Are you a salary slave? Ditch the 9-5 for the sun!

It’s that time again. You roll out of bed at 6 in the morning after the alarm clock goes off and get ready for another day of mediocrity.

At some point, you start to wonder whether there is more to life than this.

Most of us yearn for the sea, but the truth is, we let reality get in the way.

Pretty soon, before you know it, you’ve been working in the same job or the same kinds of jobs for the next 20 years, you’ve got a mortgage that you can’t pay off, 2.5 screaming children and underneath it all, you wonder….what if?

If that sounds like torture to you, then I’ve got some good news. Ditching the 9-5 and throwing off the shackles of salary-slavery is easier than you think. You’ve just got to be determined because in the end, persistence pays off.

There are some who say that you need Beyonce’s budget to live by the sun, sea and sand, but below, I give you practical tips on how can dump the day job and jet off to the sun on a layman’s income.

It’s time to be Free-lance

The key to earning enough money to travel to your heart’s content is fitting your work around your lifestyle. You can do this by becoming a freelancer. If you’ve got a marketable skill – such as graphic design, sales, content writing, proofreading, IT or videography, then you are only a few clicks away from your next gig.

Sign up to jobs boards such as Remote.co, We Work Remotely, Upwork, Problogger and Indeed to see the latest vacancies. I’ve used many of these myself, and I can attest to the fact that most of them have regular job openings that are posted every week.

Once you’ve set up your profile and signed up to these sites, you could land your next gig within days!

Take your job with you!

No – I’m not talking about the 9-5. If you’re going to be successful in setting up as a freelancer – then you’ll need a trade that is independent of location. The last thing you want is to feel hampered and stuck again, so think about the skills you’ve got that you can capitalise on and be sure it is something that you can do from anywhere in the world.

It is also worth mentioning that there are some full-time jobs that let you work from anywhere – so be sure to hit up the jobs board and filter by search terms such as ‘remote’, ‘contract’ and ‘freelance.

Budget

My motto used to be ‘spend! spend! spend!’, which is a great motto if you want to go broke. But if you want to trek around the world anytime soon, then you’ll need to budget. Start by working out the costs of travelling to the places you want to go. Plan how much you would need to save each month to make your dream a reality. Make a conservative plan and an aggressive plan. Work out what cutbacks you’d be willing to make to save the money you need.

If you’re going to jet set across the world – you’ll need a travel budget. So be sure to figure out how much you would need to get by in your chosen location.

Take risks

Many people stay in the rat race because it is a safe bet. You know when your day will start and when it will end. You also have the benefit of a regular income.

The trouble is that choosing security over freedom will quite often leave you lacking in both. While ditching the job and starting your own venture can seem like a big leap of faith, it is all about mindset. With a little planning, budgeting, persistence and self-discipline, stepping out on your own can be liberating and financially rewarding. And if the end result is a beach life in paradise, then it is all the more worthwhile.

Teach English

A popular way to earn enough money to fund your travels is to enrol in a TEFL (Teaching English As a Foreign Language) course and then applying for teaching jobs abroad. You’d be surprised by how much you can earn by doing this. In Vietnam for example, you can earn up to $25 per hour for teaching English. Vietnam also has the lowest living costs in the world. But there are tons of countries across the world where you can earn to help others learn – including parts of Spain, Japan, Africa and the Middle East.

Teaching English can be a fun, fulfilling and satisfying job and help you to achieve your dreams of sailing the seven seas and seeing the world.

Work Overseas

There are actually tonnes of jobs you can get overseas. You can opt for bar work in New Zealand, fruit picking in Australia, or working as a magazine editor in Japan. Now this suggestion may seem a little out of place in a blog about ditching the 9-5, but if you can get a flexible job in the country of your dreams, then you are already on the road to freedom. There are several websites dedicated to helping you find work abroad. These include but are not limited to: GoAbroad, Transitions Abroad, Greenheart Travel, BUNAC and Easy Expat to name a few. A simple Google search will probably throw up dozens more. So if you’re really strapped for cash, then maybe it’s time to broaden your horizons and look further afield.

Live with locals

The simple act of reducing your living expenses can make it super cheap and easy to travel. Websites such as Homestay, LingPoo, Couchsurfing and Projects Abroad help you to connect directly with locals who can help you to live in their homes for free or in exchange for a service such as teaching English.