Making Money While Traveling

When you travel you need money.  It’s the one thing you can’t escape from.  There are various ways to make money when you are abroad, some of them easier than others.  One thing you should always ensure is that you have a backup source of money.  Being in a strange place without any money at all is not fun! 

Teaching

I have already posted on teaching and you can see my thoughts on it here.  Teaching is probably the most popular way to fund your travels.  I don’t think it is for everyone though.  It can restrict your travel as you have to sign a contract to stay in one place for a certain amount of time.  If you have a bad experience whilst teaching it can ruin your travel experience.  If you read the post that I have linked to it will give you a good idea if it is for you or not!

www.tefl.com

Blogging

You can make money through blogging, however, it isn’t guaranteed.  This is something that you have to work on.  Don’t leave home and expect to get a million views on your blog within a month.  It won’t happen.  You need to have something that interests people and you also have to spend a lot of time gaining an audience.  It’s not as easy as is made out!  If you do have something interesting that you can blog on though it is possible to make money.

The way you make money through a blog differs.  You can sell advertising space on your blog and you are then paid for every time that someone clicks on that advert.  This is a very slow process though, you’ll be lucky to make anything when you start off.  You will have to build up a social media following and get them to visit your blog.  The most important thing is to get people to come back.  If you have something to sell you can also use your blog to sell.  There are far more authoritative and useful guides to blogging than this so you will be best off Googling and seeing if you think it is a feasible way to make money for you.

Voluntary Work

Working voluntarily may sound a bit contradictory as this is about ways to make money.  You can find voluntary positions that will pay you a living allowance and provide accommodation.  They are few and far between these days as voluntary work has become big business, especially in Asia.  Companies will charge people a lot of money to do a few weeks voluntary week in a far flung country.

IF you look through http://jobs.goabroad.com  you may find voluntary work that does not need you to pay.  Personally, I have found voluntary work in India, Cambodia and Vietnam that paid a living allowance.  They may ask you to stay for a certain period of time, but voluntary work is very fulfilling if you can find the right place.

You will really have to search hard to find these kinds of voluntary positions.  In the future I will be doing a post listing as many as I can find.

www.vso.org.uk

WWOOFing

WWOOFing involves living on an organic farm.  You have to help out but they provide you with a bed and meals.  I haven’t done this myself, a friend of mine has and they said it was pretty good.  He did it in Argentina and although the farm he stayed on was pretty out of the way he enjoyed it.  There’s probably quite a lot of hard work involved and it may only suit certain types of people but if you are on a budget it is certainly an option.

http://wwoofinternational.org/

Bar Work/Repping

This is probably only suitable if you like to drink a lot and/or you are quite extrovert.  A lot of bars in tourist spots will look for foreigners to help them entice customers into their bars.  From what I know it isn’t very well paid, but you can survive.  They usually give you a place to stay and will allow you to drink as much as you like!  Certain hostels will also allow you to stay for free or heavily discounted if you do some promotion work for them.  I know some bars in Sihanoukville, Cambodia definitely do this.  It may involve dressing up in silly clothing but if you get a free night, it will save you money in the long run!  My advice would be to go to bars in areas with lots of young tourists and just ask.

Travel Writing

You could link travel writing up with your blog and go it solo or you could find somebody you could write for.  There are lots of blogs out there that are looking for guests posts, there are also websites that are looking for people to write for them.  The downside is that it is not very well paid and although it sounds like the dream job it is not very rewarding unless you are doing it for your own pleasure.   You are probably not going to have travel websites queuing up to take you on, don’t take that as indicative of you being a poor writer, it’s simply because there are so many people out there trying to do it.  It’s definitely worth investigating if you have been somewhere very few travellers go, that way your article will be unique. 

Ecommerce

This one is probably a bit more difficult, although there is potential to make quite a lot of money.  I have done this myself, I gave it up because I am not really a businessman and didn’t get much enjoyment out of it.  The shop I set up did do fairly well so it wasn’t a failure and it gave me enough money to live on and keep travelling. 

