Content Some words from the publisher $6000 per month while travelling the globe Famous laptop nomads who crush it while travelling Best locations to live and earn – stretch your Dollar here More fun outside – the spiritual guidance for a better life off the cubicle Best foods for traveller – stay fit like a new sneaker long time Dollar ideas while on the road About us
03 04 05 08 11 12 15 17
Some words from the publisher
Welcome to the first issue of the laptop nomad magazine. I am glad you found us in the app store. We love freedom and freedom means for us to work and to have fun where we choose, without to think in small boxes or cubicles, without borders and as global citizen. We serve and share how it is possible to live the dream lifestyle anywhere you choose. We live this lifestyle since 2006 and stay where we choose and how long we choose. So we met many different people and cultures (nearly 50 countries) which is mind blowing and always will be. So, have fun reading while getting a lot of value and to get to know many interesting laptop nomad travellers who choose where to live while working online. Publisher
$6000 per month while travelling the globe
I met a smart guy online and he is travelling the globe for a few years and is cashing in now in average $6000 a month. That is not bad for a lifestyle in South East Asia where the cost of living is way cheaper than in western countries. So, it might be interesting for you to know how he is earning that kind of money. Well, I will let you know. One of a possibility to earn money while on the road is to give consulting services to clients. And exactly that he is doing. First you should be qualified in what you are doing and experienced. The best is it to have some testimonials at your about page, like he did: http://linchpin.net/about/. Then you should offer a risk free trial, so they can check if you really deliver. In case they are satisfied with what you are doing, they are also happy to pay you. You need to be a well known expert if you want to start in the beginning, without testimonials, to start that kind of money. It´s not easy if you aren´t. It´s easy if you think that you can deliver and really keep what you promised. Customers will be happy to start worth of mouth advertising for your service and this makes clients rolling in. And this consulting service what Damien offers is only one way of many many possibilities to fund your time outside the cubicle or any other job you´ve been before. More about that in an other chapter.
Famous laptop nomads who crush it while travelling
Famous in terms of within the scene famous and not worldwide famous. And the scene is the traveller scene, the laptop-nomad, the laptop-lifestyle scene and similar location independent names for it. Maybe they are also famous within my circle and other ones rarely head about them, but this is far from possibility, because the people who are wihtin the scene know eachother, some closer some not so close. The lady with the website legalnomads.com is from Canada and supports her lifestyle through writing, food-invitations on different places. http://www.nomadicmatt.com/ is one who is also very well-known outside the scene I want to state. He got mentioned in many other magazines and has a ton of followers and subscribers on his social media sites and newsletter. I know him now 2 years and I am impressed on how many countries he travelled, although only a few weeks ago a british guy (I dont have his name in store now) is the first human alive who travelled all countries on earth by feet without to use ever a plane. Impressive! http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/jessica-success-story/ is one of his posts where you learn, that you don´t need much money to have a life full of beautiful experiences. Even if you have only the plane ticket money, just do it and start your journey abroad. If you really want to explore cultures, you will find a way on it´s way by looking for work and jobs and it will come to you. Dan and Audrey from UncorneredMarket.com travel also for a long time and they have interesting stories to write. Visit their website and find out more about them. Many women meet up at this site: www.Authentizen.com, also Jodi from LegalNomads and they help everbody to make a living abraod. The right site for you if you dislike your cubicle and want to be free to choose where to work. They even offer a bundle for $77 here which should help you to get started and live the dream life. This lady is giving you free material just for signing-up on her newsletter:
suitcaseentrepreneur.com. Migrationology.com is more about food although he writes also about goalsetting and doing what you are passionate about. Dan and Ian from TropicalMBA.com have massive podcasts for free yor you every week on Thursday Hongkong time for you. Their inncercircle Dynamite membership costs 99 Dollar every 3 months. They claim to own a million Dollar business with this site and their cat-furniture and other businesses. My impression was that the language is straight forward without holding back (can be for some folks to strong) and it is not really for beginners but for folks who are already experienced business-owner and want to expand their knowledge in terms of location-independence and businessgrowth. Beside that there are many links to other location independent travellers within the site, mostly based in cheap SouthEastAsia, like Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bali. I could now name also Tony Robbins or any other self-help Guru or even Internet-Marekting Gurus like Frank Kern and so on, but they dont live the laptop-lifestyle and have offices in the States, which is a bit uncool, although Tony own a fat property land in the island of Fiji. Richard Branson falls also in the MEAG successful category of awesome Entrepreneurs and he is literally location independet with so many billions of Dollar on his own name. I know, I can name also Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and recommend to follow them (they have their own twitter accounts with updates), but these guys are a number to heavy for us. They play in the wealthy super rich league together with Fortune 500 conglomerats like Johnson and Johnson (greetings to the daughter of who lives in Cali) and many more. These fat cats can live life also on their own terms, but they have to many resposibilities in their own country and travel only sometimes (in winter to Aspen, in summer maybe to Marbella/Spain). So, we stick with 5-/6- till highest 7 figure owners. Because that´s enough per year to make a decent living worldwide. InternationalLiving, based in Florida offers for 2-3 figures payments some
