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Old 07-24-2014, 01:23 PM   #1
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Question How do you earn your income while on the road?

I thought it might be interesting to share how you earn an income while on the road. For anyone thinking about fulltiming and still earning while traveling.

For myself, I am a Front End Developer. Basically I build websites, but it's a little more complicated than that, but that's the easiest way to explain it in the simplest terms. I do a wide variety of programing.

Currently I'm tied to a desk. Worse they took away my standing desk, so much for my health! I get one day of remote work, but I don't think they'll let me go full time remote. So eventually I'm going to return to freelance and being self employed again when we finally hit the road. I did this for the first 3 yrs of our marriage.

My wife works for Basecamp.com, if you ask a support question, you might end up having her answer your question. Her job is 100% location independent. Her company is very big on remote working, infact the CEO wrote a book called "Remote" https://37signals.com/remote/

We've been slowly downsizing our lifestyle as we get ready for our transition to the road and Airstream. We've always lived below our means, so the transition isn't a difficult one for us.

I've always been entrepreneurially minded, so I'm curious to hear about others methods of earning while traveling. Workamping? Mobile repair? Writer? Photographer? Share away.
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Old 07-24-2014, 02:21 PM   #2
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Sounds like all you need is WiFi or some other type of internet connection. I have a sideline business selling motorcycle parts. When we travel for more than a week, I take some orders with me and mail them from the road. Since the business is small this works pretty well. I can see it not working if we are gone for extended periods or if I expand the business and start selling more stuff. I would like to get into consulting at some point so we could just go to that part of the country and camp a while. I don't know that total retirement is ever going to be an option. I would just like to be able to make my own schedule and not punch a clock which I think is unhealthy and unproductive.

Perry
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Old 07-25-2014, 08:38 PM   #3
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There are stores that will stock inventory and make shipments...for a fee, of course. This would free a person to "market" physical items and remain "un-mounted"!

Mobile repair... Would require a number of tools above normal carried for emergencies.

Mobile upholstery may be a bit less tool restrictive. But limited.

What about "Third hand support".. To travel to folks needing help with AS projects...and be the advisor/assistant/mentor on the process. Heck this could work if someone were computer savvy as well.

One idea was that I have rarely been to a location away from home that had decent NETWORK support. That is quite a lucrative opportunity.

Also, just setting up wifi for a park ... It is obviously a need not fully enjoined.

Ok.. Y'all turn.
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Old 07-26-2014, 06:42 AM   #4
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We're planning a trip around Australia in our airstream next year (being shipped soon from Seattle). My husband is a boilermaker/welder by trade with supervisory experience, so we'll probably stop in at some mining/construction towns for work. I have a photobooth company so we're thinking of building a small open booth to take with us and run it at festivals/markets etc for some extra cash


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Old 07-29-2014, 04:14 PM   #5
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No one else has any ideas to share? Guess everyone else is retired?
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Old 07-29-2014, 04:16 PM   #6
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I'm a mobile app developer for iOS and am capable of working remotely.

Basecamp is awesome! I wish I could work on their mobile app.
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Old 07-29-2014, 08:10 PM   #7
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I'm a travel nurse. South in the winter and (almost) north in the summer. Alas, the past few years have always been in the South. I like it warm but Idaho and Utah are calling my name!
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Old 07-30-2014, 05:39 AM   #8
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I am a professional wildlife photographer and as much as I would like to go fulltiming, I am not able to for family reasons. However I just returned from a 5 week cross country trip and tried very hard to continue to do some work from the road and found it nearly impossible with the lack of reliable and fast internet connectivity. Wifi at campgrounds are a joke, and coffee shop connections are way overloaded. I relied mostly on using Verizon LTE and the coverage was much better than I had expected but the costs are way to high.

I was a systems and network architect and engineer in a previous life so I am aware of all the viable options for connectivity on the road, yet it seems like a pretty big challenge to have constantly reliable connectivity on the road to the extent that you could rely on it for servicing customers consistently and reliably.

Just my $0.02 worth.

-J
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Old 07-30-2014, 07:30 AM   #9
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If connectivity is important in order for you to work on on the road, I suggest reading the Technomadia blog. They work on the road and are very dependent upon having a good signal. They stay on top of new technology and share their findings quite readily.

My boss has made overtones of my continuing to work remotely (I am a paralegal) after Hub and get on the road full-time, so connectivity will be very important.

