Freelancing On The Road

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars”.

The above Jack Kerouac quote is quite resonant of our approach to RV travel and freelancing on the road. Rather than trying to achieve something by traveling, we look at RV travel as our lifestyle. We look for new experiences—the opportunity to explore the natural and man-made wonders of the US and Canada.

In today’s world of online magazines, guest posting, and columns, the line between journalist and blogger has become blurred. If you enjoy writing, you can find paid work writing for websites and it’s a great way to support your RV travels.

If you’re going to start looking for paid writing gigs online, you’ll need to know where to look. There are numerous online magazines, websites, blogs and journals that are willing to pay travel writers for their work.

Each website will have its own budget for paying writers. Most publications will pay anywhere from $25-$250 for an article, though the average rate is between $50-$150. Expect to be paid at the lower end of this scale at first, and then as you build up a reputation on the site, the webmaster may be willing to pay you a bit more.

Bloggers have a definite advantage when it comes to freelancing. Not only do they have an online portfolio. Freelancing is also great for bloggers because if you have an online presence, you can link back to your site from articles you’ve written elsewhere on the web. Links are valuable; if you’re getting paid to write and getting links back to your site from reputable domains, it’s a win-win.

An essential for your mobile RV office is being able to maintain access to basic office electronics and services like the Internet, a desktop or laptop computer, external hard drive, a digital camera, wireless printer, and a smart phone.

There are numerous options for obtaining Internet access while RVing. In fact, you may need to use more than one method when RVing.

Digital cameras and RVing is a natural fit. What could be more natural than keeping a visual record of your RV travels? You can immediately edit and resize images then post them on social media, send them as email attachments, or publish them on your blog.

Find the right smart phone plan. Select a smart phone contract that gives you long-distance and roaming anywhere in the country for one set price.

For safety’s sake, use a separate external hard drive to backup all of your files and store your photos. That way, if your computer’s hard drive crashes, you’ll still have everything on another drive—and be able to carry on.

Although working as a freelancer sounds tempting, it is not for everyone. Consider the following questions:

• Are you going to work if nobody is telling you to do so?
• Can you live with the uncertainty of not earning a steady income?
• Are you willing to dedicate a substantial amount of time to applying for assignments, customer relations, and following up with clients?
• Are you willing to meet deadlines even if it means working all night and drinking substantial amounts of coffee?
• Can you motivate yourself to complete your work assignments?
• Do you have finely honed time management skills?

Yes, you can take your life and work wherever your RV takes you.