Lash World Tour

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How to Afford Long-Term World Travel

pt 1 – The Three Components

The most frequent question hopeful world travelers ask me is how I can afford to travel the world, especially long-term. This seems to be the major question asked not only to myself, but to many other travel bloggers and long-term

world travelers. Everyone wants to know how to travel the world cheap or at least not too expensively.

I recently read a survey in which dozens of travel bloggers were asked what they perceived to be the major fear orhesitation people have about traveling the world. Their perceptions were based on questions, feedback and

comments they receive from their readers and followers. Over 90% of the travel bloggers taking part said that most peoples’ main fear and hesitation concerns money.

Since I’ve been traveling the world continuously for over 14 years, I’m one of many living examples that long -termworld travel is financially possible as an ongoing lifestyle. Besides myself, there are dozens of other travelers, some

bloggers, who have been roaming the world for a few years, a decade, even two or three decades.

travel bloggers get together in Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

Meanwhile, based on questions would-be travelers keep asking, this topic of how to afford traveling is obviouslystill elusive to many. So I’ve decided to launch a series of travel tips explaining how to afford long term travel.

I’m going to explain exactly how I personally have continued paying for my travels. I will also give concreteexamples of how other long-term travelers and travel bloggers have been earning a living . I’ll then make suggestions

on dozens of potential ways to earn a living while traveling, including passive income sources, jobs andentrepreneurial ventures. My suggestions are based on my own personal experiences as well as people I’ve met out

on the road who are earning their way.

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This post being pt 1, following are the three components of affording long-term world travel:

thatched bungalow – Koh Bulon

1. It’s a lot cheaper to l ive around the world than in Europe or USA!

One important fact to know about traveling the world is that it can be much cheaper than you think. World Travelhas an image of being expensive and exclusive, something that only wealthy people can afford to do. World travel is

prestigious, a lifestyle that many people drea m of while believing it’s just not possible or affordable for them.

Certainly there are luxury vacations available. And luxury hotels, luxury resorts, luxury cruises, luxury tours and soon. Of course world travel CAN be very expensive and luxurious. But that type of travel is only one of many ways

to travel the world. It’s definitely not the only way to travel.

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In contrast, budget world travel is actually MUCH MUCH cheaper than living in USA or Europe. I kid you not. Justthink about that for a minute. It can cost LESS to travel around the world continuously than to live in your current

country with your current job, house, car and possessions.

I am living proof. I have been traveling the world on $400 – 500 per month since 1998. That’s all inclusive:accommodation, food and drinks, personal necessities, minor medical needs, transportation (even flights)

everything. That’s only $5000 -6000 US per year.

In 2012, I increased my budget to $600 per month, or $7500 per year. But I fell short of my budget! My averagemonthly budget for 2012 was $565 US. Last year I spent a total of $6780 US traveling the world continuously.

Really.

Can you live on that in your current life? I doubt it. But you can in many other countries!

Here are two other living examples of how inexpensive continuous world travel is:

Earl Baron of Wandering Earl has been traveling the world nearly as long as I have. He’s been averaging $1000 US per month. That’s $12,000 per year. Now that’s more than double what I live on. Compared to me, Earl is a ‘middle

class’ traveler.

Even traveling as Earl does, I’ll bet his expenses are a lot cheaper than your sedentary lifestyle. Yes?

Earl has written an excellent book on How To Live a Life of Travel , explaining all aspects of how to lead such a

lifestyle. If you’re interested in travelling the world, I highly recommend this book. Read my book review here Nomadic Matt , one of the world’s most famous and successful travel bloggers, has been roaming the world since

2008. He just published a book entitled, How to Travel the World on $50 a Day . That’s $1500 per month. Now if Iwere spending that much money during my world travels, I’d be living like a princess! I could really bump up my

standard of living from comfortable to luxurious.

Even that generous yearly travel budget of $18,000 US is probably still much less than you must spend to live athome. No?

http://www.wanderingearl.com/



https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?ii=1105996&c=ib&aff=180885&cl=120607



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So, once again, I ask you to pause and consider these financial facts. You can literally travel the world for as long asyou want on less than you must spend to not travel the world. So, for the same amount of money, which would you

rather do? Continue your current life? Or go travel?

Cycling in Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

So, as a first step in figuring out how it’s possible to travel the world long -term, know that you don’t need to find a

job that pays $30,000 or $60,000 or $100,000 / year. You just need to make $6,000-18,000 US, depending on howand where you want to travel. Financially, it’s easier to trav el, not harder!

Exactly how much you’ll need to travel, of course, depends on your ‘required’ standard of living whileoverseas/traveling. If you require luxury hotels, gourmet meals daily, designer clothes, riding in taxis… then it’s

going to cost you a l ot more than what I’ve just said.

Also any expensive habits like drinking, smoking, drugs… are going to make traveling a lot more expensive. Do youneed a/c? Hot showers? Rack up the room costs.

That brings us to component number two:

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2. Minimize Costs = live much cheaper

Fewer possessions

When you’re traveling, especially if you’re traveling long -term, there are only so many possessions you can (andwant to) carry. You don’t need a house, a car, a TV, a bunch of electronic gadgets, a collection of sports equipment,two closets worth of clothing or shoes, three drawers full of toiletries. You simply can’t carry that much with you.

All you can take is what fits in your backpack or suitcase. And as you’ll quickly learn when you start lugging arounda heavy b ackpack or two, you’ll actually want to minimize even more than you thought. You’ll want to drop as

much unnecessary weight as possible. You’ll quickly discover that you don’t actually need most stuff you’re used tohaving.

You also will no longer have any reason to continue buying more new gadgets, appliances, equipment, clothes orelectronics. How you going to carry them? Where you going to keep them? What could you possibly need them for?

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Lash teaching scuba diving in Thailand

In addition to less weigh t, a lack of possessions means no monthly bills. When you’re traveling the world, you don’thave a mortgage, rent, utility payments, car payments and insurance or any other monthly expenses.

Just stop to consider how much cheaper your life would be if you suddenly eliminated ALL your monthly expenses!

Owning fewer possessions is one major reason why traveling the world is less expensive than living a sedentarylifestyle.

Now you might have already realized that instead of a mortgage or rent you’ll have to p ay for rooms in hotels, guesthouses, hostels or other accommodation. And instead of car payments, you’ll have to pay for public transportation to

get around: buses, trains, boats, airplanes. And you’ll be correct.

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seaside budget bungalow in Bali

Much lower costs overseas

However, in most countries of the world those accommodation and transportation expenses are way way lessexpensive than back home in USA, Canada, Europe or Australia. And much less than a mortgage, car payments and

monthly utilities.In fact, you can even find all sorts of free accommodation if you want. Besides that, everything else is less expensive

too: food, drinks, toiletries, clothes, medical expenses… everything.

Lower costs in other countries is another major reason why world travel is cheaper than living a sedentary life in thewestern world.

Spending habits

Finally, there are many other ways / habits to cut costs even further on all your travel living expenses, such as:

* Stay in less expensive places

* Buy less expensive things- cheaper clothes, accessories, jewelry, toiletries

* Buy things in the least expensive countries* Cut out expensive habits (drinking, smoking, gourmet coffees or meals, luxury treatments)

* Enjoy free and cheap activities

* Don’t have kids or pets

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here I am at my book signing

3. Earning an income. Where does the money come from?

Ok, so traveling the world can be very inexpensive and there are many tips for cutting down on expenses even more.

But still, every traveler needs an income to continue traveling. How do we long-term travelers earn money to sustain

our nomadic lives?The short answer is that there are dozens and dozens of ways out in the world, while traveling, to earn a living.

There are dozens and dozens of ways that real long-term travelers, like myself, are currently earning a living whiletraveling. They include passive income sources, jobs (ie. working for other people or companies ) and working for

yourself.

I delve into this vast topic in subsequent posts in this series .

