Nomadic Interviews: Kirsty the Nerdy Nomad

Kirsty (left) at the World Cup 2010 in South Africa

Kirsty the Nerdy Nomad is one of our favourite bloggers, and the latest permanent traveller that we have interviewed for our Nomadic Interviews series. Kirsty’s blog is unique because as well as recounting travel tales she gives details of her income and the methods she uses to make money online by running travel websites. This location independent income allows her to focus her time on her passion for international volunteering: so far she has volunteered in Haiti, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nicaragua.

1) How long have you been travelling and where have you been?

I went on my first trip in 1999 with a friend to the UK and I was hooked after that. I left Canada in 2001 immediately after graduating university and headed one-way to Australia. I haven’t lived in Canada since then although I’ve visited lots. Since then I’ve lived in Australia, Glasgow, London, Beijing, and New Zealand, volunteering long-term in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Haiti and Nicaragua and have travelled a lot of Europe and Asia. I’m currently living in Rwanda after some time travelling in South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya with more African travels in my future if I can ever leave the grips of Kigali, Rwanda.

2) Did you plan to travel for so long? What made you stay on the road?

I’m pretty sure that when I left for Australia in 2001 my plan was to come back after the year and look for a job. But I have a British passport and as my time in Australia came to an end I started to consider looking for work in the UK. An EU passport is a terrible thing to waste! I loved it in London and by then my addiction to travel was completely incurable.

3) How do you fund your travels?

I run a bunch of travel websites, about 20 at the moment, on various topics. I generate income through advertising, product sales (like insurance), ebook sales and Google Adsense.

4) What advice would you give someone wanting to make money from blogging/ travel websites?

Do it now! I think that there’s still room for people but it’s getting harder and harder to get a foothold. Pick your area wisely, stick with it and work hard. You could be putting in thousands of hours of work before you make your first dollar which is daunting, but the payoff of passive income is (or for me, at least) a great one.

5) You do a lot of international volunteering. What are some of the benefits of volunteering rather than just travelling around a country?

Volunteering lets you weasel your way into a community in a way I’ve never been able to as a traveller. It lets you work alongside locals and other volunteers and, if you stick around awhile, you get to form some truly unique and lasting relationships with both. You get to help, learn some new skills and feel a sense of purpose that I’ve never really had as a backpacker.

Kirsty volunteering in Haiti

6) How do you find free volunteering opportunities?

I’d buy The Underground Guide to Volunteering and follow the advice in there! It’s tricky because all of the big name pay-to-volunteer companies have Google sewn up for all of the usual keywords. Word of mouth is king and, while daunting, if you want to help then showing up in a place and asking around is the way to go. Or try to make contact with someone already in the country you want to go to (or even a hostel owner as they often have bulletin boards full of opportunities). Be more specific with Google both with the type of work you want to do and the place you want to go to. ‘Volunteering in Rwanda’ will probably give you a list of pay-to-volunteer sites but ‘teach English in Kigali’ might give better results.

7) How are you doing with your 99 Things to Do list?

Slowly! I rode an ostrich in South Africa which was one ticked off the list. I’m working on learning guitar now which is daunting but also a lot of fun.

8 ) What are some of your favourite off the beaten track destinations?

Since it’s in the news at the moment I’ll mention Hungary. Hopefully you can get there before it’s covered in toxic sludge! Eger is a nice city with a castle and, more importantly, a street with a bunch of wine cellars where you do a ‘pub crawl’ of sorts, stopping into each cellar for a look. The red wine there is very yummy.

Nicaragua is another great place with lots to offer on the tourist trail on the Pacific side or for the more adventurous, the Atlantic coast and everything in between is still pretty untouched. I stayed on an island called Ometepe which isn’t too far off the path, but I think the farm I was living on was. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been.

In Australia near Noosa there are canoe trips that can be done to a place called the Everglades. The trip is nowhere near as popular as the usual Whitsunday Islands/Fraser Island trips but it’s amazing. At one point you find yourself in a narrow river with perfectly still water. The water is black because of the tea tree oil and this gives a perfect reflection. If you head out at night with a starry sky, it’s like you’re floating in space.

9) What is the best food you have eaten on your travels?

I’m going to admit that I’m not much of a foodie. But I love Thai food and I’m a sucker for a good green curry which I found plenty of in Thailand. I loved the food in China as well… some of it was scary but, for the most part, it was amazing. One thing I’m certainly sick of is rice and beans!

Kirsty visiting the DR Congo.

10) Where are you heading to next? Do you think you’ll ever settle down in one place?

