Have Laptop, Will Travel
We get inquiries - how can I make a living if I move abroad? Now, however, expats in places from Tuscany to Thailand and dozens of other places are linking themselves electronically with clients, customers and various viable sources of income. Business2.0 (a cutting edge business magazine that unfortunately will soon stop publishing) calls them “white collar nomads” in an article by Chris Morrison. But they don’t all wear white collars and are more likely to be found in sweatshirts, t-shirts or no shirts. They’re individuals who’ve picked up and taken their business acumen to the four corners of the globe.
For some this means earning first-world pay while having third-world living costs. The lifestyle and the adventure are apt to be the biggest draw, however. Business Week called these brave souls “New Nomads” in an article by Karen E. Klein.
Gregory Moulinet, a thirty-something logo designer, is originally from France and grew up in various parts of the world while his father worked as a TV reporter and anchor. After traveling in Asia during his 20s, he settled down in New York City where he started a logo-design business but he soon hit the road again, staying in hotels and friends’ apartments in Miami, Paris, and Tokyo. In 2005, he met his girlfriend, Yoko Chiba, who is also a designer and world traveler, and they started their joint venture. See www.nomadesign.jp/plane.html.
A popular vocation to take on the road is maintaining a website about - you guessed it - being a mobile entrepreneur. Carmen Bolanos was a psychotherapist with a private practice in Texas. She became an executive coach and co-founded www.NuNomad.com, which enables her to work while traveling in Europe and elsewhere several months a year with her family. After blogging about her lifestyle, she met a her business partner, Richard Hamel, founder of www.LaptopHobo.com. As it happens, he owns a web design business, dot com Web Works, officially headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., but for now he lives in Koh Lanta, Thailand. He works mostly with nonprofit organizations and he has written a book, Quit Dreaming and Go.
Another web entrepreneur is Anthony Page, founder of www.workingnomad.com and author of How I Did It, an e-book, which is a guide to earning income from multiple websites. Page recommends traveling light (think backpack instead of luggage) but with a few indispensable gadgets such as a travel adapter with USB charger.
Before you sell you possessions and take off, Business 2.0 recommends that you have a clear idea of what you’re going to do and get your business or telecommuting arrangement up and running, If you opt for a vagabond life, be sure to keep track of visas and entry requirements for each new country. Don’t expect all fun and games. When business is good, you might have to forgo sightseeing.