The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

Is anyone a nomad?

Tim001

Contributor
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
123%
Sep 12, 2018
22
27

ElleMg

Pronounced like the Elle in excellent
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
198%
Aug 13, 2020
225
445
UK
I was so intent on buying something cheap earlier this year, Corona hit so I rented instead. So glad I have something I can just walk away from

You should be happy with your decision! If I hadn't bought the house at 19 and invested in my business, I reckon I'd be a millionaire already. You live and you learn! I bet you'll be able to get a better place, at a better price, in the coming years :)
 

StefVE

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
475%
Aug 15, 2020
4
19
Belgium

Paul David

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
199%
Feb 17, 2015
867
1,729
43
England
I'm doing this, right now, and it's *amazing*

I left my main company in the states Dec 31. Handed over the day to day to our management team, and took off.

I should say, I don't really have a lot of 'work' to do. A handful of emails a week, and monthly check ins. So, I'm certainly not like a 'digital nomad' or whatever they call them these days.

I'm just a traveler, who happens to own a business :)

I was based in the US for 7 months of 2020, flying somewhere new every week.
Hit 10-12 new states, and aiming for 20+ new countries.

July 31, 2020 - I left the US for good for a year.
Flew to Ukraine, and now just working my way from there to Balkans, now in Turkey.
Heading to UK next week, then to Portugal for 3 months.

The a bunch of stuff in Africa, to Middle East, then India, then Asia for 2-3 months.
Then back through Russia and the Stans, until June 2021, when I plan to fly back to the US for a couple months.

So far, I think I will just keep doing this.
I bought a laptop, and with email + whatapp/skype, I can do almost anything remotely.
I was planning to fly to the USA next week for a one day meeting, but, think I can skip and just keep traveling.

--
I have had the good fortunate to travel a lot in the world, every year, all over.
And... Right Now? It's some of my favorite.

I've flown on planes where I was the only passenger, stayed in hotels where I was the only person.
People love that we are traveling (my fiancé is with me), and.... yeah, it's delightful.

Things are empty, people are appreciative.
It's some of my favorite traveling I've ever done. I could not recommend this enough, and would absolutely encourage travel now.

It's been weird a bit to not have a 'home'. But, just arrived in Southern Turkey today. Sitting in a room by a pool after being the only people at a road side restaurant where we ate lunch for $5.

--
Will I get tired of it? We will see.
I'm on a quest to visit every country in the world - and this is a lot easier than flying back and forth every month to the US.

I'm in the UK but have an Amex which I'm hoping to use the points to fund travel at some point. Curious as to how much spend on the cards you need to fund what you're doing for a year?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

SebastianSkinner

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
304%
Aug 26, 2020
24
73
UK
I am building my own digital business, I'm not even getting consistent cash coming in - so its smarter for me to stay abroad while I find a source of income.

Its actually cheaper to live here in Bulgaria than the UK.

You can get a studio/1 bed for around £200-300.

Also don't be afraid of sharing a flat or renting a room and saving money that way.

Do whatever you gotta do to get by man. £600 per month is enough.

If you know how to write English - you can write blog articles related to real estate - and call yourself an expert at that and charge a £20-50 per article. 1-2 Articles per day and you're good.

Check out fiverr, check out upwork (@Lex DeVille has a couple of threads on how to get started with that real quick).

But otherwise, just hustle - you can do location arbitrage. Study CL, study ebay... study what's being sold on there in 1 country that you can re-sell in another country for a small premium and just re-sell stuff using an agent or family/friend.

Thanks for the valuable advice will take that on board and start doing some research.
I'm in the UK but have an Amex which I'm hoping to use the points to fund travel at some point. Curious as to how much spend on the cards you need to fund what you're doing for a year?

A quick one on this as well. What are peoples thoughts on the best credit cards to reap the best benefits. Amex, Mastercard, American Express etc?
 

Paul David

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
199%
Feb 17, 2015
867
1,729
43
England
Thanks for the valuable advice will take that on board and start doing some research.


A quick one on this as well. What are peoples thoughts on the best credit cards to reap the best benefits. Amex, Mastercard, American Express etc?

I have an Amex business card and I've just priced up flights for 2 people from Manchester to Malaga, Spain and this is what it's saying:

Avg per person
£71.70 or 15,933 points
Total Price
£143.40 or 31,866 points

Considering it's 1 point per £1 spent it's going to be a lot of spend on the card to travel around much.

31,866 / £143.40= It's like £0.004 you get back for every £1 spent.
 

