The Professional Hobo

Mums are the best, and mine is no exception. Upon hearing that I was going to travel up to Toronto from New York City via overnight bus, she kicked into full “mum mode”.

“I really don’t like the idea of you having to take an overnight bus ride after a 30+ hour flight from Australia. You’ll be too tired and stiff and this is no way to start off your trip!” she said, as somebody with a plan in action would say.

(Ssh – don’t tell her I’ve slept on boats, buses, trains, pub floors, and the back of moving pick-up trucks – while sick no less in addition to a variety of other unsavoury napping spots!)

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I’m on the home stretch before heading back to Canada for six weeks. I’m at my computer day and night, writing and writing in an attempt to get ahead before I hit the road. ‘Tis an uphill battle, but one that I figure I’m winning.

Now all I have to do is get rid of this bloody swine flu! (and in case you are wondering, I’m only partially kidding….)

Here are my “words of wisdom” for the last couple of weeks:

WISE BREAD

The Different Types of Loans: A Primer

When a friend started quizzing me about different loan types the other day, I realized that there is a lot to know about the specific characteristics of the various species of loans. Do you know the basics yourself? If not, then check out this loan primer.

Car Sharing: Why Own when you can Just Share?

Imagine a life where you don’t have to worry about unexpected car repair bills railroading your monthly budget; monthly car loan or lease payments are non-existent, insurance and long-term parking costs are distant memories; and even the gas is paid for…welcome to a life of car sharing. Read on for a primer on the basics of car sharing with resources for you to find a program close to you.

TRANSITIONS ABROAD

Learning to Cook – and Live – at a Cooking School in Thailand

You Sabai was a remote cooking school we visited for a week while we were in northern Thailand. We learned about so much more than just cooking during our time there too. Check out the article for the full scoop!

AMEX

Tax Free Employee Benefits

There are lots of ways for employers to offer extra perks and benefits to employees that don’t equate to the same sort of tax bite a straight salary increase entails. Here are some (mostly) tax-free benefits to offer employees, or for employees to ask for.

Shareholder’s Agreement: What it is and Why you Need to Review your Own

When you get into business with a partner or partners, you’re not playing an end-game; thinking about all the ways things could go sideways is not a very positive way to start things off. But you might be surprised at the power and effectiveness of a properly structured Shareholder’s Agreement. Here’s a primer.

And as usual, if you like these articles on Amex, please vote (under the title, at the top) YES! (no registration is required)

SHOUT OUTS

Mike’s Ryukyu Gallery put up a great little post about my guest post at I Will Teach You To Be Rich. He even taunts us with a beautiful steak he ate in Japan…for free. Read the comments on this article to find out how he managed it.

Locura Viajes wrote a plug (en espanol) for the same article, and from what I can tell they were particularly impressed with my airfare saving strategies. Muchas gracias for the link!

The fog that rolls through the Victorian countryside in the winter is nothing short of epic. Typical winter mornings see beautiful thick layers flowing through valleys, leaving only the hilltops to greet the morning sun.

My morning walks often begin in fog so thick that driving is a hazard. As I follow the road up towards the state forest with a flowing river and secluded campgrounds, I come out of the fog at a clearing; the curtain is literally lifted as I emerge from a tangible wall of white cool damp fog.

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I love traveling through different English-speaking countries. Although we all speak the same language in that we can (usually) order a burger and fries without much ado, at the same time we really don’t speak the same language.

I’ve been baffled by heavily-accented fast-talking Outbackers, confused by sayings about drinking, and stumped by terminology left right and centre.

But one thing Aussies do well is utilize a full – and fully confusing at times – collection of phrases to express pleasure. Here are just a few:

Sweet As!

Sweet as what, you may ask? The expression is more about the use of “as”, since I’ve also heard “hard as”, “easy as”, “gross as”, and numerous other descriptive words to fit the situation.

And like many Aussie phrases and words, it is indeed a shortened sentence, the ending being implied. So what is the ending, you ask? Well, it depends on who you talk to and how crass they are. The tamest version I’ve heard yet is “sweet as…all heck”.

Can you imagine my shock when I learned of the meaning and realized I hear old ladies say “sweet as” all the time.

