Is it diffuclt finding online jobs?

[Oneironaut]

I'm still trying to do some research over how I'll make money after high school once I deside to live in a stealth van. Again, any suggestions are appreciated. I was thinking about working for some online company that would allow me to work anywhere I have internet access, that way I could work on the road, but I am still unsure. How do you/ did you make money living the life style you live? Especially if you travel from place to place.

My parents believe I should go to college and get a nice job and have a nice house and get tied down with bills and what not like all the other Americans. I want to break free from all of this, and be one with nature. One with myself so to speak. I don't need many materialistic objects to be happy, and don't need a lot of money. All I plan on having is a nice steady job, internet access and a laptop to work. From there, I'll go where ever the road takes me and meet people along the way. Perhaps I'll even meet the love of my life doing this, I'm not sure. I just plan to live a life style that's free from debt and bills and rent and what not. So many people waste their lives trying to be happy, bouncing pay check to pay check ordering new gadgets in order to hopefully "achieve" that happiness. I personally find that I don't need that. I feel like I'm completely different from society so to speak. Society teaches you that you need to go to college, need to live in a house or apartment and pay bills, and that you need to have your own kids instead of adopting. Sorry for rambling on, but basically my goal in life is to be different and discover more about myself and the universe without having fancy cars and jewelry and lots of money. I may go to college or trade school for a while, but I will most likely be living in my van during that time so I'll need a source of income that I can stay with even after I finish college. So yeah, like I was saying. How diffuclt would it be to find an online job such as a customer service representative, or tech support, something of that nature? Is it possible to technically work any job ? Like is there a way to get an address that I could use when applying for a new job? I heard of Getting something like a PO box address or something but I don't know if that would work. I just don't want to feel limited to jobs when I'm on the road and I want to do a wide range of things.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Best advice I can give you is to go into the trades. I started emptying barrels of sawdust at a cabinet shop out of high school and worked my way up. 18 years later I can pretty much do anything with wood from framing houses to building furniture. Handy skills to have, especially if you want to live off grid, build your own cabin, etc. Pay is pretty good too, once you have a few years experience. Keep in mind construction does go through it's feast and famine stages, but if you're a good worker you will more than likely always be able to find work and always a good idea to save for the slower years. Other trades are just as good and maybe even better such as electricians and plumbers. No matter what you decide, make sure you really enjoy it as that makes going to work so much better every morning.
College has it's place as well, but only if you know the career path you want and i'd only recommend it if it's a somewhat good paying and in demand field otherwise you can end up like so many other young Americans, with a liberal arts degree that doesnt really pay the bills or the debt back.

 

[TMG51]

Best advice I can give you is to go into the trades.  I started emptying barrels of sawdust at a cabinet shop out of high school and worked my way up.  18 years later I can pretty much do anything with wood from framing houses to building furniture.  Handy skills to have, especially if you want to live off grid, build your own cabin, etc.  Pay is pretty good too, once you have a few years experience.  Keep in mind construction does go through it's feast and famine stages, but if you're a good worker you will more than likely always be able to find work and always a good idea to save for the slower years.  Other trades are just as good and maybe even better such as electricians and plumbers.  No matter what you decide, make sure you really enjoy it as that makes going to work so much better every morning.  
   College has it's place as well, but only if you know the career path you want and i'd only recommend it if it's a somewhat good paying and in demand field otherwise you can end up like so many other young Americans, with a liberal arts degree that doesnt really pay the bills or the debt back.

It's a bit hard to do carpentry or plumbing online.

To the OP's question - I work online as a salaried employee, but my path here wasn't a straight line so it isn't the best example. There are a few others I know who have similar jobs, but I'll also say that they are by far the minority in terms of vandweller income. If you have any web development skills that's probably your best starting point to pursue online work.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

It's a bit hard to do carpentry or plumbing online.

To the OP's question - I work online as a salaried employee, but my path here wasn't a straight line so it isn't the best example. There are a few others I know who have similar jobs, but I'll also say that they are by far the minority in terms of vandweller income. If you have any web development skills that's probably your best starting point to pursue online work.

You do raise a valid point!

 

[Mattkcc]

It's a bit hard to do carpentry or plumbing online.

To the OP's question - I work online as a salaried employee, but my path here wasn't a straight line so it isn't the best example. There are a few others I know who have similar jobs, but I'll also say that they are by far the minority in terms of vandweller income. If you have any web development skills that's probably your best starting point to pursue online work.

You can advertise your services online, Craig's List. These days everyone wants an IT online job and it's highly completive. However very few people are will to learn a skill that requires learning a marketable trade. There is a great shortage of skilled labors, often their income potential is higher then college graduates. Construction is often a mobile trade you go where the work is, living in a van could be a benefit. The main issue would be your tools, you would likely need a small trailer. Without some marketable skills you are likely making money in the service industry, why work your tail of for $8-$10 an hour when you could be making $20-$30 hours an hour with a skilled trade.