WestCoast

Gold Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
311%
Jan 20, 2008
506
1,573
Rhode Island for now.
Thank you for your two posts on this topic, it’s greatly appreciated. If you don’t mind Me asking what is the business that you manage remotely / what space you operate in?
you mention you are coming to the UK soon for a visit. If I can help with any recommendations please let me know. Happy to help
Hi Seb-

I'm in the outdoor recreation industry, I guess is what to call it. Lots of it in the UK, specifically, for what I do.

Started it in 2005, handed it off end of 2019, and now, yeah, we've got a great team of 3 folks who lead it. I gave them equity (Phantom Stock, actually) and yeah, our goals are all well aligned.
So, I just get updates and they grind and make it happen. They're amazing, I'm very very lucky to work with our team.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

WestCoast

Gold Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
311%
Jan 20, 2008
506
1,573
Rhode Island for now.
I have an Amex business card and I've just priced up flights for 2 people from Manchester to Malaga, Spain and this is what it's saying:

Avg per person
£71.70 or 15,933 points
Total Price
£143.40 or 31,866 points

Considering it's 1 point per £1 spent it's going to be a lot of spend on the card to travel around much.

31,866 / £143.40= It's like £0.004 you get back for every £1 spent.

I don't know about UK cards - but there are two MAIN KEYS to credit card spend in the US

1) Earn bonus points.
As an example: My company spends ~$5k per week on shipping.

If I use the Amex Biz Gold I earn 20,000 Amex MR points per week on shipping (4x)
If I use the Chase Ink Preferred, I earn 15,000 Chase UR points per week (3x)

If I put that $5000 a week on some normal credit card, I would only earn 5000 points.
So, getting the bonuses on big spend is the KEY to earning a lot of points


2) Leverage points with partners
At a minimum, you can redeem these points for a fixed rate
($.015/point with Chase for airlines/hotels)
(Almost the same with Amex with airlines, but not hotels)

But, one of the big wins, is when you transfer 80,000 Amex points, to Qantas, and book a business class ticket from JNB-DOH (South Africa to Qatar). That ticket might cost $4000 normally. And you got it for 80,000 points

If you were smart, and you only spent $20,000 in expenses to get those 80,000 points (4x categories)
Then your return on $20,000 in everyday business expenses is $4000.
In that way, you've earned a 20% return on your shipping expenses that you were going to have anyway.

--
Yes, there are a lot of details here, and a lot of opinions on what points are worth.
But, I am doing the above. I spend time throughout the year making sure our accounting team understandings what spend, goes on what cards. Then, it's fairly automatic.

I earn a couple million points a year, and spend about the same. So, if I'm clever, I can travel the world, in the front of the plane, or in nice hotels... all with points.

Hooray for capitalism!
 

Paul David

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
199%
Feb 17, 2015
867
1,729
43
England
I don't know about UK cards - but there are two MAIN KEYS to credit card spend in the US

1) Earn bonus points.
As an example: My company spends ~$5k per week on shipping.

If I use the Amex Biz Gold I earn 20,000 Amex MR points per week on shipping (4x)
If I use the Chase Ink Preferred, I earn 15,000 Chase UR points per week (3x)

If I put that $5000 a week on some normal credit card, I would only earn 5000 points.
So, getting the bonuses on big spend is the KEY to earning a lot of points


2) Leverage points with partners
At a minimum, you can redeem these points for a fixed rate
($.015/point with Chase for airlines/hotels)
(Almost the same with Amex with airlines, but not hotels)

But, one of the big wins, is when you transfer 80,000 Amex points, to Qantas, and book a business class ticket from JNB-DOH (South Africa to Qatar). That ticket might cost $4000 normally. And you got it for 80,000 points

If you were smart, and you only spent $20,000 in expenses to get those 80,000 points (4x categories)
Then your return on $20,000 in everyday business expenses is $4000.
In that way, you've earned a 20% return on your shipping expenses that you were going to have anyway.

--
Yes, there are a lot of details here, and a lot of opinions on what points are worth.
But, I am doing the above. I spend time throughout the year making sure our accounting team understandings what spend, goes on what cards. Then, it's fairly automatic.

I earn a couple million points a year, and spend about the same. So, if I'm clever, I can travel the world, in the front of the plane, or in nice hotels... all with points.

Hooray for capitalism!

I've got an Amex Biz Gold and I got 20,000 bonus points for spending more than £3000 in the first 3 months but I don't think I get any other bonuses.

How do you get 20,000 points every week with only spending $5000 on shipping?

The majority of my spend on Amex is facebook ads.
 