A few specific posts you might find useful:

part 2: How I Personally Have Been Traveling for 15 Years

part 3: How Other Long-Term Travelers I Know Earn a Living

part 5: List of Possible Income Sources While Traveling

———————————————————————————————————————————— -If you want to learn everything about how to travel long- term, I highly recommend Wandering Earl’s latest book:

http://www.lashworldtour.com/category/how-to-afford-long-term-world-travel-series



http://www.lashworldtour.com/2013/03/afford-long-term-world-travel-pt-2.html


http://www.lashworldtour.com/2013/03/afford-longterm-world-travel-pt-3-longterm-travelers.html


http://www.lashworldtour.com/2013/04/afford-long-term-world-travel-pt-5-list-income-sources-traveling.html


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How to Live a Life of Travel

Earl’s guidebook tells you all you need to get rolling and follow the travel life of your dreams. Besides discussingcosts and ways to earn a living, Earl explains motivation, pre-trip planning, logistics, safety, and other aspects of

long-term world travel.

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pt 2 – How I Do It

The most frequent question hopeful world travelers ask me is how I can afford travelling the world, especially long-

term. This seems to be the major question asked not only to myself, but to many other travel bloggers and long-term

world travelers. As a re sult, I’ve started this series to answer this important question.

In part 1 I explained the three basic components to affording world travel. If you’re trying to figure out how you,

too, can travel the world, I highly recommend reading pt 1 first in order to understand the basic principles of how

such a lifestyle is possible before delving into the specific details about income sources.

teaching scuba diving in Thailand

As for how to earn an income while traveling the world, there are dozens and dozens of ways to achieve that,

including passive income sources, jobs (working for other people/companies) and working for yourself. Ask 10

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long- term travelers how he/she earns a living and you’ll get 10 different answers. Each of us long -term travel addicts

has had to figure out on our own how to keep traveling.

I’ll be answering the question of how to earn a living while traveling over the cours e of several posts in this series,

as follows:

pt 2 – How I, Lash, have been able to afford 14 years of world travels

pt 3 – Concrete Examples of how other travelers I’ve met are earning a living

pt 4 – Concrete Examples of how other travel bloggers are earning a living

pt 5- List of potential ways to earn a living while traveling

pt 6 – How to minimize costs while traveling

This being pt 2, I will now explain exactly how I’ve been able to afford traveling the world since 1998.

This post is a long one, so I ’ll give you the short, quick version and the long, detailed version. If you want to skip

the long version, be sure to at least catch the ‘LESSONS TO LEARN’ at the bottom of the post.



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visiting a village near Sapa, – Vietnam

SHORT VERSION:

Step 1: Teaching English in Japan and saving money to travel the world. 1991-1997

Step 2: Invested my money and lived off the interest. Mid 1998-2000

Step 3: Finding different kinds of work out on the road. 2001-present:

* Cutting hair in Bali. 2001

* Modeling and performance work in Bali- 2001

* Export/import gig. Bali-Thailand-Japan- . 2001

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Lash teaching kids Engilsh in Osaka, Japan

Step 1: Teaching English in Japan and saving money to travel the world. 1991-1997

Before I graduated from university I had already decided that I was going to go travel around the world. I hadn’t

figured out HOW to manage that, particularly financially, but I did know without a doubt that’s what I was going to

do.

About that time a friend of mine moved to Tokyo, Japan and began teaching English. He repeatedly wrote to tell me

how much money he was making in the Land of the Rising Sun. So I decided that moving to Japan to teach English

would be an excellent way to save money to travel the world. A s a bonus, I’d essentially already be starting my

travels by living overseas in Kyoto.

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So that’s what I did. I moved to Kyoto, found a teaching job and set about diligently saving money for my big travel

plans. It took me six years, but once I reached my goal of $50,000 US, I quit my job and left Kyoto in 1997. After a

six-month visit with family and friends Stateside, I set out on my solo world travels in May, 1998.

Riding an elephant in Laos

Step 2: Invest my money and live off the interest

Before I left Japan I had started investing my money in mutual funds. During my 6-month preparations in the US, I

researched the topic of investing in much more in depth and plunged the rest of my savings into my chosen mutual

funds.

The stock market was soaring in the mid-late 1990s, so by the time I set out on my world trip, I had $6000 per year

in interest to live on, without touching the principle. That was more than enough for me to cycle-tour through SE

Asia on a budget of $400 US per month.

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Those were great trav el years. I was living entirely off passive income. I didn’t have to work or worry where money

was coming from. I simply traveled: cycled, island hopped, camped on beaches and in national parks, staying in

guest houses and budget hotels, ate local food and explored the cultural arts of the countries I visited.

That interest income lasted for 2 years. The 2000 stock market crash put an end to my wonderful investment interest

income. Luckily, I didn’t lose much of my principle either. I just let it sit in the funds for several years to regain its

original value.

However, that was the end of my passive income. Very sadly and reluctantly I had to work again. DAG! Suddenly,

while out on the road traveling I had to find some way to earn a living.

Since then I’ve tried many different jobs and entrepreneurial ventures to allow me to continue traveling. Here’s what

I’ve done:

Thai crew with Ruby and myself on Survivor Thailand

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Step 3: Finding different kinds of work out on the road

Starting in Bali…

In late 2000 I visited Bali for the 1st time. I instantly fell in love with it to the point that I started trying to figure out

ways to stay & earn an income there. It’s the only time in all my travels that I’ve felt that way about a place, aside

from Singapore.

So in early 2001 I returned to Bali and tried a variety of ways to make money. I called on my previous professional

skills and also tried out a brand new entrepreneurial venture:

preparing to perform a snake dance in Bali at a resort party

Work 1: Cutting hair

I had put myself through university with my first career: hair design. In Bali I decided to use that to my advantage. I

put signs up in strategic places where westerner expats and travelers frequent (popular cafes, restaurants and bars)

offering hair cutting services by a professional American hair designer. I gradually got more and more customers,

but it wasn’t enough to entirely live off. Cutting hair work usually takes quite a while to build up a clientele, so I

wasn’t surprised. But it did help pay for some expenses.

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Work 2: Modeling and performance work

I’d grown up as a ballet dancer and had performed in small dance companies in the US and Japan. More recently, I’d

learned fire spinning and had been performing it in Thailand. As a result, in Bali I was able to join a small

performance company that entertained at resort events, parties, new attraction openings and so on.

I did some fun gigs. Most notably, my colleague and I were the very first two people to officially go down the

largest slide at Bali’s Water World. More exciting for me was performing dance at Hard Rock Hotel’s main lobby /

bar.

I also got a few small modeling jobs, purely by chance. The TV crew were looking for people with tattoos and/or

piercings. That was me. :)

Selling my merchandise at a 3-day trance festival in Japan

Work 3: Export/import gig

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South Bali is filled with westerners and Japanese who buy Bali’s very inexpensive goods or else design their own

clothes, shoes, swimsuits, handbags, jewelry, or home interiors then have them made in Bali’s extensive factories.

They export their merchandise back to Europe, US and Japan for huge profits.

That gave me the inspiration to try it myself. I bought hundreds of select pants, sarongs and hip-bags. I also had two

unusual bags manufacture d, based on a local friend’s own design. I shipped them all to Japan.

Next I went to Bangkok, Thailand and bought up several hundred trendy T-shirts and shipped them along to Japan

as well. Finally, I flew to Japan, settled myself in Kyoto and picked up all my merchandise at the post office, where

it was being held for my arrival.

I spent three months selling everything at Kyotos’ various temple flea markets and at Dance Festivals all over Japan.

In the end, I sold 90-100% of most of my merchandise. The rest I flew back with me to Bangkok, where I marched

around the city, selling most of the remaining stuff to small shops in the tourist areas.

On most counts I’d say the venture was successful. It paid for my 3 -month trip in Japan, a quite expensive country.

And I had enough profit left over to travel through Nepal for one month.

