Post: #1

Hello everyone,

Just a brief intro on me. I am a 2-year fresh college graduate that has a stable job as an engineer, and not the worst life; however, my two passions in life (as many of you on these forums), is travel and girls.

In about a 1-2 years I do plan on going on an adventure to travel for a year, and if that is successful, I might end up continue doing so or living in a foreign country. My focus is Latin America, and coastal cities. Simply because I love Latinas, and I also find enjoyment in windsurfing/kitesurfing.

For those of you that live this kind of lifestyle, my one big question is, how do you support it and remain afloat?

Here are some options that I have brainstormed as to how I could possible accomplish this. Please be critical but not rude, I know some of these options sound naïve and others are better than others, but I would like some input as to what may be more successful.

1. Save a bunch of money, and just take one year to travel. Not work a day while I am travelling. I doubt one year will get it out of my system, but this is probably what I will start with.

2. Join the peace corps. I have a civil engineering degree, and I know that they look for engineers to work on projects in developing countries. The only problem with this is I may not get to choose the place I would like to work in.

3. Work as a contract Engineer in the USA, 6 months on and 6 months off. Find positions that pay less but have 6-month job contracts. Do a job for 6 months, then travel for 6 months for the amount I saved, rinse and repeat.

4. Similar to the contract position, I have seen some that post on these forums that work random jobs and travel for x number of months based off of what they made.

5. Learn how to Code and create apps that make money. This is probably very tricky to make successful apps on your own, so this is towards the bottom of the list.

6. Learn the stock market and become a day-trader. Been told that you can trade outside of the USA if you are an American citizen. A lot of risk involved, but then again, so is this whole idea.

7. Start my own company and work as a private contractor for myself. I won’t have to much reliability though if I am gone for longer lengths in time.

8. Find a job in my profession in a foreign country. Also not reliable, especially since the economy in Latin America is rougher than the U.S.A. If locals are having a hard time finding my job, what makes me think I won’t? I don’t know how they treat American college degrees/ American work experience. Some people say that they are the most desired in the world, but I think that’s a load of BS to be honest. This will only work once I have decided to stay in one country.

9. Get a low-skilled job in a foreign country. Probably last on my list, even though it might be the easiest. Will be taking A HUGE pay cut. This will also only work once/ if I have decided to stay in one country.

10. Become a Digital Nomad. Whatever the fuck that means. This term is broad from my understanding.

11. I’ve seen some men make a bunch of money in the USA, and invest in foreign real estate, or for that matter other foreign goods within a certain country.

Constructive criticism is accepted and encouraged. Rate which option you like the best or have any opinions/experiences with it. People that are currently doing this are encouraged to comment, and also see if there are any options that they would/ are doing that I have not listed.
My countries of focus right now are: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Colombia, and possibly Mexico. This may expand once I travel more.

Post: #2

Go check out the work that Kyle Trouble does.

Post: #3

Definitely go take that 1 year off and travel first.

You will get a much better idea of how much you like living abroad, and the places you like.

RE career - money is king as you get older because it gives you options and freedom.

My advice would be unless you hate your current career, to earn as much money as you can and keep building on skills you already have, which will compound over time and earn you more money.

On the other hand, if you start hating the engineer lifestyle, it's better to figure that out sooner rather than later and begin transitioning over into something else.

The problem with switching careers or going and starting a business is risk. You risk losing money earning potential and losing money overall. There's an opportunity cost.

So, I don't suggest you start doing something else unless you are really committed to it and you want. You could take up something internet side hustle related though if you have some free time.

So, I'd:
1. Go travelling for a year first so you know what you want out of going overseas
2. Come back and do something engineer related that allows you to travel (if you want to go back overseas) - those 6 month contracts sound decent for that

Also, consider that your priorities can change as you get older, so what you want in 2-3 years may not be the same as what you want now

Try to keep building your money, skills and flexibility going forward, and make bigger or riskier lifestyle decisions younger while you have less responsibility and more energy

Don't go off chasing the business/self employed lifestyle unless you really want it and you're committed (or unless you can put minimal time in as a side hustle and make some cash) - there's easier money to be made doing what you're doing now

Post: #4

(12-14-2018 07:07 PM)docdrops Wrote:  6. Learn the stock market and become a day-trader. Been told that you can trade outside of the USA if you are an American citizen. A lot of risk involved, but then again, so is this whole idea.

If you choose this option, save yourself the time "invested" into "learning" this and go to the casino.