WestCoast

Gold Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
311%
Jan 20, 2008
506
1,573
Rhode Island for now.
How do you get 20,000 points every week with only spending $5000 on shipping?

The majority of my spend on Amex is facebook ads.

If you were in the US, social media spending gets 3x on Chase Ink Preferred or 4x on Amex Biz Gold.
So, you get 4 MR points for every dollar spent. (there is a cap per year)

I'm US based - and I have heard around the world, the sign up bonuses and category spend bonuses are not nearly as lucrative. Sorry boss :/
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Paul David

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
199%
Feb 17, 2015
867
1,729
43
England
If you were in the US, social media spending gets 3x on Chase Ink Preferred or 4x on Amex Biz Gold.
So, you get 4 MR points for every dollar spent. (there is a cap per year)

I'm US based - and I have heard around the world, the sign up bonuses and category spend bonuses are not nearly as lucrative. Sorry boss :/

Gotcha. Yes I've just seen that on the .com site for Amex Biz Gold. Well that's annoying!

I'm going to complain to my account manager now! ha
 

WJK

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
256%
Oct 9, 2017
3,115
7,961
Alaska
Hi all,

Just curious if anyone works remotely and travels on a full time basis?

If so what job / business do you have?

Would be interesting to hear the pros and cons of this lifestyle choice as well!

Thanks.

Seb
I spent years out on the road when I was working in my career. Now I'm keeping regular office hours and I'm a homebody. For years, I missed the traveling part of my life a lot. It was fun and exciting. I really missed my rag-top Miata sports car that used for those road trips. I'd work for 2 or 3 weeks on -- without taking a day off. I came home every few days to write & turn in my reports. For my time off, I'd take a long weekend and fly out for a few days. Sometimes I visited friends or family. Other times I'd go a new place and explore it. They weren't expensvie trips -- just time where I couldn't be reached.

Then I retired and remarried. It's harder to travel now. My lifestyle no longer allows for it. And travel has become a chore. Before I had my "to go" bag ready 24/7. I had no pets, no house plants, no husband, and no business hours. My townhouse was cleaned once a week by a housekeeper who had her own code to get in. Now I must prepare and get people to cover the businesses and home front for while I'm gone. I went from being a "wild mare" to having a more tame lifestyle.

A lot has changed since I retired. Traveling today is different. There's TSA. Before 9-11 traveling was a lot more casual. I just threw some stuff in a carry-on and went where ever I wanted to go. If I forgot something, I bought it along the way. If I found something that I liked, I mailed it home.

Which life is better? Both have it plus points. Then I was alone -- profoundly alone. I couldn't have a relationship or a marriage because I was always gone on a job somewhere. And traveling like that can get tiring. In the beginning it exciting and fun. Over time, it can get old. Now I have wonderful, devoted husband and good home life. I belong to a community now in ways that I didn't before. I now have a different life. The operative word is "different", not better.
 

whyphilip

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
106%
Jun 25, 2020
16
17
US
Late to the discussion, but I've done this twice, living in 6 countries.

The ideal way is in line with most on this forum. You have an e-business you can work on from anywhere. And that business is thriving, allowing you to live a life of the 1960's jet setters or current trust fund kids. Continually hopping to different countries, flying everywhere, lots of side trips, etc. Sounds awesome if you can swing it.

My way was not ideal, but I still loved it. I am a consultant, so when I had stable clients I decided to go abroad (I'm in the US). I need:

  • fast, stable internet
  • good public transportation (including taxis)
  • warm climate and clean air
  • should cost less than Los Angeles
If you spend at least a month in one place, you get big discount on most Airbnbs. Flights need to be considered part of rent. It's easiest if you stay within tourist/holiday visa limits, which changes per country. Some like the Philippines make extension easy. Europe is hard because of the Schengen Area - that 90 days applies to ~30 countries collectively.

For productivity (my work requires deep concentration) and making friends, I found it best to stay in one major city for the entire 3 months. Then you're an expert in that city with many friends.

If you're willing to give up the nomadic life and and be a real expat, staying a year in one country, the rent just plummets because you don't need Airbnb. But most landlords won't rent less than a year, which requires a real visa. Some visas are easier to get than others, especially "self-employed visas" if they have them. In Spain it's "autonomo" and it's pretty easy.

My biggest problem is getting clients is hard without a face to face. So work slows, I return to LA to find more. Some are less comfortable with me abroad. I'm working to solve this, but man, being close to the some of the best hospitals in the world, where every doctor and nurse speaks English? Wouldn't want to be elsewhere in a pandemic.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top