IM While Travelling the World

TV shows dramatize alot!
You have nothing to worry about, as long as you're not doing anything illegal.
(it's a different story if you are there to look for, or moonlight at, a job, which they frown on and that's what gets folks into trouble)....

One time US immigration asked me how much cash I had on me.

I said $50.

It was a dumb question. I'd just arrived in the US (literally not even through customs and immigration), I had a visa card with a substantial balance but they didn't ask me that.

I had a courtesy shuttle from the airport to the hotel I was staying at.

Why would I be carrying around US dollars?

Much easier to get some out of an automatic teller once you arrive.

In any case they sat me in immigration until one of their staff interviewed me.

She saw my laptop and said "you work from your laptop and make money while you're travelling don't you?"

I said yes and that was the end of the conversation...she cleared me through.

So at least some immigration officials look favorably on people who make a living with their computers.


Customs rarely bother asking for receipts etc for laptop comptuers. It's too much trouble for them...so many people carry them...and in most countries you're allowed to carry personal possessions like a laptop in and out of a country anyway.

I've never been asked.

I know people who bought a laptop in a country then entered and left several countries and were never asked about it.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

They don't care - I ALWAYS have at least one laptop with me - sometimes two and I've NEVER (bare in mind that I've flown about 50 times in the last year to about 30 countries) been asked anything about why I have them.

As for tourist visas etc.. all you have to do is cross the boarder to renew it - so for me in Singapore all I had to do was go play golf off the island for a few hours or go shopping. As it was I was traveling anyway so it got refreshed every time I went anywhere - but that was my backup plan

I'm going to Bratislava next week and taking a laptop and I don't give these things any thought at all. It's much less complicated than you might imagine if you don't travel much.

Even for America (and they're pretty strong on security) I've been over 5 times in the last 4 months with laptops and at worst - they take the battery out, but normally they don't say anything.

Andy

MANY leading internet marketers spend a lot of their time on the road.

A few tips:

# Convert to gmail if possible as your primary email address. That will make it far easier to check your email when you're travelling.

# Get a small portable hard drive and keep a copy of all the software you might need as well as all the files you might need. Get in the habit of saving things to the portable hard drive (as well as to the hard drive on your computer).

# Assume that you won't always have access to your computer (they have a tendency of breaking down on the road or getting viruses that are hard to fix etc etc).

Arrange things so you can go on any computer anywhere and get your work done if necessary.

# If possible use free software like Open Office and Kompozer so if worst comes to worst you can download the software you need completely free offline and get yourself up and running again (don't even assume your portable hard drive is a safe plan...you need to be able to run your business from an internet cafe without any back up at all if necessary).


# Carry an address book or notebook with the physical passwords written down of sites you need to get into.

Put them in code so that no one can know what they are without also knowing the code.

Remember that if everything crashes you need to be able to login in to your key sites and that means passwords and usernames.


# If your business is substantial you should seriously consider having an assistant or two who can answer support desk enquiries and handle minor stuff.

If it's really tiny stuff you might convince a trusted friend to help you out by showing them how to work your help desk.

If you're on a plane flying long distance that can put you offline for 12 to even 30 hours or more (if everything goes wrong)...way too long for someone who needs urgent assistance.

You really want to be setting your business up so the day to day stuff can run for long periods of time without you anyway.


# Having some kind of wireless laptop computer can save you a ton of time as long as you go to the trouble of making sure you book into places that have wireless internet.

So plan ahead for the necessity of getting online easily. Make sure the places you're staying in have it...preferably have a good speed and that you won't be paying extra if you're online for several hours a day.


# Work out your own system...what works for you. Everyone does it a little differently and has different preferences. What is important is to develop a real system so you know what you're doing when you travel.

# Have fun. An internet business is now pretty easy to run on the road and a GREAT way to make money while you're travelling.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

P.S. Recently I spent around 12 months out of 2 years on the road in some foreign country or city and I made VERY good money doing it.

But I actually LIKE staying at home.

I know there are internet marketers spending most of their time travelling and quite a few are big names.

They spend a lot of their time speaking at internet marketing seminars and going places they want to go.

If you could get one of these big names to give you some tips that would be cool.

thanks - this sounds like simple great advice as i am a heavy user of gmail, gcalander, gsites (for todo lists etc).

presumably i should be able to use this technique when doing my internet banking etc?