However, it was a lot of work hauling my heavy merchandise all over Japan. And it was extremely stressful for me

as my very first import/ export venture. Every time I headed off to a flea market or dance festival, I never knew

whether I’d sell all or zero. I never knew if I’d make enough money to cover the costs involved or if I’d have to pay

out of my own pocket.

But it was mighty fun. I would have done it a second year except…



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here’s me driving my ATV on Survivor Thailand

Work 4: Working Crew on Survivor TV Show

While cycling and island hopping in southern Thailand, I literally and unexpectedly got picked up off the beach to

work on Survivor! I’d never even heard of the show bef ore. But I did speak Thai. They hired me as a Thai translator

for the production’s Unit Department. I’ve written a series of posts detailing my amazing experiences on

crew: Survivor Thailand

http://www.lashworldtour.com/category/survivor



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Later that year I was hired again to crew Survivor Amazon .

The pay was quite good. All our food, accommodation and minor medical expenses were covered. And the crew are

pr etty much working all the time. As a result, we didn’t spend any money. Most of our earnings went into savings.

So…

Here I am in Sydney with my then German boyrfriend

Work 5: Living off savings from working on Survivor crew

I was able to travel for one year on savings from working Survivor, along with a bit of interest income finally

coming back in from my previous investments. I also did two WWOOF gigs in Queensland:

WWOOFing in Kuranda / WWOOFing at Sanctuary Retreat




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Work 6:Training and working as a PADI Dive Master and Instructor

By 2004 I needed to find a new way to earn a l iving. I’d been considering becoming a dive pro ever since I started

my world travels back in 1998. Along the way I’d talked with dozens of dive pros at shops around SE Asia and in

Australia.

Back in south Thailand in 2004 I did all the dive courses up through Dive Master and promptly began working as a

dive pro. I loved it! After working one year as a DM in Thailand and Malaysia, I took the PADI Instructor’s Course,

became a PADI Instructor, and began teaching scuba diving.

From 2005 -2010 I taught diving in Thailand, Malaysia, Bali and the Philippines.

It’s a wonderfully fun job. BUT it’s not easy to find work in new places. And the pay is incredibly low, especially

given the amount of work required and the high level of responsib ility looking after people’s well being and lives.

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The pay is enough to survive on, but certainly not enough to save for the future. And since it was so difficult to find

work in new places, a diving career was ironically preventing me from traveling! I ended up in the same two places

over and over again, year after year.

So I began looking for a new way to earn a living.

my 1st career at hair designer – Pittsburgh – Pa

Work 7: Cutting hair in Shanghai, China

While teaching diving in Boracay Island, Philippines, I met a young Australian hair designer who owned his own

shop in Shanghai. He offered me a job and a place to live. I went.

The biggest thing I learned is that I do not want to cut hair full time! That lasted four months before I returned to

Bali to teach diving again.

Meanwhile, I took a web design course from a Dutch man living in Shanghai.

Work 8: Attempt at web design

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While in Bali I practiced web design vigorously and tried to earn money by designing websites for small dive shops

and businesses. I quickly learned that small independent shops want websites designed for free or next to nothing.

And web design is so learning-intensive that I would have to learn a LOT more before I could design for larger

companies who were willing to pay for websites.

I set that skill to the side.

Work 9: Working at a rock climbing school in Thailand

A German friend of mine owns a successful rock climbing school in Thailand. She hired me to work at the shop for

one high season.

While there, we discussed the idea of me opening a cafe or bakery in an empty bar / cafe on her property. I decided

to go for it. But before that…

paintball chicks

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Work 10: Selling paintball tickets in Manchester, England

While working at the climbing school, I met up with a South African guy who recruited me to work in his company

in England. He assured me a room in a company house and high earnings.

What the heck? I flew myself to England and worked for three months selling paintball tickets. Worst job in my life!

Read the full gory details: My Bizarre Summer in Manchester, England

Hanging out with some of my staff

Work 11: Running my own bakery / cafe / restaurant in Thailand

One of my teenage passions was baking. And while teaching diving in Thailand I’d seen a British woman run a

successful bakery. I knew that a bakery would do well there.

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So I escaped from England, went to the US for a few months, practiced and perfected my baking recipes, made

extensive business plans and headed back to Thailand. A British guy I knew went in on it with me. We hired a

Dutch chef. I was the baker. We set up and ran a full time bakery / cafe / restaurant.

It took off quickly and was a huge success all season. It was the only place that European and N American climbers

could get freshly baked bread, muffins and cookies and where they could eat high quality, authentic western meals.

Quite unfortunately, towards the tail end of the season I ran into some immigration / work permit issues and had to

close it down. Bummer.

So much for that great venture.

book signing – St Petersburg – Florida

Work 12: Travel blogging, author, travel writer

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Later that year I returned to Bali for one more dive season. When I arrived it dawned on me that I should write

a guidebook to cycling around Bali . I’d cycled the whole island myself already, knew th e best places to stay, eat and

visit. During my 6-month stay I also decided to write a guidebook to hiking in Bali . I did the research for both books

while there: hiking, cycling and taking extensive notes.

I returned to the US for Christmas 2010 and stayed the following year with family while I wrote my two guidebooks

and got LashWorldTour started in earnest. I worked for 1 ½ years, without any income, living off my former

savings, before I started earning a living from my blog and writing.

And this is where I am today. Traveling the world once again, writing, photographing and blogging as I go.

Here are some insights I hope you will take away from my experiences earning a living while traveling the world:

Lessons to be learned :

1. There are dozens of ways to earn a living in countries all over the world

2. You can use your own personal skills, training and knowledge to create your own work niche or find jobs

3. Observe what others are doing and perhaps try it yourself

4. You can always find a way to earn a living. Figure out what you could do and try it.

5. Many opportunities will unfold as you go. Those opportunities will only happen if you’re out t here, not

while you’re sitting at home.

6. Do something you love. It will be a lot more fun and last longer

7. Take some risks

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8. If you don’t work within the laws of the countries you’re in, you’re at risk of legal ramifications

9 You can’t plan out 20 ye ars beforehand. Just get started and figure it out as you go.

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pt 3 – How Other Long-Term Travelers Do It

Over the course of my 14+ years of world travels I’ve met many other long -term travelers enjoying themselves out

in the world, just l ike me. Each of them has figured out a way to afford traveling for several months, several years or

even decades.

They’ve told me a lot of interesting, thought - provoking and creative ways they’ve manage to keep traveling the

world. Some live off of passive income. Others work for companies. And others are entrepreneurs and freelancers.

In this post, I’ll share their ‘secrets’ with you.

So If you’re wondering how to travel the world, maybe some of these will ideas work for you, too?

Euros

Travelers Living off of Passive Income Sources:

In my opinion, becoming independently wealthy by living off of passive income is the absolute best way to go

through life! I managed it for a couple years at the beginning of my world travels by investing the money I earned in

Japan and living/traveling off the interest. (Catch pt 2 – How I Do It )






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Quite unfortunately for me, the 2000 stock market crash, and my lack of investment expertise, ended that great

lifestyle. I’ve been working ever since, but I hope one day soon to create passive income sources again so I can

travel the world, work free.

In the meantime, I’ve met several other long -term travelers doing just that:

1. Scott – retired stock broker

Scott is a British traveler I’ve known for several years. He did exceptionally well working as a broker in the stock

market. In his early 30s he made a really smart move: He quit, invested all his money, and has been traveling the

world, living off his investments, ever since. He’s now in his early 40s. Scott just roams the world, visits friends,

and does whatever he pleases.

apartment buildings – Singapore

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2. Mark – apartment building owner

Mark is a young European former model I met in the Philippines. He made a decent chunk of money, so he bought

two apartment buildings. The rent he collects from all the units makes him independently wealthy. He doesn’t need

to work beyond that, so he simply travels the world, living off his passive rental income.