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Want to know what the average week looks like for a full-time/long-term/expat traveler? You have come to the right place, my friend. Welcome to the first of what will be a regular week-in-the-life series! First, some background information:

There is a lot of mystery around the daily routines of  long-term/full-time travelers. Contrary to popular opinion, we rarely spend our days in a drunken haze on a beach, cradling tropical drinks with pink umbrellas and ridiculous garnishes. (Although sometimes, this too, is fun).

For digital nomads and location independent people, a full-time life on the road involves a routine of balancing work and play. How and where we work depends largely on where we are living and traveling and what our line of work involves.

There are also long-term travelers out there who travel actively for months at a time, before settling down somewhere to save money and do it all over again. For these travelers, there is rarely any such thing as a daily routine. But long-term travel is rarely an exercise in flitting from one expensive tourist trap to the next either…it is a way of life unto itself.

Ultimately, everybody travels very differently.

So…let’s celebrate it! Come along on a journey into the inner workings of the lives of long-term and full-time travelers and expats as they reveal what  life on the road really looks like.

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Whilst riding the publicity wave following the release of my first book, I have been active, but not actively published in the last few weeks. But there is still lots to celebrate – including my having booked a trip back to North America, where I’ll catch up with friends in New York, Toronto, Muskoka, Elora, and even Mexico. And I have a few extra things tucked up my sleeve that could be fun too.

Here is what I’ve been up to in the writing and publishing world in the last few weeks:

WISE BREAD

Are You Being Ripped Off at the Gas Station?

Is the amount of gas you are pumping – and paying for – really the amount of gas that ends up in your tank? Here’s a quick and easy test to make sure you are getting your money’s worth.

TRIP SHAKE

The Caretaker Gazette: Your Ticket to Free Accommodation and Rent-Free Living

I’ve discussed The Caretaker Gazette in articles before, but since two of my favourite caretaking opportunities came from The Caretaker Gazette, it’s worth another plug. If you don’t know what The Caretaker Gazette is, then please read this short primer. It could be a life-changing decision, once you see some of the rent-free opportunities!

SHOUT OUTS

Tripbase put together a fabulous piece on some of my travel secrets, pointing to both the article I wrote for I Will Teach You to be Rich, as well as my new book as resources. Thank you!

Grant at Vagabond Story said the article is a “must read travel article” and listed it on his resources page. He also has a book coming out shortly that I look forward to reading and which I will review on this site.

Thrive linked to a few great articles about traveling on the cheap, including mine. Yay – you guys rock. I can’t wait to meet you when I’m in NYC.

J.D. at Get Rich Slowly (a well regarded personal finance blog) wrote a fabulous post with a number of great travel resources, including the article I wrote. I’ve bookmarked a number of his other resources as well – great stuff. (PS – Did you know that J.D. is also a co-author of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget? No? Then it means you haven’t read the book yet. What are you waiting for?!?!)

Ottsworld answers a number of common travel questions in this blog post, and even includes my article as a resource for how to travel and work abroad. Glad you enjoyed it!

Slice of Koh is wondering if my article could help her dip her toes in the big bad world of travel. Yes, it can!

And a fellow blogger has been inspired and taken the plunge! Tight Fisted Miser just bought a plane ticket, and will be using my tips (hopefully) to keep his costs down on his next long-term trip. Congrats!

Lastly, my French is not what it used to be, but I’ll be brushing up to read more of the Vie Nomade blog, who featured a link to my article recently. Merci beaucoup!

This photo was taken yesterday from our backyard…literally.

Although I’m a Canadian on a permanent mission to avoid winter, I’ve done a pretty crappy job of it.

After summer in western Canada, I spent my first traveling winter in Hawaii. Now that was hardly a tough winter to endure – the only drawback to winter life in Hawaii was the lack of daylight hours that we all suffer from in the dead of winter. (And as somebody who has flirted with SAD syndrome for many years, daylight is actually quite important to me).

After a not-so-bad winter in the northern hemisphere under our belts, we traveled into the southern hemisphere, only to find ourselves charging headlong into winter again. We weren’t sure what that meant in terms of climate, as our research revealed that Australia is a country of extremes and we had trouble deciphering where the extreme spots were and when they were actually extreme.

