Authored by Mike Swigunski

What if I were to tell you that you can quit your corporate job and travel around the world for the rest of your life?

As somebody who has worked and traveled around the world for over 10 years now, there was a point when I realized that countless people are sitting at home right now wondering just how to do this.

My name is Mike Swigunski. I am the author of the #1 Amazon bestselling travel book, Global Career: How to Work Anywhere and Travel Forever. I’m also the founder of GlobalCareer.io, which is a remote jobs website that empowers people to start working remotely.

Recently, my story was featured on Forbes.com and today, I am excited to share an introduction of the ideas presented my this book. By the end of this post you’ll be able to see what daily life looks like for somebody who works and travels full-time.

How to Work Anywhere and Travel the World Forever

Three Ideas for You To Consider

1. Volunteer at Local Farms or Hostels

This is one of the easiest ways that a complete beginner can switch over to a full-time traveling lifestyle.

As a volunteer, your service is valuable. Valuable enough that people all over the world will offer you a free bed to sleep in every day in exchange for a little work.

➤ WWOOFing is a Popular Option

WWOOF is a popular platform for people who want to experience the rural parts of a country. After all, visiting a place is an inherent risk for people who rely on the internet for their work.

With a platform like this, a lack of internet connection will never be a proper excuse not to travel out to the most remote parts of the world. All you need to do is volunteer 4 – 6 hours a day on an organic farm.

➤ Couchsurfing is Another Great Platform

Believe it or not, there are people who are willing to open up the doors to their own personal homes to complete strangers.

Couchsurfing was designed with this exact purpose in mind. Although you may have to do some basic volunteer work, sometimes you don’t need to do anything at all besides talk with your host.

➤ WorkAway is Great if You Don’t Mind Hostels

If you’ve stayed in hostels before, you should know whether or not you could live in them for longer periods of time. If you don’t mind the hostel atmosphere, you can easily secure long-term housing for yourself in any part of the world with Workaway.

Workaway is a platform which connects you with hostel owners all over the world, offering volunteering work in exchange for a free bed. There can sometimes be free food involved in the deal too!

➤ Great for Traveling, Not for Income

The three platforms above all offer complete beginners to international travel the basic stability that they need to get started. You don’t need a ton of savings in your account to use these platforms, either.

It should be noted that these platforms are a great way to get started with traveling, but not income. If you choose to make volunteering your main hustle to allow you the ability to travel around the world, you will at the very least have a place to stay.

The biggest problem that you will face though is your ability to generate income for personal expenses. While volunteering, then, it is a good idea to find other ways to secure income along the way.

2. Working Online with a Laptop

If you have a laptop and internet connection, you should be able to survive in any part of the world. Well, at least with the right level of income coming in.

Your main goal should be to consistently make more money on your laptop than you spend on travel / living expenses. Here are some platforms and ideas to help you get started doing this.

➤ GlobalCareer.io

When I started the Global Career remote job board, I saw a great need for people traveling around the world to have a more stable source of income on their computers. And the best part is you don’t need to be a professional developer since we offer non-technical remote jobs.

What makes this site stand out from some of the other options is that it solely offers long-term remote positions. This is much better than working hard to secure new clients and work every week or so.

➤ Upwork.com

Upwork has been one of the most popular freelance platforms for quite some time now. It can also be a great tool for you to build up your portfolio as a freelancer before securing a long-term remote position.

One thing to keep in mind though is that there are some pretty hefty service fees that are handed over to the freelancers.

➤ PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour is an alternative to Upwork which is based out of the UK. This makes it a much better option for those who operate better in the European market.

It offers the same sort of freelancing system as Upwork does, where you can create your own profile and keep applying to many short-term freelance jobs of all sorts of categories.

➤ Teaching English Online

Many full-time travelers are able to support their lifestyle by teaching English. Whether or not you knew it, this is actually a booming market.

Specifically, in China, where there are tons of different companies seeking to find native US English speakers to teach Chinese children. You can make a pretty nice $25 and up for each hour, too.

➤ Creating Your Own Online Business

This is my favorite way to work online since it gives you the freedom to choose your field of work and to make money in a creative manner.

There are many types of online businesses that you can consider making, but just about all of them will require getting your own website.

Start by deciding if you want to run an e-commerce, affiliate marketing, or another similar type of online business. Then, create the website and consider it a long-term asset that you need to consistently spend time with.

3. Find a Job Abroad and Get a Work Visa

The final option we will discuss today is getting a working holiday visa and securing a long-term position in your country of choice.

Although this option requires a little more work when you want to move to a new country at the end of your contract, it also gives you the priceless experience of living in a different culture.

➤ Carefully Research Which Country You Want to Live in

Since you will soon be securing a work visa in your country of choice, it’s important to take this decision seriously. If you decide to work in a country that you end up hating, one bad choice like this can end up hindering your passion for international travel altogether. Consider your options wisely.

➤ Find a Job in Your Target Country Within your Skill Set

Once you know where you want to go, now it is time for the hard part. Use the power of search engines to connect with a company that is hiring people like you.

Depending on what your professional skills are, this can either be easy or very difficult. Especially if you want to work in a country where you don’t speak the local language.

➤ Ask Potential Employers About Securing a Work Visa

Before you are able to have stability in a foreign country, you need to keep the government happy. Typically, all you need to worry about is making sure that you are legally allowed to stay there.

Just about any country in the world will offer you a long-term work visa if you can provide a contract or some sort of proof that one of their local companies has hired you.

➤ Consider Finding Online Income Along the Way

Above, we discussed the ability to start your own online business. If you are serious about traveling for the long-term, then you should consider getting starting with some passive online income while you are working your first job abroad.

Websites can take a couple of years before they start getting some serious traffic. This is why you should also be finding ways like this to secure some online income while working a normal job abroad.

➤ Decide if you Want to Travel to More Countries

If your first experience working abroad goes really well, you might consider living in that country for longer than a year or so. Or, you might decide to move to a different country.

This will be something that you will think about right away. In order to help yourself prepare for the future during your first extended international trip, quickly decide how long you intend on staying.

Major Points & Takeaways

If you have dreams of traveling around the world full time, I am living proof that YOU CAN DO IT. Keep the above ideas in mind as you consider whether or not you want to make the move.

In order to follow me, make sure to check out my Instagram page. Also, don’t forget to follow my travel blog for later updates and announcements.

Resources

Don’t worry about searching through the post again to find that link you wanted, we’ve listed all of the websites and resources mentioned, plus a few more, here in an easy to reference list for you.

➤ Mike’s book: Global Career: How to Work Anywhere and Travel Forever

➤ Forbes predictions on digital transformation trends for 2020

➤ Volunteer on local farms: Wwoof.net

➤ Cerity for affordable workers’ comp insurance for home-based businesses

➤ Find freelance work: Upwork.com

THINGS YOU MAY NEED FOR WORK OVERSEAS. CLICK PHOTO ↓

Apple 13.3″ MacBook Air Laptop

SONY ICD PX333 Digital Voice Recorder

Moleskine Classic Notebook

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