Hub is a 30-yr ASE certified Master technician. He plans to become a certified RV technician as well. He has already received offers for seasonal work for pay.
Our tow vehicle is the size it is (Freightliner M2/106) so that we can load his toolbox - 2000+ pounds.
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Old 07-30-2014, 07:43 AM   #10
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Being remote

I am a Drug company analyst, and have been remote for a few years. I will be on the road as soon as my 31' is complete. (Full-monte rebuild). I am currently putting in the insulation, and am hoping to complete the trailer in 2014, so I can be in a warm climate in the cold months.

Internet connectivity and power is a big worry as I would like to dry camp for a week or 2 at a time. I want to be a High Plains Drifter when I grow up.

My rebuild thread link is below.

Mike

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f187...ure-74547.html
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Old 07-31-2014, 05:25 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pagey View Post
If connectivity is important in order for you to work on on the road, I suggest reading the Technomadia blog. They work on the road and are very dependent upon having a good signal. They stay on top of new technology and share their findings quite readily.
We do! Bought their book too. Big help. But they tend to stay very close to civilization for that reason.
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Old 07-31-2014, 07:23 AM   #12
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I am very familiar with Technomadia, and they also have many many issues with connectivity on the road.

My needs may be a bit unique in that I deal with media (images and video) which are very large and consume large amounts of data. I still do quite a bit of technology consulting which often requires low latency connections.

For the average person who is only checking email and visiting webpages, slow connections at campgrounds and internet cafes will suffice in most cases, and for those needs systems like the WiFiRanger will work wonders. But for high data usage and low latency connections the landscape still looks somewhat bleak unfortunately.

-J



Quote:
Originally Posted by Pagey View Post
If connectivity is important in order for you to work on on the road, I suggest reading the Technomadia blog. They work on the road and are very dependent upon having a good signal. They stay on top of new technology and share their findings quite readily.

My boss has made overtones of my continuing to work remotely (I am a paralegal) after Hub and get on the road full-time, so connectivity will be very important.

Hub is a 30-yr ASE certified Master technician. He plans to become a certified RV technician as well. He has already received offers for seasonal work for pay.
Our tow vehicle is the size it is (Freightliner M2/106) so that we can load his toolbox - 2000+ pounds.
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Old 08-09-2014, 12:01 AM   #13
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We have been "grounded" by medical and family issues, but are getting back into the Argosy next week for a 5 month stint in an Amazon warehouse up in Coffeyville. I also work as a search engine rater for a company called LeapForce, that's all done online. I write for bubblews.com - that's more fun than money, but the money is always welcome. Hubby is retired, so we have that income, but I'm still a few years away from any sort of retirement income, so I have just worked a lot on finding things to do that don't tie me to a single location. Well, Amazon does that for a few months, but it's a way to earn enough in a short time to move on and do something else when it's over.
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Old 09-03-2014, 11:28 AM   #14
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We are in our mid-thirties and will be starting to be part-time full-timers in about a month (just waiting for the dealer to make an upgrade on a 2011 25FB that we are purchasing). This will be our second stint of part-time full-time travel (last time we did it from an SUV, I continued working but my partner took three years off and lived off savings). This time, we want to take along our cats and both work from the road, which is why we are buying the Airstream.

Our situation – he is a software developer who is 100% remote. I am a nonprofit consultant with a few long-term clients. I have a busy spring and fall but can otherwise control my schedule and have created my business with the goal of being able to work remotely a lot of the time. I am not ready to give up my consulting practice and our house yet, which is the main reason we are part-timers for now.

We are also landscape photographers and publishing three e-books last year helped pay for a substantial part of our Airstream. I am slowly giving up more and more of my consulting practice to work on building our photography business because then we could be entirely remote (even though I still do not think I want to be on the road 100% of the time). We have found a lot of opportunity in self-publishing and it is probably where I will focus most of my energy.

During our last travel stint, we never had an issue with connectivity. I was always able to find enough of a signal to do my job. With Ron needing to have constant connectivity during work hours, I think we are in for more of a challenge. Still, I recently had full 3G in the backcountry of Death Valley National Park, on a remote Olympic Coast beach (backpacking in), and deep in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona. These improvements in service at these kinds of places gives me hope that we will be able to do a lot of wild camping like we have been doing.

