Escape the 9-5 Grind: Our Journey to Location Independence

As a father in my early 40s (well, I am still 40 at the time of writing this post 🙂 ), with a loving partner and a vibrant 2-year-old daughter, I often find myself daydreaming with Anna about travelling the world full-time. But with our current jobs as corporate employees, the reality of this dream seems far-fetched. Despite having interesting jobs, we still often feel trapped in the 9 to 5 routine, trying to balance work and family life, lacking the flexibility to be where we want. However, we refuse to let go of our desire to travel and experience new cultures and have embarked on a journey to location independence.

We have decided to take action and work towards achieving financial freedom, which will enable us to travel the world without the limitations of a traditional full-time job.

What Is Financial Freedom and Why Does It Matter for Our Family Travel Goals?

Financial freedom means having the resources to support our lifestyle without being tied to a regular job or worrying about financial stability. Sounds too good to be true? Not really, but one needs to understand that this does not happen overnight and requires significant effort. Yes, there’s no easy money! But we are willing to take the necessary steps towards making our dream a reality.

To reach our goal, we have researched and identified several income streams that can support our full-time travel lifestyle. In the next sections, we have detailed quite a large number of these possible earnings sources (currently 21!), along with their pros and cons, to give you an idea of what options are available. Because the list starts to be long, this post is divided into two parts: the income streams we have tried/ are trying and the ones which are still to be tested, kept or discarded.

Here we go!

Tried and Tested Income Streams: Making the Transition to Financial Freedom and Location Independence

Looking back at the journey our family have embarked upon to achieve financial freedom and location independence, it’s clear that so far it hasn’t been a walk in the park. However, it is one of the most rewarding experiences we’ve ever had. As a family of three, we are blessed to have each other and a common goal that we are all working towards, with Nelly being our CEO.
When we started our journey, we had to try out different ways to generate income to see what would work for us. Some worked, while others didn’t.

In this section, I’ll share some of the tried and tested income streams that help us make the transition to a more flexible lifestyle, without sacrificing our financial stability. I’ll give you the pros and cons of each earnings source.

Of course, not every income stream we’ve tried has been successful. We are learning from our failures and adjusting our strategies accordingly. But overall, the tried and tested money channels have allowed us to take the first steps towards financial freedom and location independence. Our hope is that sharing these experiences can help guide you as you embark on your own journey.

1. Rental Income

Rental income can be a lucrative source of passive income if you own a property. You can rent out your property on a long-term or short-term basis, depending on your preference. Long-term rentals are more stable but require more management, while short-term rentals can generate higher income but require more effort. That should not come as a surprise, but platforms like Airbnb make it easy to rent out your property to travellers.

In our case, both Anna and I have been working very hard and have been able to buy each one a property before we met. To be fair, we don’t really get any passive income yet, as the rents we get are just covering the mortgages, but that alleviates the amount of tax we have to pay (land tax and council tax). We are progressively clearing our debts and our properties should really turn into assets in a near future.

Pros: Passive income, potential for high returns, flexibility in rental options
Cons: Property management, occupancy rates, potential property damage

2. Freelancing

Probably one of my favourite income streams while I am moving around!
Freelancing allows you to work remotely and choose your clients, giving you the flexibility to work from anywhere in the world.
Basically, everyone is knowledgeable in some fields – even if you don’t think so – and you can offer your skills in various fields, such as writing and editing, graphic design, programming, photography service or anything else. There are technically no limits, so let your creativity runs wild.
There are lots of different great platforms to find clients. Personally, I am using Upwork and Fiverr, and both are excellent.

Pros: High earning potential, flexible work schedule, location independence, variety of job opportunities and clients
Cons: Income instability, client acquisition, managing multiple clients, self-discipline

3. Blogging

And here we are!
We started Vanellylife in April 2021 by passion, to share our experience travelling with a baby. Since then, it is slowly growing up in terms of content and traffic.

Blogging (travel blogging in our case) can be a profitable source of income if you create quality content that attracts readers and advertisers. You can monetise your blog through advertising, affiliate marketing, and sponsorships. Platforms like WordPress and Bluehost offer opportunities for creating and hosting a blog.

However, blogging requires consistency, some marketing skills, dedication to build a substantial following and… patience. It takes time for the machine to get up to speed and not seeing immediate results is demotivating, to be honest. Does the effort worth it? Yes, definitely, as once the content you create starts generating money, it will do so for several years with minimum maintenance.

Pros: Passive income, creative outlet, potential for high returns, flexible schedule
Cons: Time-consuming, competitive market, fluctuating income, not immediate, need for consistent content creation, managing sponsorships.

4. Affiliate Marketing

We are moderately using affiliate marketing through Vanellylife.com, but that is an income stream that works. Affiliate marketing involves promoting other people’s products and earning a commission on the sales made through your unique affiliate link. Websites like Amazon Associates offer affiliate marketing opportunities.

