When you’re planning out your journeys, you have to have an idea of how you’re going to pay for a place to stay, the occasional transportation and the food it takes to keep you moving. But there are a lot of options: you can find a job that allows you to telecommute, freelance for various clients and even sell your own products. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks.
But you don’t actually have to decide between them, especially not at first. Maybe you’ve got an arrangement with an employer — that doesn’t stop you from creating an ebook and selling it. Or maybe you’re focusing on building up a site that will bring in income, but you want to bring in some freelance income in the meanwhile. Especially if you’re planning to take an entrepreneurial route, it makes sense to have a more stable income which telecommuting and freelancing can both offer. It can take a significant amount of time to build up a business that brings in enough income to cover all your expenses and maybe offer the opportunity for some savings. It depends on the type of business you choose and how you plan to do it — but expecting to get a fully functioning business operational in under six months, while globe-trotting at the same time, can be pushing your luck.
That certainly doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do it: if you can build your own business, you’ll better equipped for future travels, and you’ve got a lot more potential to increase your income in future years. But having a few freelance assignments or spending a couple of hours a week working for an employer can make it easier to get your business going, if only because you don’t have to worry about where you’re next meal is coming from. There are alternatives, like living off your savings — a decent savings account in the U.S. can stretch for months in a country with lower costs.
There are no limitations on how you bring in income. The only reason it can be beneficial to choose just one or two tactics is because you don’t want to chasing after half a dozen different projects at once. So find the balance that works best for you: how can your work best accommodate the rest of your life?
