This is Dan of Vagabond Buddha.
This post includes Chapters 1 and 2 of my EBook called, “How I fired my boss and Traveled for 12+ Years.”
Chapter 1 is titled, “How to Live All Over the World for Less Than it Costs at Home” and chapter 2 is titled, “How to Make Money No Matter Where You are in the World.” Text and video of both Chapters 1 and 2 are below.
If you enjoy the first two chapters, feel free to grab a free copy of the EBook at the link below. Once you get your free copy of the Ebook (which happens instantly), you will have all 10 chapters.
Okay, here are the first two chapters with videos below if you rather listen than read.
How I Fired My Boss and Traveled For 12+ Years
Updated Feb. 27, 2019, by Dan of Vagabond Buddha. This contains affiliate links. If you use them, you pay nothing extra, but we make a small commission.
I fired my boss and left the USA in 2007. I have lived in or visited, 65 countries during my life. Here is what you need to know to fire your boss and live internationally. It took me 10 years to perfect this advice. If you are able to take action consistently and get yourself out of the way, you might be permanently free from geographical bondage within 2-3 years.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: How to Live All Over the World for Less than it Costs at Home
Chapter 2: How to Make Money No Matter Where You are in the World
You will find the next 8 chapters in my EBook. See below.
Chapter 3: How to Simplify Your Life Down to One Checked Bag and One Carry On
Chapter 4: How to Keep Your Apartment, Condo, or Home, No Matter Where You are in the World
Chapter 5: How to Answer Your Old Phone # and Receive Mail Wherever You are in the World
Chapter 6: How to Stay Safe No Matter Where You Are in the World
Chapter 7: How to Handle Banking and Money No Matter Where You Are in the World
Chapter 8: How to Get Fit and Remain Healthy No Matter Where You are in the World
Chapter 9: How to Communicate with Locals No Matter Where You are in the World
Chapter 10: How to Be Happy No Matter Where You are in the World
Click Here for your Free Ebook!
Before you read my ideas, you should know that my old boss is still one of my favorite people in the world. I didn’t really fire him. I graciously thanked him for everything he taught me and tried to make my exit as painless as possible. We even get together for a week or two, every few years. I just didn’t want to wait 20 years while I tried to save and invest my way to freedom. I didn’t want a normal life. I have never been normal. But that story is for another day.
You see, you don’t have to push back against anything to find your path in life. You can look forward with excitement and delight. You do not have to let fear, responsibility, or a normal life, define you. If you are lucky, you have about 80 years on this planet. No matter your age, you should find out what excites you and pursue that as if this is your final 3 years. Nothing can stand in your way if you really imagine an exciting future, with you living in it, and you take the right actions.
The future I see isn’t strapped with obligations, things, or external accolades. The future I see is rich with world exploration, culture, food, conversations, learning, discovery, passion, music, sounds, smells, freedom, and love. Fame is not on my list. I believe that if I live fearlessly, there is a good chance that my life will continue to be full of joy, freedom, love, and abundance. That seems less risky to me than saving and investing for 80 years while the clock runs out on my health and passions.
You see, I don’t believe you need to get rich before you start living. All you need to do is get enough cash flowing in so you can live in paradise. Paradise might be much cheaper than you think. To break free, you only need enough to walk away from normal life. You see, it doesn’t cost as much money to live in some of the most beautiful places in the world. You just need to find a path that breaks you free from the rat race. Once you are living free, you’ll have a little more time to think about how to widen that path and increase your choices. But it all starts with breaking free.
Are you ready to start blazing your path to freedom? Everything starts with that decision.