Post: #5

Also, copywriting seems to have the lowest barrier to entry in regards to earning remote income, just a heads up.

Unless you're a woman, then you can just maintain a healthy BMI, buy a web cam, and make a living working remote. You don't even have to buy clothing to do that job. Very low barrier to entry.

Post: #6

What kind of engineer?

Post: #7

4 and 6 are the most realistically viable. 10 means nothing. The vast majority of “digital nomads” are hipster boobs who have some gay travel blog and YouTube channel that makes them at most a few hundred dollars a month. Many also teach English online for a small, shitty but location independent salary.

Post: #8

You always can trade forex by having only wifi and cell phone and of course brain.knowledge, I advice people who like travel to learn about trading. I have my stable job and trading incomes, i have friends profesional brokers and literaly they can live everywhere as kings with only cell phone and internet conection.

Post: #9

(12-15-2018 01:26 AM)66Scorpio Wrote:  What kind of engineer?

I'm a civil engineer

Post: #10

I'm not sure what your skills are or what your job even entails, but get a job and put in the extra effort to bust your ass for side work online. This will give you a good amount of extra income and also tell you how much you can make without your normal job working online. Check out sites like upwork.com and look at different jobs to see what you might be able to do. Keep in mind that this will take lots of work and not be easy, and traveling while working will take discipline of which most people don't have.

Post: #11

1 and 3 are the best options. You have a skill which you can be paid well doing but the more time off you take, the harder it will be to find work in the field. You might be able to make money doing some of the other things you've listed but I highly doubt you'll be able to do as well financially as you would being an engineer. 6 months on 6 months off sounds really good to me and I would heavily lean towards that option. Plus once you get older and have the travel bug out of your system (and trust me you will), you'll still have your career to fall back on.

Post: #12

(12-15-2018 11:15 AM)doc holliday Wrote:  1 and 3 are the best options. You have a skill which you can be paid well doing but the more time off you take, the harder it will be to find work in the field. You might be able to make money doing some of the other things you've listed but I highly doubt you'll be able to do as well financially as you would being an engineer. 6 months on 6 months off sounds really good to me and I would heavily lean towards that option. Plus once you get older and have the travel bug out of your system (and trust me you will), you'll still have your career to fall back on.

Without knowing much about my field, will employers shrug me off knowing that I took a year off?

Post: #13

It's hard to say really. If the job market is hot and employers need people then you'd likely not have too many problems. In a softer job market, I would think that it would be a problem. One thing you could do while you travel on a year off is to do some online studying in your field and obtain a certificate if that's possible in civil engineering. Then you could tell an employer that you were travelling and studying at the same time which would be looked upon more favorably. A year off with no study could definitely be an issue for you with employers. That's why I think the contract idea is by far the best one. The year off with some online study to get a certificate is also a decent choice and easily explainable.

Post: #14

Curious - why not combine teaching/tutoring the children of the rich in both English and STEM and how to survive and thrive through the American Education Systems - having worked at Giant teaching hospital networks at Harvard Medical School and Boston University Medical Center I can say without a doubt it is the Full Tuition-paying foreign Students going after the Superior USA Education and focus on advanced medical etc technologies that keep the Boston and Massachusetts economy afloat in good times and bad as the ultra Rich manage to stay that way and always want to send their progeny to the best and safest institutions of higher education.

So instead of traveling the world barely surviving as a Beatnik Blogging surfing Beach Bum - combine the two and capitalize on your real USA Engineering Credentials and tutor the progeny of the local Rich for $50 to $100 per hour of teaching time balancing Tutoring Time with Wind/Kite Surfing and beach babe banging - can often stay at the homes of the Rich gratis while tutoring their kids - but of course do not bring banglers back to their homes and disrespect them - could get you fed to the local sharks so to speak. About all you have to do is put together some interesting course outlines for say a 4 week or 8 week or 12 weeks - 30 to 90 days Tutoring Schedule about your Subject Matter Expertise and how to Thrive in the Modern US University system without going too overboard with the Red Pill wisdom - do not what to scare off the paying parents after all.

Have two rates - with Room and Board for the duration and without in case you want to surf and bang on the beaches when not Tutoring... the wealthy tend to own major local businesses, factories and or Concrete Companies lets say and you can also network via tutoring to train their Corporate employees or work major civil engineering projects - again do not go overboard on imparting Red Pillisms as you do not want to find yourself fitted with cement shoes!

Google Intl Tutoring Networks/Referrals or just use Facespace... and advertise your availability and preferred tutoring Topics...

