Image of the Hong Kong Light Festival

Before I started travelling I know of a friend who out of fustration left his home country the UK for pastures new only to return tails between their legs even more bitter than when they left. Or in another case a friend who moved to another country only to spend years toiling and later having regrets as it did not lead anywhere, and would have had a better life if he had stayed where he was in the first place.

On the other hand I know of a few aquaintances who moved with their families to a new country with the offer of a job placement. Although I heard of a case where the family had to move back to France from Canada due to situation with their teenage daughter in which her father had to abandon a successful career.

I believe one needs to be prepared that the utopia we think we are seeking can happen but just in case it doesn't, it's always good to be able to come back home with less      pain of rebuilding from the start. For instance I know someone who spent ten years seeking out his ideal country only to find that his ideal country was the one he moved from and it was his mindset that he had to change.

I have been working as a work and travel professional (digital nomad) as some would call it for nearly two years. I have heard questions of what do you have to do to become a digital, working or retired nomad.

To be honest when this question arises I always say no shoe size fits all. I myself fell into it by chance and planned as I went along. However here are a few things to consider

First you need a source of income and that could be anywhere from job, investments or even bargain hunting and selling on behalf of someone else (I have seen that done). Then there is savings which based on how much saved you can sustain yourself.  And last but not least a pension if you are of that age.

Also you need to step out of your comfort zone as where you travel to can be completely different from where you call home.

Then you have to consider family commitments. Always good to discuss with family members your intentions so you could get some moral support and if you’re lucky get a visit. This also includes close friends to.

There are other things to consider, however I am trying to keep this article short and sweet.

Happy Travels.

How to make money online

There are multiple ways of making money online. From selling to getting involved in FinTech investing in stocks and shares using an online app like Etoro or Robinhood, however, in this article, I will not be talking about financial instruments.

I would start by saying there are multiple ways of making money online and unless you are earning a decent and enough for your living expenses and some from one source. I would say seek multiple ways of earning an online income. But then don’t overdo it whereby you don’t have a social life or any life to speak of.

The other thing about making money online is no different than starting a business. And you have to look at it that way and apply some of the same principles to starting a business and having the same expectations.

Making money is not for everyone. 

It's like running a business which is not easy. 

Believe it or not, there is something comforting about getting a paycheck every week or month, and having to take an entitled holiday. And not worrying about your regular income. And other perks that come with a regular job like having a holiday and still recieving an income

My recommendation is that start by making money online as a hobby or on a part-time basis while keeping a regular job.

Now that we have covered the basics let’s go into some aspects of making money online

Affiliate Marketing

Now, this is something that caught my attention a few years back as almost anyone on social media was promoting it. From social media celebrities to travellers who say they quit their day jobs and wanted to sell courses on the subject.

An affiliate Marketer is loosely defined basically as a person; you earn a commission (which may not necessarily be cash but in kind) by promoting a product or service made by another company or advertiser. Then you are rewarded a pay-out for providing results that benefit the company or advertiser

Basically, it means sharing a product or service online like a website

Now, this is an easy way to make money online and very easy to get into, but unfortunately, it is an over-saturated area so you would have to put in a lot of leg work.

Selling Products Online

This is an easy one. Sell any product from T-shirts to books to cars. Easy to set up have an eBay account or Amazon sellers account and off you go. Generally good if you have a niche product and you may have to advertise a lot. For people to be aware of the product you want to sell.

T-shirts is a very popular one if you can get your own unique design going and make sure you copyright it you could be onto something. Alternatively, if you are quite handy you can easily create your own paintings, and carvings or crafty designs to sell online.

Influencer Social Media Guru Entertainer

This is an interesting one for me as this is because of a relative who becomes a very successful YouTube sensation.

I’ve followed his story most of the way.

Actually, if anything I remember encouraging him when he started out and had only a few followers, back in 2012. And others were not in support.

Basically, you can make money on these platforms but it would take time. Also, you would need a lot of dedication and focus to get the necessary influence and followers to have any success. My relative who became a sensation had his own unique sense of humour which got him a huge fan base who now follow him. Into the different ventures and activities that he gets involved in.

Under this I will put the sub-heading YouTube as this is how he became successful. 

I hear you say social media like YouTube is competitive and it will take years to build up followers and subscribers

Well yes  of course

However, you can also follow someone already famous on YouTube and use her/his name to promote your Channel follow a niche that suits you the best and based on that put content online once you have enough followers you can then do "your own stuff"

Now you could also make as many Fun Videos as possible and post them online, and make a passion out of it. And with time you could get enough viewers to able to monetize your videos, you can do this for Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and the aformentioned YouTube.

Advertising Rental Space

This is not strictly making money online but it involves advertising storage space for money.

So I had this friend who visited New Zealand with the possibility of moving there. Now he had put his stuff with a storage company and after a few months complained at how the storage company was constantly increasing their monthly charges stating energy costs etc.

Now I so happened to inherit a big shed on a piece of land I owned. Which was basically empty. I was not sure what to do with it.

So when my friend talked about storing his stuff. I suggested he could store it in this shed for half the cost of his current storage facility. My friend accepted and I stored his furniture in my shed for a year and a half. When my friend eventually retrieved his furniture, I decided to take to the internet to advertise storing in the shed. And I have found a neighbour who stores stuff in the shed at a cost.