Chapter 1
How to Live All Over the World for Less than it Costs at Home
How to Maintain the Lowest Annual Transportation Costs: Exploring by Region: When you only have 2-3 weeks holiday per year, it makes sense to buy a roundtrip ticket to fly halfway around the World to see one or two countries. But when you are living the travel life, you just buy a one-way ticket to get to the region, and then just keep moving forward from country to country once you get there. For example, if you fly to South America (today I am in Ecuador), you visit or live in all the countries of interest while you are there. So even if a one-way ticket costs you $500, if you visit 7 countries while you are in that region, your flight costs per country are less than $100. So if you spend a year in South America, your annual flight costs are only $500. When you are living a travel life, you start to think differently and enjoy the journey.
Ground and Boat Transportation: When you are flying over a country 6 miles high, you don’t get to experience the country. But when you are traveling by region, some of the most beautiful things you will see are out on the open road. The land between Southern Colombia and Northern Ecuador just might be the most beautiful land in the World. But you won’t get to see it if you fly from Colombia to Ecuador. Plus, the bus to cross that region is less than $15. Whereas, to fly, it costs $375, one way. I am not kidding. If you stay out of airplanes, during your regional exploration, you will also get to ride on boats and ferries. The view on the ferry going from Split to Dubrovnik, Croatia is amazing and cost less than $50.00. To fly would be over $100 and that doesn’t include the $20 to and from the airports at both cities. When there isn’t a rush to arrive and leave, travel is less frantic. Wikitravel.org is a great resource for finding the cheapest land and ferry routes when you are moving within a region. Just insert the departing city name in the search window and it will tell you where to catch a bus to your next regional stop, and how much it costs, roughly.
Skyscanner: When it is time to move from one region of the world to another, I suggest using Skyscanner to find the best ticket price. There is also a major benefit to regional travel when it comes to airlines ticket prices anyway, it doesn’t really matter where in the region you first land. So check Skyscanner for every international airport in the region. For example, you may find that you save hundreds of dollars by landing in Budapest rather than Vienna. You can also check which city to fly out of in your present region. Finally, Skyscanner has a feature where you give it a wide range of time you are willing to fly. If you put a range of +/- 2 weeks in which you are willing to fly, Skyscanner will provide you with flight costs for every day during that 30 day period. You can easily save another few hundred dollars that way. Once you have the lowest possible ticket price using Skyscanner, try going to the airline direct and see if the price is even lower. Once and a while going direct to the airline will be cheaper, but mostly Skyscanner is a better deal.
How to Pay the Least for the Best Accommodations: I love to cook. I also like to work 20 to 30 hours a week to keep my mind active and make money while I travel. Plus, I like the privacy of my own space, and I like having a bedroom separate from where I work. I wake really early in the morning, and I like to get up and work without disturbing others still sleeping. I also like to have my own Internet router in my living space in case I have a call during the day. I even carry a cable to plug directly from my laptop to my router. So my preference is a furnished one bedroom apartment or condo, with 1) its own internet router inside the apartment and not shared with the neighbors, 2) a fully equipped kitchen, 3) in a walkable fun area of town. With so many requirements, how do I get good deals?
Make offers: I send emails to 5-8 properties on Airbnb asking for about a 20 to 25% discount if I stay for a week. In my email, I explain that I review properties positively in great detail, I treat the apartment great, I am very clean, and I don’t smoke or party. Then I ask them to look at my reviews from previous places I have stayed. My reviews confirm everything I say. Usually one of the people I email will accept my offer. Then, if I really like the place, I usually offer to stay another week or two and offer to pay in cash. This saves on booking and cleaning fees.
New Listings: Look for new listings on Airbnb that don’t have reviews yet, or have only a few reviews. They are more likely to accept an even lower price offer once they see that you do have a tendency to review positively. I have rented new listings for 50% off before. I have also gotten 30-50% off for offering to stay a month more after I have verified the place fits my needs.
Be Clean, Be Nice, Be Helpful: Make sure to leave the place clean so they also give you great reviews. Also, don’t be negative, pushy, or arrogant. If something is not working, be polite when you ask for help. Don’t play the “customer is always right game.” These apartments are being rented by individuals with feelings. They will remember how you treated them and it will be reflected in your reviews. You will end up with bad reviews and you won’t get good deals, possibly for months! Don’t be rude or condescending, it could cost you thousands over time if it shows up in your reviews.