Post: #15

Options #1, #5, #6, and #7 are the most promising TBH. And instead of becoming a programmer to make apps, it'd be better to become a programmer and get a remote job at tech company that pays 80K - 150K. I went the app route and learned the hard way that making money with it is really, really difficult and involves many variables on top of just having coding skills.

The only method that is guaranteed to work out of these is #1 though. Just because you start a company or learn how to code doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be able to support yourself in a foreign country.

Post: #16

#6 is going to require a significant amount of capital to be practical. Its not like you will be able to day trade and double your money every year. If you are beating the S&P 500 by a few points you are doing pretty good.

Even if you were say incredible and doing 25% a year. Still need atleast 100k in capital to make that work. Assuming you want to make 2k per month. If you are happy on very low budgets of say $800 a month or something obviously this is less capital intensive.

I'm semi retiring at the end of this month and living off of investments. The dividend yield on them isn't really enough to live off of. Maybe $20,000 but I'll sell another $20,000 or so each year or make money here and there to make it work. For me to be content abroad I know from my time abroad I need about $1500-$4500 a month depending on location and time frame. Easy way for me to make it work is 6 months in a lower cost places a year and 6 month in higher cost places. More than $4,500 doesn't really offer much more happiness for me just allows for a bit more convenience.

Getting a low skilled job in a foreign country with low pay is just silly. Part of the reason travelling to other countries is fun is the status boost you will have there. If your cleaning toilets or call center chuck you are about as cool as the local dude making $500 a month that doesn't eat on saturdays and lives off bread so he has enough money for a bottle of rum at a local night club.

I personally am considering at times teaching english here and there if it will pay my living expenses so I can grow my nest.

What really is going to happen is your going to have to choose between the following options.

Work in the US and have a higher budget while you travel 2 weeks to 6 months a year. (Depending if you work full time or 6 month contract work) or work in lower cost countries via internet or teaching and while you will probably make less you will be able to live year round. There are tradeoffs with both options. Personally I have 0 interest in playing 2 week baller.

The 2 week baller option is ridiculous to me. I can't imagine what would make me want to work 50 weeks a year so that for 2 weeks I can go and spend a couple grand a week and bang hookers / dating app girls eat at nice restaurants and get premium bottle service. That is what most guys who work full time will be limited to do doing.

6 month a year guys are going to have nice budgets and be able to live pretty well in most of the countries that are desirable. Their disposable spending which is what is relevant in terms of lifestyle as they aren't paying mortgages and bs in foreign countries will probably be on the high side for the country they are in. Pretty good option in my opinion and likely the lowest stress.

The 12 month a year guy who is abroad all year probably isn't going to be able to spend thousands of dollars on a weekly basis but will be able to make lasting friendships and relationships while living a more balanced lifestyle. I.e. instead of going out 7 times a week you go out twice a week and you dine out only a couple times a week.

Obviously everything depends on your expectations as to how you want to live. It probably makes the most sense to go and travel first for a extended period such as 3 months and then get an idea as to what makes you happy.

Programming, web work and teaching english are probably the 3 most simple options.

Post: #17

theres a huge demand in the world for software. But the problem is when people innovate it becomes more difficult to understand newer complex concepts. You can work remotely but in order to have success in coding you need to work on your recursive math (dealing with finite numbers). Just my 2 cents.

Post: #18

(12-16-2018 06:14 AM)lavidaloca Wrote:  #6 is going to require a significant amount of capital to be practical. Its not like you will be able to day trade and double your money every year. If you are beating the S&P 500 by a few points you are doing pretty good.

Even if you were say incredible and doing 25% a year. Still need atleast 100k in capital to make that work. Assuming you want to make 2k per month. If you are happy on very low budgets of say $800 a month or something obviously this is less capital intensive.

I'm semi retiring at the end of this month and living off of investments. The dividend yield on them isn't really enough to live off of. Maybe $20,000 but I'll sell another $20,000 or so each year or make money here and there to make it work. For me to be content abroad I know from my time abroad I need about $1500-$4500 a month depending on location and time frame. Easy way for me to make it work is 6 months in a lower cost places a year and 6 month in higher cost places. More than $4,500 doesn't really offer much more happiness for me just allows for a bit more convenience.

Getting a low skilled job in a foreign country with low pay is just silly. Part of the reason travelling to other countries is fun is the status boost you will have there. If your cleaning toilets or call center chuck you are about as cool as the local dude making $500 a month that doesn't eat on saturdays and lives off bread so he has enough money for a bottle of rum at a local night club.

