Dear Future Traveler,

If you’re like most folks in the world today you’ve been working for years to make ends meet, faithfully coming into your office and going through the motions to support yourself, maybe your family, and probably to pay off some debt. Some days you probably wonder, “Whatever happened to my dreams? Am I ever going to get to see the places I’ve read about and longed to visit?”

I know how that feels.

Ten years ago, when I first started traveling the world, I was just your average near-burnt-out worker who had decided to take some time off to travel abroad. After returning to my home country I realized that I wanted more of the life I had just left overseas. I also knew that I did not wish to work the low-paying jobs that foreigners usually are stuck with (teaching English, scuba instructor, working for tips, to name just three). So, when I returned home, I thought about what was possible for me to do anywhere in the world. More importantly, how could I make the higher earnings of a western country (in my case, the USA) while spending it in another (preferably cheaper to live in) country. It became clear to me that my new vocation would have to be something I could do with a laptop and over the Internet. And since I had 10 years experience producing newsletters and other collateral items for my clients, it became obvious that I could steer my talents and clients away from print and on over to the Web. I took an HTML class and found that I really enjoyed this sort of creation process. The rest simply fell into place. I now service my customers via the Internet in such places as Prague, Bangkok, Stockholm —wherever I decide to call home-office next.

The process is not an easy one, but with the right instruction (coupled with desire) and preparation, you can be one of the Nu Nomads.

Richard Hamel

And I’m not the only one – here’s my partner:

Hello!

When I was young I was a foreign language buff. I spent 26 years of my education learning about foreign countries and history. My passion was always to see the world. However, before I knew it, I had spent many years in graduate school, had married and had three children. Suddenly, I had many responsibilities personally as well as financially that kept me working to maintain our income and I had never visited most of the places I had learned about for so many years.

When I looked at my life I couldn’t imagine how I could ever break free of the daily burdens enough to see the world. On top of that, now I had a husband and 3 children who I would want to share the experience with and the cost was prohibitive. I felt completely trapped and began to resign myself to the idea that if I ever did see these places I would probably be elderly and able only to enjoy them in a limited way.

Since then, however, I have restructured my career to be mobile. I am now able to work from any place I want. This means that I can take my family anywhere and maintain our income. This last year, all 5 of us enjoyed an extended stay inEurope and the U.S. east coast without losing one cent. I feel a freedom I hadn’t imagined was possible.

Carmen Bolanos, Ph.D., PCC, LPBC