
5 years ago, I never would have thought I could live a laptop lifestyle – one that would allow me to make money online – some from freelancing, some from passive income — from anywhere in the world.
In fact, when we first started thinking about selling the house and going cruising, my biggest fear was what we’d do for money.
At the time, I was working for a small marketing company that I’d been at for 7 years. I worked from a small windowless office (which was a huge upgrade from my former cubicle), and my salary was meager at best. I did not have a big savings account, and I knew I’d never touch my 401k, so the day I went in to tell my boss I needed to quit because of this whole moving-onto-a-boat thing, I started to doubt every decision we had made.
What was I thinking? What the f#ck did I agree to? I must be INSANE!
I thought about backing out and finding some way to put off our plan, or just go bury my face in a monster sized glass of wine instead, but I summoned my inner rockstar, knocked on my boss’ door and upon getting permission to come in, I sat across the desk from him…
…and broke into tears.
Yep — totally profesh.
Luckily, my boss was a really kind and understanding family man with a wife and teenage daughter (so I’m sure he’s seen his fair share of tears), and that was the only thing that kept me from walking out of his office and going to throw myself off a bridge out of embarassment at my spectacle.
But after I wiped away the salty mess on my face, I explained this super scary, but exciting adventure we were going on, and to my relief, he was really excited for me.
I then I said the words I had been so scared to say… out of fear of the future, and of guilt for letting down these people who had been really great to work with.
I need to quit.
He sat and thought about it for a few seconds, then said, “Hmmm… well… could you work from the boat?”
WHAT? Could I work from the boat?
He then went on. “All you really need is a phone and a computer, so if you think you could find a way to work from the boat, we can try it out for a year to see how it goes, and then reassess from there. If you want to, of course.”
And that was the magic answer. I could work from the boat — I would find a way. It wouldn’t be without its headaches, of course, but it was a paycheck, and it eliminated my biggest fear about jumping into this lifestyle and then not having any money to pay for it or enjoy it.
I gotta say — my being able to work remotely from the boat was our saving grace for the first year or so, because as Murphy’s Law goes, everything seemed to break that first year, and had we not had jobs, we would have been screwed.
Not all it was cracked up to be
I was super stoked for having this set up where I could work from the boat. I’d pass people who were on their way to the beach and they would tell me how lucky I was to have a company that allowed me to work remotely. But as time went on, I realized that while it was awesome to have a steady paycheck, and I was very lucky that my employer did this for me, I wasn’t living the life I thought I would be.
Because of the particular job I had, I needed constant wifi connectivity, at least 8-10 hours a day. My entire job was centered around email, and I probably exchanged about 300 emails a day on average. That’s one email sent or received every minute and a half for 8 hours a day.
I honestly don’t know how I stayed sane for so long.
Not only was the work constant and didn’t allow me to do things like even go hang out at the pool for an afternoon, but because my work required reliable wifi at all times, we weren’t able to sail to the Bahamas with our friends, or do anything that was much fun. In fact, not much had changed at all — I worked just as hard. I just had a better view.
Now I know that sounds like I’m a spoiled brat. I was still on a boat and I still had a job. Oh, boo hoo. I know I didn’t have any reason to complain, BUT when you take a big leap like we did, you want to enjoy it. And I wasn’t enjoying it very much.
My aha moment
One day, I was browsing for books on my Kindle and saw a book called The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. It introduced something I hadn’t really thought of when it came to working — setting up a business that is systematized and more automated, so you can earn seemingly passive income with just a few hours a week of hard work.
I devoured that book in a weekend, and I gotta say it changed my whole mindset. While I was happy for being able to work remotely (which I am still grateful for), other people were setting up these “freedom businesses” that allowed them to live a laptop lifestyle and travel the world!