programs, how to make money with your photos or with videos while travelling. I bought them, found them useful, although it´s not my main-niche I serve. They have a ton of other programs to buy from whose topic is all about travel and making a living outside of your homecountry althogh they promote mostly this countries where they have some properties or a base of their company to promote that which is nothing wrong about and only natural. Other travel blogs are vagabondish.com, nerdynomad.com who speak more about travel than about making a living so, although my advise to you is: contact the owner of these blogs and ask them how they make a living and mostly they are happy to respond and to explain exactly that. I liked especially why the world needs nomads: vagabondish.com/why-worldsneeds-nomads-3 Urbanforage.co is doing food tours to keep up with the money – a nice idea to meet new people and having fun by eating good food. She wrote also a book called “101 jobs you can do anywhere in the world” available on amazon. Very useful tips in my opinion (I´ve read the book). It should be at least 5 opportunities match with your taste of doing some work. She is offering for herself also consulting work, which is a nice idea since you can give your tips and hints through skype.com to anyone worldwide. TheProfessionalHobo.com is a really very professional one. She earns her 5 figures through writing jobs. And she was lucky to get one company on board who is paying her very well. Meanwhile she settled in Central-America, since she is not the youngest anymore and just rented or bought a house there. Anyway, you can learn mayn many useful things about travel, voluntary help abroad and making some good amounts of cash by visiting her website. http://www.Everything-everywhere.com/, chrisguillebeau.com are more sites with long time travellers. Chris seems to finance his site mainly with ebooks and advertisments on his blog/site. Jetsetcitizen.com is a nice simple site with not many ads on it (like Chris has) and he is giving useful tips in his newsletter how to get not only food on your table but also how to earn good money in amazing countries. Since 1997 he is living abroad and could collect a lot of experiences and is willing to share them and doing good. Subscribe to
his newsletter! Last but not least I want to mention 3 girls (women) who travel the world and give awesome tips how to finance it: http://www.lostgirlsworld.com/2011/01/travel-freelancing/ These are people we read from time to time. In case you have suggestions, just Email me on facebook (see link at the “About us� section) and in one of my next issues of this Laptop Nomad MAG you could appear.
Best locations to live and earn – stretch your Dollar here
I guess you´ve heard it already: SouthEastAsia is a travellers heaven. The climate is awesome with warm temperatures all year round, the food is the best in the world (beside Japanese food), the mostly buddhist culture is very nice to experience and even to live with. People are mostly friendly to foreigners and tourists (if you are kind!!:)). A Dollar or a Euro or British Pound or your Scandinavian curreny goes a long way in every place at SEA. The most popular destinations are Ecuador for the older ones (from age 40) who choose a climate in the mountains, fresh and cool. Then follows Panama and Mexico for the same age group. Some prefer Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Agentina because the buying power of the Dollar and other already named western currencies can give you many months of a really nice country with different parts to discover (ski in the andes, end of the world visit in Ushuaia, Tango in Buenos Aires, Big whales tour in the east of the country and so on...). Brazil is not really a country where you can safe, because it is very expensive in some parts and only for the ones who can afford it. An island life is sometimes more expensive than a big city life. For the ones who are budget travellers and like the Asian lifestyle it´s for sure not an option to consider Southamerica or Europe, except East-Europe where the prices are really good in Slovakia, Czech-Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. With a tent you can stay everywhere for cheap, but is this the life you want? The younger croud and a few old ones prefer (I am certain about statistics) Thailand, a few Vietnam and Cambodia, some less few Philippines and Malysia and Indonesia. We visited many places (nearly 50) and our favourits for a long stay budget are Thailand and Cambodia and Vietnam. Myanmar has a big future, because it is fairly unknown to budget-travellers and so it has so much potential. The islands are mostly full in Thailand, especially Phuket and Koh Samui and Koh Phangan will follow, because groups are popping up in facebook in big amounts and it is easy for people to explore these islands through groups
and then to travel to over there and live there. The disturbing part are the VISA runs for every 30 days in Thailand, but gives also an opportunity to know neighbour countries like Laos, Myanmar and so on. So out Top 1 is Thailand, then the Phillipines, because there are not many tourists around from western countries and many opportunities and people speak very well English in comparasation to Thailand. For the ones with bigger pockets I recommend Bali, because it is a more soophisiticated crowd over there and lot´s of artists, entrepreneurs. Then comes Vietnam. It is similar like Thailand but same same different, haha. Cambodia is nice, too and follows then. Everyhwere you can find busses who bring you from one place to an other. And with $1000 a month you live a very good lifestyle in a bungalow at the beach in named countries. If you prefer simple and with no attachments like a car or an own house or other things like that, then this is it. For me it is real freedom, just to rent what I need and rarely things to won, except a laptop, a bicicle if I stay longer on a place and there are no motocicles to rent (yes these places exist). The internet-connections in the named countries are not always the the most stable ones, but if they are on they run on a good speed and even videoconferences are also possible from WiFi connections in coffee shops or bungalows.
