Where Next? Gather information…
Ok, so you’ve decided that you really want to change your current 9-5 life and pursue a life of travelling full time. To break the chains of building someone else’s dream and turn yours into a reality. Then these are the links you really need to read. These links are great resource tools that may help you in finding your path and direction in where you want to travel. Check back here often as we do update with new links and travel tips. You may even wish to add to the list by sending us an email of just may want to leave a comment.
Inspiration
How would you react of you were given only 6 months to live. Would you be living the life you’re currently living. What would you want to accomplish within such a limited time. You see, life is what happens to you while you’re too busy to notice. It ticks by until you realise that you’ve waisted so much of it living to please others through hard work….
Finance
Elena has been hooked to this site of a number of years and it has some pretty interesting information of how to restructure your financial life. It gives you a sense of empowerment to take control of your money and how to use it as tool to get you to where you want to go, rather than being a slave to money.
Accommodation
So you really like Colombia, Barcelona, Lisbon and Chiang Mai…. But that was just a holiday. What’s the real cost of living in these places for a more extended period of time? What’s the situation with Visa’s and how long can I stay before the officials come knocking at my door and through me out of the country? These great links are what we use to find those obscure places around the globe. Who knows, you might even be our neighbour as we travel the world full time.
The Earth Awaits– This incredible site allows you to set a budget and will search by region and the dollar amount you want to spend each month. We use this site to gauge if we can afford to live in each city. you can also set un an account which will remember your searches for future reference.
House Sitting – There are two hurdles when setting out your budget when it comes to travel, one is the cost of transport and the other is the cost for accomodation. But what if you didn’t have to pay for accomodation? This is where we discovered House Sitting, yup it’s like baby sitting except your baby is the house and/or the pets that dwell there. For us looking after someone’s pets fills a void. After our dog passed away we knew that we’d be travelling long term and so we never adopted another. House sitting with pets is our way of reconnecting ourselves to our passion for pets. There are some extensive sites and some you do have to pay to become a member, however the cost is minimal compared to having to fork out your heard earned cash for accomodation.
Experience
How do you learn about other places and cultures, we’ll you could watch the news and learn that it’s not safe beyond your front door. Or you could joint online communities and discover the world for yourself and draw you own conclusion. We discovered Couch Surfing in 2012 and have been avid fans ever since. What’s Couch Surfing? Imagine you have a spare bead at your place and you allow a traveller to stay for free and you tap into their journey and culture over a coffee in your very own home…. That’s how we should all connect across the planet. We’ve hosted people form all over the world and have been hosted by others. It’s humbling, a great experience and an awesome way to meet new friends.
Transport
As I mentioned before accomodation and transport are the killers of your finance when it comes to travel. Long gone are the days of hitching a ride thanks to movies like wolf creek. So how do you get from point to point without mortgaging the farm?
Relocatable car hire – have you ever hired a car one way? Ever wondered how the hire companies move their cars to placed of high demand? I worked for a car rental company and the cost of relocating cars on transporters wasn’t cheap. So when traveling call in on your local hire car company and see if they need a car relocated, who knows it could be the cheapest deal on the day.
Other Blogs
It’s always refreshing to discover others who blog about their experiences and learn how they managed to break free form the shackles of the dreaded 9-5 grind. My Great Aunt sad to me once as a child “Surround yourself with like minded people”. I had no idea what she was on about , but I do now. These are the people who inspire us. They are not movie stars, politicians or sports people. Just People who have a special recipe for successfully being masters of their own fate.
Boots’n’All – provides inspiration and resources to get you on the road. Their focus is long-term, independent travel and believe that is the final piece to formal education, and that every citizen of the world can benefit, grow, and learn by taking a big trip. So if you’re ready to take that slow road around the globe, this is a good place to start
Born 2 Travel – Mark and Steffi are an Italian couple who just inspire us with their thirst for travel. Their site has some great international recipes to try to get you in the mood for distant exotic places.
Wandering Trader – We’ve been following Marcello Arrambide for many years now, he’s an incredible individual who has tapped into his own very special niche – Day Trading Stocks. Now he travels the world living off his dividends and teaching others the same skills. If you’re in Medellin Colombia you can attend his classes.
An Uncluttered Life – Betsy and Warren Talbot (old site “Married with Luggage”) are your guides for moving from that Plan B life you settled for back to that Plan A life you crave and deserve. Their 185 Pod casts are an almanac for minimalists and people who need guidance in making that transition from work to play
Never Ending Voyage – This was the first blog we ever started to follow and we love these guys. Simon Fairbairn and Erin McNeaney, are a digital nomad couple who sold everything to travel the world indefinitely. Their emails pop into our inbox and we regularly are inspired to get ourselves on the road.
So Many Places – Kim and Brian are truly inspirational. Kim’s book is due out in 2017. in her own words… “There were times while I was at work, sitting in my cubicle, that I’d think to myself: What will life be like if I stay this way? I knew, I absolutely knew for sure, that a 9-to-5-in-a-cubicle kind of life was not what my life was for. I’d always dreamed of traveling. I wanted to write. But my dreams and desires had been placed on the back burner, pushed aside by the pressure I felt to chase the traditional model of success. I was selling my life for a paycheck. Why?”
Hedgehogs without borders – Tim and Jessica tell their story of an 18 month journey around the world and their travel adventures since returning home. From adopting a Dog in Thailand to living in a fishing shack in Cape Cod their lives were forever changed once they set off from home.
2 Backpackers – A Latin America travel blog focused on a collection of travel photos, travel tips and top travel destinations from Central and South America. Written by a community of travel bloggers and couples who have either backpacked with a limited travel budget or enjoyed the more leisure travel approach.
Himalayan Experience – If you ever want to travel to Nepal I personally know and studied with Dipak in New Zealand. Dipak is passionate about making people’s dreams come true. His expertise has been honed by over twenty-five years in the business, exploring far-flung areas across Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and India. His knowledge of cultural and mountain tourism and his experience was recognised by the Trekking Agents Association of Nepal when he became its spokesperson in 1999.
If you know of a great inspirational site, or just want to comment please do so. The more we all network our experiences the more knowledge we share.