What are we doing and HOW? We are obviously not at retirement age, and we certainly are not from wealthy families. So how do we afford to just take off and travel for several years? Well all I can do is tell you how we do it, but know there are a ton of others doing it many different ways.
First of all we try to live frugally, which isn’t very difficult when you live on a boat and buying online is almost impossible. We all know I am an online shopping addict… eeeekkkk admitting it is the first step to recovery, right? So it all comes down to food and entertainment. We normally stay at anchor so that is free. We cook a lot on the boat because Steve is pretty picky about his food. Data is our biggest splurge. We are probably online way more than we should be but it is the thing we indulge in besides food.
We probably spend about $24,000 a year in living expenses and boat maintenance. So we work to save a few years of living expenses, then leave. The first time we played until we hit a benchmark we set for ourselves. When we hit that benchmark, we flew back to the states and were very lucky to find work that filled our bank account up again. This time we want to do things a bit differently.
We want to do more…. I've written about adding in House Sitting in Europe this next summer. We would also like to purchase a small truck for future land travel in the summers. And we want to do all this without going back to working full time and having to stay in one place for such a long time. It really depresses me.
So how will we accomplish this? Well we are throwing our hats into the Remote Working Virtual World. Yes there is such a thing and many already know all about this world. We have met many of you and were blown away with your imagination and intuitiveness. We are excited about trying this out and hopefully it will make all our dreams possible.
How do WE plan to work virtually? Well… both of us have always worked from a laptop in some fashion. We are currently working on figuring out how we can do it while we travel. Wifi has really opened the world up to everyone. There are studies that found that workers from remote areas make more productive workers and companies are getting onboard with it. Here are a few interesting articles Remote vs Office Workers
I think we are a good fit for this type of work because it breaks the current template of an ordinary worker and we are experts at breaking out of what is considered “normal”. We have read several stories of people taking off from the normal societal lifestyle to only return feeling awkward and uncomfortable. This really started for us before we left because it took so much effort to stay on track and now we long for our fellow traveling friends because they are the only ones that understand us.
Working remotely in today’s world you really have to throw out everything you every thought was the correct way of applying for a position. You also have to think completely out of the box. Today, you search in Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for a position. You join Facebook and Linkedin groups for your particular industry. The only thing I have seen that is consistent with the old days is that it comes down to who you know. So now you must contact them through social media platforms. You must also stand out….
So to do that I have started working with this little bundle of energy that is an expert at standing out and she isn’t afraid to tell you what you need to hear. I found her in a Facebook remote work group. I watched a live video about women helping other women get jobs in the virtual world and Loved how direct she was… I hunted her down. Luckily she is living in Guatemala right now so I will physically hunt her down if needed. Hahah
She has a lot of programs where she helps other women find jobs. You can find her on Facebook and here is her website. Remote Like Me
I’m at the age that if I’m going to work I want to do work that I enjoy and am passionate about. I’m interested in working with Nonprofit Organizations so I am currently researching for organizations that touch my heart. I am keeping my options open to anything, including teaching English online, or in person. Working on site is still on the table as long as I’m able to leave when we are ready.
Steve is a different story. He is currently concentrating on the boat. I am going to try to capture all the important information of what he will be doing to Saga Sea when we return for all of you whom are interested. I also am hoping to get him to write me some articles to put in a NEW monthly newsletter we will send out to followers regarding mostly boat information and living on the boat. So if you want to receive the newsletter please sign up from the blog. I am determined to learn all the new ways of today’s media world.
Well I hope that explains what we are planning to do to keep us out there traveling the world. We have one week and two days left before we are sleeping in our own bed… we can’t wait and we appreciate all the help, support and motivation we get from all of you. We hope we are keeping you entertained and motivated to step out of the box of life.
I plan to check back in with you all right before we step on that plane. I have a ton of information about getting your pet approved to travel out of the country.
OUR DOG PARK CREW
Until next time my friends, be good to yourself and Others.