Pros: Passive income, low overhead costs, variety of products to promote
Cons: Need for large audience, potential for low commission rates, affiliate program changes

6. Brand Ambassador

Becoming a brand ambassador involves promoting a particular brand or product on social media or other platforms. This can be a great way to earn money if you have a strong social media following or if you are in a particular niche. Companies would provide you with some free products to try out and review or would pay you to post about their products and services.

Pros: Flexible schedule, work with exciting brands and products, potential for high earnings
Cons: fluctuating income, competitive, need to maintain a strong social media presence and following

7. Online Store

That is where the whole quest for financial freedom has begun for us.

I love driving classic cars, fixing them and improving their reliability, and I am pretty good at it. During the pandemic, back in 2020, I suddenly had a lot of free time, having been furloughed. I decided to use this time to learn how to create and manage a limited company and develop an activity around classics. Focusing on carburettors, I have opened an online store, theknowledgeablefrenchman.com, allowing me to sell services (restoration of carburettors and sourcing of spare parts) and products (rebuilt carburettors and piece parts such as gaskets).

Opening an online store allows you to sell products without the need for a physical storefront. You can sell products you make yourself or source from wholesalers. Platforms like Shopify and Etsy make it easy to set up an online store. Personally, I am more familiar with WordPress and WooCommerce.

My main tips to you are:

• if you’re tempted, don’t be scared and go for it. Very rewarding.
• However, choose a niche with lower competition. There are a lot of online shops already and just following the trends will not be enough for you to succeed.

Pros: Flexibility, low overhead costs, potential for high returns
Cons: Competition, shipping and fulfilment logistics, market saturation

8. Dropshipping

Since 2022, I am running a second online shop, emob-shop.com, where I sell electric bicycles, e-scooters and accessories. A good part of the products – but not all of them – are dropshipped. Dropshipping involves selling products online without keeping any inventory. You simply take orders from customers and have your carefully chosen supplier ship the products directly to the customer.

The main challenge – at least for me – with this type of business is to get visibility. You need to have very good marketing skills if you want to differentiate from all your competitors.

Pros: Low startup costs, no inventory management, potential for high returns
Cons: Need for marketing skills, customer support, reliance on suppliers

Note:
You can easily set up an online shop selling a mix of your own products, with affiliate marketing and/ or dropshipping, to complement your offer! Again, let your creativity runs wild!

9. Photography

This one can be a quick win for bloggers: we are always going around with a camera to feed our blog and social media accounts with good-looking photographs. But why limit yourself when you could also sell the same pictures as stock photos? Platforms like Shutterstock offers opportunities for selling photos and generating income from work you have done once.

Pros: High earning potential, flexible schedule, creative outlet
Cons: Need for photography skills, finding the right clients, managing multiple projects

10. Multi-Level Marketing

What is behind this acronym?

Multi-level marketing (MLM) is a business model where companies sell products through a network of independent distributors. These distributors not only sell the products but also recruit others to become distributors themselves. The recruiting distributor then earns a commission from the sales made by those they recruited, as well as a portion of the commissions made by the distributors that the recruited distributors bring in. This creates a “downline” of distributors that can generate passive income for the recruiting distributor.

The appeal of MLM is that it offers the potential for unlimited earning potential by leveraging the efforts of others. However, success in MLM requires dedication and persistence in building a downline, so it may not be the right choice for everyone.

For our family, MLM can be a potential income stream to fund our project of achieving location independence. By joining a reputable MLM company as independent distributors, we can earn commissions from sales we make and those made by our downline.

While MLM can be a potentially lucrative income stream, it’s important to carefully research and choose a trustworthy MLM company with quality products and fair compensation plans. Avoid those that have been accused of being pyramid schemes. Additionally, MLM should not be seen as a get-rich-quick scheme, but rather a long-term strategy for building a passive income.

Pros: High earning potential, passive income, flexible schedule, low initial investment, good way to acquire new skills, managing a team
Cons: Require time and effort to build downline network, can be difficult to recruit new members, beware of pyramid schemes

New and Exciting Income Streams to Explore: More Ideas for Achieving Financial Freedom

As we continue on our journey towards financial freedom and location independence, we’re always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to generate income to explore. In this section, I want to share with you some of the ideas we’re currently considering – some quite seriously, some being just a thought at the moment – and the potential they have for helping us achieve our goals.

One of the income streams we’re exploring is creating and selling digital products, such as online courses and e-books. This would allow us to leverage our skills and knowledge to create passive revenue. We could also develop our YouTube channel Vanellylife, turning it more into a travel vlog, inspired by the idea of documenting our own adventures and sharing them with others. We also see potential in using YouTube to promote our other monetisation methods, such as our online businesses.

While these income streams are still new to us, we’re excited to explore the possibilities and see where they can take us. We know that financial freedom takes time and hard work, but we’re willing to put in the effort to achieve our objectives.

1. Teaching your Native Language Online

Teaching your native language (English, French, Polish, etc) online is a popular option for those who want to work remotely. You can teach students from all over the world and earn a decent income. Websites like Preply or Justlearn connect you with students and provide the necessary resources.

