Forget travel agents. Connect your job and vacation into one complete experience. Travel without a plan. It takes just a little effort and sorted out life priorities.
Freelancing
The number of people working on their own is growing fast. With the n internet being available almost everywhere, most of us can work from anywhere. And what’s surprising is that it does not cost a fortune to live like this. Travels, for me, are a major source for inspiration and self-improvement — it could jump-start you as well.
Digital Nomads on GrandCanaria
Freelancing brings several strong advantages. You don’t have to worry about your bosses’ morning mood. The amount of family and travel time is defined by your own work efficiency. And, in the end, as an entrepreneur, you usually pay lower income tax than anemployee. The difference could be saved or spent on travels.
I’m not much interested in a fixed salary and the apparent feeling of security. Many times I’ve discovered that as a freelancer I can have far better income than being an employee exclusively. Even if I’m working for one company most of the time, I welcome the inspiration and constant learning that comes from various small projects.
Don’t tell me this is not for you. We all fear of failure. But, if you overcome this, the reward is worth it. I’ve experienced that many times.
Andy with his family in Thailand
Thomas in Southeast Asia
How?
Freelancing is not for everybody though. If your answer to the question “Wanna go for a beer?” is always “Yes” and you mostly put things for tomorrow, you might be happier as an employee with strict order and clear rules. But, if you can’t live without freedom — no matter the cost — start working on yourself. And start today.
What was critical for me was sorting out my life priorities. Each of us is flooded with a thousand distractions leading us out of the path. You have to define your life’s target. And each little decision should be made to lead to that target. Your target could be becoming wealthy, having a large family, becoming the best of the best in your profession or just a mortgage paid sooner than you retire. The target could also be an easy ride through your life and ability to help others — check out what Bill Gates is doing now.
Life’s targets in many cases require having money. Banks, stores and even lending companies will always make the best margin on those who does not care about cost/value ratio, but only search for the lowest price. That’s why money is a symbol of freedom. If you don’t have it, you’re losing choices.
Others Made It, So Can You
I’d like to be rather objective, not only hyper-positive here. So I’d like to show you a few examples of people that either I influenced by my story or their nomad stories influenced me.
“Freedom. Get-a-way from stereotype. Out from an ordinary life. A lot of new findings, solutions and even problems. Inspiration. A wider view. Finding new friends and places. That’s what I’d like to experience in our new RV — so far we’ve only been to one trip. But it was awesome!”
“I’m a shepherd. The end of Pulp Fiction comes to my mind, when Samuel L. Jackson says, that he felt a touch of God (just before the restaurant robbery), and that he would become a shepherd ’til God puts him where he wants him to be. I feel it the same way. Traveling delivers to release tension and feel the energy of a present moment. What happens on the way is your mirror. Accept it. And mostly, the more you go against the fear, the more you flow into your life’s free fall. Just let go and jump. The fear is only the adrenaline you hold in yourself. Believe in what you feel! — I’m writing from mountains, where I’ve spent one season as snowboard instructor. One other phase of My Way.“
“1. Not every camp is the same — still, there are campsites with awesome service and staff, all placed on the best spot. Where you feel absolutely safe. 2. Children are absolutely stunned from traveling this way. All day outside, surrounded by nature and fresh air — and they’re remembered in almost every camp. 3. Caravan people are in most cases an awesome community. Always smiling, ready to help, playing with children. 4. With the RV, our children take a bit of home with us, or to be honest, a complete home — the one on wheels. 5. Thanks to having an RV, we go out for a trip way more often. The opportunity to go somewhere for an adventure is always at your fingertips. And we go for it each time it calls :-).“
Work Habits
If you’d like to do your job better and make more money, start with yourself. Improve yourself. Don’t say “Man, I’m never gonna make it.” but “How the heck should I do it to get there?” There would always be people with negative spirit around you, but hey, they’re gonna help you shine more!
Don’t have a gold watch yet? Work more. Many successful entrepreneurs began in their garage and their workday was twice as long as others. It’s called delayed consumption. If you desperately need the expensive sedan now, you’ll more likely to lose the opportunity to get a yacht later.
For me, the hardest thing was to get off of my habit “impossible” and effectively delegating my workload to others. But, once you cut yourself out of the rush, you’ll find an awesome field with sun all year.
Forget the word impossible
From the moment our family jumped into the caravan, our lives changed. I put more into each minute of my work. On the whole, I work less — roughly 6 hours a day. The cost/value ratio has risen for my clients. And everybody gets the benefit. Family, clients and myself.
Thanks to caravan ordeal, we removed the attachment to things in our lives and refocused on experiences and relations with people. So we left the meaning of life of how the masses understand it. To build a house, raise children, iand die. By the way, did you ever measure how much time and energy people put into house, apartment or car maintenance? We’re trying to minimize that or outsource.
There’s will always be somebody telling you that this won’t work. Isolate yourself from that. Forget politics and daily news. Invest your remaining time into things that matter for you and your relatives. Forget the word Impossible and find your own way to loose bad habits so you can master the good ones.
Bio: Freelance designer since 1999. Making a living on-line. Loves creating small websites and illustrations. Studied design and media at schools and universities around the Czech Republic. Thanks to his advanced skills and flexiblity, he can live how he likes. Has a base of long term clients as well as he jumps into project based challenges. Lives part of the year in a caravan with his family.
I write about the stock photo and microstock industry since 2006 on my several online-magazines. My goal for MyStockPhoto is to teach photographers and stock photographers how to sell more photos and earn money with their photography hobby.