Aah! The ‘settle down’ question! I have no idea. I think I’ll eventually have somewhere as a base, I just don’t know where yet. I’m growing less and less fond of travelling around and more and more fond of actually living in places for extended periods with shorter trips. Right now my base is Kigali, Rwanda and I’m really loving having a place to dump my stuff. I’ve got vague plans to head to Uganda in November for three or so weeks of volunteering on a farm. Then back to Kigali to do more web work.

In the New Year I want to travel back down to South Africa (I’m working on an Africa-related travel site and need to do research) before heading home to Canada for my dad’s 60th in April. Then probably back to Haiti for the summer. Then finally South America? But I’ve been saying that for years. I’m also really loving Rwanda and Africa in general and could see myself heading back here after Haiti.

You can read more about Kirsty’s travels and money-making on her blog Nerdy Nomad or follow her on Twitter. If you are interested in international volunteering without paying huge fees you should definitely check out her Underground Guide to International Volunteering (50% of the proceeds go to the charity All Hands Volunteers, previously known as Hands on Disaster Response).

Nomadic Interviews: Shannon from A Little Adrift

1)How long have you been travelling and where have you been?

I intended to travel around the world for a year mostly solo, and then perhaps head back to the US and resettle somewhere…that first year morphed into more of a perpetual lifestyle though and I have been on the road for three years.  My travels bring me back to Southeast Asia a lot because I’ve discovered I really love it here, but I have also traveled pieces of Eastern and Western Europe, South Asia, and Central America. After that first year of rapid travel and several continents, I have slowed down a whole lot now that I realized I am in this for the long haul.

2) Did you plan to travel for so long? What made you stay on the road?

When I left on my first year of travels I wasn’t even sure I would make it the full year, let alone continue traveling for several years now. When I left, all I knew is that I really wanted to travel and see pieces of that mysterious unknown I saw in the pages of my National Geographic magazines—the people, the cultures outside of my own that I had only seen slices of in the US in our immigrant and refugee communities …I had to know more.

The education of the road keeps me here now. There are new people around every corner, new stories, things to learn—it’s interesting and though it is cliché to say I “learn something new every day,” I do, and it fascinates me to be here.

Shannon at Taj Mahal, India

3) How do you fund your travels?

I make money through the internet from a variety of sources, but mostly SEO (search engine optimization), writing, and a small bit from my web site. The money I make is modest, but I live very minimally and travel to countries where my money goes much farther than at home.

4) Do you find it difficult to balance travel and work? How do you manage it?

There are certainly days when balancing the two stresses me out—mostly the internet (or lack thereof) is tricky in some countries. The biggest stress reliever is to simply slow down, when I stay for several weeks or months in a new city, country and town I can hunker down, explore, and still find plenty of time to work. When I was on my one year round the world trip, I had locked myself into a certain itinerary, and I felt obligated to go everywhere, see everything. It was exhausting. If you plan to work on the road then go slowly—it’s less stressful and you see more of the country you’re visiting.

5) You have recently started travelling with and homeschooling your 11 year old niece Ana. What have been the highlights and challenges of travelling together so far?

Whew, hats-off to the moms and road-schooling parents who have come before me! There is definitely a different pace to traveling with a child. The things I find fascinating sometimes fall completely flat with her, but then she’ll see these moments and piece of travel that completely escaped my notice. I also find myself visiting a lot more local parks, there is more downtime now so my niece Ana can just run around, join a local game of soccer in the park, and generally relax. I never quite gave myself those moments when I was on the road solo, but it’s actually a wonderful change, I really should have been visiting more local parks everywhere because they have a slice of life contained within and I find the locals so accessible with my niece here to break the ice with a child’s innocent smile.

As for challenges, empowering her, rather than having her simply tag along on the journey is constantly on my mind. When she feels in control of the experience and the decisions she is happier and gets more out of it…but after three years traveling solo, I’m a bit of a control freak, so that has been tough!

Shannon and Ana at Doi Inthanon, a day trip outside of Chiang Mai & the highest point in Thailand

6) What are some of your favourite local dishes that you’ve eaten on your travels?

Nearly every country has a dish or two that won my heart over, even the countries I found nearly impossible. So, Bosnia was tricky as a vegetarian on the whole, but the spinach and cheese burkes were delicious. There are so many other dishes though, in SEA it’s the flavorful sauces and fresh vegetables that bring their foods to the next level—it may just be a plate of veggies, but the dishes combine unique ingredients so the meals burst with flavor.

7) Which countries have you found to be best for vegetarians?