3. Tal Gur – passive income from websites

Tal was determined to create an independent lifestyle for himself, so he spent a couple years learning how to create

websites that would generate passive income. After he got the websites up and pulling in steady income, he began

traveling the world.

4. Captain Mike – website entrepreneur

Mike is another website entrepreneur who creates a huge variety of websites that generate passive income.

Combined, they render Mike independently wealthy. (except that he does often work hard making new websites. So

they’re not entirely ‘passive’ in the full sense.)

5. Randy – living off his pension

Randy is a Dutch man I met in Bali. As a lifetime government employee, he was able to retire in his early 50s. His

pension of roughly €2000 is more than enough to live on and/or travel just about anywhere in the world for the rest

of his life.

6. Johann – traveling on a family sabbatical

Some Scandinavian countries value personal family time so much that major companies routinely give their

employees fully-paid three- month ‘family sabbaticals’ so they can participate in their kids’ childhood. Johann and



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his wife are two rock climbers I met in Thailand who used their family sabbatical to take their kids to live in

Thailand for three months.

teaching yoga classes is a great way to earn money while traveling

Traveling Entrepreneurs:

1. Jeannie – freelance acupuncture, acupressure and holistic medicine

I met this young American woman in Thailand. She was funding her travels with her professional acupuncture and

holistic medicine skills. Most, if not all, of her clients were other western travelers.

2. Ian – freelance body piercer

I also met Ian in Thailand. He is a professional body piercer who was traveling with his kit of piercing needles and

jewelry. Wherever he went, he hung out chatting with other travelers about his piercings to drum up customers.

3. Katie and Anne – freelance yoga teachers

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lululemonathletica/4800266188/



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I’ve met many wandering yoga teachers such as Katie and Anne during my travels. They settle into an area that’s

popular with western travelers who are into health / fitness / healthy living. Then they set up yoga classes weekly or

several times per week. They charge a class fee appropriate for the area/country they’re in. With several students per

class, they’re able to make a decent income for themselves.

my 1st career at hair designer – Pittsburgh – Pa

4. Myself and Julie – cutting travelers’ hair

As I mentioned in pt 2 of this series, I earned some decent income several times during my travels by falling back on

my former career as a hair designer. I’ve done freelance hair cutting in Bali and Thailand. I also worked in a hair

salon in Shanghai, China for four months.

I heard about another woman cutting hair in Goa, India. Apparently she was making heaps of money cutting hair for

western travelers.

5. Dozens of westerners who’ve set up their own businesses abroad








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I constantly come across westerners who have set up restaurants, cafes, bars, resorts, B& Bs, hotels, spas, yoga

studios, retail shops, import/export businesses, you name it, in almost every country I’ve ever visited. Many of them

have a local partner / husband / wife. Some have a western partner. And others are single. I’ve patronized their

places in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, China.

Clearly these entrepreneurs are living more or less permanently in the location where they have their businesses.

They’re not out traveling continuously, and certainly not nomadically. I generally ref er to these people as expats

rather than world travelers. But that’s fine, too. They are out in the world, outside their own countries. This is just

another example of one way to live out in the world.

6. Klaus and Jack – export / importers

Klaus is a German export/importer I met in Bali. He travels to Bali yearly to buy up inexpensive merchandise that he

ships back to Germany and sells at various outdoor markets.

Jack is an American doing pretty much the same. He buys goods in Thailand and Bali, ships them back to the USA,

and sells them at stores in several cities.



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Lufthansa Airlines crew

People working for companies:

1. Nina – Flight attendant

Nina is a career flight attendant for Lufthansa Airline. She’s also a travel addict. Her career helps her travel more

inexpensively and extensively than just about anyone else with a full-time job.

Flight attendants get to travel the world for work. They also have a huge amount of time off due to flight regulations.

Most of them love traveling, so they often u se their abundant ‘down time’ taking their own personal trips, with the

added benefit of getting super cheap flights all over the world.

2. Kat – nurse

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One of my best friends is a nurse in Australia. In case you didn’t know, the nursing profession in many countries is

severely short-staffed. As a result, nurses get paid excellent salaries and can often negotiate their work hours.

Kat figured out that she earns almost as much working part-time as she would full- time. So that’s what she does.

She takes a lot of shifts that paid more than usual: over time, weekend shifts and holiday shifts. She’s often able to

work 3-4 days in a row then have 3-4 days off. Sometimes she works two weeks straight then has two weeks off.

Whenever she wants to go travel the world, she informs the hospitals that she’s not available and takes off for 3 -6

months, sometimes an entire year. When she returns, she simply lets the hospitals know she’a available again. The

work rolls right back in.

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myself and other western English teachers with school staff in Japan

3. Dozens of people teaching English abroad

I can’t even count how many travelers I’ve met who are teaching English overseas. I know people teaching in Japan,

Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and several South American countries.

Teaching English is a great way to take the first step out into the world. You have a steady job with a good salary.

You’re on a one -year contract, so you have time in one location to make friends, learn the ropes of living overseas,

save money, and get to know a different culture.

4. Stephanie, Marcus, Colin, Tom – expat workers

All sorts of international companies, hotels and resorts hire employees to work overseas.

I have several good western friends who currently live in Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore working for large

companies.

Like the entrepreneurs running their own businesses, who I mentioned above, these expat employees are living more

or less permanently in one place. But they do take advantage of days off, weekends and holidays to travel

extensively. They explore the country they’re living in as well as surrounding countries. As a result, they’re able to

see a lot of the world while living overseas.



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western dive instructor teaching in Bali

6. Dozens of scuba diving pros

While training and then teaching scuba diving from 2004-2010 in several Asian countries, I met dozens and dozens

of other western travelers doing the same. Most of them are either Dive Masters or Dive Instructors, but some own

their own shops or work as Course Directors, Underwater Photographers, Underwater Videographers, or Technical

Instructors.

It’s a great lifestyle, though the pay is quite low considering the amount of work and responsibility required. And

it’s not so easy to find work in new places, so th is career generally works best for people who want to stay in the

same place for many years.

7. Dozens of travel guidebook writers

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Lonely Planet and other long-standing travel guides employ dozens of writers to research various regions of the

world to update their guidebooks.

many of these European and N American rock climbers do seasonal work back home then climb at Tonsai for 2-6

months per year

8. Dozens of travel addicts do seasonal work half year and travel half year

I’ve spent several years hanging out at Tonsai Beach, Krabi, Thailand. It’s one of the most famous rock -climbing

meccas in the world, and the number 1 climbing spot in Asia. As a result, I have many climbing friends from N.

America and Europe who head to Tonsai yearly for 1- 6 months in order to spend their lives climbing in paradise.

How do they afford to do that year after year?

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Many of them have seasonal work and/or their own businesses. Gege is a welder. Klause sets up big expositions and

events. Jamie works for a national park. Wade is a rafting guide in Alaska. Stephanie and April work in upscale

restaurants in the tourist regions of France. One couple teaches sky diving in Europe. Nina (who I mentioned above)

is a flight attendant who gathers up vacation days to take 1-2 month leaves. Nick does IT work in England. Several

people are teachers in N. America who have 3 months off ever summer.

I’ve also met a Japanese guy who drives trucks seasonally so he can tra vel six months per year.

Seasonal work is a great way to earn an income and be able to travel for several months every year.

—————————————————————————————————— -

CONCLUSION:

As you can see, there are dozens and dozens of ways that real people are out in the world right now, earning a living

while traveling the world. They’ve all managed to afford a life of world travel. Why not you, too?

So…

Which of these income ideas will work for you?

Do you have any talents or professional skills that will allow you to freelance overseas?

Do any company jobs like teaching English, nursing, flight attendant or seasonal work appeal to you?

—————————————————————————————————————————————— -



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pt 5: List of Income Sources while Traveling

In this post on my series How To Afford Long-Term World Travel , I present a list of the many different ways that

myself, travelers I’ve met and travel bloggers I know are ear ning a living right now to finance their world travels. As

it turns out, there are many ‘travel the world jobs’ available around the planet!