So as Canadians, we figured that nowhere in Oz is as cold or extreme as Canada is, and planned our itinerary anyway. It was much (much, much)  colder than Hawaii, but still not as brutal as Canadian winters can be. (Then again, I never spent a Canadian winter in a camper van as we did in Oz – and nearly froze to death in so doing; all things are relative).

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Two cool (one of them literally so) things happened this week:

1. Winter started in Australia
2. We have reached the one-year milestone of our Aussie adventures!

A year ago when we arrived in Australia, winter had begun but we were none the wiser: we enjoyed a few days in Cairns before heading down to Brisbane for another few days. There, we picked up the World Nomads Ambassador camper van and began our six week drive southwards (much to the confusion of most Aussies).

Learning to drive on the other side of the road was a real treat, as was realizing how cold it can get in New South Wales (far from the most southern state). Yes, it can be colder in Canada, but really. There’s a reason I’ve missed the last three Canadian winters.

After some fishing in Ballina (south of Byron Bay), and enjoying a the coast’s squeaky sand and screaming trees, we headed inland.

Among other adventures, Kelly caught opal fever in Lightning Ridge, we touched the “accessible outback” at Broken Hill, and we eventually wrapped up the trip with a few days of driving along Great Ocean Road (which is just about as great as it sounds).

After getting to know Melbourne, we found our way to our new home 2 hours NE of the city, at Kingbilli Country Estate.  This was a magical time for us, where we lived in bliss with kangaroos, wombats, even spiders, we rescued koalas, and we started our own veggie patch while we awaited Australia’s legendary summer heat.

In November, Kelly’s parents made the trek from Canada to visit us, and we shared with them the area’s four seasons in a day – poor dears, I think they were expecting heat and sunshine. We played with Rosellas at Wilson’s Prom, and introduced our visitors to as much Aussie culture and slang as we could. They’re now proficiently using phrases like “She’ll be right, mate” and “Fair Dinkum” like they’ve been here all their lives.

Shortly after Kelly’s parents returned home, we prepared for a delightful Brown Christmas, which may not have the same ring as a White Christmas, but believe me had its advantages.

After seven months with Kingbilli, Kelly & I had decided that we really like it in Australia, and may try to extend our stay, partially to save up some money for the next big leg of our journey. We happened upon a house for rent at a price we couldn’t turn down, and set to creating a temporary home here.

Sadly, just as we were starting to enjoy Australia’s summer heat, things went pear-shaped (“pear-shaped”: Aussie for “horribly wrong”) when the Victorian Bush Fires raged through the area, leaving us evacuated from our new home for almost a month. Living in the area and having close ties to the people who were directly affected by the fires, we dropped everything and volunteered full-time for bushfire relief. It was a tough haul, but one that rewarded us with a one-year extension on our Aussie visas with working rights granted no less. Thank you, Australia!

Shortly after Easter, we headed towards the Snowy Mountains to climb the highest mountain in Australia (ssh – don’t tell anybody, but it was a glorified hike).

Throw in there a book release and associated publicity, and we’re back to now – the dawn of winter, and the beginning of a new year for us in Australia. In this next year, I will be doing some extensive traveling on my own – first back to Canada where I can hug my mum for the first time in two years, attend my best friend’s wedding in Mexico, and do a few other cool things that I’m keeping under wraps until some of the details are ironed out. I’ll also do a quick stop in New York City, and may even make it to India before the year is out.

But to be sure….you’ll just have to keep on reading! Thanks for being here.

Whew! What an amazing last few weeks it has been. With the launch of my new book, in addition to a post or two that gained viral popularity online (read on for more), this post is chock full (“chockers”, as the Aussies would say) of great stuff, including links to a variety of great travel blogs (below). So let’s get started:

WISE BREAD

Is Getting Life Insurance for your Children Prudent or Prudish?

At some point in your parenting adventure, you may be introduced to the concept of getting life insurance for your children. There are a number of reasons why you might want to insure the life of your child, and about as many other reasons not to. Here is an analysis.