Where do I find Good Deals: The best deals on apartments can be found at Booking.com, HomeAway.com, and Airbnb.com. For short term stays or when I am somewhere that I won’t be cooking I will also stay in hotels and hostels. If I stay in a hostel, I will get a private room as opposed to a dorm. The best hotel deals in Asia are often at Agoda.com. Booking.com often has great deals all over the world. But it is also worth checking HotelsCombined.com because it checks prices on multiple sites to find the best deals. When I first arrive in an area, I plan to stay in for a month or so, I will sometimes stay in a hostel so I can speak to other travelers who know the area well. Hostels are on Booking.com now along with Apartments, Hotels, and Bed and Breakfasts.
Chapter 2
How to Make Money No Matter Where You are in the World
Here are the best ways to make money no matter where you are in the world. You have a particular skill set that I am not aware of that will help you earn money, without restricting you to any particular geographical region of the world. So my main goal here is just to get you thinking in a new way. You need to give up the idea that you have to wait until you retire to see the world.
Working Remotely: When I first left the USA in 2007, I moved to India. I was recruited by the largest software company in the world, to train their team of patent engineers. While in India, I read “The Four Hour Work Week,” by Tim Ferris. Not long after reading his book, I left India and began working remotely. I left India and began training the same team remotely, using Moodle Remote Training Software. It is like a classroom in the cloud. Most years, I still continue to make more money than I need by training and overseeing patent research services. Not all, but many skills can be done remotely these days. Start researching your industry to see if there is a company that you can work for remotely, with your skill set. If you earn USD or Euros and live in parts of the World with a low cost of living, you can even work fewer hours and still pay your bills and save money.
Other Remote Working Jobs: I have met many people in my travels who earn money by teaching English. I have met other people that translate documents from one language to another. I have met software programmers, travel videographers, travel bloggers, travel writers, internet marketing gurus, and affiliate marketers. There are literally hundreds of ways to make money no matter where you are in the world. Just start researching and you will be amazed. But be careful, not everyone you follow online knows what they are doing. It is best if you discover and follow their online presence for a few months before you spend any money on their ideas. For example, people typically spend months getting to know the “real me” on VagabondBuddha.com or my Youtube channel for months before they start trusting my online advice. That is just a good practice to follow.
Be Your Own Boss: Once you are able to work remotely for someone else, with your current skill set, I recommend figuring out how to be your own boss. Having your own business just feels better. Also, if you do start your own business, it is safer to have multiple smaller customers, instead of one big customer. That way, if one customer goes out of business, or finds another supplier, you still maintain at least some of your income. But working remotely for many customers still has certain limitations. If your pay is limited to how much time you work, whether by projects or by time spent, your day is still not completely your own. Your earnings are limited by the time you spend each day. Even if you hire other people to increase your income potential, now you have people management problems. Instead, of time problems or people problems, consider starting a business that has more personal freedom. I researched this topic for several years and have tried a number of different ways to make money online. If you start creating passive income streams, those are likely to provide you with the most personal freedom.
Passive Income Streams: If you decide to start your own business, I suggest starting a business that creates an automated passive income stream. An automated passive income stream is an income stream that you build once and it continues running 24 hours a day, for many years, throwing money at you. No matter where you are in the world, whether you are sleeping or awake, your business is up and running, making you money. Here are several examples of automated passive income streams.
