I was thinking today about what to do next. I don’t mean anytime soon since I’m pretty happy here on the farm for now. I mean more what I want to do between when I leave this place (maybe in a month or two) and the World Cup in June 2010 in South Africa. That gives me about a year to play with and up until just now I hadn’t given it much thought at all.
I have had a lot of time to think about this sort of this lately and I’ve come up with a couple of grand plans that may or may not end up working out. My main idea right now is to spend two or three months living in NYC, maybe taking a painting or photography course or maybe just being a bum. I love NYC and spending some time living there is definitely something I want to do at some point. Now seems as good a time as any, especially since I have a few friends living there and it’s so close to home so I can pop in and see my family a few times before heading further afield.
After doing a bit of research I confirmed the obvious – NYC is expensive. Given the unhealthy condition of my bank account a few months ago, I wouldn’t have even considered a move to New York, no matter how short. But now, having spent a couple months living super cheaply and with at least another month ahead of more of the same, I will be a bit more set up for spending some time in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
This new set of sort of plans has sort of got me thinking about how I approach my travel splurges. I spent a couple of months spending next to nothing in Bangladesh and then lived it up in Beijing in a great apartment and spent money like a crazy person at the Olympics. I hung around Thailand and Burma spending very little and then gave up a deposit on a course and bought an expensive plane ticket to Haiti. I lived cheaply in Haiti for three months and then flew to Australia for two weeks for a wedding. Now, after a few months of cheap living in Nicaragua, I’m ready for a life of painting courses, good food, baseball games and generally living it up in the Big Apple.
If I wanted to (or if I were smart…) I could stick with the cheap living which I enjoy just as much, pad the bank account and give myself more options in the future but I things always tend to balance out in this way where I will spend nothing and then spend loads. I’m not sure it’s on purpose but it seems like it’s becoming a pattern.
So as of right now my super rough plan is to hang around Nicaragua and maybe Costa Rica for another couple of months of farm work and Spanish lessons before heading to New York City for no reason in particular. Afterwards… well I’m not sure but you can bet whatever I end up doing it will be cheap!
Hey Kirsty
I been following you for a while now. I also see your guest posts. I do not yet travel myself.
But, my goal is online income. You say you seem to be in a cycle of cheap living and then luxurious spending and back to cheap living.
My question is this: do you ever see your online income getting built up to a point where you can sort of leave behind the cycles of “cheap living” due to higher levels of mostly passive, online income?
In other words, is your online income steadily rising over time? Mine is, but I am at about $350 per month in Adsense income, growing by about 30 bucks per month maybe. At this rate I will be at my goal in about 2 years or maybe a bit more.
When do you quit your day job?…..You know what I mean? A subjective question, I know….but I still would like to hear your thoughts on this.
Patrick your guess of around 2 years or more is a good starting point, I Know Kirsty worked at least 2-3 years part time before been ale to travel full time.
The road to a truly solid passive income is a long one. I have averaged growth of around $20 pm for the last few years working part time, more through time than hard work. I estimate conservatively that when I am able to work at this full time growth would be around $50 per month so yes with time you can get to any level you require mine is about $2500 per month this would enable me to maintain a decent apartment here in Florida year round then go of on multiple trips throughout the year allways been able to return to a place I enjoy living in.
Kirsty New York, New York what a great place to go chill for a few months I will probably do the same but in Europe Rome, Madrid etc I think the cycle you are experiencing is quite natural & will enable you to continue for many years doing what you are doing.
I think having lean times followed by rich times sounds pretty good. The only drawback is if you want to do something REALLY expensive and the opportunity comes up quickly and you don’t have any money in reserve. Could you set up a special bank account where you put “extra” money for really special trips?
Patrick that’s the ultimate goal! I would love to make enough to be able to live in any city in the world but not extravigantly or anything. London is apretty expensive place and I could live comfortably there on $3000 a month (depending on exchange rates) so that’s my goal for now. If (when!) J make it to the point where I’m earning a lot more per month I don’t think the cycles of cheap to expensive countries would stop. I’m not really doing it on purpose at the moment, it’s sort of just worked out that way.
So it’s reasonable to expect that even if I am making loads per month, I will still have stints of super cheap living, mostly because I enjoy what I’m doing in these periods. My income is actually not steadily rising as planned but sort of going down… not good. You can tell by checking out the ‘Earnings’ category and reading back through the posts. I haven’t been too focused on work lately but if I end up in NYC I will have to put a good push on things.
When do you quit your job? …not sure! I quit when I was making about $1000 a month I think but I had a good amount saved up and was able to draw on my savings.
Beth I know what you mean. Having that extra money on reserve is huge. So far I’ve done a few expensive ‘special’ things like flying to Australia from Haiti for a wedding for two weeks and going to the Olympics. I’m also planning a trip to South Africa for the World Cup (got tickets to three matches!!) I don’t really set aside the money anywhere except that the money for one account goes towards a certain creditcard that buys certain things. That account is recharged with Adsense so the better I do with Adsense, the more goodies I can buy with the creditcard.
Wow, long reply! Hope this answers your questions.
I think an important consideration is to be somewhere where you can get one with the job of making internet sites etc because it’s the work you do now that will be paying for trips in the future.
I have found that I do work harder when I am in the UK – less distractions and more feeling of guilt too when friends around me are working regular jobs.
When I am travelling somewhere with a holiday feel then I work less.
I found that I work even less when travelling with my partner. Is website building a job for singles?