people find value in the work I do, and are willing to pay for it.
‘freedom business’
A freedom business is ideally centered on something that, like the book I wrote, requires initial effort but delivers a long-term payout.
currently make most of my income from the library of books I’ve written and have available for sale.
How to Indie Publish an Indie Book If you’re keen to get involved with publishing, and perhaps make a living from your work, this is a great place to start. My business partners and I, all three of us professional authors, outlined our exact process for publishing books, and even recorded podcast discussions about the details, each step along the way. This is available completely free of charge, and I hope you find it useful.
If you’re traveling frequently, a well-tended online platform is a valuable asset.
It didn’t take long for me to realize storing all those possessions would be incredibly inconvenient, expensive, and ridiculous.
It’s nice having books on the shelves, but I hadn’t picked up a physical book in ages. It was nice knowing I had all those clothes to choose from, but I wore the same couple of pairs of pants, the same suit jacket, and the same handful of shirts over and over again. As soon as I accepted that it was okay to discard things, the floodgates broke and my number of possessions dropped drastically. It took me a full four months to get rid of everything I no longer needed, but it was time well spent.
if traveling or pursuing memorable experiences make you happy, why waste your time accumulating more stuff?
one of the best ways to be targeted by scams and thieves is to stand out as a backpacker or tourist —
have a backup battery with you
Wearing headphones is also the international sign of ‘don’t bug me, I’m in my own world’ at coffee shops and the like, which is useful in places where you might otherwise be hassled for handouts constantly. There are some
11” Macbook Air).
iPhones are terrible for travel, so I opt for Android
G2 Mini / Uniball Jetstream 101 Pens I’ve long
Uniball Jetstream 101,
Belkin SurgePlus 3-Outlet Mini Travel Swivel Charger Long, strange name, but one of the most useful items in my bag. This three-outlet, two-USB-charger hub allows you to buy one local adapter and charge all of your gadgets at once.
Cocoon GRID-IT! Organizer I question the all-caps and exclamation point in this item’s name, but its usefulness is unquestionable.
Matrix Airfare are perfect for me, because all I really care about is the price.
some travel agents won’t even cost you a cent, though you may want to opt for the ones who do charge a fee.
Agents that you pay, on the other hand, may charge as little as 5% of your total ticket price (or something like $40-50 for cheaper tickets), and will definitely have your best interests in mind.
Matrix Airfare This is the software most other airline deal sites use to load up prices.
SkyScanner It’s a toss-up for a given trip, which site will have the cheapest flights, but I like the UI of SkyScanner
Adioso This is by far my favorite travel ticket site, and all that’s keeping it from becoming my most-used travel ticket site is adding more countries and airlines to the roster. They’re doing something completely new, though, allowing users to search using natural language and absolute flexibility. It’s worth checking out, especially if you want to see where (I think) the future of ticket searching is heading. Kayak / Priceline I’ll usually check these sites for comparisons, but usually it’s more to establish a baseline than to find the best prices. Every once in a while Kayak will surprise
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How to Be a Travel Hacker / Beginner’s Guide to Travel Hacking / Travel Hacking Cartel Three of the better-known
Rolling Method A video of me packing my bags, recorded by
I would recommend a hostel over a hotel, because hotels tend to be away from where locals live, so you’ll only see the touristy parts of town, and likely won’t be within easy walking distance of the interesting stuff.
start asking a lot of questions. Make friends with anyone who can understand you, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Avoid being pressured into a place you don’t like, a place in a bad part of town, or a place that’s in a part of town that’s all foreigners (that aforementioned hotel part of the city).
I usually opt for something middle of the road, meaning that it’s not a mansion, but it’s not a slum. It’s the kind of place a young person attending university might live. Such places usually provide the best balance of moderate quality, with low-ish prices.
After living in Buenos Aires for two months, I could tell a stranger how to get to a small street they were trying to find, and do so in Spanish, spoken with the local accent.
you should always be as safe as reasonably possible, and you should ask around to figure out which parts of town should not be explored on foot, or which parts foreigners should avoid.
Resources Scrivener / Evernote These are my go-to programs for publishing the written word. I use Evernote to write blog posts and takes notes along the way, and I use Scrivener to turn those notes and writings into easily published books and ebooks (the book you’re reading now was published using Scrivener).
Twitter / Instagram These are my two favorite ‘in the moment’ social networks; great places for sharing quick thoughts and photographs, respectively.
Meet enough good people that you can avoid getting scammed or hurt, and so that you can be aware of which people or parts of town to avoid.
Don’t allow your views to become prejudiced as a result, but know how things work so you can act accordingly (a good example of this are the Romani — gypsies — in Romania; I met some truly wonderful people from this group while living there, but as a general rule, the ones you don’t know will try to rip you off).
Have a few phone numbers you can call in a pinch, should you get lost ...
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Make connections, and be seen. It’s good to have friends, but it can be equally valuable to be on smiling, waving terms with the guy who runs the fruit cart down the street. I can’t tell you how many times I was prevented from making a dangerous decision by strangers who were kind enough to flag me down.
Lock your doors. Be aware of your surroundings. The best way to avoid a bad situation is to pay attention to what’s going on around you and trust your gut when something seems off. I was attacked by muggers in Buenos Aires, and I saw it coming, literally a block away. I knew I was about to be mugged, but shrugged it off, assuming I was overreacting to the situation. Trust your gut and opt to look foolish rather than falling prey to a preventable tragedy.
Resources World Nomads These guys have a wonderful reputation, and though I’ve never had to make use of their services (thankfully), I do buy insurance through them in countries where I don’t get coverage by default. A great idea, for peace of mind and just in case.
‘paralysis by analysis;’ never acting on your desire to travel, and instead spending all your time reading and thinking about it.
Resources Nomadic Matt Uncornered Market Legal Nomads Roads & Kingdoms Wandering Earl