India is by far the easiest country to travel as a vegetarian because so much of the country is already predominantly vegetarian. Instead of finding the dishes locals specially make for you without meat, in India, all of the flavors and dishes are designed to taste delicious and complete without meat. I ate so well in India, it was fantastic!

8 ) You’ve spent months in Chiang Mai, Thailand and are back again at the moment. What keeps bringing you back and what are your tips for things to do in the area?

The people call me back to Chiang Mai, I have friends in the city, and I love the quality of life in Chiang Mai. It’s a relatively large city, but it’s small enough to feel comfortable. I love Thai food, and still haven’t even remotely sampled all the different vegetarian dishes that I could taste test! The city simply has a great feel, the internet is solid and I can run my internet business easily.

As for things to do, there are so many daytrips outside of the city and if you’re spending a couple of months in the area you can explore the Burmese culture in some of the border towns, the hilltribes and rural culture, and then the slow pace of life in the city. It’s not so much what you can do in Chiang Mai, it’s that the vibe is great and you can either settle into a slow routine and enjoy, or you could keep yourself plenty busy with visiting the wats in town, and the many temples, towns, hotsprings, and mountains around the pretty city.

Burmese Tomato Salad in Chiang Mai

9) What are some of your favourite off the beaten track destinations?

That’s a tough call, there are few corners of the earth truly undiscovered at this point, and I’ve found that even in the most touristy areas if I merely wander into the side alleys and small winding streets there are things, people, and culture ripe for discovery. That being said, there are small towns in Laos and Guatemala that have truly captured my heart along the way. Both cultures are open and accessible if you’re willing to ask questions, smile, and slow down long enough to settle into the culture and the smaller towns.

10) Where are you heading to next? Do you think you’ll ever settle down in one place?

My niece and I are traveling in Southeast Asia for the next five months, and then in the late spring I head back to the United States. At that point, I truly have no idea what is next for me. I can’t conceive of a time when travel will not be a part of my life, but I also anticipate that I will one day “settle down.” That being said, my dream is to own a small place in perhaps Thailand, and another in the US…no idea when that will happen, but I would love to split my time between time in the US with family and friends, and time on the road, with other friends and the distinctly different pace of life outside of my home country.  

You can follow Shannon’s travels at A Little Adrift and on Facebook and Twitter. Also, don’t miss her niece Ana’s blog A Little Adrift Jr for an 11 year old’s perspective on travel in Asia.

Nomadic Interviews: Jodi the Legal Nomad

Jodi during the Songkran water fight in Thailand

Jodi Ettenberg left behind a successful career as a lawyer to eat her way around the world. Her round the world trip never stopped and over three years later she is still going. We had the pleasure to meet Jodi at the TBEX travel bloggers conference,and like everyone there were instantly charmed by her. Her blog Legal Nomadsfeatures beautifully written and informative posts, stunning photos, and most importantly lots of food tips.

1) How long have you been travelling and where have you been?

I quit my job in April 2008 with a one-way ticket to Chile and have been travelling ever since, interspersed with visits home to visit family and attend some celebrations (like the 3 weddings I had this summer!). From South America, I went over to South Africa, then up to Russia and spent quite some time in Siberia and Mongolia, hopping on and off the trans-Siberian and trans-Mongolian trains, and finally looping down into China. After the trains, I spend a month in China and most of the next 3 years in Southeast Asia. While there was a small foray into Australia, most of what I loved about travel at that point had to do with food and food culture, and Southeast Asia was a perfect place to indulge my interests (and fill my stomach!). In the region, I’ve spent most of my time in Thailand and the Philippines, with Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar falling close behind. Plenty of other places to explore, and Vietnam is high on my list, as well as the Subcontinent and Central Asia.

2) What made you decide to become a digital nomad?

I didn’t really decide to be a digital nomad, I just fell into freelance work as I traveled. I started my site for my parents and friends to follow my travels, but had no expectation that it would gain a wider readership. It’s been a great surprise! I don’t accept ads or sponsored posts on Legal Nomads and have preferred to see the site as a CV of sorts, standing for what I feel passionate about. Instead, I quit my job having saved enough money to travel for a few years without having to work,  living off those savings from my years of lawyering. The site, and my writing and photography, has organically morphed into what I do now – but it’s still very much a work in progress.

3) How do you fund your travels?

I worked as a corporate lawyer for 6 years to save up money and then I travelled for 3 years on those savings. As most of the travel was in Asia or Southeast Asia, it was extremely cheap by most people’s standards; months in Chiang Mai last year came in at $800 each or less. Travel within the continent is also quite reasonable, either via buses or on local carriers like Cebu Pacific or Air Asia.