More fun outside – the spiritual guidance for a better life off the cubicle
I am a bit fan of Buddhism. Although Hinduism, Christian religion and even Islam have some very nice parts in their teachings. I am not attached to any relgion, but I´ve learned from these biggest ones. So, I recommend you do not attach to any religion but found your own religion. Because you can be whoever you want to be. And this religion I want to call the spiritual religion. It is not a religion, more a guidance how to make a better life while beeing spiritual. Before I will mention a blog or two about this topic I want to make clear some very basic things before you start to travel to foreign cultures. Always be kind (it keeps you out of trouble and you only meet kindness), give more than you receive (bring small presents to where you go; it can be a cookie or a simple silent wishing of good luck and many good experiences), respect others through your look (you disrespect not only yourself but others if you don´t pay attention of your body, so clean yourself regulary and smell good:)), always leave people with the attention to make them smile – this works wonders, help where you can (you´ll get it back tenfolds), live abundant and life gives back abundance. Karma is only a bitch if you are, what means: be conscious about your actions. Luck is always a life companion if you feel very good in what you are doing. Then you are on your life-path. The same counts for success: if you like what you do, do it long enough and success will follow. The most people are not successful, because they give up in the middle of the journey. Success must come if you only contribute for the higher good on earth. This can be donations to organisations or even investments in your self, in your sef-education, in your business. Don´t hold back with that what you have to offer to the world. Every human is special and has his own gift. Give it freely and you will receive freely. That´s a part of my spirit and it works very well for me. We are all one and people you meet you meet for a reason. Either they teach you something or you are the teacher.
I found a very good quote: “Aligning with the Higher Will will guide you to take the actions that will
produce the results you want. You might imagine a higher stream of energy that leads to your goal, and picture yourself joining it. Imagine that you are being joined by the Higher Will and that iIt is assisting you in creating whatever is for your highest good in the best and fastest way possible. Take action only when your feeling is inviting, open, and positive. The actions you take will be aligned with the Higher Will. You will need less effort to get positive results.” - ORIN (Spiritual Growth: Being Your Higher Self) Do you love it? Let me know. SimonaRich.com is a girl (woman) from Poland who writes in English about her spiritual experiences mostly in India and other countries. She has helpful ebooks and nearly weekly tips to be a more spiritual person. Highly recommended! That´s so far. Till now I´ve covered which people to follow and you can learn from to make a living while somehwere and how you can make even nearly 6-figures per year from the laptop while on the laptop and where on this planet your bucks go a long way and hoow do you leave a good impression and feel very good with spiritual lessons. NOW you are prepared to live your dream life, but I have more. Because food plays an essential role for your well-beeing. If you eat the wrong food it can make you feel bad and with no energy and no lust to travel or even kill you if you trust the wrong sources. So, I cover that now in the next chapter:
Best foods for traveller – stay fit like a new sneaker long time I am a vegetarian and the only meat I eat is seafish. I recommend to you not to eat pig, cow (bull, ox), chicken or any other meat, because they contain toxic elements which make you shake and it´s easier to destroy your immune system and so you are more able to get a flu, which can end deadly in rarely occasions. This in terms of daily foods, of course. If you eat meat once per year, your body will react in strange way because it is not used to it. Mabye your body will show some alergic signs. So, better never eat them. And when you eat fish, you better make sure it´s common fish and not some exotic Japanese fish who is still alive, like you can see here. Or a ballfish who will kill you. 6 people die pay year in South-Korea while they try to eat octopus who are still alive. Oyster can have unknown things in their shell and there are cases known of killed people after eating an oyster. Street food can be yummy, especially tempura and other fried foods – eat with care; you never know if it is clean enough. Your stomach can go crazy which you´ll rarely experience with the same food in clean environments. Stick with energy foods, like fruits. Fruits like banana, advocado, oranges, mangosteen (in Thailand they are named the queen of fruits), jackfruit (attention: smell is strange, but taste is awesome, which is why it will not be served in planes), mangos. Eat rich protein foods (fish, all kind of nuts, but no peanuts, because people die from them, because they contain also a toxic element within them; also betelnut can make you feel as when you smoked to much brown stuff). Also light food like rice and vegetarians like salad, beetroot, cucumber and tomato are powerfull energy giver. Especially all raw food is a way to go. Soy in not to much quantities makes you feel good, too. Sushi is awesome. Don´t drink to much alcohol, because it is toxic, too and makes you much more vulnerable against attacks of every kind. Forget about all the sweet things, like chocolate and candy-bars and all which has sugar or apsartame inside. Sugar gives you an energy kick, but this is