This list is primarily a compilation of parts 2, 3 & 4 (How I Do It - How Other Travels I’ve Met Do It – How Other

Travel Bloggers Do It ) in condensed version. I’ve also thrown in a few other jobs that I remembered after posting

the previous sections.

Passive IncomeSources

Passive income is money that comes in without you having to do any work for it. Passive income sources include

income from rental properties, interest earned on investments, income from businesses that you own but don’t

physically work at, and royalties fr om intellectual properties you’ve created such as books, music, photographs and

phone apps.










http://www.lashworldtour.com/2013/04/afford-longterm-world-travel-pt-4-travel-bloggers.html




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People with passive income have most definitely worked previously to create these income sources, probably a lot

of work. But now that their book, photos or investments are completed, the happy owners can just sit back and let

the money roll in, a credit to their vision and hard efforts.

In my opinion, becoming independently wealthy by living off of passive income is the absolute best way to go

through life! I managed to do it for a couple years at the beginning of my world travels by investing the money I

earned in Japan and living/traveling off the interest.

Quite unfortunately for me, the 2000 stock market crash, and my lack of investment expertise, ended that great

lifestyle. I’ve been working ever since. But I hope one day soon to create enough passive income sources that I can

continue traveling the world, work free.

In the meantime, I’ve met several other long -term travelers doing just that. They earn money from:

1. rental income from apartments, condos, houses or retail space

2. royalties from selling their books, photographs or phone apps

3. affiliate income from selling other peoples’ books and products

https://www.createspace.com/3642141



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4. passive income from various websites they’ve created

5. retirement income

6. pension income

7. interest income from financial investments

Jobs that allow you to live and/or travel overseas

Many jobs entail that employees either travel or live abroad. They include jobs in the travel industry, at large

intern ational corporations, at language schools and casual work in other countries. I’ve met people doing all of the

following overseas:

8. teaching English abroad

9. working for corporations

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10. working for hotels and resorts

11. working on cruise ships

12. crewing on private yachts

13. teaching scuba diving

14. working for airlines

15. guiding tours for a tour company

16. doing casual work in local restaurants, bars and shops

17. fruit picking and other farm labor

18. seasonal work that allows them to travel several months per year

19. nursing

20. modeling and acting

Entrepreneurial ventures travelers do to earn a living

A majority of long-term world travelers become entrepreneurs, finding or creating ways to earn a living for

themselves in order to continue traveling the world. I’m one such nomadic traveler. I’ve met dozens and dozens of

others earning a living from the following ventures:



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here I am cutting hair

21. cutting hair

22. doing piercings

23. teaching yoga

24. giving massages

25. doing physical therapy

26. doing acupuncture, acupressure and/or holistic medicine

27. making and selling jewelry, bags, clothes, etc.

28. street performance

29. imports/exports – selling things from other countries at shops, markets or festivals




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30. owning a resort, B&B, restaurant, bar or other business

professional photography by Beth Salvon of Beers and Beans

31. running a tour company

32. travel blogging

33. SEO work

34. website design

35. phone apps design

65. website entrepreneur

37. freelance travel writing

38. freelance travel photography (or other photography work)

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39. day trading (trading stocks)

40. teaching courses on blogging, writing, photography, web design, SEO work

——————————————————————————————————————————————

—

This extensive list proves that there are literally dozens and dozens of ways to earn a living around the world and to

finance a long-term travel lifestyle.

Besides this list I’ve compiled, Wandering Earl has created his own list of 42 jobs that travelers can do overseas.

Some of the income sources on our two lists are the same, but Earl has suggested many others. Check out Earl’s

great list for even more ideas on how to earn a living overseas.

And if you’re truly serious about world travel, especially long -term world travel, I highly

recommend Earl’s very informative, inspirational and thorough eBook: How To Live a Life of Travel . In this book

Earl goes into much more depth on one dozen jobs people do overseas. In addition, he covers many other aspects of

travel life.

Read my review of Earl’s book

Check out Earl’s book yourself

——————————————————————————————————————————————

—–

http://www.wanderingearl.com/42-ways-you-can-make-money-and-travel-the-world/



















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Next up in this series I tackle another very important aspect of affording long- term travel: minimizing costs. I’ll be

dishing out ideas on how to minimize costs on accommodation, eating, water and beverages, personal needs,

transportation and other stuff. Looks like it’s going to take a few more posts to cover it all! So stay tuned…

——————————————————————————————————————————————

—–



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pt 6 – Minimizing Costs on Accommodation

A big part of low cost travel around the world entails cutting accommodation expenses.

But before I get started on how to minimize accommodation costs, I’d like to point out that traveling long -term

doesn’t necessarily mean having to travel on a tight budget and pinch pennies. Many clever, business-savvy world

travelers have figured out ways to earn substantial incomes.

For example, I know several travel bloggers who steadily earn $4000-5000 US per month. With that kind of steady

income, they can travel pretty much anywhere, stay in their choice of rooms and participate in all kinds of rather

costly adventures and tours

As proof, on FB I just spied David Lee of Travel Blog Success driving a flashy red sports car. And Johnny Ward

of One Step 4 Ward lives in a delux condo in Bangkok, with killer views over the city.

So your own income, budget and travel style are entirely up to you. How can you use your ideas, talents and abilities

to create the travel lifestyle you want for yourself?

That having been said, assuming that most long-term world travelers will be on some sort of budget rather than

traveling like royalty… and also considering that this post is all ab out minimizing costs on accommodation, I

present you with the following tips and advice for reducing your budget on rooms:

http://travelblogsuccess.com/member/aff/go?r=989&i=4



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Camping with my tent on Perentian Besar Island, Malaysia. Free.

A. Free Accommodation

Did you know that there are many types of free accommodation just about everywhere in the world? It’s true. Free

options include camping, staying at temples & monasteries, sleeping at airports & stations, couchsurfing & tripping,

and house sitting & house swapping.

I’ve written a detailed post about these free accommodation options around the world . Check it out for more info.

http://www.lashworldtour.com/2012/07/travel-tips-free-accommodation-world.html







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View from my balcony in Sapa, Vietnam. Room $4 US

B. Budget Accommodation

Many different types of budget accommodation are also available all over the world. There are youth hostels,

YMCAs, budget hotels, guest houses, homestays, bungalow resorts, pensions and losmen, among others. Typical

rates range from $5 – $20 US per night.

I’ve also written a post explaining all the different types of budget accommodation , including their prices,

throughout SE Asia. Check it out for full details.

C. Work in exchange for accommodation

1. WWOOFing

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World Workers on Organic Farms is an international organization of farms, B&Bs, small resorts and personal homes

who offer accommodation and meals in exchange for work. The guideline is a half day work in exchange for room

& board. Check out WWOOF website for details.

To get a first hand account of what WWOOFing gigs are like, read my personal stories about WWOOFing in

Kuranda and WWOOFing at Sanctuary Retreat , both in Australia.

2. House Sitting

Home owners who go on holidays, business trips or extended travels often seek house sitters to take care of their

homes and properties while they’re away. Many have pets that need to be cared for, others don’t. House sitting

assignments can last anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks to several months, to even a year or longer. Such gigs are

found all over the world, but more predominantly in USA, Canada, Australia and Europe.

Several house sitting organizations exist online that bring together home owners and hopeful house sitters.

Dalene & Pete Heck of Hecktic Travels have written an excellent guidebook How to Become a House Sitter . Check

out their book if you’re interested in house sitting. Or read my review of their book .

