Budapest
How To Travel The World Indefinitely
I quit my 9-to-5 job in November of 2010 and have been living a nomadic lifestyle ever since, never staying in one place for more than four months at a time. I often get asked how this is possible. What do I do for money? Don’t I get lonely? I answer these and other frequently asked questions below. If there’s something I haven’t covered, feel free to ask in the comments at the bottom of the page.
How can you afford to travel the world indefinitely?
Simple: I work online, meaning I can work from anywhere with Internet access. I make most of my money from web design, but a few other income streams include affiliate marketing, donations, and an online course I created to help people overcome fear.
I don’t need a lot of money to maintain my travel lifestyle, much less in fact than I ever needed to maintain my 9-to-5 lifestyle in the USA and Ireland. Nowadays, €1000 per month allows me to do pretty much everything I want. I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t buy souvenirs, and I tend to avoid spending a lot of time in expensive countries.
To keep myself accountable, and to give others a better idea of how I afford this lifestyle, I reveal exactly how I earn and spend my money in monthly finance reports here at Disrupting the Rabblement. New and archived reports are available only to my email subscribers. If you’ve haven’t yet signed up, you can do so here…
Why do you choose to travel without flying?
Mostly just for the hell of it. I figure the challenge of circumnavigating the globe without stepping foot on an airplane makes for a bigger adventure and a better story. Rather than flying over huge chunks of land and sea, I’ll be forced to take my time and savor the journey, explore towns I’ve never heard of, and meet more random people.
There are also environmental reasons, though those are more of a bonus than anything. I can’t pretend to be some kind of eco-warrior here.
What modes of transport do you use then?
Mostly trains, buses and boats. I’ve hitchhiked before but found that the uncertainty of it can be a little much when you’re trying to run a business and communicate with clients from the road.
But if you’re interested in traveling by thumb, my buddy Benjamin shares some great tips that he learned from hitching 14,000 miles across the USA.
Arriving in Cherbourg, France after hitchhiking 1,141 kilometers from Spain (August, 2011)
How do you decide where to go?
Right now my plan is to keep heading East. There are a few specific countries I want to spend several months in as I travel around the world, but I’m comfortable changing plans on the fly if an interesting opportunity comes along. For example, I was going to spend December of 2011 in Greece, but a friend invited me to stay at his apartment in Budapest for a few weeks so I headed there instead.
A few places high on my list to visit: India, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, New Zealand, Brazil (hopefully in time for the 2014 World Cup), Canada, Iceland.
Where have you been already?
I spent three years (2007-2010) working as a web designer at a university in New Orleans, USA. After leaving that great city behind, I moved back to Ireland for four months, then spent the summer of 2011 living in Burgos, Spain. After a six-week stint back home in Ireland, I then took off on my round the world trip without flying. You can follow the progress of that here.
Do you travel alone? Don’t you get lonely?
Mostly I do travel alone, though I do often stay with friends and readers along the way. I prefer to travel for people rather than places, so it’s not unusual for me to skip the big cities and tourist spots to go visit with someone cool in the backarse of nowhere.
I’m also very social (having overcome crippling shyness as a young adult), and usually make friends pretty easily wherever I go. Talking to strangers has become one of my favorite things to do 
All that said, I do end up spending a significant amount of time alone as I travel. I rarely feel lonely though. I quite enjoy my own company and try take advantage of alone time to get some solid work done.
Burgos, Spain – July, 2011
Don’t you miss your family and friends back home?
Nope, I can’t say that I do.
Now before you go away thinking that I’m some kind of heartless bastard, have a read of this.
Do you think you’ll eventually settle down in one place?
Maybe, maybe not. I find that I’m constantly growing and changing as a person, so it’s hard for to say what a future version of myself will want to do. All I know is that for right now, I enjoy traveling regularly, meeting new people, and experiencing different cultures. There’s a lot of world out there to see, and I hope to see a lot of it.
How much stuff do you travel with?
I made a conscious move towards minimalism before I started this nomadic lifestyle. As a result, everything I own can now fit into a 42-litre backpack. Here’s a list of all my stuff.
Don’t you miss owning other things?
As the saying goes: You can have everything that you want, but you can’t have it all at the same time.
My priorities are freedom and mobility, and owing lots of things would go against that. Sure, I’ve had to make some sacrifices and get rid of some items that I liked. But I see such sacrifices as making more room for what I really value, and allowing me to get what I most want out of life.
Sleeper train from Zurich to Vienna – November, 2011
Any questions I haven’t answered?
Let me know via the comments below and I’ll do my best to address them here.
Hey Niall,
this is great! You definitely inspire me to travel more. Now I wouldn’t want to travel “indefinitely” as I need a lot of equipment for what I do (making music) – at least if I want to do it “correctly” (with quality) – but that doesn’t have to be the point anyway.
What I especially like about travelling is that it’s more about “experiencing” than about “doing”. I love learning – and how could you learn more by constantly having new experiences?
Great site and great post! I found you through a retweet and so glad…excited to follow your adventures!
Hi Niall, What a fun adventure you’re on! There’s such a beautiful grace to spending copious amounts of time alone and then having all kinds of spontaneous connections with otherwise strangers. Not having travelled extensively for a decade now, I will say that the energy of your blog is contagious… =)
Thanks, Shawn!
Hi there..glad I came across this blog, hugging the surface is the best form of travel I reckon! Will be checking in from time-to-time, keep going Niall!
Nate @yomadic recently posted: My Home : The Most Isolated City in the World
Come to Sri Lanka !
