Do You Travel the World While IMing?

[JonTuckerUSA]

Greetings from Coolangatta on the Gold Coast of Australia. I'm sitting at a cafe on the beach, enjoying a coffee, some free mcdonald's internet from next door, and taking a few moments to think about next steps in my life.

I've been doing various forms of IM for the last 3 years, but have yet to build a truly sustainable business. I still feel that I've been successful in what I've accomplished, as I've been able to support myself and really live on my own terms for the last 4 years. I traveled to Europe, spent 3 weeks surfing the north shore of Oahu, and also got to experience lots of great things at university...all of these were made possible by the ventures I threw myself into.

But still, I haven't really launched a sustainable business that can keep producing income consistently while I travel abroad. The routine has generally been 3-4 months of hard work to build up savings followed by 2 months of scaling down projects while traveling...

Most of my ventures have been based around providing web design / IM for offline businesses or orgs in various niches. I haven't made a substantial amount of money doing strictly online IM (affiliate, products, etc.).

I've been focused on finishing a marketing degree at a US university for the past 4 years and basically did IM on the side. I recently finished my degree in May and spent the summer doing high hourly rate internet marketing consulting for small businesses in the US, which is what I thought I wanted to do. I love the challenge of consulting, but still view it as a means to an end...not the ultimate business I want to build.

My dream is to build a sustainable business using my IM and entrepreneurship skills that can produce enough income for me to travel the world. By "travel the world", I don't mean spending $1,000's of dollars in the lavish hotels around the world...Instead, I mean simply living at various spots around the world for a few weeks / months at a time. If I can produce $3K-$5K/mo, I would be able to accomplish this goal of traveling the world.

I recently been having a taste of this dream, and it tastes GREAT. I built up a fair amount of savings through university and the summer after which enabled me to embark on a trip to Australia. For the last month I've been surfing my brains away up the east coast of Australia, living in hostels, and meeting some of the coolest people ever. For the next 3 weeks, I'll be surfing in Bali Indonesia before going back home to Los Angeles...

So why am I posting this thread?

I want to hear about experiences from other IMers that dreamt of doing something similar (traveling the world, etc.) and made that dream into a reality. I'm not necessarily looking for free how-to information...I guess I'm looking to just hear about your experiences along the way...I guess it's for inspiration = )

I have a venture that I'm planning to launch in December when I'm back in the states that blends online / offline marketing for various niches...it's been discussed on this forum quite a bit and I'm really trying to spend some time developing the idea before launching it. I plan to spend my last 3 weeks in Bali surfing and planning out the biz since I won't be traveling around Indonesia as I have in Australa (bussing every few days...). In addition, I'm planning to work with 1-2 people I met through my entrepreneurship clubs on campus...I want to build this into a bigger venture and think that having 1-2 other people on my team will be a good idea.

So yes, this is a random post, but I would love to hear about your experiences. Where were you at 6 months, 1 year, or 3-5 years ago? Where were you dreaming of going? Did you get there? What challenges did you face along the way? If you could go back, what would you change?

[MuayThaiGuy]

I actually just got back from the travel agency. Booked a flight to Thailand. This will be my 3rd time in the past 3 years. I just recently stayed there and lived by the beach for 10 months .. came back for the summer, now, I've leaving again right before the snow hits..

Having that sort of freedom is the reason why I started with internet marketing in the first place.

[redicelander]

Set up passive income and do it, mate!

[JonTuckerUSA]

Originally Posted by MuayThaiGuy

I actually just got back from the travel agency. Booked a flight to Thailand. This will be my 3rd time in the past 3 years. I just recently stayed there and lived by the beach for 10 months .. came back for the summer, now, I've leaving again right before the snow hits..

Having that sort of freedom is the reason why I started with internet marketing in the first place.

Can you elaborate on what type of IM you're doing to enable you to live this life? Are you doing strictly online products or blending online / offline? Are you working solo or with a team?

Congrats = )

[Kirahster]

Hi Jon,

What is your current business model for IM?

If you can set up a model that you can hire outsourcers to maintain for you then you are on your way to making passive income.

e.g If you have a website that is ranking high in google for some good keywords and then funnel the traffic into your list. You already have an autoresponder series in place.

All you really need to do is ensure that your site maintains it ranking.

If you have a few of these systems in place then you should be on your way to making a decent passive income via IM.

[Mr Money Maker]

Just hung out here in Monterey....well I am just off the Pebble beach 17 mile drive.
The waves have been huge this week with the strong storms. I have been taking pictures here of the beach and rocks for a few weeks, just enjoying the beach and driving back up to the house.
Being here is better than going on vacation....love to live here for years
Somethings are better than making money.....but I love to make money online also !!

[DonDavis]

The notion of traveling like that is appealing, but it freaks me out. I've basically lived my life in a 10 square mile area of Illinois. Nothing here but cornfields for the most part. I have never been out of the US.