3. Casual work at hostels

http://www.wwoof.org/










https://www.e-junkie.com/ecom/gb.php?cl=217256&c=ib&aff=180885



http://www.lashworldtour.com/2012/12/book-review-how-to-become-a-house-sitter.html












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Youth hostels often employ travelers to work various jobs at the hostel. Sometimes they post signs when they need

more staff. Whether they’re advertising positions or not, you could always ask or suggest working in exchange for a

bed.

common balcony at a budget hotel in Kandy – Sri Lanka – rooms $5 US

D. General tips for cutting costs

1. Don’t book budget and mid -range rooms online

As far as online bookings go, budget and mid-range accommodation options work exactly the opposite as booking

luxury accommodation. In the cases of 5-star and 4-star hotels & resorts, you can usually get the lowest rates by

booking online. Show up in person at reception and you’ll be quoted the ‘rack rate’ which is much higher than rates

you’ll find onl ine.




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But when it comes to budget rooms, you’ll get lower rates by simply showing up in your destination and finding a

room in person. Seriously. Why is this so?

Treehouse bungalow on Koh Samet, Thailand. 200B / $5 US in 2001 = $7 US now

For one thing, ma ny budget places don’t have their own website and they’re not listed on reservation sites like agoda

and trip advisor. Thousands of budget places simply don’t exist online. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. They

are alive and well. But you’ll only fi nd them in person or listed in a guidebook.

There’s a reason that the cheapest budget rooms are never listed on reservation sites like agoda and trip advisor.

Those booking companies, while being very handy, earn an income by taking a small commission from each

booking made. They couldn’t make much on a room that only costs $4 US. Besides that, many budget places are run

by locals who aren’t necessarily internet savvy. They just don’t know about or don’t know how to list themselves

with such websites.




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As for budget rooms that are listed on such reservation sites, the rates for those rooms are higher than the actual

room rate because of the small commission added to each booking.

Several times I’ve checked out budget accommodation rates on reservation websites for destinations that I’m very

familiar with. Their room listings are always higher than room rates I know are available in that destination.

Unless you’re going somewhere super popular in the peak season, there’s really no need to book your rooms ahead

of time. Just show up and talk to the owners in person. You’ll get a much better rate.

Thatched bungalow on Phuket, Thailand. 250B / $8 US

2. Travel during low season / avoid high season

Prices on rooms are often much higher in peak season, much lower in low season. Traveling during the low season

of any given country is a great way to get lower prices all around, not only on accommodation, but also on tours,

activities and transportation. You will also avoid crowds. In many tropical regions like SE Asia, traveling in low

season usually means cooler weather too.




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3. Ask for a discount

When you show up looking for a room, after you’re quoted a price, ask for a discount. It never hurts to ask. You

could ask for a discount because you’re traveling alone, you’re going to stay more than one night, the rate is

expensive for you, it’s low season, the hotel is empty… or even without any specific reason.

Obviously, you’ll be more successful if you’re friendly, easy-going, you smile and ask politely. Be someone they

want to have at their place. Don’t act like you ‘expect’ or ‘demand’ or ‘deserve’ a discount. Just ask in a friendly,

non-demanding way. And don’t get huffy, mad or rude if they don’t give y ou a lower rate. Just take the room at their

usual rate or go elsewhere with a ‘thank you’.

4. Solo travelers can often get a discount on rooms

Most room rates are based on double occupancy. So if you’re traveling solo, point out that you’re just one perso n

and ask if they can give you a lower price. Even if they don’t normally give a lower price, they might empathize

with you if you ask nicely.

I usually say that I’m traveling alone so the room price is a bit expensive for me. And ask if they could give me a

lower price. Usually they do, though not always.



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Seaside room in Yeh Sanih, Bali, north coast. 100,000 rp / $10 US

5. Get a discounted weekly or monthly rate

Almost every hotel, resort and budget accommodation place provide discounts to guests who stay one week or

longer. They usually don’t post that anywhere. You have to ask. So if you’re planning to stay anywhere for one

week or longer, ask about a discount right away before you settle in. Some places might require that you pay in

advance, others not . Sometimes they’ll give you a discount for as few as 5 nights or even 3 nights. It won’t hurt to

ask and you might get a lower rate.

6. Rent an apartment or house




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If you’re going to stay in a place for 1 month or more, renting a small house or apartment i s most likely going to cost

a lot less than staying at nightly accommodation, even budget accommodation. Ask locals if they know of any place

to rent monthly or how to find out about such places.

You can really save a huge chunk of money by doing this. I’v e managed to save heaps of money doing this. For

example, in Amed, Bali the cheapest rooms at resorts in the area cost 100,000 rp per night. $10 US. I was able to

rent an entire house for $100 US per month. That’s about $3.30 per night – only 1/3 the cost. I managed the same

sort of rates monthly while living in the Philippines and in Thailand while teaching scuba diving.

QUESTIONS:

Which of these tactics have you used to minimize your accommodation expenses?

Do you have any other tips for saving money on accommodation?

——————————————————————————————————————————————

———–



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pt 7 – Minimizing Costs on Transportation

Transportation costs vary tremendously from country to country around the world. In N. America, Europe,

Australia, New Zealand, Japan and other highly-developed countries, transportation is usually quite expensive. But

in many developing countries, public transportation is very inexpensive. So depending on which part of the world

you’re traveling through, transportation could be a major expense or a minor one.

That having been said, within each region of the world and each country there are generally several different pubic

transportation options available. Which options you choose can make a huge difference in your total transportation

costs.

Here are 9 ‘rules of the road’ for minimizing transportation expenses while traveling the world:

1. Minimize Flights

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Of all the forms of transportation available, flying is generally the most expensive. By using overland transportation

as much as possible, y ou’ll keep your transportation costs to a minimum.

That having been said, sometimes flying can actually be cheaper than going overland, particularly for long distances.

If the overland route takes 2-3 days or more, you should take into account the total costs involved in the journey.

That would include food for the duration of the trip and perhaps staying overnight one or more times. Then other

incidental expenses would inevitably arise, such as transport from stations to lodging and personal daily needs.

If you don’t particularly want to see or do anything en route to your destination, and the only reason for going

overland is to save money, don’t forget to factor in all the costs involved before deciding whether it’s indeed

cheaper to go overland than to fly. You might also want to consider the value of your time.

In the USA, because of the huge hike in gasoline prices during the past few years, it’s now generally much cheaper

to fly long distances than to drive, take a bus or a train. In fact, flights can cost 1/2 – 1/4 the price of ground

transportation.

In addition, no matter where you’re traveling in the world, you can sometimes get super cheap flight deals that will

actually be cheaper than going overland. A perfect example in Asia is Air Asia’s frequen t free and nearly-free flight

deals.

The best thing to do is check out the cost of all your options to find the cheapest way to get to your destination.



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2. Don’t use taxis or other private -hire transport

Even though taxis in many countries are considerably less expensive than their counterparts in the USA or Europe,

taxis are still by far the most expensive ground transportation. Taxis basically are not part of a budget travelers’

lifestyle. As a rule, don’t use them.

However, there might be cases when you have no choice but to use a taxi. For instance, at some airports the only

way to get anywhere from the airport is taxi service. If absolutely no buses, motorcycle taxis, trishaws or other

ground transportation is available, well then you’ll have to take a taxi or walk.

In many cities public transportation stops fairly early at night, say 11 pm or midnight. If you’re out clubbing or

partying into the morning hours some distance from your accommodation, you might have to take a cab.

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You might also end up in a situation where it would be dangerous to get around any way except taxi. For example,

arriving at night in a place that’s known for night time crime. Obviously, take a taxi rather than risk your safety.

But minimize taxis as much as possible.

take local buses instead of organized ‘tourist transport’ -

3. Skip joining organized tourist transportation

International tourism is so well developed in most countries of the world that transportation services geared

specifically to tourists are well established. They often use larger, more luxurious buses or vans than those used by

normal local transportation in their country. They also often offer ‘package’ transport, which might include pick -up

at your hotel and a combination of vans, buses and boats to reach the destination.

In most cases, these tourist transportation packages cost considerably more than simply using local transportation on

your own.