Best wishes in finding an arrangement that will allow you the opportunity to work remotely and get on the road!
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Old 11-01-2014, 06:52 AM   #15
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I'm diggin' your blog, Sarah!

"Simply waiting for tomorrow to live our lives is not a bargain we want to make..."


Ditto and YES, to this!
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Old 11-01-2014, 07:13 AM   #16
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I have a very narrow modest niche - I restore headlights (H1's and H4's) and turn signals for concours and museum level vintage Porsches (the longhoods from 1965-1973). I don't full-time but can be out for several months at a stretch. I'm able to bring along the tools I need, sit under the awning, and do my work.

My wife and I also volunteer as interpretive hosts at National and State Parks.
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Old 11-01-2014, 10:35 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CCGAL View Post
We have been "grounded" by medical and family issues, but are getting back into the Argosy next week for a 5 month stint in an Amazon warehouse up in Coffeyville. I also work as a search engine rater for a company called LeapForce, that's all done online. I write for bubblews.com - that's more fun than money, but the money is always welcome. Hubby is retired, so we have that income, but I'm still a few years away from any sort of retirement income, so I have just worked a lot on finding things to do that don't tie me to a single location. Well, Amazon does that for a few months, but it's a way to earn enough in a short time to move on and do something else when it's over.

I've heard the Amazon gigs can be very physically taxing. Does the pay offset that?


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Old 11-01-2014, 11:24 AM   #18
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An interesting prospective and well done blog!
As a working photographer you will know that making a living at it is not as easy as it seems. That said, it looks to me like you always have the ability to go to a "plan-B" if needed. So have fun with your new adventure and remember it's the photograph that no one else has that is worth taking!

Cheers
Doug

Quote:
Originally Posted by TwoSporks View Post
We are in our mid-thirties and will be starting to be part-time full-timers in about a month (just waiting for the dealer to make an upgrade on a 2011 25FB that we are purchasing). This will be our second stint of part-time full-time travel (last time we did it from an SUV, I continued working but my partner took three years off and lived off savings). This time, we want to take along our cats and both work from the road, which is why we are buying the Airstream.

Our situation – he is a software developer who is 100% remote. I am a nonprofit consultant with a few long-term clients. I have a busy spring and fall but can otherwise control my schedule and have created my business with the goal of being able to work remotely a lot of the time. I am not ready to give up my consulting practice and our house yet, which is the main reason we are part-timers for now.

We are also landscape photographers and publishing three e-books last year helped pay for a substantial part of our Airstream. I am slowly giving up more and more of my consulting practice to work on building our photography business because then we could be entirely remote (even though I still do not think I want to be on the road 100% of the time). We have found a lot of opportunity in self-publishing and it is probably where I will focus most of my energy.

During our last travel stint, we never had an issue with connectivity. I was always able to find enough of a signal to do my job. With Ron needing to have constant connectivity during work hours, I think we are in for more of a challenge. Still, I recently had full 3G in the backcountry of Death Valley National Park, on a remote Olympic Coast beach (backpacking in), and deep in the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona. These improvements in service at these kinds of places gives me hope that we will be able to do a lot of wild camping like we have been doing.

Best wishes in finding an arrangement that will allow you the opportunity to work remotely and get on the road!
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Old 11-22-2014, 04:02 PM   #19
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This thread is a good start! There has to be many more thoughts on how to make a living from the road or at least part time. My wife and I are in our mid-30's with a 4.5 year old. Our 23' International Serenity is en route to Orlando from Albany and we can't wait to get on the road. This will replace our 1207 Jayco Popup which we've enjoyed immensely for the past 2 years. I'm a homebuilder so am having a hard time coming up with ideas on how to work remotely. I certainly don't have any IT skills... Initially we will accept (2) 1-week trips per my company's vacation policy. We'll also hit the beach spots on the weekends.

I'm confident that our first Airstream in the driveway will inspire me to figure something out! Looking forward to joining the club!
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Old 11-22-2014, 04:56 PM   #20
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I worked construction for a number of years. Cut expenses, and save cash. Then find a way to take your skills and your passion and combine them. One thought, if you're a homebuilder, you're probably handy.

rvrepairstream.com comes to mind, he's a mobile RV/Airstream/Travel Trailer mechanic/repair guy.

I don't think he full times, but it's just one more idea.
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