NerdyNomad, Kirsty Henderson

Financially sustainable, continuous travel is the ideal lifestyle design for so many of us, yet we “know” it must be just a fantasy.  Kirsty Henderson, also known as the NerdyNomad is proof that perpetual travel is a viable life choice. Kirsty has been traveling or living abroad since 2001 and is now funding her adventures through earnings from several travel websites. In this interview, Kirsty shares some great lessons on how to travel long term and earn the money to pay for it.

Where do you currently live?

I’m not really living anywhere permanently at the moment, but I’m writing this from New York City where I’ve been for a couple of weeks now working on a website and visiting some friends. I will head home to Canada in a few days to hang out with my family for a month or two, attempt to do a lot of work on my web business and visit a few friends who live in the area. I don’t know what is next, but I can’t handle Canadian winters anymore, so I will be looking for somewhere warm to be after October.

What are some

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Chris Osborne Working in Hannoi

I had an opportunity to interview  expat and serial entrepreneur, Chris Osborne. Chris is only 26 years but has already lived abroad for more than 4 years and has started several business. He shares some of his experiences living abroad, starting businesses, outsourcing, and hiring foreign workers.

Where are you right now?
I’m in Bali right now. I plan to spend an extra month or two here and then make myself busy for a while before returning home for a wedding. I love the lifestyle Bali provides, especially the work/life balance. I work through sunrise and then go for a bit of a surf in the afternoon. I then come back to work before heading out to a restaurant for great food and wine.

What other countries have you lived in?
I lived in Thailand for four years and I have done extensive travel around the Southeast Asian region: Philippines, Burma, Vietnam, Taiwan, Laos, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

Why did you choose Thailand for four years?
The lifestyle,  people, low cost of living and great food! I quickly got to know some great friends from my holiday…

Is Blogging a Money Machine?

The idea of lifestyle design seems to be morphing into a “make easy passive income and get rich quick” scheme. People always seem to be hungry for short cuts to fame and fortune and there is no shortage of websites offering ebooks, membership programs and consulting on this topic. According to emarketer.com, there were 22.6 million bloggers in the US in 2007. The WallStreet Journal calls blogging, “America’s Newest Profession.” But can you really make a living doing it? Clearly, some are making some decent money and have the freedom to work anywhere in the world. However, you don’t have to look to far to find countless abandoned sites from bloggers that didn’t have the staying power.

Here are some opinions from top bloggers.

Steve Pavlina (How to Make Money from Your Blog)
Steve Pavlina starting making $4 per day after six months of starting his blog. At the end of 2006, it was making more than $1000 per day. In April 2006, the site had received over 1.1 million visitors and over 2.4 million page views. Adsense is…

 

Business or Job

A person earning one million dollars a year doesn’t work ten times harder than someone making one hundred thousand dollars per year. Hard work is an important success factor, but it is clear that it is not the only ingredient. Some occupations pay more just because of the specialized nature of the work. It is not surprising that a doctor earns more than a bus driver. High skill, high risk work deserves higher returns. Luck can also play a large role in income opportunities but it is important not to underestimate the benefits of working smart, and not just working hard.

I Don’t Want a Job
In my one year plan to change careers and move to another country, I need to find a way to make money. An important deciding factor for any type of work I do is whether it is a ‘business’ or a ‘job’. A ‘job’ pays you when you work. The more you work, the more you get paid. Jobs are relatively secure and the income is predictable but there is a constraint on earnings potential, and that is time. You need to work more to make more money. Anyone…

I Can Make your Website!

There is a little nagging problem that interferes with the lives we really want to lead and that is MONEY. Most of us have to earn an income to survive and that is often the greatest barrier holding us back from moving to a new country or starting a new career. With ubiquitous internet access all over the globe, the “need to work” excuse is losing its meaning. We all have the potential to make a decent living with a computer, internet connection and our own skills and knowledge.

I think everyone should be working towards big ideas (Big Ideas Post 1, Big Ideas Post 2) with huge potential pay offs, maybe even the chance to change the world in some way. The problem is that it is also nice to eat and pay the bills along the way. One of the safest and most effective ways to earn money, improve your skills, gain experience and get noticed is to freelance; sell your skills and services online to other companies.