If you haven’t read the book, I highly recommend it — even if only for some of the killer information on the 80/20 rule, which states that 80% of our results come from just 20% of the work, so the other 80% of the work you do is almost inconsequential. If you can figure out how to leverage that concept to your advantage in all facets of your life, you could become infinitely more productive, and yet have more free time on your hands.
Living a laptop lifestyle
After reading that book, my entire way of thinking shifted, and I started thinking more and more about the laptop lifestyle. I began studying ways to earn money on the side, and it paved the way for the direction this blog has taken.
I have since quit that job with the marketing company. I have my own online jewelry business. I’ve taken online courses on how to build better websites and started doing some freelance web design on the side. I’ve taken classes on writing and marketing, and now I have clients who pay me to write for their company blog and websites.
I am a firm believer in diversifying your income streams because you never know when one might go away, or when you might hate one so much that you want to leave. If you have other income streams, it’s not so scary.
That’s the benefit of having a laptop lifestyle. You can do so much from anywhere with nothing more than your skillsets and your laptop. I can’t imagine ever working in another cubicle again. Having a laptop lifestyle allows me to design a life that allows me to make my work work for me — not the other way around.
Now it’s your turn — have you ever thought about a laptop lifestyle? What would a laptop lifestyle allow you to do? Leave a comment and let me know!
Melody:
Me again. Loved your blog ; ur ideas and ur writing is very creative & entertaining!
Please, please send this to my sister. She is already equipped with everything she needs except encouragement. Even right down to the boat! Patty is a very good writer, a voracious reader with an innovative mind and a calculator for a brain…she has nothing holding her at home and has ‘happy feet’! (She can’t stand being a nester that she now finds herself as; having finally retired from Vanderbilt & Davidson County School System).
She is also quite artistic and creative. She’s also traveled quite a bit and recently got her scuba-diving license and recently went on an excursion to St. Anthony’s Key, off the coast of Mexico. By herself. At Age 65. She is an awesome photographer And has won ribbons at art fairs & published her artwork in some magazines. All Pat needs is a swift kick in the ass, & u might be the one to do just that. I’ve tried, but being her little sister, it does no good…..
Well-maybe u could give it a shot? She loves ur jewelry!!
Thanks–Jonna?
Thank you, Jonna! I will certainly send this to her. It will be a good excuse to say hi to her anyway. 🙂
I really enjoyed the story! I don’t blame you for crying. It’s easy to talk about doing something awesome but it’s completely terrifying the moments before.
Thanks Will! You’re right – it is terrifying, but somehow it never ends up being quite as bad as you make it out to be in your head once you actually do it.
Hi. I have just started to sell essential oils on my boat from Mexico. My biggest issues are the extremely transient lifestyle of potential customers, and shipping to my moving-target customers. And of course, I need help with effective marketing. I would love to see your entrepreneurship website when you get it launched. Please let me know when that happens. In the meantime, may I share this post on my Facebook page? (www.facebook.com/DianesEssentialOils)
Hi Diane – thanks for the comment! First, yes, please absolutely feel free to share this wherever you want online! I have share buttons conveniently on the post for you, so share away. 🙂
As far as your issues of selling to transient customers… have you ever considered changing your target demographic to a non-transient customer base? I’m assuming, however, that you cater to transients, since this looks like a member/referral program and therefore, if you’re cruising, most of the people you meet or have a chance to refer are other cruisers.
One thing I did notice on your FB page… your pinned post at the top that tells others how to join… when they click the link in your post that takes them to the main site to sign up as a member, it is NOT populating your member ID number, so if I were you, I would edit the post with the correct link in order to make sure you’re getting credit for referrals.
I also notice that in the sidebar of your FB page, you link to the main website of the company. This is not beneficial for you, because if someone is interested and just goes to the main website (thinking it’s yours), again, they could sign up and you get no credit.
My suggestion would be to create your own website with a blog that touts the benefits of essential oils, etc. Then create links within your site that are embedded with your ID #. That way you make a personal connection with your customers with your blog posts, etc., and you control the content. Good luck!