The best way to go about it is to find a niche market and then open an online store.  You will however need someone who can dispatch your stock for you.  If you can do that then you are on your way.  You will have to look after the online store and reply to customers, you will also have to do the marketing yourself but if you have a laptop and internet you can do that from pretty much anywhere. The links below are to an online store that has everything set up for you. 

www.shopify.com

www.volusion.com

Photography

There are websites out there that will take your pictures and then sell them on to a third party and you then get a cut of that money each time your photo is downloaded.  I am not an expert on this and all I can really say is that is possible.  Below are some websites that will help you out.

www.istockphoto.com

www.stockxpert.com

This list is certainly not exhaustive and there are plenty of ways you can make money as you are travelling.  I have met people that put whatever talents they have to use.  If you’re an artist you can paint or draw and sell your pictures, if you are a musician you can find bars that will let you do gigs and hopefully pay you for it.  If you can build websites, you can do that on the move.  Like I said at the beginning of this post, make sure that you have so money in case of an emergency!  At least a ticket home. 

Hope you enjoyed it and thank you for reading.  I will be posting a list of places you can find voluntary work that you do not need to pay for in the next couple of days!

Travel Photographs

Great Wall of China, 2010.  This was taken not long after I first arrived in China.  The most I remember about that day was it was almost 40 degrees!

Marble Mountains, near Danang, Vietnam.  This is an incredible place.  The inside of the mountains are like something from an Indiana Jones film.  The Viet Cong used the mountains as hospitals and shelter.  There are also temples inside.

Nha Trang, Vietnam.  An incredibly beautiful place.  When I took this photo I was on my way to go snorkeling with tropical fish.

Sunrise from Emei Mountain in Sichuan, China.  It is quite rare to see the sunset as it is usually cloudy at the top.  We were very lucky on this day.  The climb is steep but well worth it for the view.  Watch out for monkeys!

Sunset over Can Tho, Vietnam.  I took this on my way to the Cambodian border.

Taken in my home for the last 5 years, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.  Best to go early in the morning to see the pandas while they are eating otherwise you might find they are all asleep!

Leshan Giant Buddhal, Leshan, Sichuan, China.  I live not far from this Buddha for six months.  It is an incredible site especially if you take the boat trip.  Best to go when there isn't a Chinese holiday as it can get very crowded.

Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab, India.  I visited the temple when I was living in India.  Beautiful place and they will even feed you for free if you want to eat there.

Himachal Pradesh, India.  This picture is taken from the school that I worked in while I lived in India.  The scenery was amazing.

Mount Lavinia, Colombo, Sri Lanka.  This was taken at night walking along the beach.  The background is the city centre.

Chao Phraya River, Bangkok, Thailand.  This was taken from the river taxi.  Bangkok is one of my favourite cities.

Sri Lanka.  This elephant came charging out of the bushes while we were on a safari.  When the picture was taken I wasn't aware that there is a wild peacock in the background.

Basic Mandarin

When people tell me that they have been to China the biggest problem they found while there was not being able to communicate.  If you are away from the larger cities on the east coast it becomes more and more difficult to find someone that can speak English.  I would recommend to anyone that wants to visit China to learn some basic Mandarin.  I've lived here for five years and being able to communicate has made my life so much easier!

People often have the misconception that Mandarin is incredibly difficult and takes too long to learn.  If your aim is to simply be able to speak it, it really isn't as hard as you probably think.  I've found a lot of guides on the internet that over complicate learning Chninese so I have started my own guide within my blog.   I'm not a linguist and my Chinese isn't perfect either, although I have studied it for nearly three years and I am currently studying for a degree in Chinese language.

Pronunciation

When converted into the Roman alphabet a system called pinyin is used.  Although some Chinese characters do have phonetic elements, if you are starting from the very beginning you will not be able to recognise them so learning pinyin is essential.  The following link is excellent for becoming familiar with pinyin.

https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-pinyin-chart.php

You should particularly look out for the difference between the pinyin x and sh.  When you first start out they sound the same but there is a difference.  

The pinyin c is difficult at the beginning and needs practice!  It sounds like "tz" beginning with a t sound and transforming to a hard s.