More power to you. But what if you don’t have a highly portable skill like web-design to generate income? Then you can’t do what you do or for the length of time you’re doing it for. Some of us are stuck with the rabble. Dreams have to be sacrificed for security.
Oh & some of us are just schmucks with nothing to say, by the way. We’re not interesting. Well – maybe we are for about 5 minutes when we tell you how we did something interesting once for a *while*, but that’s over now. & we’re not *good* enough at anything to *be* interesting. It’s all about content, good content and consistent content. If you’re not good at something or you don’t have something interesting to say, and can’t say it over an extended period, well…you know…just stick to Facebook. For goodness sakes – don’t *blog*… Mediocrity is fine, just don’t spread it for chrissakes…
Hey Glen. If you don’t have a highly portable skill but would like to work while traveling, then you learn a skill that allows you to do that. Location Rebel should help.
Cheers!
Dude. For the simple fact that you do what you do, I look up to you. You probably changed many lives without knowing it. And I am on that list. Keep walking and writing.
Thanks, Sathya! You just made my Friday with that comment
Hi,
I just came across your website and I wanted to tell you that what you’ve been doing is great. This is exactly what I intent to do next year after I quit my job (still have it). If you need an experienced traveler, let me know.
Hello,
What you’re doing is extremely awesome dude. Good luck!
Just one word my friend! !… AWESOME!!
i came home now (Paraguay, Southamerica) from a 6 month travel .. and i was thinking a lot about staying already here and work in my career, or travel again.. after reading your stuff probably i will go , and LIVE again man! take care!
Liked the blog. I have the same motto in a sense because I always say “DO IT NOW”! You can find an excuse or you can just “DO IT”.
Love the blog.
Hello!
Great site! I found it only a week ago when I wanted to look into using no shampoo or soap. I thought I’d give it a try and I like it so far!
Anyways I wanted to say that this article is a real inspiration to me. Ever since I was in sixth grade I wanted to travel the country. As the years go by I plan it a little more. I’m still in high school, and I plan to do a few years of college because I don’t want to end up broke on the road. The life just seems so great! Meeting new people, seeing new places, testing assumptions, seeing different cultures, and above all, helping people. I’ve also made a conscious attempt towards minimalism, that’s why I quit soap and shampoo. The only thing that I haven’t quite figured out yet is how to make money. But on the other hand, I plan to spend as little money as I can, only buying necessities.
Anyways, thanks for the inspiration. It’s good to keep the dream alive. Happy travels.
Hey Gil,
Thanks for the comment. Glad you’re looking to travel. If I could wind back the clock I’d definitely have hit the road earlier in life.
Regarding college, there are lots of good things you’ll learn there, but making money on the road is unlikely to be one of them. I recommend checking out a few books like The Personal MBA and The $100 Startup. Those will tell you what you really need to know.
Cheers!
Hello, I would love to do this. The 2 questions I have are 1) I am a female and worry that travelling alone as a female may be much more dangerous than a male travelling solo, what do you suggest? 2). I am on a few presxcriptions that I can’t go without, do you or do they have international type health insurance, & have you treied this?
Thank-you,
Girl itching to travel solo
Hey Nicole.
1) Yes, it can be more dangerous, but take the right precautions and you’ll be fine. Have a look at Jodie’s site over at Legal Nomads for some solo female travel inspiration.
2) I use World Nomads insurance. I haven’t had to use them for anything health related yet, so I’m not really sure how good they are. I’ve been disappointed with their coverage of electronic items.
Hope that helps!
Hello Niall!
I enjoy checking in to see what you’re up to. I don’t think there’s a way to articulate that without sound creepy. Is there?
One third of a trio here…While we certainly can’t contain our entire lives in a backpack, we’ve managed a small car-load. A formidable task in light of our smallest traveler: a three year old.
Travelling and living simply is very close to my heart. A troubling contrast with my equally strong desire to settle and have a garden.
Thank you for the chance to live vicariously!
Best wishes from Vancouver
Memie recently posted: Meaningful Minimalism and the Family
Thanks for the comment, Memie. All the best with your own travels
Hey Niall!
(love is still too strong a word)
I got to your website looking or ways to make my upcomig trip to Africa more interesting. I’ve been looking around here and reading and I’m liking it in your world
So I just wanted to say thanks for sharing, it’s great, you got yoursel a new stalker.
Enjoy Chiang Mai and the rest of Thailand, I loved it there and hope you will too.
Merry Christmas (if you celebrate it)
Ore.
Thanks Ore. Always good to have a new stalker
Happy Christmas to you as well, and all the best for your trip to Africa.
Hey , I am so filled with hope , after reading about your adventures & your whole around the world spirit. I myself wanna try that , but I don’t know where to start with , also my parents won’t like that idea , as they think its full of risk , no guarantees , etc ….
But I just cant picture myself working in this monotonous jobs…
let s see how things would work around for me …
Hi Niall
Your link “overcoming fear” is a broken link, just giving you a heads up. Locate at the top of this page. The paragraph is below.
Simple: I work online, meaning I can work from anywhere with Internet access. I make most of my money from web design, but a few other income streams include affiliate marketing, donations, and an online course I created to help people overcome fear.
Andrew
Fixed now. Thanks, Andrew!
you really inspired me man! good luck! and this is the best inspiring travel blog that i ever found.
best wishes all the way from
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Come to Malaysia!
Thanks!
I’ll definitely be passing through Malaysia at some point later this year
Niall,
You story is inspiring and compelling! Is it wrong that I want to pick up my laptop and a duffel bag and hit the road now?
Keep up the great work.
Mike
See you out there