- You need travel health insurance! – photo by brkymantra
I’ve now been ‘traveling’ (ie away from home) for over a year and so time to renew my backpacker’s travel insurance policy. As I’ve been living in Bali for nearly 9 months I thought it was about time I got myself some proper health insurance, designed for expats. However, after researching several insurance comparison sites and emailing insurance brokers for quotes, I realized that a year-long health insurance policy was going to cost significantly more than I’d anticipated.
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- Starbucks in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
If you’re yet to set out on your travels and you’ve been freelancing for a while or even if you’re just an avid blog reader who likes the idea of making a bit of extra money online, chances are you already have a fast, reliable internet connection with generous or unlimited bandwidth. Cheap fast broadband internet access is something many of us have come to take for granted so once you’re on the road you’ll want to quickly find the cheapest, easiest way to stay connected so that you can keep working and making money.
So in this article I’m going to go through some of the main methods of staying connected while you’re travelling, how to find a good place to work from and keep your productivity up and touch on some security precautions you should keep in mind.
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I am afraid I have sadly neglected this blog in the last year, However I’m now back with lots more ideas for future articles so hopefully this site will evolve once again into a useful resource within the next few months.
I’ve been living in Bali, Indonesia for the last 8 months and have a new perspective on trying to earn a living from your laptop when you stay in a foreign country for several months, rather than travelling and moving on every few days. Lots of information for expat freelancers on the way!
So many apologies for my extended absence but we will be back – bigger and better than before!
Photo by BigGolf
Unless you’ve been freelancing for a while, chances are that at some point you’ll need to tell your boss and the people you work with that you’re leaving. Your colleagues may be surprised at your decision to travel – some may think you’re mad to be throwing away the security of a regular pay check, but most will probably admit that you’re doing what they always wish they had. You may even inspire a few to follow your example and leave on an adventure of their own.
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I am currently on the verge of buying the laptop I’ll be taking with me on my travels. I currently work from a shuttle desktop pc which, compact as it is, is obviously not suitable for taking backpacking. I also have an old battered ibook which I dropped and broke the hinges on – it’s not in a fit state to take out of the house, let alone on a round the world trip. So this brings me to the task of choosing a laptop with travel-friendly attributes.
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What you pack for your trip will depend on where you’re going, the type of places you’ll be staying (hotels/hostels/camping) and the activities you plan on undertaking. A packing list for a trekking trip through the Amazon rain-forest will look very different to a list for a beach holiday in Thailand.
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Photo by Swiv
You’ve planned your route, bought your ticket and you’re all set to go but even the most carefree souls will have some preparation work to do before they can hop on that plane. It’s best to write a checklist of things that need sorting out at least three months before departure – six months would be better if you’re particularly organised. This way you can make sure everything is sorted before you go and you won’t be rushing around panicking in the last few weeks. The list below isn’t definitive but it will give you a starting point for your own list, whatever your circumstances.
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Photo by Immu
If you’re travelling on a budget it is inevitable that at some point in your travels you will have to share a bedroom with one to several strangers, in a variety of levels of comfort. This will be nothing new to the regular budget traveller, however if you’re preparing for your first round the world trip more used to package holidays in standard hotels and have little to no experience of sharing your sleeping quarters with strangers, it may come as somewhat of a shock.
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Great things happen when you just decide you’re going somewhere, buy a plane ticket and worry about it later. My favourite method for buying tickets is to sing to myself “La la, I can’t hear you”, as I type my credit card no. in, which works suprising well to silence my ’sensible’ side.
However when planning a round the world trip or a multi-stop ticket, a little planning is well advised to ensure you make the most of the time and money you have available to you (of course if someone offers you a free one-way ticket to china tomorow, you should take it, run and don’t look back!)
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People often ask me where I get the money to travel as much as I do. My job isn’t particularly well paid but I manage to have at least 3 trips a year, usually on long haul flights and quite often to expenisve places (think Iceland… hmm). The truth is that there is no big secret – I just choose to spend my money on travel. I don’t go out much, I hardly ever buy new clothes and I generally spend as little as possible as I’m usually saving up for my next trip. I also maximise the funds I have by booking the cheapest flights I can find and staying in cheap accommodation.
As I’m currently pulling out all the stops in my attempt to save up for an extended round-the-world trip, I thought I would write a little guide to saving money for travel (of course this advice could be used if you’re saving for anything). Most of these tips can also be used while you’re on the road and a bit of extra cash when you’re without a regular salary is never a bad thing.
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