free travel

Have you figured out how to travel for free yet? Have you got a plan to get you out and never come back? There’s lots of ways of doing that, you just have to apply yourself. The lucky ones will inherit an obscene amount of money from a parent or grandparent, that’s number one on everyone’s list. And believe me, there are more of these types than most people imagine possible. Next, there are plenty of people who have defined benefit pensions whose cash flow will never fail due to the crazy courtesy allowed by a broken system of government. Some of us have to be smarter and more creative to achieve our goals.

I began to see the possibilities when as a young traveler I spied opportunities to trade goods between countries where things were abundant and cheap and transport them to locations where they could be sold as rare and dear. I stole that line from Adam Smith who had this figured out in 1722 and wrote about international trade in The Wealth of Nations, still a best seller. I was very impressed by this philosophy as a teenager and applied it as a young adult wanting to travel and escape. In most western countries there are open city markets, with the exception of commercial dead zones like Vancouver,  where goods from all over the world can be sold for a profit. A simple way to increase your travel opportunities is to buy trade goods in the third world and sell them to people browsing away their boredom on the weekends. Trust me, bored shoppers will buy any kind of crap that reminds them of the holiday they had in the past.

I paid off my travel lifestyle for decades doing exactly this. My first purchases were leather products in South America.  I later branched into manufacturing jewellery from India and Thailand…even selling Indian goods in Thailand using all the same dynamics of trade I had learned along the way. I sold these items all over the world. I acted as a purchasing agent for people who wanted a steady flow of such goods to their home countries. I traded goods from Pakistan to Afghans in exchange for items of value hard to find in India. I also carried bales of cloth from one boutique to the next selling items in countries as diverse as Switzerland, Spain, Canada and the USA. Shopkeepers need unique products to draw the shoppers into the store. The more unique your products, the higher the margin you can ask. Only during major global recessions did my business ever fall off and I was forced to hunker down.

Nowadays we have become more sophisticated, we are technical specialists and visa holders practicing our trade and getting paid well for it. I miss the old days of being a traveling merchant, but that’s not to say I have foregone my old habits. In every town I go to I visit shopkeepers and ask them what they want. I go to trade shows and find out whats available. It’s best to collect as many business cards as you possibly can. There are opportunities that sometimes appear from out of nowhere and you want to be the one that takes advantage of those opportunities.

Do you hold an undergrad degree or similar certification? If so the world is at your feet. Teach English in Koh Samui with a simple TOEFL certificate. The add on is a weekend class on line but is recognized world wide. There is always a lot of turn over in teachers, and there is a hungry world wanting English teachers….from Spain to China and all points in between. Teaching English is a no brainer and less complicated than trading but not mutually exclusive…..we’ve done both simultaneously. Are you headed for a place where a great many foreigners congregate….have you thought about finding work as a rental agent or a real estate agent selling local properties? Your ex pat community has special requirements that a local doesn’t understand and your knowledge of the language is in demand. Working as a bartender or waitress is a thing of the past in places like Thailand or Mexico…but have a skill and you can obtain a legal visa to work.

At the top of the food chain are the technical specialists who can reside legally. Even the rich ex civil servants on a pension can’t live in Thailand or elsewhere permanently…they will have to abide by the short term of a tourist visa. These types have to leave the country on a regular basis to renew their status. If you are trading in a country don’t mention this to the immigration police at the border, a working visa is difficult to obtain. However, if you can achieve an ‘ex patriot’ status, where you are paid, your bills are covered and the visa is taken care of by the company you work for, then your troubles are behind you. Trisha and I have done all these things, and enjoyed every one of them. The travel lifestyle can be yours. You just have to want it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ex pat perks abound if you plan your life around travel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

trade goods can be found in every country…almost

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and by all means…enjoy yourself along the way

 

deep in the heart of texas

Where do you find the real Texan culture? Shopping malls are ubiquitous, sports centers like Cowboy Center and Ranger Stadium are magnets for tourists. There is no doubt that Six Flags Over Texas amusement park is spectacular. So where do the Texans, who have been to all of the above spend their free time? What we have discovered is that Texans love open markets, traders villages, flea markets and the cavernous street side bazaars housing hundreds of vendors, some with themes..like Harry Hines Bazaar or Latina where the goods and food courts are primarily Mexican , to Sam Moons Wholesale style strip mall where international is the name of the game. Ask around, these are everywhere….and cheap….don’t get me started.

A lot of open markets are calendar and weather dependent…but be at the right place on a good day and you’ll have thousands of vendors show up and a variety of goods to shuttle through that has no comparison anywhere in the world. There are also plenty of indoor markets, so don’t fret if the sunshine isn’t perfect, although Texas weather is usually pretty good…especially if I compare it to Canada….winter in Dallas is better than summer in Vancouver..hands down.

Its in the markets that you’ll meet the real Texan, good hearted , sweet, open and honest. The culture of open markets began 200 years ago when centers were located that people could bring their trade goods to from the far flung farms and ranches and the isolated communities that pepper this huge state. The market vibe is as alive today as it was back then. The history is fantastic, the people willing to take the time to talk about it. Trisha and I spend our weekends traveling from one market to the next….never running out of towns to visit and trails to follow. My favorite open markets so far has been the Canton First Monday Market…McKinney Second Monday Market, Waxahachi and Traders Village in Grand Prairie west of Arlington.