 

[TMG51]

You can advertise your services online, Craig's List. These days everyone wants an IT online job and it's highly completive. However very few people are will to learn a skill that requires learning a marketable trade. There is a great shortage of skilled labors, often their income potential is higher then college graduates. Construction is often a mobile trade you go where the work is, living in a van could be a benefit. The main issue would be your tools, you would likely need a small trailer. Without some marketable skills you are likely making money in the service industry, why work your tail of for $8-$10 an hour when you could be making $20-$30 hours an hour with a skilled trade.

I've worked both construction and IT. Honestly, I prefer construction. My current tech job is totally remote and online and I can't deny it benefits me traveling. But if ever I leave this position I will live as you suggest, working construction, traveling for it, or advertising.

However the OP's question was about solely online work.

 

[accrete]

The other thing one should consider in the mix if being self-employed in the IT or WebDev field is does your personality thrive on competition, gathering Leeds, marketing your skills, and making the cold calls. Without those skills you may end up being a starving "artist" of sorts.

I have over 20 years of Web development skills (all the usual codes and recent developments in field as I take online courses) and could easily make money creating websites etc, BUT, and this is a HUGE BUT, I do not have the heart, mindset, skillset, what-ever-you-call-it, to make cold calls and market myself. I do not have the interest in doing so. I once did, hated the 9 rejections to get to the one yes. Soooo.... I go to a fun-for-me-job and get my ~$30 an hour and take the rig out once a month on a week's adventure with my wife and live in a tiny home.

YMMV,
Thom

 

[Reducto]

I think the bottom line here is you need a marketable skill and references/contacts. You aren't going to get many people to hire you to make a website or redo a bathroom or weld an underground pipeline by just showing up and saying you want to give it a shot. You need to first learn to do those things better than most and be able to demonstrate it.

Unfortunately this *usually* involves going to college or working a regular job for many years. There are ways around this - for example by building a collection of websites or apps on your own and using those to convince others you're worth paying to do one for them. Either way, though, it's going to take study and work. Try a few things out and figure out what you have an interest and aptitude for.

Maybe start taking some classes at a community college or on lynda.com and see what piques your interest.

 

[Oneironaut]

I was actually thinking about a job like weh development, but the thing is. How many people are out there who would actually pay me to build a website? Would I ever be out of business or have trouble finding new clients?

 

[accrete]

...who would actually pay me to build a website?..

The competition is really tough. Doable, but crazy competitive. AND really, anybody these days can put together their own website for nearly nothing...certainly less than ~$10 a month. Waaaay back in ~1997 through 2000 I created several sites and charged handsomely (several thousand dollars each) and they paid gladly as the technology and coding was not common. After a handful of years it just became a bore to me; trying to please clients that would not take input on design and ergonomics.


Much happier to just do it as a hobby (my domain accrete.com has been up since 1996).

Thom

 

[Mattkcc]

I see a huge demand for skilled workers for home repairs. Many young people today don't want to fix anything in their homes. I tried to teach my son and he has no interest in learning how to fix anything. My son-in-law also, lacks any skills and his 80's home is always needing repairs. Heck he bought a BBQ and had to pay extra get it assembled. I love fixing things but after two big back surgeries can only do small repairs. That's another market old guys like me that can't do it anymore. Probably the easiest way to break in is to work for someone already established, they have a hard time finding reliable help. It helps if you show-up on time sober and your front teeth aren't rotted out from smoking meth. That's kind of the norm anymore, at least in my area.

 

[introverting]

Agree with what Mattkcc says, although I don't actually know it for a fact. It's just something I've thought about being a homeowner for 20+ years. If you're good at doing home repair work, you're honest, and you charge a fair price, you'll have no lack of business. In fact, you might have to turn people away depending on the size of the market area.

 

[Mobilesport]

You can advertise your services online, Craig's List. These days everyone wants an IT online job and it's highly completive. However very few people are will to learn a skill that requires learning a marketable trade. There is a great shortage of skilled labors, often their income potential is higher then college graduates. Construction is often a mobile trade you go where the work is, living in a van could be a benefit. The main issue would be your tools, you would likely need a small trailer. Without some marketable skills you are likely making money in the service industry, why work your tail of for $8-$10 an hour when you could be making $20-$30 hours an hour with a skilled trade.

I find it hard to believe that anybody would make $20-$30 a hour unless there self employed even with having a skilled trade.

 

[PathofAsha]

Just as a reference point. A handyman here in San Diego usually charges a minimum of $50 just for 15 minutes of work. I have a few of them I call as some have skills others lack. (Moving, painting, roof) It's all under the table money for them I'm sure.

I would lean toward electrician as a trade. Everyone needs electricity, on or off the grid. It can be a mobile profession. Just food for thought. 

