We live in an emerging, international economy…one based on knowledge, information, and skills. One where employers are no longer interested in giving you a nice air-conditioned office, administrative help, free coffee and lavish benefits. Here’s the silver lining: One segment of the workforce has seen an explosion in growth: Freelancing.
the best thing about being a copywriter is that it allows me to enjoy the type of lifestyle that I’ve always wanted. Right now, I’m living and working in Southeast Asia—in a sunny, laid-back little beach resort town called Sihanoukville in Cambodia.
Ever since my first extended trip overseas back when I was a student, I dreamed of landing the “perfect” overseas job. I craved new experiences in faraway lands. And I was willing to do whatever it took to make that happen. At first, it didn’t matter what the job was. As long as it gave me a chance to support myself while living in a world-class overseas destination, I was in.
Carol Romano owns an online business and a store in Mexico’s San Miguel famed for its eclectic vibe and its unusual, one-of-a-kind merchandise. But the story of how she came to own her own business started a decade earlier…with a trip to Morocco.
Not everything is yet labeled “Made in China.” Throughout the world, artisans still produce handcrafted objects of desire that carry serious mark-ups when resold in North America and Europe. And if you like something, chances are other people will like it too.
What do a sushi chef in Memphis… a flower-petal merchant in Bali… and a Chilean goucho have in common? Nothing, really… except that each prompted an idea a traveler like you turned into a paycheck. And that happens all the time, as Steenie Harvey (a frequent IL contributor) and I just explained to a group of potential expats gathered to hear about fun, easy ways they can fund their lives overseas.
For me, with my own company doing project management for large Information Technology infrastructure deployments, my job was a means to an end. I worked to earn money to travel and take photos of interesting and exotic places. But I longed for a job I could do from anywhere, which would permit me to travel as I worked.
Howard earned a good salary as an I.T. engineer, but he knew deep down that this was never his calling. Howard wanted to be a photographer. His nine-to-five was so far removed from his dream job that he thought he would never be able to make the switch. Aged 32, he decided he needed a change.
I arrived on vacation to Buenos Aires, Argentina and was seduced into staying. You see, I figured out how to hemisphere-hop for free. This way I get two summers a year plus the snowy New England Christmas I couldn’t give up. I’m not a true expat. I’m a cheater. At first I lived off savings, and then pieced together an income from freelance writing and editing.
I’d always wanted to be a writer. It was something I yearned to do for a living. I had worked in banking all my life but in 2008, aged 47, I decided that it was now or never—I would take a chance. So, I quit my job, sold my house, gave away my two cats (to a woman who adored them) and moved lock, stock and barrel with my wife to Malaysia.
You can volunteer at an organic farm next to the Podacarpus National Park in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, or on an apple orchard and organic bakery in Mendoza, Argentina. Help make goat cheese on an Irish farm near Ballyvaughan, County Clare in Ireland, learn about wine making on a vineyard in Italy’s Piemonte district while staying in a village house with a view of the Alps…
You’ll often hear the phrase “Same Same… But Different” in places like Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. And that phrase sums up the freelance copywriter’s lifestyle in Southeast Asia almost perfectly. Here’s why.
Many of the jobs that most of us hard-working baby boomers did for all those years have moved online. As a result, there’s a pretty good demand for simple skills like proofreading, editing, writing, working with spreadsheets… and a host of other “simple, task-oriented work assignments.” Interestingly, the range of options doesn’t stop there…
It was several hours into our 15-hour train ride on the “train of the clouds” when our fellow passengers started dropping like flies. First an elderly man…then a young woman…and then more. There was at least one medic per train car…but at the rate people were dropping, it didn’t look like they had enough oxygen masks to go around.
When Caroline arrived in Korea, she wasn’t sure what she would find. But she needn’t have worried—the food, the people, the culture…this “undiscovered country” was full of pleasant surprises.
Best of all, it proved to be a treasure trove for “stock photography.” Stock photos are a great way for amateur photographers to turn their pictures into cash.
Sally Stone was searching for superb scenery and a relaxed pace of life when she bought a small stone cottage in Brittany, on the Atlantic coast of France. At the time, Sally was working as a director in a marketing company; the Breton cottage just a part-time retreat. But a year later, in 2002, she lost her job to cost cutting and needed to find something else.
I always thought that I’d want to live on the beach in some out-of-the-way area. When the time came though, a bigger city was the place for me. Medellín in Colombia is physically beautiful. It’s the greenest city I’ve ever been to. The weather is better than any other place I’ve lived.
It might be a palapa bar on a white-sand beach, deep-sea fishing tours, a restaurant, a surf shop… Whatever your idea, there’s a place overseas where you can make it a profitable reality. But readers ask us all the time: Where is best? That’s why we’ve put together International Living’s first-ever Business Index.
I first came to Antigua, Guatemala in 2006 to study Spanish and extended my one-month language course month-by-month for seven months. By then, I’d fallen in love with the city and lifestyle, befriended both locals and expats and felt I wanted to make this a more permanent lifestyle…so I stayed.
I’ve always loved to travel, so when I had to decide between the freedom of working for myself…and the stability of a full-time job, it was no contest—I quit. Since then, I get to travel more-or-less whenever I want. I’ve spent lots of time in Paris, France and am still based in one of my favorite cities: Dublin, Ireland. (Plus, I only work about 30 hours a week.)
I had always dreamed of moving overseas. About five years ago, while in my mid-20s, I got the guts and actually did. Now my little piece of “paradise” is smack-dab in the heart of the 17th largest city in the world: Buenos Aires, Argentina.
When my wife Janina and I decided to move to Mexico from Oklahoma City, one of our biggest concerns was our finances. We moved out of our home country at the ages 29 and 30…far from retirement age. We came to Mexico with every intention of finding work.
I’m sitting in a hotel room on the stunning island of Tobago. I pull back the curtains, and sunlight floods my room—it’s a perfect day. From my window, the ocean’s blue competes with the immaculately manicured gardens for my attention.
Living in Valencia, Spain, for three months last winter was not just a welcome retreat from the cold Canadian winter… but great fun, too. Fallas, a city-wide, week-long party in March, served as the fitting and noisy climax.
One of the best benefits of the freelance copywriter’s lifestyle is that you can get paid in U.S. dollars… yet live virtually anywhere in the world. And that includes all those countries with a super-low cost-of-living. I’ve had the good fortune to live and work in many countries like this. Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia are a few that come to mind.
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