Mobile Lifestyle 101: How I Work & Travel Anywhere

After more than 10 solid months on the road I’ve recited the following diatribe more often than Chicken Little thought the sky was falling. I’m not at all complaining here – I get a real kick out of the look on a person’s face as they realize that 1) I’m not crazy, 2) Nope, not lying either, and 3) I really DO travel for a living. What people love best is the fact that I’m doing it because I want to… but I can work along the way when I choose to.

Pretty much sounds like freedom doesn’t it? In many ways it is. And I want to help you achieve this kind of freedom because it’s easier than you think. Especially for freelancers.

The Ultra-Condensed Guide to Perpetual Travel via Freelancing

Now don’t expect me to unearth the Holy Grail here because I can’t. There’s a lot that goes into crafting this lifestyle and traveling perpetually pretty much plants you squarely in the unknown on a daily basis. However, in my case, that’s exactly why I do it! And whether you want to just get up and go one day for however long you decide… or you just want the freedom to take little trips whenever you choose… don’t wait until you have it all figured out. Just get up and go and trust that the universe will fill in the gaps with exactly what you need along the way. Ain’t that a trip!

Books to Read

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4 Hour Workweek is an excellent and real-world actionable primer on how to travel and work anywhere (even with a 9 to 5 job!)

Courage: The Joy of Living Dangerously gets to the soul of the matter: that so much freedom and newness can certifiably scare the crap out of you. It also explains how to deal. HIGHLY recommended… this book was my bible while traveling.

Eat, Pray, Love (and it’s masculine equivalent is available for our fabulous men!) kept me sane and entertained during the more troubling and soul-searching episodes of my trip {insert nervous breakdown here}. A great story that informed and inspired every major leg of my travels so far, I highly recommend it!

Mobile Lifestyle Gear for the Road

Creating a mobile lifestyle isn’t just for perpetual travel. Perhaps you want to attend industry events, network, and pick up clients out of town. Or heck maybe you want to actually take a vacation once in a while! In all cases, you need to mobilize your lifestyle.

Here are the tools and accessories I never leave home without. And the funny thing… it’s the tiny little things that have absolutely saved my ass on the road.

(Everything listed below is on my Gear Page under “Work Anywhere Gear.” Please visit there for pictures and links. You can also get most of it at your local Best Buy or Target)

1. Domestic or International Wireless Laptop Air Card: Don’t count on the internet your hotel promises or that the cafes in the area will have free wireless. I can’t count the number of times I get caught without internet – free or otherwise. Having a wireless air card is essential to maintain even a sporadic traveling/vacation lifestyle where you’re bringing work with you.
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   Just check with your cell phone provider or any other cellular provider for options on laptop air cards. You pay a monthly fee for the service, as well as a one-time fee to purchase the air card, and you’ll have internet access anywhere you get cell phone reception.
2. 3-plug outlet extender: This allows you to turn those rare and hard-to-come by outlets in restaurants and cafe’s into a bevy of outlets for you and your fellow patrons. This little guy (costs less than 5 bucks) has saved me more times than I can count when I have to charge all my electronics on a stop between destinations, or when no outlets are available and I can politely ask someone if we can use the extender for our mutual charging needs.
3. 3-prong adapter for 2-prong outlets: Another little guy you never think of that can literally save your professional life! Imagine my surprise and horror when I arrived in Bali to discover that their promised USA adapters only allowed 2-prong electronics. I couldn’t plug my laptop in! The only thing that saved me was using this priceless gem to convert my 3-prong charger into the 2-prong adapter.
4. Kindle or similar ebook reader: Whether it’s your swanky new iPad, the Kindle, or another ebook reader of choice, if you’re planning extended travel – domestic or international – if you’re an avid reader like me or you must conduct research for your freelance work, this will save you added weight charges on your luggage and keep your purse or man-bag nice and light. I personally resisted getting a kindle for the longest time because many of the academic books and other obscure psychology, ancient language, and spiritual texts were not available on the kindle.
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   However after traveling with roughly 50 books in my trunk and back seat (along with everything else I owned that was stuffed in my car) I realized that trading in for digital would be a necessity. Especially when I traded my car in for a suitcase to go abroad.Surprisingly I have fallen in love with the kindle, not just for saving space, but I read so much faster and it’s easier to find my notes and bookmarks for each book. And lucky for Amazon, I also buy way more books.
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   Oh and extra plus: Free international 3G internet access - The kindle’s interface sucks for surfing the net but if you’re caught without internet and you need to check email or otherwise reach a certain website, the kindle can quickly save the day. It’s happened to me more than once!
5. All-in-one international travel adapter: If you plan for any international travel, save yourself the headache and just keep one of these handy. It will allow you to plug any country’s plug into any other country’s outlet. All in one little device. I LOVE IT. Too bad I forgot it when I was in Bali!
6. Portable iPod Dock: Music is a must-have for me and though many hotels are starting to carry iPod docks in their rooms, I was shocked at how many 4-stars and resorts were still behind the times. Not to mention all the hostels or motels you may stay in along the way! Of course many opt to use their laptop speakers and throw on Pandora or iTunes, but I like quality music enough that it was worth the extra space to lug my iPod dock around. I HEART my iPod Dock.

There are many other items I recommend traveling with that you can see on my Gear Page, however those are my Mobile Lifestyle essentials that I find few people consider.

How to Go Mobile

Taking a voluntary working vacation can be daunting the first time you do it. Though I must say, planning ahead to work while you travel can be empowering and exciting – you can plan to travel longer knowing work will be handled, and you simply organize your time so you have ample adventure alongside your projects.

ONE. I recommend if you’re still getting used to the mobile lifestyle, that you start with just working outside the house. At least three days a week, work at a local cafe, at the beach, at a wine bar or restaurant. Plan your to-do list before you arrive or as soon as you get situated and review how your productivity there matches up with your productivity at home. You may be surprised to find you get MORE done!

Working at cafes gives me the bustle, human connection and peripheral activity I miss when I’m home alone. Not to mention bottomless tea and easy food choices! Just watch your budget.

This is also good for flexing those *focus* muscles before challenging yourself with too much newness. Because there’s a lot vying for your attention when you’re in a new place. The people, the sights, the urge to explore… you can quickly lose yourself in your travels, finding your projects left undone, unless you get used to balancing the two beforehand.

TWO. Take a small vacation or road trip to somewhere exciting but perhaps familiar. I did this when I gave up my home began perpetual traveling. Though I was already taking 2-week vacations every 30 to 60 days, the idea of traveling full-time was still daunting. I eased into it by going first to Scottsdale to visit my best friend, and then on to Sedona and Flagstaff where I had been on two previous trips.

Try to make the vacation at least 5 days. I like 2 weeks. Go ahead and take the family too if you can. Use Ferriss’ 4 Hour Workweek book for tips on convincing your spouse’s boss to let him or her telecommute for a few days (the first step to securing 100% work-at-home status for the 9-to-5er!). Give yourself a basic outline for the trip – dedicate certain daily hours to working or dedicate entire days (my preference) so that the rest of the time is clearly marked for fun and adventure.

Do this at least once every 60 days until you feel comfortable.

THREE. Then stretch yourself into a 30-day working sabbatical! You can find wonderful home-exchanges or furnished sublets all over the world via Craigslist. Also refer to my post on staying in resorts for motel prices for tips on luxurious budget travel for the long-term.

Also don’t forget to consult with your tax advisor on how your travel expenses can be written off as part of your business expenses! The world is your oyster, rockstar!