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Another downside to such tourist services is that you’ll be hauled around like sheep with a group of other tourists.

You won’t be mingling with locals. And the trips often include long waits between connections, forced stop -offs at

souvenir stores and group meals at tourist restaurants that usually have fairly crappy food. Yuk, who wants to do any

of that?

This isn’t always the case though. Sometimes such tourist transport services actually do offer the most economical

and easiest way to get from point A to point B. It depends on what would be involved in taking local transport. It’s

worth checking both options and choosing the least expensive and/or most convenient.

taking a trishaw in Java – Indonesia

4. Use Local Transportation

In addition to being much cheaper, local transportation (I mean buses, trains, etc that the local people use) gives you

a MUCH more authentic experience of the country. You’ll be on -board almost entirely with local people. No other

tourists in sight.

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Besides, you’ll have the opportunity to use all sorts of unique local transportation such as trishaws, tuk -tuks, horse-

n-carts, rikshaws and river ferries

How fun is that?!

riding a tuk tuk in Bangkok – Thailand

5. Find out the real rate before taking any local transportation

In many countries, local transportation drivers have a habit of automatically over-charging westerners. They might

up the fare anywhere from an extra 50% to 3 or 4 times the real rate.

To make sure you’re not taken advantage of, before you catch that local transport, ask your guest house staff or any

local at a shop, restaurant or even a taxi driver what the normal cost is from A to B.

Once you’re negotiating with the driver, make sure you settle on a price before you start. If you don’t discuss it and

wait until you arrive at your destination, you might have a huge bill in store for you.

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If the driver quotes you a higher fare, don’t express anger or shout or yell. Tell him in a friendly manner, preferably

with a smile or a playful sideways glance, what the real fare is. You might have to stand your ground for a while.

But as long as you remain friendly and unruffl ed, they’ll probably give in. If, on the other hand, they get pissed off

and/or ask you to get off the bus, well then you’ve obviously accidentally quoted a fare that’s too -low. Pay what

they ask with an apology or get off the bus.

overnight trains run between Thailand & Malaysia & Singapore

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6. Taking overnight buses or trains saves you one night’s accommodation fee

I’m not a big fan of overnight buses. I just can’t sleep on them. But I am a huge fan of overnight sleeper trains. I can

lay in my own bed and sleep to the soothing chug-chug of the train.

If you can handle either of these overnight options for long overland trips, you’ll save yourself one night’s

accommodation.

bicycling is a great way to travel the world!

7. Travel by Bicycle

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message board at Australian hostel

8. Share rides with other travelers

In Australia, where distances between famous destinations are far and transportation is expensive, there’s a well -

organized network among travelers to share vehicles with other foreign visitors. Signs are regularly posted at

backpackers, hostels, campgrounds and other places that travelers hang out. Usually one traveler has bought a

vehicle to drive around Australia. Then he/she searches for other travelers to join and share fuel costs, possibly

helping to drive as well.

I used this system for several of my longer road trips around Oz. I met some great people and had a marvelous time.

In Europe, too, there’s a very extensive network of transportation sharing. Called ‘ride share’ or ‘car pooling’,

several websites are dedicated to connecting people who want to get from one city to another all over Europe and

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the UK. Some websites are available in several languages. You generally have to join the website (often free) in

order to search for rides. This great share system can save you loads of money on public transportation, help you

meet new friends, and save on greenhouse gas emissions. Save money and the environment all at once!

9. Hitch hike

Obviously hitch hiking can be risky. I don’t recommend it as your m ain mode of transportation. Obviously it could

be safe in some countires but downright dangerous in others. Then in some places it might not work becauase the

local drivers don’t understand what you’re trying to do!

I have hitch hiked a few times over the years and I find it great fun. BUT, big BUT, I’ve only done it in places I was

SURE were safe. I hitch hiked to save money on expensive transportation or to get around where local public

transportation didn’t exist.

I’ve hitch hiked in Japan several times, which was quite amusing since they generally didn’t know what the heck I

wanted to do. I’ve also hitch hiked short distances (like across town sort of thing) in places where I lived for several

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months at a time, knew many locals, and knew beyond doubt tha t I’d be safe. Specifically, I’ve hitch hiked in Amed,

Bali and around Ao Nang, Krabi, Thailand. In such cases it helps immensely to speak the language.

Hitch hiking could be an option to keep in mind for such situations that are safe.

QUESTIONS:

Which of these transportation ‘rules of thumb’ do you use?

Do you have any other tips or suggestions for saving money on transportation?

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Why Living Overseas Is Better pt 1- Financial Benefits

I first left the USA back in 1991. I moved to Kyoto, Japan specifically to save money to travel the world. Six yearslater, mission accomplished, I set out on my world trip. I’ve been traveling and living overseas ever since.

Needless to say, I’ve learned a heck of a lot about living and traveling in different countries. I’ve learned many eye -

opening facts about such important things as costs of living around the world, health care, working overseas and life

styles in various cultures.

My overwhelming and unhesitating conclusion is that living overseas is much better – for Americans at least – than

living Stateside. That’s precisely why I’m still out here living and traveling the world!

Living outside the US has heaps of benefits that range from less expensive merchandise and food, better and cheaper

health care, more state-of-the-art electronics, better internet access, much lower taxes, to a more diverse andculturally interesting daily life.

In fact, living overseas has so many bonuses that I’ve decided to write an entire series onWhy It’s Better to Live

Overseas .

Here in pt 1 I focus on the financial benefits of living overseas.

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With students and teachers in Osaka – Japan

American taxes are much lower for expatriates

American citizens living overseas (expatriates) are exempt from paying US taxes on the first $80,000 US of income

(or equivalent in whichever currency you’re earning your salary).

Yes, that’s right my fellow Americans! The first $80,000 of yearly salary you earn is legally tax free from any US

taxes. Simply by living overseas instead of on US soil.

What’s your current salary? How’d you like to not have to hand over 20 -30% of your income to the US

government? How’d you like to keep that 20 -30% of your hard-working salary instead of seeing it snatched away

in taxes before your money lands in your own hands?

Do you realize how much larger your take- home pay would be? With an $80,000 salary, you’d have an extra

$16,000 – $24,000 US per year. On a $40,000 salary, you’d have an extra $8000 -10,000. For doing the same job.

That’s pret ty awesome!

Wait, it gets better:

Any income above $80,000 is taxed as usual, but by basing your income on that starting amount, excluding the

initial $80,000.

For example, let’s say you earn $100,000. You will be taxed as if your income were $20,000. That puts you in a

lower tax bracket than someone being taxed on $100,000. So in addition to paying zero tax on the first $80,000, you

get a second tax break, of sorts, by having to pay less tax on that remaining income.



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Here I am with my English School staff in Osaka – Japan

Paying taxes to your hosted country

You will be obligated to pa y expatriate taxes on your income to the country where you’re working. But those taxes

are often much much lower than US taxes. For instance, while I worked in Japan for six years I paid Japanese taxes

on my income to the tune of less than 10%.

Prior to working in Japan, I had lived and worked in the USA just like most other Americans. For years I had

watched 25% of my income disappear to taxes before I was handed what was left. Knowing that a huge chunk of my

tax dollars was being used for military spending and that I probably would never be paid back the social securitytaxes I was handing over, I was not very happy giving the US government my hard earned money!

After that experience, receiving pay checks in Japan was amazing. It seemed like such a tiny li ttle bit of money was

removed from my pay for taxes. And in fact, 10% was less than half of what I’d b een used to paying. It WAS

significantly less.

http://www.whichoffshore.com/offshore-tax



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Cycling in Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

Medical care and health insurance are covered

Your health insurance and/or medical care will most likely be covered for you if you’re working in another country.

In some countries, like Japan, health insurance is mandatory but is paid for by your employer. In my case, the

English school that hired me and provided my work visa was also obligated to pay my health insurance. Saweet!

