It’s been quiet around here, I got on a plane from Istanbul to Auckland and sort of took a vow of silence, or something.
Sorry about that…
I’ve been busy in the background trying to step a little closer to my dream: location independence.
You see, for the past two years I’ve had an adventure. I’ve learned lots of things, visited amazing places like Angkor Wat and Ha Long Bay, I went to Coachella and volunteered in Cambodia. It’s been really great, but along the way I’ve just funded my travels in the ways I thought were easiest: being an au pair and teaching English overseas. Don’t get me wrong, both experiences were great and I really enjoyed them, but I felt like I could do more. I needed to do more.
Part out of curiosity and part out of desperation (read: my money was running out well before my travels were due to end) I signed up to Elance. I figured I liked writing and it would be cool to get paid for it. I applied for some jobs, exited the window and forgot about it. A few weeks later, I had an accepted proposal, then another and then the ball just seemed to start rolling.
This week is the first week that I’ve got a full time amount of work and the best thing? My three key projects are ongoing. It feels really good to be working and challenging myself, but above that this work gives me freedom. My employers don’t care (or at least don’t know) if I’m sitting on the couch, in my pajamas eating popcorn while I type away. Nobody knows if I start work at 3pm and then decide to go out for coffee. As long as I get the work done, it doesn’t really matter when. I’m on my own schedule.
The other thing that’s great is I’m earning western money. I’m earning more than I would working full time in NZ, even if I was using my degree. But I don’t have to live in NZ – I could leverage this money and save to my heart’s content, for as long as this good fortune lasts.
So, I’ve been busy thinking, where’s cheap, warm, sunny and somewhere I could live for a little while?
Any suggestions? I’m open.
Mexico!! Then you can keep up the Spanish too 😀
Thats great news, congrats on the accepted jobs izy!
We signed up for eLance recently too. While we had a few offers, nothing has really come from it yet. We plan to spend more time on it this coming month though as we were travelling a lot recently so we didn’t really give it the time thats required! Great to hear success stories from other people! You’ve motivated me! 🙂
I’ve seen a lot of bloggers/writers living in Chiang Mai. Anywhere in Thailand, too.
Congrats!
What a great idea! I have been looking for something like this as I have a PR/Comms background. I have lots of media contacts so I was hoping to travel articles but this could be another way to help let me travel longer.
Thanks Izy!! Hope it all goes well back in NZ.
Alaina x
You should totally get into it. I’ve got about 70 hours work a week at the moment, so it’s panning out really great. If you need any tips or advice don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Besitos x
You know my answer already 😉 <3
Hi Izy,
I just discovered your blog today (via Indie Travel Podcast’s reference to the Budget Travel Blog’s post mentioning both your blogs), and have already read and enjoyed quite a few of your posts. I’m getting ready to plan my own (rather later-in-life) round-the-world travel, and I was intrigued by your reference to “Elance” and making money doing freelance writing.
Have you written up any more about what that involves? What do they have you writing about? Did you propose projects to them? Did you have a lot of previous writing experience (besides your blog) that you were able to use to increase your chances of getting work? I saw where you said you were getting 70 hours work per week from it, and that seemed to come about fairly quickly, so I began to wonder if this might be a way I could earn money while traveling.
Thanks, and I look forward to reading more of your blog. So far I’ve found it entertaining, informative, and beautifully illustrated.
…Chuck Smith
Hi Chuck! Thanks for stopping by, it’s certainly great to have some new readers around here. I was actually planning to do a “making money on the road post” regarding my work on Elance. I’ve really enjoyed it so far, although the only problem I can say that I have with it is that it can be very, very inconsistent. At the moment I’ve taken a slight break from it to focus on other projects, but there’s so much great work on there.
The problem with Elance is that half of it is focused at crap content written by non-native speakers that pays accordingly. The other half of it (or more like 15%) is based around clients who want real copy that readers will actually like. That pays better and is what I focus my work around. My clients have been extremely varied: a lot of travel writing, but also writing about parenting, bicycles, yoga… Jewish itineraries… whatever. Often you’re given keywords and go from there.
There was a period in time where I was literally doing 60-70 hours a week work and then I went traveling and sort of put things on the backburner. The thing I learned is you have to be proactive; often it takes a month or so to hear back from potential clients, so it’s a continuous cycle of applying for jobs well before you need them. You can always elect to turn them down if you have too much work on when they come back to you.
I definitely think it’s a great way to earn money while traveling, especially if you earn a Western wage and find yourself in great value destinations such as Asia, Eastern Europe or Central America 🙂 I now earn all of my income online and while I am taking some time to be in New Zealand, I could be anywhere.
If you have any more questions you can direct them to my email: clbberry@gmail.com – I’d be happy to help you get started. Thanks again for your kind words!