AMEX

6 Tips for Running Your Business: Lessons Learned from 2 Failed Restaurateurs

The title pretty much says it all, and it has already received some very good reviews. If you find the article useful, please click “yes” to vote, just under the title of the article. Thanks!

COMPATHOS

The Search for Meaningful Travel

This fabulous non-profit org contacted me a while ago based on some volunteer travel articles I had written. I am delighted to be involved with this media foundation in its early stages of development, and we are knocking around some amazing ideas. In the meantime, please enjoy this article on Meaningful Travel to help you understand more about the world of volunteer vacations.

TRIP SHAKE

See China for Cheap

If China is on your list of places to see, then you may want to jump on this deal that will allow you to see a good chunk of it for under $1,000, all in. No really. Check it out.

Find Good Digs, and Win a Prize While You’re at it

Darn Good Digs is a cool Site for finding user-recommended accommodation, and they’re having a contest too. Check out this short piece for more information.

I WILL TEACH YOU TO BE RICH

Travel Full-Time for Less than $14,000 Per Year

This was a guest post written for this website and posted on Monday May 18^th to coincide with the release of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget

SHOUT OUTS

The friendly folks at Wise Bread put together 40 Most Useful Travel Websites that can Save You a Fortune – a slamming article with lots of great resources. And mine is one of them! Yay – thanks, guys.

TravelBlogs has put together another forum where experienced travelers (myself included) answer a question. The question of this week was: What don’t you need to bring? Check it out for my answer.

And Rolf Potts – considered by many to be the quintessential “vagabond”, having written a best seller called “Vagabonding” and all – has a well-regarded blog, that made a mention of both the article above, as well as the piece up on I Will Teach You To Be Rich! It’s nice to be recognized by some of the most elite writers in the travel industry. Cheers! Here is the article.

Tales from Technomadia discussed the article as part of their series on Answers to Excuses Not to Travel Full-Time.

Sand Dollar Adventures, in the author’s typical comedic style, did a great job of a write-up here.

Our Excellent Adventure had a great constructive commentary on the article here.

Little Black Guidebook isn’t sure the full-time travel lifestyle is for them, but says that my article makes it all seem possible. Check it out here.

World Reviewer is a regular on my reading (and writing) list, and said something about it here.

Previously Bitten took some time out of their busy school (teaching) schedule to provide a wonderful summary and dream a little here.

Go Nanaimo was kind enough to provide a review of the book, 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget.

Escape-101 listed my travel article as one of their sabbatical planning resources. They also have a great book for sale about planning a sabbatical (which even deals with the concept of traveling with kids. It’s a practical and easy read for any travel bug).

Carrie at My Several Worlds was kind enough to promote my book and article here, along with another perpetual traveler’s recently released e-book. Both are great resources.

Nomadderwhere got wind of the article and suggested that it’s Another Good Read.

Thinking Big discussed discovering the article in their piece on Traveling Cheap.

Jet Set Citizen gave a great mention of the article here.

Retirement Scenarios enjoyed the post, as evidenced here.

Voluntourism.org got a mention in the article as a resource for volunteer travel, so I was happy to see a link to it here.

Intelligent Speculator said the article has some interesting travel tips in their latest Ramblings.

Darn Good Digs added a great link here. Speaking of which, they have a cool contest going on: check it out.

Nomadic Matt was kind enough to include me in his latest Carnival of Blogs.

1ClickVA included the article as part of their Best For Last series.

Travels in the Riel World (love the name!) was surprised at how little money it takes to travel the world. It’s true!

The Roaring 20Somethings had a Carnival of Blogs and gave the article a mention.

101 Ways to Make Friends included the article in their recent summary of interesting links.

And last but not least: my Spanish is rusty, but I think the folks at Los Viajes de Aulapublica liked it too! Muchas Gracias, amigos.

As a result of the guest post I wrote for I Will Teach You To Be Rich, the friendly folks at KGO Radio in San Francisco recently asked to have me on their show as a guest! I spoke with Michael Finney, who is an expert on consumer matters, and who invited me to share some of my secrets for traveling inexpensively.

Feel free to listen in on the show right here:

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