Tones

Chinese is a tonal language and if your mother tongue is a European language it can be difficult to differentiate between the tones.  This is one part of the language that takes a lot of practice but also patience.  If you persevere you will be able to hear the differences and also be able to use the tones yourself.  A tone alters the meaning of a syllable, in Chinese there are 4 different tones.

1st Tone:  The first tone is at a high pitch.  The symbol used is above the a in mā.  It is high and long and relative to your normal voice level.  This is probably the easiest tone to get right.

2nd tone: The second tone starts off low and rises.  In English we used this when asking questions.  For example say "really" and then repeat it with a question mark at the end, "really?".  The way in which you say it changes.  The symbol used for the 2nd tone is above the a in má.

3rd tone:  The third tone starts off high drops to a low pitch and then rises back up.  In English this is rarely used although it is similar to a child asking "why?" when complaining.  The symbol used is the one above the a in mǎ.

4th tone:  The fourth tone starts of high and drops to a low pitch.  We usually use it in English when we are commanding someone to do something.  Say "no" and then repeat it with an exclamation mark "no!".  Notice the difference and how the pitch changes.  This is one of the harder tones to get to grips with.  Non native speakers often confuse it with the 2nd tone even if they think they are saying it right.  The symbol used is above the a in mà.

There is also a fifth tone.  When a syllable has no tone mark above it, it should be pronounced softly without adding any significant tone.  This is more difficult to master and only comes with practice.

You can listen to all of the above tones in the link I provided above.  Simply click on a pinyin letter and you can listen to how it sounds in all of the different tones.  It takes some people longer to grasp the tones so don't be put off if you can't immediately hear the difference!

The significance of tones

The tones change the meaning of a word or syllable in Chinese.  The most used example is "ma".

mā - 妈 using the first tone the meaning is mother. (There are other meanings too although there is no need to worry about that at the moment)

má - 麻 using the second tone it means hemp

mǎ - 马 using the third tone it means horse

mà - 骂 using the fourth tone it means to curse.

Look for ma in the table in the link above and listen to each one a few times, try to imitate the speaker.  If you can get the tones right early on it will make learning Chinese a lot quicker and may also save you from embarrassing situations!  The word for pillow is zhěntou, the word for a syringe needle is zhēntóu.  Going to a supermarket and asking for a syringe needle may cause you problems!

Chinese grammar is very simple when you first start off.  Word order usually follows that of English.  Verbs do not change in Chinese, they always stay the same.  If you wish to express something in the past, present or future there are words that are added although I will discuss this in a later post.

Basic vocabulary 

Each sound has its own individual character.  For example in nǐhǎo, nǐ is 你 and hǎo is 好

nǐhǎo - hello  (When there are two third tones in a row, the first one becomes a second tone although the pinyin will not change.  It should be pronounced níhǎo)

你好

nǐ - you

你

wǒ - I

我 

hǎo - good

好 

hěn - very

很

xièxie - thank you

谢谢

jiào - called; named

叫

shénme - what

什么

míngzi - name

名字

jīntiān - today

今天

hěn - very

很

zěnmeyàng - how about?; how are...?

怎么样？

rènshi - to know

认识

gāoxìng - happy
高兴

nǐ ne? - and you?

你呢？

Conversation

nǐhǎo (hello)

你好

nǐhǎo, nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? (Hi, what is your name?)

你好，你叫什么名字？

wǒ jiào Sean,  nǐ ne?  (I'm Sean, and you?)

我叫 Sean，你呢？

wǒ jiào Bob, hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ!  (My name is Bob, good to meet you!)

我叫 Bob, 很高兴认识你！

nǐ jīntiān zěnmeyàng?  (How are you today?)

你今天怎么样？

wǒ hěn hǎo, xièxie!  (I'm very good, thank you!) 

我很好，谢谢！

zàijiàn! (Goodbye)

再见！

zàijiàn! (Goodbye)

再见！

Exercises 

Add the pinyin tone marks to the following words:

ni
wo
jiao
shenme
jintian
zenmeyang
xiexie
mingzi
ni ne?
nihao
hao
gaoxing

Write the pinyin for the following charcters:
你
我
叫
什么？
怎么样？
再见
很
高兴
认识
你好
今天
好

Use pinyin, or characters if you really want to, to make three sentences from the above words.