really just a kick, because your blood-sugar get´s pumped at high speed and goes back at normal level within a very short time. This is a lot of hard work for some important organs within your body and you should not let make that per day. You can expect a longer life without to take that and you don´t risk diabetis in the long run, which is the number one illness in western countries. Drink lot´s of water, because it keep your fluids alive and your body clean. Pay attention not to drink to much water which contains fluorids, because this is toxic and will harm your brain till Alzheimer. Ever wonder why people don´t remember things? Ask them if they drink water daily and ask them which water and check the ingredients and if there is written: fluor/ide then you´ll know the reason. Drink 100% juice and no soda or other cheap gasdrinks. A green-smoothy (Clorophyl-drink) every morning will work wonders (inside you put: cucumber, a lot of spinache, water, other green leafs of your choice and no sweetener!!). I recommend even some days (2-3) not to eat, but only to drink. You´ll feel more light and get a better sense of your environment, because your mind opens up and does not think on going to the next street vendor or to a supermarket/restaurant. Now you are not only mentally and financially prepared, but also food-like. Think always positive. Never react on negativity, because you want to keep your good vibes :).
Dollar ideas while on the road Teaching is a very common income source for many many travellers, although it has less to do with beeing a laptop-nomad. But I want to mention this site: http://www.eslcafe.com/ You can find regulary updated jobs on teaching related jobs, mostly as an English teacher. Sometimes you need a TEFL, sometimes not. A TEFL is a course which states: Teaching English as a Foreign Language. I have that certificate, although I never worked in that field, because I am a Laptop Nomad :) If you like to work with childs/young adults then this is the certificate to go for. So, since this is a laptop nomad magazine I concentrate more on what to do to make cash, while hanging on the beach. The best way is to work as smooth as possible. Don`t overwork yourself. Concentrate on only the most effective 20% (pareto-principe) in your work. The ultimate solution would be not to work at all, but to get all the amounts of cash we wish. This can be accomplised by investing and living from dividends per month, although you need a minimum of 1 million Dollar to get a 10% ROI per year. With this money it´s a good living everywhere on earth per month. Ok, the most dont have this amount, so we concentrate on work. My advise: build your own brand. Your own blog. Your own subscriber-base. You can amass of followers who are your source of cash. If you need money you Email them and offer them your product. It´s easy as 1, 2, 3. An own list is an asset, which can serve you for a lifestime. If you find it to hard to do that, then slave your life away with working for someone. But this is more risky than building your own brand. You can be fired anytime. And you call that job-security? Bulding your own business – your own laptop-business – is a much better way to save yourself. And you dont compete with no-one, because everybody has his own unique product to offer. People buy from people whose voice, face (or anything like that) like. Also they buy to fill a need. To fill some pain. They want to come from one island (pain) to an other island (pleasure). And you can bring them there with your services/products.
Consulting is a very good idea to start a location independent blog. Health related or finance related or whatever is your expertise. You just have to start. And Alex shows you how he got more than 1000 (!!) subscribers to his first blog-post, which is an impressive number! Also many people follow some kind of affiliate program and promote that through video (youtube) or audio (podcast) or even through text on their blog. I am not a fan of affilaite programs, because you give your control to an other person. If this person decides to stop the program, you are out of business the same moment. So, do something where you are in control for the long good looking future. I recommend you write (example: for this MAG = contact me through my facebook = https://www.facebook.com/laptopnomadsglobal and send me a message with your blog and what you want to contribute to this MAG). You can also publish your own book, ebook and let people know what you know/experienced. Do you see, the world is full of opportunities, you just have to act uppon them.
This is the first MAG of MaptopNomad. Please write me your opinion, what I can do better. I appreciate any feedback (good or not so good).
About us: We are a mixed couple (one is from one country and the other one from an other country – from whereever). We live in a globalised digital world where borders do not count anymore. And since 2006 we are going from country to country and stay mostly there where the sun is shining all year round.
Cover-Photo-Credits go to: http://robertjrgraham.com/ Connect with us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laptopnomadsglobal (this is also our contact Email on facebook)