100 Countries » Online Work

I Need A Life

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:54:48 +0000

I have been spending way too many hours in front of the computer lately with no indication that anything is going to change in the near future. It’s not that I don’t enjoy what I’m doing, it’s just that I have a bit more on my plate than I planned to have. The consequences of taking on a new project.

This past Friday I had a full day to work without interruption because I was house / dog sitting for Dana / Dexter:

It worked out well (well at least if I want to continue not to have a life) in that I got a good deal of work done. It’s a good, quiet place to get things done. Now if I can keep up with this blog — although it isn’t all that exciting letting people know you are sitting in front of a computer all day

Change of Plans – No Costa Rica In January

admin — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:09:28 +0000

I had been planning to take off to Costa Rica sometime in January and do another month long stay like the one I did a few months ago in Mexico, but it looks like those plans have to be changed. The main reason is the new blog I started about a month ago – Penny Experiment – which will require me to be around to keep it going.

Basically, I have 100 pieces of postcard artwork coming in that I need to be around to photograph and put up on the new blog, and that would be difficult to do if I was in Costa Rica. I really don’t mind the delay as I’m enjoying the Penny Experiment challenge, but I will keep in mind the projects I launch in the future so that I don’t necessarily have to be around for them to be completed.

The other thing I have been thinking about is taking a multi-country trip to see how that works out with keeping up on all the blog and website maintenance that needs to be done. I’ve been resisting this because I’m afraid that constantly being on the move will make it difficult to get the work done (I really do need to spend at least several hours each day on the computer making sure things are running smoothly and cleaning up email and spam or it quickly snowballs out of control), but would like to try it out to see if I can find a rhythm that will allow that type of travel to work as well.

I’m looking forward to the New Year and really put the digital nomad life to the test…

House Sitting For This Week

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:44:14 +0000

I’m spending this week house sitting which is a pretty good way to earn some extra money when you are a digital nomad. The fact is that I am going to be spending the majority of my day in front of my computer working, so it doesn’t matter where I do it. If I am someplace that is beautiful, I’ll make the effort to get our and explore it, but if the place is familiar like when visiting family, I’m going to spend most of the day inside. When that is the case, doesn’t it make sense to get paid for sitting inside?

I think that I will begin putting word out for the times that I’m back in the US and not traveling to to places I haven’t visited yet that I’m free to house sit. It’s a win-win situation for all. If the person has pets (the situation with the current house sitting situation), they don’t have to place them in pet hotel while they are gone saving them the money it would cost to board the pets. Plus it’s a lot less stress on the pet since they don’t have to go to a new environment. So even if they pay me, they still come out financially ahead.

I have been thinking for awhile about beginning a non profit website (which has nothing to do with the Penny Experiment blog that I recently launched), and I think I will use any money I earn from house sitting in 2010 to go toward getting that launched (a good New Year’s Resolution). What would be wonderful is to work out a way to house sit in all those wonderful countries I want to visit – I will definitely have to look more into that. I heard rumors that there were house sitting opportunities in Los Barriles when I stayed there, so it definitely is a possibility and something I should definitely look into.

The other thing I find when I house sit is that I’m much more productive than at other times. After the time in Hawaii where I basically did the minimum amount of online work I needed to do, this is a good opportunity to catch up a bit on those things I have been wanting to do. It’s always good when it works out well for everyone involved…