There's quite a few people on Patreon making good money. Are you creative?

 

[evoscot]

I'm still trying to do some research over how I'll make money after high school once I deside to live in a stealth van. Again, any suggestions are appreciated. I was thinking about working for some online company that would allow me to work anywhere I have internet access, that way I could work on the road, but I am still unsure. How do you/ did you make money living the life style you live? Especially if you travel from place to place.

My parents believe I should go to college and get a nice job and have a nice house and get tied down with bills and what not like all the other Americans. I want to break free from all of this, and be one with nature. One with myself so to speak. I don't need many materialistic objects to be happy, and don't need a lot of money. All I plan on having is a nice steady job, internet access and a laptop to work. From there, I'll go where ever the road takes me and meet people along the way. Perhaps I'll even meet the love of my life doing this, I'm not sure. I just plan to live a life style that's free from debt and bills and rent and what not. So many people waste their lives trying to be happy, bouncing pay check to pay check ordering new gadgets in order to hopefully "achieve" that happiness. I personally find that I don't need that. I feel like I'm completely different from society so to speak. Society teaches you that you need to go to college, need to live in a house or apartment and pay bills, and that you need to have your own kids instead of adopting. Sorry for rambling on, but basically my goal in life is to be different and discover more about myself and the universe without having fancy cars and jewelry and lots of money. I may go to college or trade school for a while, but I will most likely be living in my van during that time so I'll need a source of income that I can stay with even after I finish college. So yeah, like I was saying. How diffuclt would it be to find an online job such as a customer service representative, or tech support, something of that nature? Is it possible to technically work any job ? Like is there a way to get an address that I could use when applying for a new job? I heard of Getting something like a PO box address or something but I don't know if that would work. I just don't want to feel limited to jobs when I'm on the road and I want to do a wide range of things.

 Some jobs I can think of that would work with a travelling lifestyle:

Road constuction.  These guys are always on the road, living away from home.  It's not steady income but if you work for 4 months your could probably travel for 8.  Pretty good pay but long hours.  Hot dirty work.  Don't need to have your own tools.  Trade school not 4 years of college.

Manufacturing.  If you learn to TIG weld aluminum well your resume is as easy as a weld test.  Either you can weld or you can't.  Alot of manufacturing companies hire through temp agencies.  You pass a weld test, you get a job, you leave when you have enough cash or it starts to snow.  Again this is more of a job that you work for a while then travel a while. Pretty good pay but long hours.  Hot dirty work.  Don't need to have many of your own tools.  Bringing your own welding mask and having some welding specific clothing would help.  Trade school again.

If you want to travel and wander don't get married and don't have kids.  The more anchors you have the more you are forced to stay put.

 

[Zeke]

Low skill work that can be done remotely are the perfect jobs for corporations to outsource to countries with comparatively low wages. Take a look at some of the internet gathering spots of mobile nomads, particularly those working in foreign countries, and aside from the english teachers, you'll see a lot of coders with some advanced skills that differentiate themselves from the pack and a list of industry contacts. There's others, maybe even a few bloggers and internet marketers, but it's the ones with the technical skills and contacts that have the easiest time of it.

One source of income that can be earned while working from home is Amazon's Mechanical Turk. You'll almost certainly find the pay disappointing. The dedicated forum on reddit has some tips to improve things if you want to go that route but it still won't be much.

I agree with everyone else, get a trade that travels well, one where you can take time away from work and then step back into it. Welding is great but it takes most people a while to pick up the skill. If I was in your shoes and didn't have a strong preference, I would go with electrician.

If this is how you want to go, spend some time researching financial independence. Check out earlyretirementextreme.com, read Jacob's book and 'Your Money or Your Life' by Robin and Dominguez.

 

[TMG51]

This thread is old, it's been bumped, the OP asked about online work, and everyone is talking about physical labor.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Escapee's has a forum devoted to Working on the Road:

http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showforum=8

 

[introverting]

Resources for online jobs:

http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/50-make-extra-money/

http://realwaystoearnmoneyonline.com

I got the first link from another post here on the forums. I discovered the second link via the first link.

 

[Mattkcc]

I find it hard to believe that anybody would make $20-$30 a hour unless there self employed even with having a skilled trade.

Old post but have you tried to find skilled labor for less, self-employed or not. Even a non-union job is going to be good pay. You may be getting mixed up with some guy learning a skilled trade with someone who already has the skills. When I need skilled labor work on my house I save money by hiring guys that are employed but do work on the side. Trust me they are making much more the $20-$30 an hour. Give you an example have a friend who is a supervisor for a railroad company. He can't keep employees, just a few years ago guys would kill to get a job on the railroad. He hires unskilled labors and they start out in the mid 40's with a benefit package the rest of us could only dream about. But they quit after a few weeks, would rather sit in a cubical for less money and no benefits. Many skilled trades are paying as much or more then white collar jobs.