Almost any type of work can be outsourced now so there are no shortages of opportunities. You could…

You Sexy Thang, You!

In my twenties, I thought I was going to live forever. Of course, I knew that was an impossibility but my actions and lifestyle just never factored in the inevitable and unstoppable onset of age. I still feel young and live young, but now in the last year of my thirties, I hope I am also a little wiser. I am sure all of you “young uns” are starting to shake your head and are moving your mouse to the close icon, but stick with me and I promise not to give the “I wish I were your age”  lecture you have heard a thousand times before.

What is Old Age?
Scientifically aging is the result of the cells in your body not regenerating fast enough. It is a little more complicated than that but essentially your cells are no longer healthy. After about the age of 30 your body will start to deteriorate no matter what you do. Everyone will lose hair, lose muscle mass and gain fat. Your skin will get softer and sag, with spots appearing all over your body. Your teeth will become more yellow and crooked.…

Big Ideas Bring Big Returns!

Most people will tell you that the only way to be successful is to work really hard and really smart. Effective and focused effort towards specific goals is a fairly risk free way to achieve economic and personal success, just ask any doctor, dentist or lawyer. Riches are there for those willing to put in the time and work. However, we live in an age of ideas. This is the idea economy and the rules are changing.

Sure hard work toward high leverage activities will always bring results, but there are more and more examples of creative entrepreneurs bypassing the traditional routes to fame and fortune. A little luck, a lot of experimentation and a great idea are often all that is needed for extraordinary returns. This is the second installment of my big ideas topic. You can find the first here. I will soon create a specific page dedicated to these great ideas, so stay tuned.

Remember that you can’t copy a great idea verbatim because in talent oriented markets like showbiz, music and ideas only the  absolute best…

People are Everything!

Hiring inexpensive developers and assistants in exotic countries for minuscule wages sounds very exciting and a great way to jump start your business and online ventures, and it is. Every business, blog writer or freelancer should be aggressively looking for ways to leverage their time and skills. However,  managing projects and outsourced developers is not easy. There are many problems that will arise in any outsourcing arrangement.  After hiring dozens of outsourced companies and individuals from countries all over the world I have learned some valuable lessons.

Projects are about People
Establishing relationships and connections beyond curt online communication, is essential to successful long term relationships. There will be disagreements and misunderstandings just like in any social setting.  Communicating through email, chats and even Skype is not the same as meeting people in person. Extra care needs to be taken in establishing the relationship and ensuring that both sides understand each other. Sometimes this can seem to be an inefficient use of your time, when all you want is to get projects completed quickly and cheaply. However, it is in the interests of both parties to try and develop long-term professional relationships.…

Most of us have been conditioned to believe that success is all about hard work and consistent action. And that is true! Don’t get me wrong, the best things in life are certainly worth working hard for. You don’t become insanely talented by accident, I wrote in a previous article how it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become world class in many fields. To become a professional athlete, artist, writer and many other occupations there really is no alternative to hard work and effort.

However, when it comes to business and marketing, a little creativity and novelty can go a long way. There are short cuts to fame and monetary success in areas when raw talent is secondary to creativity. Of course, often the first person to try something unique gets all the publicity. The follow up copycats don’t have anywhere near the same results. Being unique is not easy, but there is a lot to be said for being authentic and trying to find your voice and ideas rather than being the  fiftieth copy of another idea.

Here are a few examples…

I have been outsourcing to lower wage countries for about 5 years now. Only recently have I started to read about people with reservations of sending work overseas, particularly when their own citizens are facing increasing unemployment levels. Some people also feel in is unethical to pay overseas workers such low fees. I would like to address some of those ideas.

First of all, anyone who establishes long term relationships with professional outsourced developers will realize that the world is not falling to some inhumane subsistence wage. Quite the contrary all talented, professional workers wherever they are located soon start to earn world class incomes. I have seen this scenario play out many times. Low cost outsourcers in countries like India or the Philippines start by offering their services at ridiculously low rates; sometimes only a few dollars per hour. Workers who consistently over-deliver quality work, on-time can steadily increase their hourly rates. There are plenty of workers living in third world countries making first world incomes. It is not unusual for a talented worker to make five to ten times their starting wage in only a couple of years. I have seen…