I personally am considering at times teaching english here and there if it will pay my living expenses so I can grow my nest.

What really is going to happen is your going to have to choose between the following options.

Work in the US and have a higher budget while you travel 2 weeks to 6 months a year. (Depending if you work full time or 6 month contract work) or work in lower cost countries via internet or teaching and while you will probably make less you will be able to live year round. There are tradeoffs with both options. Personally I have 0 interest in playing 2 week baller.

The 2 week baller option is ridiculous to me. I can't imagine what would make me want to work 50 weeks a year so that for 2 weeks I can go and spend a couple grand a week and bang hookers / dating app girls eat at nice restaurants and get premium bottle service. That is what most guys who work full time will be limited to do doing.

6 month a year guys are going to have nice budgets and be able to live pretty well in most of the countries that are desirable. Their disposable spending which is what is relevant in terms of lifestyle as they aren't paying mortgages and bs in foreign countries will probably be on the high side for the country they are in. Pretty good option in my opinion and likely the lowest stress.

The 12 month a year guy who is abroad all year probably isn't going to be able to spend thousands of dollars on a weekly basis but will be able to make lasting friendships and relationships while living a more balanced lifestyle. I.e. instead of going out 7 times a week you go out twice a week and you dine out only a couple times a week.

Obviously everything depends on your expectations as to how you want to live. It probably makes the most sense to go and travel first for a extended period such as 3 months and then get an idea as to what makes you happy.

Programming, web work and teaching english are probably the 3 most simple options.

Can you elaborate on what type of investments you are living off of? I'm not trying to copy you, I'm just trying to get a better idea of understanding how you are going to be able to do that. Feel free to PM me about this.

Also what country are you staying in?

Post: #19

Best selling author, 2m+ copies sold so far, with some additional projects. It was far from easy, though. I wrote for years before making anything.

To think that I'm on RVF's ban list. Fucking LUL.

Post: #20

(12-16-2018 12:13 PM)docdrops Wrote:  Can you elaborate on what type of investments you are living off of? I'm not trying to copy you, I'm just trying to get a better idea of understanding how you are going to be able to do that. Feel free to PM me about this.

Also what country are you staying in?

Equities, REITs. Significant amounts of capital. Not really relevant unless you want to spend a lot of time in the US.

The next year I'll be in Cuba for the year for family reasons and to get my house finished how I like it.

After that I have a number of places I'd like to go, Colombia, Ukraine, Thailand, Phillippines, etc but for the first year I'll just be in Cuba. The place I have my home in Cuba is my low cost destination. I can easily do half the year there on a low budget letting me travel elsewhere the other 6 months on a higher budget.

Post: #21

Technical skills (AWS, Java, Salesforce) + remote work/contract gigs. You can make $100+ per hour. It's great money in the US, but stupid money if you're living in Latin America.

Post: #22

Please, Please don't try N#6 or anything else involving taking risks and competition.( I'm think pro poker players). It is very hard to become a succesfull day trader and you need capital to start. If you had enough capital, you wouldn't need to support yourself traveling.

The best way I found (because i did this myself ) is to open up an Ebay or
Amazon account and buy locally and sell to foreign markets. What kept me going for a while when I was living in Poland (and had a buddy who made lots of trips to the Ukraine) was buying and selling Eastern European Playboys.

Post: #23

3 Year Military commitment in an Airborne or Infrantry unit...

Post: #24

Finding any company where you can work remote is a good option. If you could setup any sort of freelance model engineering/design/coding work, that can also be extremely effective. Your basic goal is to make a Western wage while maintaining a 3rd world COL situation. There are really a lot of ways of doing it.

You can also teach English. If you get connected correctly, you will be making a semi-western salary with those cost of life benefits. Plus you can get networked with wealthy families who want their kids to learn English. You may do even better here if you are capable of teaching for standardized tests.

Working at Hostels and Expat Bars is also pretty decent if you are just trying to travel and not trying to save up. This has the added benefit of connecting you socially to a lot of people.

Post: #25

At the begginning of next year, I'm moving to Eastern Europe. I'll be working in an office though with my current company. It's a solid gig, though being self-employed and location-independent is still definitely preferable. It's also much easier, as I lucked out with this gig.

Freelance work is the easiest way to get started. Try your hand at writing--really anyone can do it. I don't think it's sustainable long-term, but it's a good start.