Ana from Japan says:
I’ve been looking to become location independent for over 5 years now. I have no particular expertise in anything and no upfront money. My absolute passion is Spain and Europe – and writing about it (travel issues, destinations, hotels, pilgrimages, etc.). But as I’m not currently living there and can’t travel there often, I can’t access insider information to provide credibility. I can’t use it as a base for a business.
I’m from the U.S. but currently teaching in Japan. This is my third time here. In 2000, I left behind a modest life in Los Angeles to go for my lifetime dream of living in Spain. I was unable to make it as I had little money and it’s difficult to get a work visa. So, out of money, with no home to go back to, and with debts to pay off, I ended up teaching English in Japan.
There are no longer any decent day jobs at home for a 55-year-old woman without a professional background (in my former life I was a proofreader/editor and typist.) Being here is a means to an end…
I have no particular passion for this place and I don’t speak Japanese (although I am trying). I want my lifestyle to be truly location independent. I don’t want my remote living to depend on being here. After struggling back home for the past 5 years, I came back here with the goal of making a successful remote lifestyle within 2 years, so I can move to Spain. At my age, failure simply isn’t an option anymore. I have got to find something. I don’t want to end up stuck back there toiling in a retail store at age 60!
The Coach’s Answer
Ana is in a place that many people find themselves in during an economic downturn. There are no easy jobs to be found, going back to school is prohibitively expensive and time-consuming, and there’s the age bias working against her if she enters a new field.
Plus on top of all that, Ana’s dream of living in Spain is severely hampered by her lack of European passport or work visa.
Add all this together and you get a pretty discouraging situation.
Specifically I see Ana’s Somedays as being:
- Living in a country that won’t allow her access without a proven stable income.
- Living a location independent lifestyle based on doing work using the skills she has.
- Making the most out of the next 10-15 years to allow for a retirement, and being able to live exactly where she wants to live.
When I first read of Ana’s plight, I thought that her Somedays seemed almost too far out of reach to pursue and considered counseling her to find something more achievable. But I have no right to tell someone to give up her dreams.
Yes, achieving her Somedays will be difficult but they don’t have to be impossible. Let’s take a look at each one…
Living in Spain
If Ana can develop enough of an income to pay for flights, her day-to-day expenses and to put money aside for retirement, then while she might not be able to live in Spain permanently, she could turn to house sitting, taking three month gigs (the limit of a travel visa) alternately in Spain and the United States.
This would not only get her into Spain for at least part of the year, but also remove the cost of rent or a mortgage. And if she can gain enough income in the next decade or fifteen years, she might then be able to retire to Spain proving that she has the income (and health coverage) to live in the country without needing support from the Spanish government.
As I write this I see a lot of “if” statements based around income. Yes, Ana will face challenges developing that income but it doesn’t make the dream impossible. At least there are alternative ways to get to Spain which she might not have considered previously.
House Sitting Options
Location Independent Income
My first recommendation here would be for Ana to take deeper advantage of the Location Independent offerings on this site – because there’s nothing better than learning from the experts about how to develop a Location Independent Business.
There are many skills and options that Ana can consider…
She lists proofreading as a skill she has, and typing as well, indicating an eye for detail. Plus she’s been a teacher for many years, meaning she knows how to explain and how to listen. And by living in a culture where she doesn’t speak the language, she shows that she can adapt to new and potentially stressful situations without breaking down.
Put all those things together and add in the desire to be Location Independent and I immediately think of a Virtual Assistant with a proofing/editing specialty. And fortunately there are many resources for learning how to become a VA.
Virtual Assistant Resources
There are any number of programs both free and paid that offer training as a VA – click here to see what Google came up with.
And that’s just one business idea!
Making the Most of Time Available
The harsh reality in Ana’s situation is that she’s not a 20- or 30something. She doesn’t have five to ten years to build up a business and make it successful. She needs it now or at least within the next year. That means an almost obsessive focus on developing the business.
This intense focus is contrary to what I normally recommend as I believe true success comes from finding a balance with all areas of our lives. In this case, however, Ana has about 15 years to develop not just an income, but a retirement fund as well.
Basically over the next at least six months if not a full year, Ana will need to eat, sleep and breathe her new venture. This level of dedication requires not only passion but a detailed plan and because of that I recommend the Location Independent Guide to Business.
Homework
Here’s what I would suggest Ana do in the next three months:
Figure out her basic needs
What are her minimum needs to live on a day to day basis in the US for the next year? This does not include daily expenses for life in Spain, the travel expenses for going back and forth between countries, nor retirement income. This is what will get Ana through the next twelve months as she develops her business.
Find a long-term (one year) house sitting gig in the US
There are many such gigs available and this would give Ana the stability of location where she can get a part-time job without having to think about moving about while she dedicates all her energy on developing the new business.
Get a part time job to cover your basic expenses
While Ana said she didn’t want to be 60 and working retail, right now is not the time to take on work that will require much investment emotionally or intellectually. If she can find work that covers her basic needs and that she can walk away from (bothy physically & mentally) when her work day is done then she can devote all that saved energy into developing a business that will take her out of that part-time job in her spare time.
Start networking like crazy
Online businesses are all about making connections. Even before starting anything about the business, Ana will need to begin developing those connections. If she comments on blogs and participates in forums specific to small businesses, when the time comes to launch her own business, she will have the connections necessary to generate income.
However, there’s a caveat here: The participation in the online world needs to be highly focused. While it’s necessary to let personality through (allowing people to feel connected to her), Ana will also need to subtly include a sense of helpfulness in her online participation, answering peoples’ needs sometimes even before they express them, so that when she does launch her business, people already see her as detail-oriented, incredibly helpful and someone they can trust & might turn to for help.
Figure out future needs
This is where Ana will determine what income she needs not just to live part-time in Spain and travel between countries, but also what savings she will have to accumulate to ensure a large enough retirement income that will allow her to retire in Spain.
Develop the new business
And of course most importantly, starting right now, Ana needs to determine what type of Location Independent Business she wants, what skills she’s missing (and therefore need skills training of some sort), and what steps to take to build the business to a successful level quickly.
Ana’s situation and her Someday desires have come together to create a difficult path for her, especially in the next few years, but by having a direction and with enough passion and commitment to work hard now, she will not only develop a Location Independent Business, but finally achieve the Someday that’s been nagging at her for decades.
