Comments on: When to Quit Traveling

By: Butterfly Jewel

Butterfly Jewel — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 02:34:02 +0000

Thank you so much for your response and all the information, Sunshine Being a virtual assistant sounds interesting, and I will be checking out your friends’ websites. You are very encouraging! I wish you the best on your endeavor and know that youwill be successful!

By: Sunshine

Sunshine — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:31:28 +0000

VA= Virtual Assistant. There are many, many options to work as a VA online. You can either do it through phone work (which doesn’t work so well with traveling) or background office work. Some people like to have social media posting done for them, data processing, scheduling, etc. I have two friends that own their own VA companies and do mentoring for it as well. One of them is virtualgalfriday.com and the other is smartchicology.com. They were both very helpful to me in getting started.

There are many options for working online and you can do many things you would do in a brick and mortar business. I have been trying to build up enough experience and skills in order to become more portable and support myself in my passion for travel! I know that writing is an art, and you continue to learn as you write.

I hope that you find your way as well. I know that you should definitely write down your adventures and points of interest. Many of those articles could be useful later and you can sometimes sell pieces to different magazines as location pieces.

I hope that you can find a way to follow your dreams…keep writing.

By: Butterfly Jewel

Butterfly Jewel — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:15:39 +0000

Hi Sunshine
Thank you so much for your encouragement! I love traveling, too and hope I can make a living out of writing some way. I would like to know how your business goes, and I’m hoping it will go well. You mentioned that you are also a VA online. What does VA stand for?

By: Sunshine

Sunshine — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:17:09 +0000

Butterfly Jewel-
I loved your comment! I was also traveling solo, and I really miss it. I do like traveling more with people though. I came back home, but am not ready to settle yet. I have started a writing business(website in progress almost done) and working as a VA online. I am hoping that it will be enough so I can continue to follow my passion and support myself.

Keep going as long as you can!

By: Butterfly Jewel

Butterfly Jewel — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:08:44 +0000

I truly enjoyed reading your post. I can’t believe how much of it sounds like me and my travels, except I’m traveling solo. I can really relate to a lot of things you mentioned, especially the part about not being ready to plant your roots yet, especially since you don’t know where you want them to be and the current place you are isn’t exactly where you want to. Haha…I even got a 6 month lease like you because I didn’t want a year long commitment, especially since I don’t want to be here long term. I also figure that that would be good time for me to pursue writing which is something that I have always enjoyed and would be so happy if I can make a living from it. I also have that travel bug where I want to see more. However, one of the things that I learned through my travels and working abroad is that I don’t need to stay in a place for a whole year to experience the life and culture there, only 3 to 6 months is more than enough for me. I can’t believe how much your post sounds like me, my experience and even questions and thoughts I have. I do hope you and your wife find the answers to the questions you have, and I wish you the best in all those good things to come

Thanks for this post too! It helps to know that others share some of the same sentiments that I have.

By: Sunshine

Sunshine — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:10:05 +0000

Ayngelina,
I know exactly how you feel. I made the same goals to move away and travel and then ended up having to come home. Since I have been home I have been working effortlessly to try and create a lifestyle/work option that will allow me to still have a travel-centric llifestyle. I am getting ready to launch a freelance writing website.. sunshinewrites.com and hoping that this will help me on that path. I fight the urge everyday to buy the next new gadget, or new clothes or anything that will get in the way of my goals. Materialism is very commonplace in America…and Canada and seems to dominate mindsets and daily thinking. I am hoping to not get sucked in so that I can keep to my goals! I would really, really like to hear the explanations people gave you on how to approach this new lifestyle. Have you been able to travel? What kind of freelance work do you do?

Adam-
Great post as always and thank you so much for sharing insights into your daily life and struggles. It shows that you are human like the rest of us with the same struggles. You don’t put on airs like so many and make it seem ‘too good to be true.’ I appreciate your honest approach.

By: Ayngelina

Ayngelina — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:54:49 +0000

After 18 months of traveling slowly I also burnt out and just announced I was coming home. It was such a tough decision to make and then announce because I had become part of a nomadic blogger community and felt like I had failed a bit.

But I’ve been back a month, have figured a way to do freelance work and travel in between and it feels like better balance for me.

I am scared too, I’m surrounded by people who buy new things have nice homes and I don’t want to get up in it. I had to really think about buying $80 winter boots, but I’m in Canada it has to be done. All I could think was that was 3 days travel in Central America…

But once I announced it I was surprised at how many people reached out to explain that I don’t need to be nomadic to have a travel-centric lifestyle and explained how they approach it.

I was thinking all or nothing but there’s lots of room in between.

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:27:34 +0000

This is a great post and I find your honesty really comforting. Thank you.

By: I Kicked Ass in 2010… Watch Me Do It Again in 2011…

I Kicked Ass in 2010… Watch Me Do It Again in 2011… — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:30:09 +0000

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By: Carol

Carol — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:23:44 +0000

Great open post! I hear you about the tug of familiarity and family…how those two go together do they not! I am at the other end of the spectrum…older, maybe wiser with grown child and grandchildren. I want to travel and share those travels with my grand-kids, but when they are a bit older. I think 3.5 and 9 months is too much for me and my daughter would never let me. But I am all for experimenting in living and working elsewhere if I can get the work visas to do so. I am considering Australia because I have a friend there. I am also considering Spain and South America because I have lived in Latin America before and speak Spanish quite well. I am inspired by your perseverance, your openness to the rest of us and your thinking out loud…too many of my generation just clam up and don’t say much. Keep up the good work and keep us all aware…it is OK to be scared, I am way older than you and I still get scared! Bless all three of you!