Pros: Flexible schedule, high demand, easy to get started
Cons: Time zone differences, inconsistent income, teaching certification requirements

2. Stock Market Investments, CFD and Options

Investing in the stock market can generate substantial returns if done correctly. You can invest in stocks, mutual funds, or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through online brokers.

We are just giving it a go, focusing on CFD (Contract For Difference) to understand how the whole thing works. For this, we have opened a demo account on CMC Market that we will be able to switch to a live one if we are convinced and feel good enough with this type of trading. This income stream should transit to the “Tried and Tested” section in a couple of months!

Pros: Potential for high returns, diversification, passive income
Cons: Risky, market volatility, time-consuming research

3. Digital Products

Creating and selling digital products like e-books, courses, and software can generate passive income. Platforms like Gumroad and Teachable make it easy to create and sell digital products.

Pros: Passive income, low overhead costs, potential for high returns
Cons: Competitive market, constantly creating new products, customer support

4. Real Estate Crowdfunding

Real estate crowdfunding is a relatively new concept that allows investors to pool their money together to invest in real estate properties. Platforms like Fundrise and RealtyMogul make it easy to invest in real estate without the hassle of property management.

Pros: Passive income, low investment minimums, diversification
Cons: Lack of control, potential for losses, limited liquidity

5. Consulting

Consulting allows you to leverage your expertise and offer advice to clients. You can consult in various fields, such as business, marketing, or finance. Platforms like Clarity.fm and UpCounsel connect you with clients.

Pros: High earning potential, flexibility, variety of job opportunities
Cons: Client acquisition, self-discipline, inconsistent income

6. Online Coaching

Online coaching can be a lucrative income stream, especially if you have expertise in a particular area. Platforms like Coach.me and Udemy offer opportunities for online coaching and course creation.

Pros: High earning potential, flexible schedule, variety of topics to teach
Cons: Need for expertise, customer acquisition, competitive market

7. Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants provide administrative and technical support to clients remotely. Platforms like Virtual Assistant Jobs and Zirtual offer virtual assistant job opportunities.

Pros: Flexible schedule, variety of clients, potential for high earnings
Cons: Need for time management skills, managing multiple clients, potentially low rates

8. Transcription

Transcription involves listening to audio or video files and converting them into written documents. Platforms like TranscribeMe and Rev offer opportunities for transcription work.

Pros: Flexible schedule, variety of clients, potential for high earnings
Cons: Need for good listening and typing skills, managing multiple clients, potentially low rates

9. YouTube channel

Creating a YouTube channel and monetising it through advertising, sponsorships, and merchandise sales can be a viable income stream. However, creating quality content and building a significant following requires consistency and dedication.

Pros: Passive income, creative outlet, potential for high returns, flexible schedule
Cons: Need for consistent content creation, managing sponsorships, time-consuming, competition, fluctuating income

10. Podcasting

Creating a podcast can generate passive income through sponsorships, advertising, and merchandise sales. Platforms like Anchor make it easy to create and publish a podcast.

Pros: Creative outlet, potential for high returns, flexible schedule
Cons: Need for consistent content creation, managing sponsorships, fluctuating income

11. Social Media Management

Managing social media accounts for businesses can be a flexible and high-paying job. Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr offer opportunities for social media management.

Pros: High earning potential, flexible schedule, variety of clients
Cons: Need for marketing skills, managing multiple clients, constant changes in social media algorithms

12. App Development

Creating and selling mobile apps can generate substantial income if you have the technical skills. Platforms like Apple’s App Store and Google Play offer opportunities for app developers.

Pros: Potential for high returns, creative outlet, flexible schedule
Cons: Need for technical skills, managing customer support, competitive market

Is Financial Freedom Really Possible for Your Family’s Travel Dreams?

Absolutely!

For us, and at this point in our journey, this would come as a mix of passive incomes (rental properties, photography, etc.) and flexible opportunities (like freelancing, MLM, and more). We’ve come to understand that true financial freedom means accepting that our income may not come from a single source but from a collection of smaller streams that will add up to cover our lifestyle expenses – just like puzzle pieces coming together to create a beautiful picture.

Each of the income streams we’ve explored has had its own set of pros and cons, and we’ve chosen to pursue streams based on our interests, skills, and resources. Starting with a few we’re passionate about and have gradually added to our portfolio over time. We’ve now tried and tested a variety of streams like rental income, freelancing, blogging, affiliate marketing, online store, dropshipping, photography, and even MLM. While some of these earning sources may not have delivered the expected results, we’ve learned so much from each experience and gained valuable knowledge and experience in the process.

We are now considering expanding our income stream portfolio to include stock market investments and digital product creation. While it will take hard work, careful planning and execution, we’re confident that these new revenue streams will bring us closer to achieving financial freedom and making our travel dreams a reality.

Financial freedom takes time and hard work. It won’t happen overnight, but we’re committed to taking steps towards our goal each day, grateful for the opportunity to explore different ways to generate income and learn from our experiences. With perseverance, dedication, and a positive attitude, we believe that we can pursue our journey and achieve our dream of location independence, travelling full-time as a family.

We can’t wait to see where this journey takes us!