Myanmar: The Road to Mandalay

Myanmar, Burma, the road to Mandalay.  It was a country that I had always wanted to visit.  The country that George Orwell had been stationed in and Kipling wrote his famous poem, Mandalay about.  People had told me that it was like going back in time.  No ATM’s, terrible internet.  That suited me.  I wanted something that was different from the rest of Southeast Asia.

Arriving in Yangon I took out my crisp hundred dollar bill to get it changed.  The money changers here won’t take your notes unless they are pristine.  The slightest nick or crease on a note and they won’t accept it.  You’ll have to wait until you get back to Bangkok to change it.  I jumped in a taxi and realised that even though the cars are right hand drive they drive on the other side of the road.  This made for some terrifying journeys!

Hotels and hostels are comparatively expensive in Myanmar.  You aren’t going to get the same prices as you get in Cambodia, Vietnam or even Thailand.  My dorm bed cost $16 a night.  It was a nice place but when you are used to $2 or $3 a night beds it’s a bit expensive!

The morning after arriving I headed out into Yangon.  I had arrived in early March and the temperature was already reaching the low 40s.  It is a dry heat and it does get cooler in the evenings although I wouldn’t recommend going in April or May. Yangon immediately reminded me of India.  The streets were filled with market stalls, there were colonial buildings and temples everywhere, the smell of food hitting your senses.

There isn’t really that much to see in Yangon.  I spent 4 days there just wandering the streets.  Even though it was similar to India in some ways it still had an East Asian feeling to it.  Just wandering the streets taking in all the sights and smells.  Buying small plastic bags of lime juice, eating Indian food in small side street restaurants.  It was amazing to be somewhere so different.

 

On my last day I took a walk along the lake.  Aung San Suu Kyi‘s house was nearby although I didn't walk past it.  The road was heavily policed and as I hadn’t taken a map with me I was sure exactly where it was.  Walking around a lake that had become so famous internationally because a man had swum out to her house to meet her felt strange.  I’ve read varying opinions on her, although I do not know enough to form my own opinion.  She has however obviously had a massive impact on recent politics in Myanmar.  Having refused to leave and being kept under house arrest certainly takes some courage.

From Yangon I took the bus to Mawlamyine.  I’d decided to come here after reading that George Orwell was stationed here when he wrote Burmese Days.  Rudyard Kipling had also stopped here briefly, struck with the beauty of Burmese women, he completely neglected to look at the famous pagoda.   Although there are more tourists now in Myanmar than there were before, Mawlamyine is still a sleepy town that not everyone visits.  It sits by the sea, colonial age buildings lining the streets.  I stayed in a hostel for $10 a night.  The room was basic and had no windows, but I've stayed in a lot worse.

One afternoon I decided to take myself off into the backstreets of the town.  As I was walking towards a temple I came across some kids playing football.  They are obsessed with football in Myanmar, more so than anywhere else I have been.  They begged me to come and play with them.  So even though it was nearly 40 degrees and I only had flip flops on, I joined in, running around barefoot getting run ragged by children.  The skills aren't what they used to be!  As we were playing monks would walk past amazed at this random white guy playing football in the backstreets of Mawlamyine.  It’s one of my favourite memories of travelling.

Again there isn’t that much to see in Mawlamyine, but I was just happy to walk around the streets taking in the atmosphere.  The food wasn’t up to much so eating was a bit of a chore.  The few days I spent here though were worth it just for being able to play football with the kids. 

From Mawlamyine I took the bus to Mandalay. The journey was at night time and all the hills were lit up with pagodas giving it an almost eerie feel.  Mandalay is a place that has a bit of a mythical air around it due to Kipling’s poem.  It is actually quite a new city.  The roads are mostly built in grids and has a very different atmosphere to Yangon.  As the moto driver took me to a hotel we passed Mandalay Palace as the sun was rising.  It was a spectacular sight. 