Come last January (2010), I had to make a decision – go back to lawyering in some capacity, find a full time job doing something different or try to make it work on a more unconventional path. I chose the latter, but really it chose me – too many years of feeling satisfied with the writing and learning, with sharing history and culture from far flung places. As much as I tried to envision a return to the office (and there are times when I do miss the routine and consistency of the workplace), I couldn’t colour in that vision. I was far too happy with meandering, even if that meant 6 months in each country. It was the freedom of being able to stay or leave if I wanted do combined with the passion I had for food and travel that made my choice.

At the moment, I fund my travels through one-off freelance work, and contributions toCnnGo when in Asia. I’m also a regular contributor to The Hipmunk  twice a week and have sold some of my photos and written a guidebook on Northern Thailand. I’m still in the process of figuring out how I want to handle the freelance work or whether I’ll take some time to do freelance legal work again sometime soon, but until now, it’s all been via savings and the odd job along the way.

Jodi at Tiger Kingdom, near Chiang Mai, Thailand

4) Do you find it difficult to balance travel and work/ blogging? How do you manage it?

I think it necessitates both slower travel and learning how to compartmentalize and disengage from the online world when you can, giving yourself some room to breathe. I find myself connected more than not, but the travels I had where I wasn’t online – Laos and Burma, parts of the Philippines, etc – are the most vivid of all my memories. As a result, I’ve tried to set blocks of time to focus on work or pre-post / schedule posts, so that I can sink into wherever I am at all other times.

5) What is the biggest challenge of nomadic life?

The decision of where to go next, missing family and friends at home and figuring out how to keep your brain sharp and keep learning as you travel. I also love to keep up with hard news and technology stories, which isn’t easy when you’re moving around but made possible by sites like Twitter and great curation tools like Summify that synthesize stories and email them to you once a day.

6) What are some of your favourite local dishes that you’ve eaten on your travels?

Don’t get me started! Look no further than these delicious street foods from Laos or this photoessay on Thai foods that will make your mouth water. I generally tend to eat at food markets and street stalls more than restaurants, and I am almost never disappointed..

7) We are heading to Thailand in September, where you have spent many months. What vegetarian-friendly food should we try?

There’s quite a bit of vegetarian food in Thailand, and many restaurants that serve just that. Delicious vegetable soups with noodles and mushroom ‘meatballs’, rice and sauteed spicy vegetables, fiery Penang curry with tofu – you’ll have plenty to choose from. Most of the markets will make you a veg only dish without a problem.

Jodi with soldiers during the Bangkok protests

8 ) Your beautifully written posts about Burma have made us really want to visit. What did you love about the country?

Thank you for the kind words. I think it was a combination of the resilience and generosity of the people coupled with their relative isolation. Set against a backdrop of very complicated politics, the friendliness of the Burmese was that much more appreciated. And the landscape and strangeness of the traditions (not just the fact that most of the people wore traditional longyis, but also the quirks like holes in the taxis to let in water during the monsoons and strings with buckets at each apartment building to haul up food and send down money) meant that every day was fascinating. Those 6+ weeks felt like 6 months, if only from the intensity of experiences.

As I’ve said before, it’s important to avail yourself of knowledge and books about the country before you go. Given the political sensitivities and the fact that locals can be in quite a lot of trouble if you talk to them about the government, I keep stressing that it’s best to be as informed as possible. Not that I’m an expert! But I did try and soak up what I could before going. Reading The River of Lost Footsteps is a good start – it’s the most comprehensive history of the country that I’ve seen.

(Erin’s note: A great start is Jodi’s very informative post Crash Course Burma: What To Know Before You Go)

9) What are some of your favourite off the beaten track destinations?

It’s not a popular opinion, but I really think any place can be off the beaten track if you look hard enough. Even in tourist-filled Bangkok there are plenty of nooks and crannies and local markets that are worth exploring, which feel like new cities altogether in their foreignness. The best way to find those pockets is to head to the food markets and take it from there; spending time talking to locals and seeing where they eat or what they do is a great way to find wonder in an otherwise conventional place.

That said, there are definitely some lesser-visited places that merit a mention. I loved my time living in El Nido, Palawan, and while it’s gotten more popular since it’s nowhere near the hordes that go to Boracay. El Nido’s beaches rivaled any other I’ve seen in Asia. More recently, a trip up to Northern Laos was extremely fulfilling (not just because of the food!) and buses can be taken all the way up to the Vietnamese border, much less crowded than anywhere else in the country.