When I think about going to places like Thailand and such, I get a bit freaked out. I am a meat and potatoes guy for example. Can I get a burger in Thailand? How about a Budweiser or a Mt Dew? Hell I wouldn't even go to Mexico right now. I hear stories about folks getting kidnapped abroad or worse. I mean how do you know you are traveling to a friendly place? How do you know you are not going to run into crooked law enforcement or other problems? The last place I want to end up is in a foreign jail!

I admire your spirit of adventure, but I guess I just don't have it myself. Perhaps I am just a small town bumkin that needs to get out more. At any rate, enjoy your travels.

[mr2monster]

This is exactly what I'm working towards... I've managed to kill off every aspect of my business that isn't conducive to being 100% portable, now I'm working on getting the other parts of it up to a level that supports me while I'm away.

good luck man!

[Bev Clement]

Moved from the UK to China and then HK. We have been into China twice this year, Bangkok for 2 months, HK, to the UK in the summer for 8 weeks, back to the UK recently, and now in the States having attending the warrior meet. We are working our way north along the East Coast, before going to the UK for 4 weeks and then HK.

Have computer, can still run our online business.

[Manda]

Originally Posted by DonDavis

When I think about going to places like Thailand and such, I get a bit freaked out. I am a meat and potatoes guy for example. Can I get a burger in Thailand?

I live in Thailand but not on income from IM so can't help with the OP's question but I do have to comment on Don Davis's post - yes you can get burgers here and pretty much most kinds of western food. Depending on where you are in Thailand you can also get Starbucks, KFC, MacDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut. However it is the Thai food that is to die for and you have to try it.

Travel is scary the first time but it is also one of the most amazing experiences in life. You don't always know that a place will be friendly but most of it is common sense. I was terrified when I first went overseas, made a few mistakes, paid too much for a few things but looking back the only thing I regret is not doing sooner.

You'll never know if you don't go.

Manda

[rondo]

Yes Don you can get Burgers, Bud and Mt Dew just about everywhere on the planet.

(why not go to the Czech Republic and sample the real 'Budweis' beer which yours was named after - yum!)


Andrew

[redicelander]

Not wanting to travel because you want a burger everywhere is silly. Try some of the local food wherever you go. You will likely end up liking it better!

[Greg Jacobs]

Travel?

Yes but I suppose it was a one way ticket.

[designfuschion]

G'day!
Ahh coolie. Been anywhere else on the gold coast?
Just curious,becuase i used to live there. I spent around 12yrs of my life. Moved away in 05. Great place to visit but the cost of living and other reasons makes it unbearable.
Not sure how long you got left on gold coast,but here's some quick insider knowledge.
*The springbrook waterfalls are cool.
*pac fair (ahem,sorry local slang for pacific fair shopping centre in broadbeach/surfers) is better shopping than the other smaller centres apart from harbortown.
*in some cases travelling by taxi can be quicker than local buses! If you use buses allow 1-2 hours to get anywhere! (even for a 30min journey by car) of course if your renting a car..no worries.
*Q1 tower is pretty cool. I was lucky enough to get into level 42 apartments when first half was finished back at end of 2004. (they were having an 'open apartments' to get buyers)havent been to tower deck yet.
*Be careful around surfers at night.

sorry that was a little sidetracked.

Back on topic.

I am working on my financial freedom becuase i'd love to spend a month or two in a country and move on.
I've been a 'gypsy' since i was 2 (constantly moving around not by my choice)..but now that i'm older there is still so much i wanna see.

I'll be watching this thread

[CliveG]

When I go on holiday I leave the laptop behind and check nothing while I'm away. Most things go on well without me and I get a real break.

[A. Green]

DonDavis,

If you’re in Illinois, why not start with some place like Toronto? It is another country (Canada, I mean) with another culture, but it’s English-speaking (well, for the most part) and way safer than Tijuana at the moment. Then move on to more “exotic” places. Or go on a package tour for your first few trips overseas, so the risks are lower.

JonTucker,

I did that for a couple years unintentionally and ended up in places where I didn’t speak the language or have a work visa, so IM was all I had. I wanted to see one country in particular and did, but then ran into some problems…long story. I’ve been settled for a year, but still outside my country of origin as I have been for almost 10 years.

>>If you could go back, what would you change?

LOL. First, I wouldn’t have broken my ties with the country where I was most settled. Second, I’d have stuck to IM instead of trying to invest in an offline business that flopped.

You should be fine on $3-$5K/month almost anywhere, but I’d arrange to have a good amount that passive enough that if you don’t touch the business for a month, you’ll still have enough to live on coming in. Adsense/affiliate sites take the least maintenance, I’d say, followed by your own digital products and limited-term membership sites.