The hotel in Mandalay cost me $20 a night.  It was quite a nice hotel and the surrounding area had a lot of different restaurants, mostly Chinese and Western.  The day after arriving I walked from the hotel around Mandalay Palace to Mandalay Hill.  When walking up the hill you have to take your shoes off.  I was told that it would take hours to climb it but it took me about 40 minutes.  It is well worth the climb just for the view over Mandalay. 

The day after the moto driver that took me to the hotel in Mandalay said he would take me on a tour of the surrounding areas.  To be honest I didn’t find it that interesting.  I’ve seen so many temples in Asia that trying to look enthusiastic at seeing another is becoming difficult!  He also took me to a monastery.  The monks are fed by local donors and every morning they come to receive their food.  Unfortunately the tourism industry has latched on to this and they bring busloads of people in to see this procession.  The tourist stand in front of the monks taking photos, and generally make a nuisance of themselves.  I didn’t really want to be a part of that so I left earlier.  The moto driver wasn’t too impressed, but I was paying him.

The last place he took me to was a wooden bridge.  It stretches out across the river in Mandalay.  As I was walking across the bridge a random foreigner asked me if the place I was staying in was expensive and if it wasn’t did I mind sharing.  I declined and he look disappointed.  Did he really expect people to accept his offer? 

My last night in Myanmar I sat with the locals watching football.  Their knowledge of football was incredible.  They knew about teams and players that you would never have expected them to know about.  The local people in Myanmar are extremely friendly and inquisitive.  Most of them are genuine too, they are not just looking to sell you something.

On my last day I took the plane back to Bangkok from Mandalay.  I had spent 2 weeks in Myanmar and although I hadn’t visited many places and I had completely missed out on seeing the temples of Bagan I still really enjoyed the time I spent.  I went to places that were more out of the way in the cities and I found the experience more enjoyable not just visiting all the must go to tourist places.

I would love to go back to Myanmar and spend more time seeing parts of the country that I missed.  It is much more accessible than it has ever been and the tourist industry is growing quickly.  The country is also developing quickly.  When I was there in early 2014 there were ATMs that accepted international cards and the internet was nowhere near as bad as had been made out to me.

Mandalay

By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea,
There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;
For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the Temple-bells they say:
"Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"

Come you back to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay:
Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin' fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China
'crost the Bay!

'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green,
An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat - jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen,
An' I seed her first a-smokin' of a whackin' white cheroot,
An' a-wastin' Christian kisses on an 'eathen idol's foot:

Bloomin' idol made o' mud -
Wot they called the Great Gawd Budd -
Plucky lot she cared for idols
When I kissed 'er where she stud!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin' fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China
'crost the Bay!
 
When the mist was on the rice-fields an' the sun was droppin' slow,
She'd git 'er little banjo and she'd sing "Kulla-lo-lo!"
With 'er arm upon my shoulder an' 'er cheek agin my cheek
We useter watch the steamers an' the hathis pilin' teak.

Elephants a-pilin' teak
In the sludgy, squdgy creek,
Where the silence 'ung that 'eavy you was 'arf afraid to speak!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin' fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China
'crost the Bay!

But that's all above be'ind me - long ago an' fur away,
An' there ain't no buses runnin' from the Bank to Mandalay;
An' I'm learnin' 'ere in London what the ten-year soldier tells:
"If you've 'eard the East a-callin', you won't never 'eed naught else."

No! You won't 'eed nothin' else
But them spicy garlic smells,
An' the sunshine an' the palm-trees an' the tinkly Temple-bells;
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin' fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China
'crost the Bay!
 
I am sick o' wastin' leather on these gritty pavin'-stones,
An' the blasted English drizzle wakes the fever in my bones;
Tho' I walks with fifty 'ousemaids outer Chelsea to the Strand,
An' they talks a lot o' lovin', but what do they understand?

Beefy face an' grubby 'and -
Law! Wot do they understand?
I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin' fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China
'crost the Bay!

Ship me somewhere's east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,
Where there aren't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst;
For the Temple-bells are callin', an' it's there that I would be ---
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea;

On the road to Mandalay,
Where the old Flotilla lay,
With our sick beneath the awnings when we went to Mandalay!
On the road to Mandalay,
Where the flyin' fishes play,
An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China
'crost the Bay!