Bolivia is also a favourite destination, with much less tourist infrastructure in place but a corresponding remoteness to many of the tiny towns and even the bigger cities. And the swath of land up near the Burmese border in Thailand is an excellent place to discover, especially if you’re comfortable on a motorbike. Mae Hong Son, Doi Mae Salong and Ban Rak Tai – all with great food, friendly locals and a very tiny set of expats who would love to give you some tips about where to eat and what to do.

10) Where are you heading to next? Do you think you’ll ever settle down in one place?

Everyone’s favourite question! I don’t have specific plans at the moment. After a great summer with friends and family, I’m in the process of figuring out where to next. I suspect Asia will come calling soon, though! As much as I love South America and have many countries to explore in Africa, the food draws me back to Thailand and Vietnam and Laos consistently. I just registered JodiEats.com and am in the process of building it, but I think food – writing, videos from street stalls, history of spices – will play a greater role going forward.

You can follow Jodi’s travels at Legal Nomads, on Facebook and on Twitter.

The Joys of House Sitting

View from our terrace in Jacksonville

After months of living out of a backpack in Central America, staying in cramped hostel rooms and getting sick of eating in restaurants, we unpacked in our new apartment in Jacksonville, Florida. There’s more space than we know what to do with, a ridiculously comfy bed, a well equipped kitchen, and even a terrace overlooking the river. Best of all we are staying here for four weeks without paying a penny.

This is our second house sitting assignment, and we’ve just arranged another in Japan. It’s proving ideal for our nomadic lifestyle for a number of reasons.

1) A Home Without Going Home – Travel gets tiring and although we have no urge to settle down, it helps to have a rest from constant movement every now and again. We get to enjoy home comforts like a couch, privacy, a/c, kitchen, our own washer/dryer, fast internet, comfortable office chair and desk, swimming pool and we even have use of a car. It makes a wonderful change from crappy hostels.

2) Save Money – We get to stay in places we’d never be able to afford. The only expenses we have for the month are food and petrol. This opens up many possibilities. We’ve just arranged a house sit in Kyoto, Japan for the end of the summer. It’s a country that’s been on our wish list for a long time and we wouldn’t be able to afford to go if we hadn’t found the house sit.

3) Get Work Done – It’s much easier to work when we aren’t moving around and staying in uncomfortable accommodation without a suitable place to work.

4) Visit Places We Wouldn’t Usually Visit – We would never have visited Jacksonville if it wasn’t for the house sit, but there are many beaches and national parks to visit in the area, we’ve eaten the best cheesecake ever at the French Pantry and it’s a convenient base for day trips to St Augustine and Savannah.

5) Live Like a Local – When you are staying in someone’s home you adopt their life to a certain extent and get to explore untouristy areas of town. Our house sit owners introduced us to their family before they left and one of their daughters invited us to a local improv comedy night that she performs in. We enjoyed an entertaining evening and chatted with Jacksonville locals – we never would have known about it without the house sit.

6) Temporary Pets – Many house sits require you to look after pets. As our nomadic lifestyle isn’t best suited to owning pets it’s nice to have some temporary ones every now and again.

Simon with Mani the puppy while house sitting in Argentina

How to Find a House Sit

Are you convinced on the joys of house sitting? It’s an opportunity that’s available to everyone as you can do it for as little as a few days up to a year.

Here’s how to find a house sitting placement.

1) Join a House Sitting Organisation – There are many websites that put house sitters in touch with house owners for a small annual fee. We have had most luck withMind My House but are also members of House Carers.

2 ) Create a Good Profile – Write a detailed profile about yourself and why you’d be a good house sitter. Make sure to include details of any previous experience looking after houses or pets. I think linking to our blog helps as owners can read a lot more about us there. We also link to our couchsurfing profile as it has references from strangers who have hosted us in their homes.

3) Check Opportunities Daily – Once you are a member set the alerts to email you every day. It’s very competitive so apply as soon as you see a suitable opportunity.

4) Be Flexible – If you don’t have any luck at first, keep trying. It helps to be flexible – you’ll have more luck in the beginning applying to less well known destinations. Once you’ve built up some experience you’ll have a greater chance of getting the most competitive house sits – we really want a house sit in Italy for the summer but haven’t found one yet.

5) Keep Your Eyes Open – It’s also possible to find house sitting opportunities through friends and informal networks. We found our first house sit in Argentina while couchsurfing with a family who needed a sitter a few weeks later.