Physical Products: You can sell products online. Once you set it up and get it running properly, you can be sleeping or on the beach in Bali, and people can purchase products you are marketing online. You buy them in China and ship them to Amazon in the USA or Europe. You advertise your products on Amazon and when people buy them, Amazon ships them to your customer. You get an email notification that a product sold, and money is on the way. Amazon wires your money to you a few times per month. This a money machine. You just ship stuff to Amazon, and they wire money back to you. Amazon sends you an email when your supply is getting low. Then, you order more from China. When you are getting started, I suggest that you take a training course to save time and money. Otherwise, you could lose years to time and money figuring it all out yourself. There is much to learn and if you are going to invest in inventory and import products from China, you should learn from the best. Here are a few videos explaining what they do. These are the people who taught me how to sell physical products on Amazon. It was the most money I have ever spent on a training course. But unlike many courses I have taken online, everything they taught me worked just like they said it would.
Affiliate Marketing: Vagabond Buddha has affiliate links on most pages. When people buy products and services using our affiliate links, they pay the same price, but we receive a commission. Almost everything on the internet today has the potential to earn money by using affiliate links. I love to travel. I talk about what I love most, and I put links to the best places to go, and what to do. I was sharing this information long before I learned about affiliate links. But now when I share, I create the potential for passive income streams from my affiliate links. This business is nice for international living because you have no inventory. Plus, the customer service is handled by the affiliate who delivers the product or service to the customer. You just get paid for referring the customer. There are thousands of different products and services that you can promote as an affiliate. You can review products and services on YouTube, and when people click the link and buy, you get a commission. You can compare different kinds of products and services, and whichever product your reader picks, they pay nothing extra, and you get a commission. If there is anything in the world that you know something about, there is likely an affiliate marketing model that will pay you to share your knowledge. You can move about the world freely, and get paid to share your knowledge. Just enter your name and email here and it will give you immediate access to a webinar that discusses how to use a funnel for affiliate marketing or many other businesses including traditional businesses.
Start Your Own Online Business: There are thousands of businesses you could start online to make money as your own boss. WordPress used to be the go-to platform where you would drive traffic to make sales. But now most of the big money makers have switched to funnels. The time, energy, and money you can save building your business using funnels is hard to overstate. If you work really hard and have a little luck, it is possible that you could make your first sale before your free trial ends. If you decide to start your free trial, let me know and I’ll send you a link to a video that will help you hit the ground running. Just add your name to my email list, and when you receive my first email, reply with “I am on the 14-day free trial” and I’ll send you the video link.
Your Simple First Business: This is just an idea for your first business. You can create a simple webinar on the 5 or 10 steps it takes to do something you know about. You will be surprised what people are willing to pay to learn. In fact, you probably think what you know is obvious and not worth any money. But there is something you know that 95% of the world doesn’t know. And it is likely something that you feel passionate about that could save people hundreds of dollars weeks of time. But now I am going to show you by example. First I will talk about how you can make money building a list and then I will tell you a way to drive traffic to your funnel for free.
Build A List: No matter what kind of business you start online, you will be building a list of customers that you will email offers from time to time. Then, anytime you learn something really cool that helps the people on your list, you will send them an email. If they like it as much as you, they can buy it and you will make money. Do you notice that I am telling you how I make money at the same time I teach you how to make money? That is the level of honesty and transparency you have to maintain to remain relevant today. Trust is the most important thing to maintain your relationships in the online environment where we have not met in person. So how do I get you on my list you ask? I have to bribe you by giving you something free that you perceive to be valuable. But that only gets you on my list. It doesn’t mean you will stay on my list. You can click unsubscribe at the bottom of any email and I have lost you for life. So I have to continue to provide more value in each email you read, so you remain a loyal interested subscriber. Does that make sense? Okay, so here is my ethical bribe.
Ethical Bribe: Click the below link and enter your email and I will give you my Ebook for free. Look what just happened. You perceived value and you jumped on my email list. This will help you understand what motivates yourself and other people to join your email list for your new online business. I will also send you a free bonus training that teaches you how to use Youtube to make money and drive free organic traffic to your new business.
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Dan of Vagabond Buddha.com, Copyright (c) 2016, All rights reserved.