The Wayfinder
Navigate Travel Like an Expert
"Wouldn't it be great if life were like this all the time?”
When you’re the kind of person who dreams of your next vacation while still on your current vacation, you want to know how you can travel more. And probably how you can pay for your travel lifestyle.
Sometimes you can travel more by making a few adjustments to your current employment situation. Other times, you might need to investigate a new job or transition to a new career. Whether you find that prospect overwhelming or exciting, Seven Corners has the tips to make it a smooth ride.
Few of us in the negotiating process of a potential new job go in with the attitude of, “Whatever you pay me is good with me.” We have expectations of what our time and skills are worth, and we go into these talks ready to ask for what we deserve.
You can take this same approach to negotiating time off. You could simply ask for more than they originally offered, or you could ask for a specific kind of PTO. We have a friend who always negotiates a few days off for her birthday every year.
Most reasonable employers are willing to at least discuss it.
Who wants to take a pay cut?
“Well, I do every day that I work as a freelance travel writer instead of being in an office eight to five,” said Luke Armstrong. “I do this because I work to live the life I want, not work to have a life I don’t want."
It’s an unpopular opinion in the world of American consumerism, but you aren't required to want more money and more stuff. Quality of life is not always tied to the size of your bank account. If you can live and travel how you want on less money, why not go for it?
If you’re living comfortably now but don’t think a pay cut is in the cards, keep this idea in mind anyway. When you get offered a raise or a promotion, ask if you can have more PTO instead.
The length of the trip matters. Too short and you don’t have enough time to truly transition into relaxation mode. Longer isn’t always the answer, either. Some experts argue that a one-week vacation has the same rejuvenating benefits of a two-week trip, given that much of our excitement comes from anticipation, not the vacation itself.
On the other hand, giving yourself time to really settle in at a destination can let you dive deeper into that place. “There’s a sense of place that emerges on a month-long trip that rarely takes hold on a two-week trip,” says Luke.
If you can flex your work schedule, maybe work weekends or put in longer hours for a stretch to bank up some extra time away from the office, you might be able to squeeze in some extra vacation days.
If you work from home, you might have the flexibility to work from “home” anywhere. A workcation is a trip you take that allows you to still put in your regular hours but from your dream vacation.
Itching to get to the mountains? Be productive from a cabin during the day, enjoy the slopes in your downtime.
Need to escape the cold during the depths of winter? Book a vacation rental in a warmer climate and bask in the sunshine with your spreadsheets.
Some employers recognize that a fulfilled employee is a more productive member of the team. Ask if you can take a sabbatical or adult gap year.
A sabbatical trip allows you to try new things and develop professional skills at an energizing destination. You get the time out of the office knowing that at the end of the term, you’ll still have a job waiting for you.
Not all sabbaticals are paid time off and your employer may have guidelines for how you can use your sabbatical, especially if they continue to pay you during your trip. Either way, this is an opportunity some find too good to pass up.
We all need to make a living, and living off savings is sometimes the same as living with constant anxiety. If you can make it work financially, though, the time between jobs can be the perfect time to travel.
If you have another job lined up, this breather gives you a chance to refresh yourself after job hunting and interviews.
If you’re still looking for your next opportunity, you might find the space you need to figure out your next move. Use your trip to consider a new kind of career or a different approach than you would have tried at home.
There are countless ways to make a career as a writer, and many of them are location independent. Writing a book can be done almost anywhere, and judging by the number of writers’ retreats there are around the world, becoming an author might be easier if you branch out to new destinations.
You can also take the power of your pen on the road as a freelance writer. More and more media outlets rely on freelancers to write for their publications. And the opportunities are out there for a whole host of topics.
You might know a lot about a certain trade or industry (submarine construction, maybe?) or have a passion for organic gardening. Marketing agencies need copywriters, publication houses need ghostwriters, corporate offices need someone to draft the descriptions of products that go on packaging. All of these can potentially be done as a “work from anywhere” job.
Writers need editors, too. If you’ve publicly — and proudly — declared your stance on the Oxford comma, consider a remote copyeditor position.
Just as they did with writers, many media companies have turned to freelancers for photography and videography.
“They fly their freelance camera crews from where they are to where they need them,” said Luke. “In 2008, I met Canadian Garry Tutte in Nicaragua. At the time, he was just transitioning from being an in-house filmmaker/editor to a freelance one. He is now 100% freelance, travels as much as Indiana Jones, and keeps his home base with his Peruvian wife in Lima.”
Creative minds, including graphic designers, have lots of options for remote work.
In 2022, the Bureau of Labor reported that 19% of all graphic designers were self-employed. With an annual average pay of $58,000, that kind of career could offer quite a lifestyle on a beach in Belize, where you can rent a two-bedroom townhouse for about $400 per month.
Remote jobs in IT are hugely popular. Countries like Estonia even began offering their digital nomad visa in hopes of attracting international talent from the technology sector.
If you’re a computer programmer, web developer, UI/UX developer, or dream of starting a career in similar fields, you could be in luck. These types of professions are equally successful in a remote work setting, formally employed by a corporation, or in a freelance role.
Maybe you got the international travel itch after studying abroad and learning a language. Use that multilingual talent in your remote work job as a translator or interpreter. Like many of the jobs on this list, you can do this as a freelancer or with a company that allows you to work from anywhere.
The more obscure the language, the better the pay. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, average pay for a translator/interpreter is about $26 per hour or $54,000 per year. That can fluctuate quite a bit based on location, language, and whether you’re a freelancer or receiving a regular salary from a company.
Even if you don’t make translation your full-time career from the road, you might be able to make some extra side cash by signing up with an agency that provides interpretation services.
It’s common in the U.S., for example, for hospitals and other public services to hire interpreters on a job-by-job basis. You might be helping a new mom understand her healthcare resources or translating legal proceedings for people who don’t speak the local language.
A job in the hospitality and tourism industry can mean a lot of things. You might work for a hotel or resort chain that’s willing to send you around the world. Your job could be with an airline, cruise line, or travel agency. You could be a tour guide, bus driver, museum docent, or amusement park guest services aid. You might even help people plan destination weddings. The list goes on.
Often, these roles are perfect for people who know and understand travel, love immersing themselves in new cultures, and are multilingual. When travel is in your blood, see if there’s also a travel career in your future.
Even call centers aren’t quite so central these days. You can be an over-the-phone salesperson or customer service representative from the comfort of your own beach chair if you really want.
If you have a persistent personality, are good at talking people through complex information and processes, and enjoy finding solutions that make people’s lives better, this is a great way to work from anywhere.
There’s no shortage of people who quit the daily grind and decided to go into business for themselves. And because they had a product or service that was location independent, they launched their entrepreneurial adventure from somewhere completely foreign.
From selling your art to launching a business consulting agency to becoming a content creator, you can travel more when you decide to work for yourself from anywhere. It can take a big leap of faith to start a business and move abroad all at the same time, but if you can handle that, we bet you can handle anything.
Now you have some ideas about how to travel more and earn a paycheck, no matter where your “desk” is. Learn more about becoming a long-term digital nomad or how to find better work-life balance on a workcation.
Travel comes in all shapes and sizes. Seven Corners can help you find the right fit.
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