That’s one of the first and only times in my life I’ve been able to ‘afford’ health insurance. I certainly did not have

health insurance when I worked in the US, except for a few years when my employer paid half.

In other countries, your medical needs could be completely covered by that country’s medical system. In many

European countries, your income taxes cover all your medical care, in addition to other citizen benefits. If you’re

working and residing in the country, you’ll be covered too, even though you’re not a citizen.

How much do you currently pay monthly for health insurance in the USA?

How’d you like to see that hefty bill disappear? How’d you like to have all your medical expenses covered, anytime,

every time you need to visit the doctor or hospital?

But I’ll get into that more later in this series: Why It’s Better to Live Overseas – Health Care

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Shanghai – China

Free housing and/or transportation

Your housing and/or transportation costs may be covered by your employer too. Expats working for large companies

often enjoy another wonderful perk from being placed overseas: free housing. Big companies routinely put theirexpat employees up in lush condos, homes or apartments. Imagine not having to pay any rent or mortgage!

In Japan, companies routinely pay their employees home-to-work transportation fees. Since transportation is

extremely expensive in Japan, having the company pay your way to/from work saves another big chunk of money.

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Hanging out with local friends at Tonsai – Thailand

Lower costs of living

Lower cost of living, less expensive food, less expensive products, less expensive communications are all more great

perks of living in many countries around the world. But I’ll get into that with many concrete examples in the next

post in this series of Why Living Overseas Is Better: Lower Costs of Living

As you can see, simply by relocating outside the United States, you can keep a much larger chunk of your salary and

also save yourself huge amounts of money on major expenses like health insurance, housing and/or transportation.

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enjoying Sanur Beach – Bali

Join the rest of my series in early 2013 on Why Living Overseas Is Better:

pt 2 Lower Costs of Living

pt 3 Less Expensive and Better Health Care

pt 4 Better, Faster and Less Expensive Communications: phone, internet, electronics

pt 5 Diversity of people, culture and daily life

(check here to learn more about this post)

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http://www.lashworldtour.com/disclaimer



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MONEY TRAVEL TIPS:

Means and Benefits of Opening a Foreign Local Bank Account

Since 1998 I’ve spent a majority of my time in SE Asia, sometimes venturing out to Australia, Europe or nearby

Asian countries. I rarely return to the USA where my primary bank account is located. So a few years ago I realized

it would be wise and useful to also have a bank accou nt close to where I’m generally living and traveling. I came up

with many reasons why it would be helpful to have another source of money nearby, particularly for emergency

situations.

I set out to open a bank account first in Thailand, then Malaysia and then Singapore. I visited every major bank,

where I was repeatedly told that, no, I could not open an account. They did not want my money nor my business!

Euros

I was completely astounded. I’d assumed that any bank, anywhere, would be more than happy to a ccept new

customers and eagerly allow them to deposit money into their bank. Not so! (Or perhaps many banks would like to

accept foreign customers but they’re not legally allowed to.)

I discovered that since 9-11 banks all over the world have stringently t ightened up regulations. Specifically, they’ve

made it quite difficult for non-nationals to open bank accounts. Nowadays, in order to open a bank account in most

countries, foreigners generally must have a work visa and/or resident visa for that country along with a local

address. A mere tourist visa doesn’t cut it most times.

However, if you’re going to be traveling / living in a single country or region of the world for a long period of time

(several months or several years) it could be very useful and comforting to have a bank account in the area. Here are

some reasons I wanted to have a bank account in SE Asia:




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Puxi- Shanghai’s original banking district

Benefits of having a local bank account:

* have a safe place to store a chunk of money nearby rather than carrying around a lot of cash

* have a second source of money nearby that I can easily access, especially in case of emergency

* have a second source of money that I can access in person or via a secondary ATM card

* have online banking for the account, so I can transfer money online and/or make online purchases like flights

* the ability to wire money from overseas to a local account

* the ability to wire money from my local foreign account back to my home account

-*as long as I have an ATM card on the account, I can access that money from anywhere in world

* the ability to use my ATM / debit card to buy things at specified national or regional stores and/or hotels

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international currencies

If you’re working in a country legally, by which I mean you hold a work visa, you’re sponsored by a company,

and/or you have a resident visa, then you can generally easily and legally open a bank checking or savings

account in that country.

My recommen dation: by all means do so! Take advantage of the opportunity, especially since it’s otherwise quite

difficult to open a foreign bank account. If at some point you stop working in that country, keep your account,

especially if you’re going to live / travel in that region. You never know when it might be helpful.

On the other hand, if you’re simply traveling in a region on tourist visas, not working, then you’re probably going to

have trouble opening a bank account, just like I did. Fortunately, it is possible in some countries to legitimately get

around the general rules. Here are some options / ideas that might allow you to open a bank account.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/




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Offshore Bank Accounts

Several countries around the world have banks offering off-shore accounts which allow foreigners to open accounts,

sometimes even without a local address or work visa. In Asia, Singapore and Hong Kong each have 1 or 2 banks

with off-shore accounts. Other places in the world are Jersey Islands, off the coast of England, and

several Caribbean nations, among other places. Google ‘offshore accounts’ to locate places in your travel region.

A few difficulties: The minimal balance for offshore accounts is usually pretty high. Until recently, the minimal for

my account in Singapore was $1000 US or equivalent. That was quite manageable. But a couple years later, it

suddenly jumped to $25,000 US. Talk about big leaps! I could not maintain that minimum and had to empty my

account. Accounts that fall below the minimum any month are charged hefty fees.

Secon dly, make sure you check your own country’s legal policies about holding offshore accounts. For one thing,

you’ll be legally obligated to report any earnings / interest made on those accounts to your own government at tax

time. You might also legally have to report that you own the account and there could be other regulations you mustfollow.

Have a local national vouch for you

I was eventually allowed to open a bank account in Thailand while holding a tourist visa by having a local Thai

friend accompany me to the bank, vouch for me, and let me use her home address. That was great. I suddenly had a

place to safely hold cash, use internet banking to manage my account, and access my money via an ATM card.

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US dollars

Deposit a large sum of money

I have a long-term traveling friend who was able to open a bank account in Malaysia by depositing a large sum of

money. He dressed up professionally and visited the bank. Initially his request to open a bank account was declined

by the regular bank teller. He then asked to speak to the manager, who also initially declined his request. But

because he was prepared, on the spot, to deposit a significant chunk of cash (which he’d withdrawn from his home

account) the bank decided to let him open an account after all.

ATM in China

A few other notes about bank accounts in foreign countries

Bank accounts in foreign countries don’t always work the same as those in your home country. Policies about online

banking, phone banking services and ATM / debit cards might be quite different. Make sure you ask about each of

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the services you’re interested in using. For each service, you might have to fill out some forms and have your

account ‘approved’ for that option.

Don’t just assume you’ll get an ATM card attached to you r account. Ask beforehand. Usually your account can have

one, but you might have to apply, fill out forms, and follow specific bank procedures. Also make sure you know

what kind of account(s) your ATM card will work for. Find out if you can you use it on a checking account,

‘current’ account, savings account or some other specific account.

Also don’t just assume you’ll automatically have internet banking for your account. If you want internet banking,

ask for it. They probably have the option, but again yo u’ll have to fill out particular forms and be approved before

internet banking will be switched on for your account.

Your ATM card may or may not work for online transactions. Ask what the policies are.

Your ATM card may or may not work as a debit card at stores and hotels. If it does, it may only be valid at

particular stores in that country or that region which accept it. Find out the details.

Summary

As I suspected, having a bank account in the vicinity of my travels is often very helpful and also gives me a sense of

security. It’s probably only worthwhile if you’re going to be traveling / living in a region for a few months or longer.

QUESTIONS:

Have you ever successfully opened a bank account in a foreign country?

If so, what were the bank policies and requirements for opening the account?

Do you have any other tips or suggestions for legitimately opening a bank account in foreign countries?

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