Worst case scenario, there’s a natural or human-made disaster or you get too sick to work or get back “home.” It depends on the part of the world you’re in, but sometimes another risk is overestimating the infrastructure at your destination. You may find yourself having to wait a month to get Internet at home, end up with Internet that’s too slow to really work with, or have to deal with frequent power/Internet outages.

There are a number of sites that deal with how to take an IM business on the road so that it’s relatively disaster-proof, I just can’t think of any at the moment.

I completely agree that the freedom to travel is a big, big plus of IM (and a decent passport). It also gives you a lot of security. If an ordinary tourist’s savings run out, they’re in trouble. When you know how to earn more money from anywhere, though, you’ll be fine.

>>Instead, I mean simply living at various spots around the world for a few weeks / months at a time.

Wouldn’t this get old awfully fast? The constant packing/unpacking, living out of a suitcase, route and transportation planning, finding accommodations, not to mention visas if and when needed. Maybe I'm a wimp, but I burned out on that in, like, six months.

I do think the experience of travel can be very worthwhile—invaluable, in fact—when you’re young, though. Right out of college is a great time to do it, too.

[marciayudkin]

Jon,

I've been in business for 28 years, so what I've done may or may not be transferable to someone who is relatively newer.

In 2003, my husband and I spent three months driving 20,000 miles around the U.S. and Canada, and I earned the same amount of money as if I was staying home. I worked no more than 3 hours a day while traveling. About half the income was from paid speaking engagements I had set up before leaving home, or from book sales at those engagements. (For example, I sold $1000 of books speaking in Houston.) I also had a few in-person client consultations set up. These were distributed geographically and timewise in such a way that I was able to make the whole trip tax deductible. In addition, I had sales of my various downloadable reports.

The one place we did not go (because we were driving a car rather than an SUV) was Alaska, and I decided that for an Alaska road trip I would change the plan so as to make all the money for the trip from passive income. To do that, I started creating home study courses. Previously my most expensive product had been $95. This plan was a huge success. In 2007, we took a 2 1/2 month road trip to Alaska (from Massachusetts) and I did NO client work during that time, with passive income from my home study courses paying for the whole trip and then some. Because I didn't have speaking engagements or client meetings, this trip wasn't tax deductible.

So I now have two different models to choose from, for travel. I am planning to set up a seminar and client meetings for a month on Maui this winter, again spaced out in such a way that I can make that whole trip tax deductible, and the year after that I think we'll do a big foreign trip using the Alaska model.

Hope this is helpful to you! I have a report on all of this - PM me if you want the link.

Marcia Yudkin

[mark@1to101]

I'm about to start doing this...I finish my full time job next week.

I've been living and teaching English in Thailand for the past year, during which time I've been learning about and implementing various IM methods.

My main income is currently coming from an article distribution service that I offer but I'm continuing to build my income from Adsense too.

After a short visit back to the UK for a couple of weeks I'm then heading off to India, where I'll be traveling around and building my online presence.

My plan is to spend a month or so in once place and then move somewhere new.

Got to love IM...this type of lifestyle just wouldn't be possible with any other type of career

[jazbo]

I am now starting my third online venture. Each site is membership based and designed so that the flow completely eradicates me from anything. For example me and my developer are currently upgrading the site to do routine tasks I am currently doing manually. Also everything admin-based is designed and tested to ensure that is can be 100% easily used via blackberry.

So the aim is in a year that I will have three websites and several ebooks on auto-pilot, with my developer an email or phonecall away and no intervention required.

Basically we are all dreaming of variations on the "four hour work week" by Tim Ferriss. If you believe he did not just make it all up of course....

[designfuschion]

Originally Posted by jazbo

I am now starting my third online venture. Each site is membership based and designed so that the flow completely eradicates me from anything. For example me and my developer are currently upgrading the site to do routine tasks I am currently doing manually. Also everything admin-based is designed and tested to ensure that is can be 100% easily used via blackberry.

So the aim is in a year that I will have three websites and several ebooks on auto-pilot, with my developer an email or phonecall away and no intervention required.

Basically we are all dreaming of variations on the "four hour work week" by Tim Ferriss. If you believe he did not just make it all up of course....

The 4 hour workweek is very inspiring. I believe if you set your heart to achieve something,anything is possible.

[YseUp]

Originally Posted by DonDavis

When I think about going to places like Thailand and such, I get a bit freaked out. I am a meat and potatoes guy for example. Can I get a burger in Thailand? How about a Budweiser or a Mt Dew? .

Sadly they do now have all the big fast-food joints in the Thailand these days... which is why you see more and more fat and obese people with acne where this never used to be the case (I can't remember seeing a single fat local in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia).

Oh wait it must be their genes which make Thai people put on weight so easily.

[Danny Cutts]

I am travelling while earning aliving on IM and I love it!

