As I conducted interviews for Working Your Way Around the World, I noticed an impressive number of women used freelance careers to fund their travels. It makes a lot of sense:

• Most freelancers aren’t actually ever expected to set foot in their clients’ offices these days
• The most popular freelancing careers (writing, graphic design, website design) require little more than a laptop to handle the entire business
• While freelancers have deadlines, there’s no expectation that they work on projects during a specific set of hours
• It’s already pretty normal for a freelancer to move around while working (Starbucks, anyone?)
• Many freelancers pick up projects from the U.S. (or other high-cost of living countries) with fees that would feed them for weeks in countries with low costs of living

While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that freelancing is definitely the best option for someone wanting to work her way around the world, I think it has a lot of benefits for anyone trying to minimize structure. A more structured business or career would work better for someone who needs a little more structure, of course: if you’re traveling with family or want to settle down in one place, freelancing may not cut it for you. But if you’re trying to just wander around the world a bit and make sure that you have the ability to pick up and go whenever you want, it’s worth exploring freelancing.

Photo Credit — Mighty Kenny