The Revenue Stream

I've spoken with a bunch of people who share my excitement about Being Free ... free to travel, to work remotely or from home, to be spontaneous. Naturally, what it takes to Be Free depends on the degree of freedom you're looking for. Are you looking to relocate? To wander for a bit? Or to make wandering your lifestyle?

If it's your ambition to have the freedom to travel indefinitely, and you're not independently wealthy, you'll obviously need a way to earn money. Folks who make a go at the itinerant lifestyle generally work for themselves and ply a trade that can either be done remotely (e.g., web design) or that is in demand everywhere (e.g., scuba instructor). The first step to breaking free is to establish some revenue stream that travels well. This isn't that hard, but takes time and planning.

I'm a computer programmer. I quit my 9-to-5 desk job a few years back and started working for myself as an independent consultant. My clients are remote and trust me to do good work regardless of my location. Now that my business is established, I can take my one-man show on the road, and my revenue stream will follow me. I didn't get here overnight, but it wasn't particularly difficult either.

So think about what you enjoy doing, and try to turn it into a mobile money-making scheme. And quit your boring 9-to-5! Ask around, chances are good you have friends who have made it work. Or use the internet to find people who are already doing what you want to do and ask them. In a future post, I'll share some of the great online communities of nomadic professionals I've found. They're more than happy to help.

To Be Free

OK, first things first. Peripatetic. WTF? From dictionary.com:

Peripatetic: adj.

1. walking or traveling about; itinerant.
2. (initial capital letter) of or pertaining to Aristotle, who taught philosophy while walking in the Lyceum of ancient Athens.

Anybody who has known me for more than about 10 minutes has heard me talk about travel. How I want to travel, live overseas, blah, blah, blah. I'm finally making it happen, and this blog will be all about my new life as a digital nomad. Hence Peripatetic. OK, it's a bit pretentious, but it fits. In this blog, I'll be talking and walking, figuratively speaking -- sharing what I learn about living Out There, free from geographical constraints.

My journey begins right here -- in Seattle -- while I grope around for my roots and begin pulling them up. I'll document that process in these posts. Once I go, I'll use this space to record my experiences from the road and help other aspiring digital nomads cut the cord and Be Free.