Mc donalds wifi is pants though so slow!

I have done the states New zealand australia then we are off to asia!!

So good!

Danny

[M Thompson]

Originally Posted by DonDavis

The notion of traveling like that is appealing, but it freaks me out. I've basically lived my life in a 10 square mile area of Illinois. Nothing here but cornfields for the most part. I have never been out of the US.

When I think about going to places like Thailand and such, I get a bit freaked out. I am a meat and potatoes guy for example. Can I get a burger in Thailand? How about a Budweiser or a Mt Dew? Hell I wouldn't even go to Mexico right now. I hear stories about folks getting kidnapped abroad or worse. I mean how do you know you are traveling to a friendly place? How do you know you are not going to run into crooked law enforcement or other problems? The last place I want to end up is in a foreign jail!

I admire your spirit of adventure, but I guess I just don't have it myself. Perhaps I am just a small town bumkin that needs to get out more. At any rate, enjoy your travels.

Don,

I feel bad for you!! get out there and Live...

I've lived and worked and visited in, england, Ireland, Holland, France, Germany Denmark, Norway , Cyprus The US and now Spain. Heading to Vietnam next year and probably Cambodia

At the age of 18 I set out with £30 in my pocket and traveled for a few years. it made me what i am today

In each place I've found new food I like, I've never been kidnapped , attacked or mugged in a foreign country

How many people have you heard about who have been kidnapped? 20 30? How many people travel to other countries every year? Millions

[alexshelton]

Yeah dude, travelling the world at the mo... sounds like you've got it pretty good yourself

[Danny Keegan]

I'm originally from the UK but went travelling in 2004, I've now lived in Thailand for just over 4 years, I make my money from e-commerce sites and affiliate marketing...

It may not be for everyone, but for me it improved my business greatly as once I got a taste for travelling it made me work even harder, there was no way I was going back to my 9-5 in the UK. A 3 week holiday in the UK once a year to see the family is fine though!

Cheers,
Danny.

Traveling the world while writing is my dream. I'm hoping to see it achieved in four years, after my university degree is finished.

[dremora]

Originally Posted by DonDavis

The notion of traveling like that is appealing, but it freaks me out. I've basically lived my life in a 10 square mile area of Illinois. Nothing here but cornfields for the most part. I have never been out of the US.

When I think about going to places like Thailand and such, I get a bit freaked out. I am a meat and potatoes guy for example. Can I get a burger in Thailand? How about a Budweiser or a Mt Dew? Hell I wouldn't even go to Mexico right now. I hear stories about folks getting kidnapped abroad or worse. I mean how do you know you are traveling to a friendly place? How do you know you are not going to run into crooked law enforcement or other problems? The last place I want to end up is in a foreign jail!

I admire your spirit of adventure, but I guess I just don't have it myself. Perhaps I am just a small town bumkin that needs to get out more. At any rate, enjoy your travels.

Btw there are a lot of resident westerners in Thailand and you can get western food/booze in touristy areas. And if you don't break their law, you won't go to jail. The foreigners in Thai prisons are there either for drug trafficking or insulting their monarchy- which is a great taboo. Show respect to their royals, don't sell drugs, stay away from underaged prostitutes and you'll be fine.

Or just go to Germany, Ireland etc.

[MuayThaiGuy]

Originally Posted by JonTuckerUSA

Can you elaborate on what type of IM you're doing to enable you to live this life? Are you doing strictly online products or blending online / offline? Are you working solo or with a team?

Congrats = )

Sure..

It's a little bit of everything really.

I use article marketing to drive traffic to some affiliate offers and to build my list.

I have a network of about 8 exercise sites that I monetize with adsense.

I have a Muay Thai website where I document my experiences travelling and training throughout Thailand. I run some ads on there and I recently created my own "Thailand Training Guidebook" that's currently selling on clickbank.

I also promote a few adult websites and webcam sites because it seems like that's a lot easier to monetize than anything else I've ever done online (getting progressively harder now though because of all the tube sites).

[Fernando Veloso]

Hey Jon, you lucky bastard, Coolangatta has some serious surfing.

Now, IM:

Actually I want to move to new markets in 2010. I want to use my connections to enter new markets, create solid non-IM membership sites to the masses, cash real big.

Also looking for some product owners to develop joint ventures, bring top products to this market, translate them, promote them... take my IM life to a new level, basically.

I am getting tired of the Adsense/Affiliate side of IM.

P.S: We have the WCT right now in here, Peniche, Portugal. Check your mates at live.ripcurl.com.

Take care!

[7_8_shortcuts]

Yeah, try to go towards a business model that can be outsourced and automated as much as possible and you'll be able to do it!

I also travel a lot. Love it that way. I would have never been able to do it, if it wasn't for the internet and IM :-) Love it.