Permanent Tourism...my story.

I am a Perpetual Traveller, a Global Nomad, a Cyber Gypsy, call me what you will. I bimble my way around the world minding my own business, harming no one and doing my best to stay out of harms way.

How did this come about? Like so many I found myself somewhat disillusioned with life as Western society seemed to define it, my professional career (Clinical Research Associate) and it's associated trappings hadn't bought the sense of satisfaction I'd been 'programmed' to assume. The 60 hours per week I was pulling either on the road, dealing with clients or dealing with the corporate way left me with very little time or energy to actually enjoy life. My work/life balance was all wrong, and no amount of Hugo Boss suits and exotic one week holidays could put that right.

In 2004, at the age of 28, I did what many have done and quit my job. I bought a 12-month "around-the-world" ticket to give myself what I thought would be at least one last taste of true freedom; I fully expected that this would be just a career break and after 12 months of travel I would be prepared to rejoin the rat-race.

Throughout the six years of my career I had been relatively prudent, remained debt-free and accrued a little wealth. Fortunatley my hobby of playing cards had also provided me with some extra savings. I purchased a laptop and (provided I could find an internet connection wherever I was) I would see if I could cover at least a proportion of my travelling expenses by playing poker online as I travelled.

During this first trip I partied hard in Cape Town, South Africa for one month, lived in Perth, Western Australia for 6 weeks, Sydney for 6 weeks and Melbourne for 1 month. I then sampled the Gypsy lifestyle in New Zealand for 2 months - living in a converted 1960's Bedford Ambulance. After a particularly well-planned 2 week 'holiday' in Fiji (I landed in the middle of rainy season) I sampled life in the USA for 3 months, living in LA, San Francisco and Las Vegas. Finally I headed to Canada (Toronto) for 2 months before flying back to the UK.

Throughout this trip I 'worked' sporadically. For example in Cape Town and Australia I probably managed no more than a total of 20 days 'in the office' in a total of 5 months, whereas in New Zealand , the USA and Canada I probably averaged around 20 hours per week.

When I got home and did my accounting I realised I wasn't a great deal worse off than when I left, yet spiritually I was a new man. I had fallen in love with the nomadic lifestyle and the sense of freedom that accompanied it. I figured there and then that with a little more application I could adopt the Perpetual Traveller lifestyle and perhaps even prosper at the same time.

Now that I had tested life in several of the more culturally fimiliar countries of the world I figured I could help tip the financial balance in my favour by spending the majority of my time in less costly parts of the world (a strategy I later discovered to be termed lifestyle arbitrage. After a little research and some advice from several of the travelling friends I had made on my first trip I settled on Buenos Aires, Argentina: a happy balance of relatively inexpensive living costs with a relativley developed infrastructure.

When I arrived it took just two days to find a suitable place to live (tourists are very well catered for in Buenos Aires), the idea was to knuckle down for 3 months, make some decent money and then explore more of South America before heading East (Thailand etc) then finally back for another UK summer. Two things conspired against me - a cute local girl (we are still togethor 18 months later) and a new business acquaintance (actually two: a husband and wife programming/web-designing team). Essentially this is where the blog starts...my first post back in Feb 2006.

We're the governement and you're not

A little satire I found on YouTube yesterday.

Portable jobs

After yesterdays random pot-eating granny post I thought it was time to write something a little more relevant to Perpetual Travel, so here goes.

Unless you're very rich, or retired and very rich, becoming a permanent tourist is only viable if you are able to generate an income, no matter what country you are currently chosing to reside in.

This is where the internet is so powerful, if you can do business via digital media then you can definitely live and work anywhere. Such web-based work has the potentially huge advantage that you can continue to earn in relatively strong currencies (USD, GBP, Euros) whilst spend in relatively weak ones. If you lived in the UK US$1500 per month is a poverty-line salary. In many, many parts of the world this type of money enables you to lead an extremely comfortable (sometimes luxurious even) life.

Some examples of portable work that can be done entirely via the web would be: Graphic Designer, Web Builder, Computer Programmer, Travel Writer, Photographer, Editor, Accountant, Consultant, and Webmaster/Affiliate to name just a few.

Less conventional internet-based portable jobs include Full-time Investors, teaching english online, and yes even playing poker online!

For the less tech-savvy traveller jobs such as nursing and teaching english as a second language are also highly portable.

I have sort of written this post on a whim, I wan't to go away and research the topic a little more and comeback and update a little later. If any vistors can think of any other portable professions please do post a comment. Thanks

UPDATE: all I've really found online is this excellent list of 'work from home' case studies, which includes other portable jobs I hadn't originally thought of such as (but not limited to): Internet Librarian, Network Marketer, Law Tutor, Virtual Office Assistant, Translator, Editor, Proof Reader and Indexer.

Permanent Tourist FAQs

The acronym PT can mean many things: perpetual traveller, prior taxpayer, permanent tourist, possibility thinker, privacy tactician to name but a few.

The most frequently quoted definition of PT was put forward by Harry Schultz (the famous investment advisor) and W.G Hill (the author of the book "PT"), and is "perpetual traveller".

A perpetual traveller is someone who benefits from the treatment most nations offer their foreign visitors. Such benefits include: not having to pay income tax in the country that you are a visiting, being treated as a welcome guest, and being welcomed as a spender of foreign funds.

Most countries will allow you to be a tourist for up to 6 months in any one year. If you stay longer, your hosts are likely to view you as a resident - something which can bring a variety of extra, often unwanted, obligations.

I've been asked several questions about the PT life by interested visitors to this blog, so to answer the most common questions I've put togethor a brief FAQ.

Q: Can anyone become a PT?

A: Yes! However, most people simply don't want to. Most people value their "home", and their "home country", so the idea of moving away permanently is usually viewed negatively.

Q: What type of people would find becoming a PT relatively easy?

A: Being able to earn an income away from home is defintely an essential requirement. Anyone who has either a private source of income, or who can do business internationally. A full time investor for example, or someone with portable skills allowing them to work anywhere also makes an excellent PT candidate. Those who earn their income via the internet can also adopt the PT lifestyle. A Travel Writer, for example can literally work anywhere.

The internet has opened the door to many more people as far as a PT life is concerned. If you can do business digitally (e.g. graphical design, web building, programming, writing, photography, consulting etc.) then you can live and work anywhere you chose.

Q: How much money do I need to become a PT?

A: The amount of money you need to become a PT isn't really the main issue. In fact, you can become a PT on a very small income. This is one of the reasons places like Central/South America and the Far East are popular with PTs. The cost of living in these regions is relatively very little.

I was confident enough to adopt a PT life when I had $50000 USD in cash savings. In my mind this meant I could 'test the PT water' for a year or two, if things went horribly wrong, or I didn't enjoy travelling as much as I thought I could always return to my country of birth and re-start my regular career.

Q: I'd really like to be a PT, but what about my spouse/partner?

A: This can be the biggest hurdle to overcome. Clearly articulate the benefits of the PT lifestyle to your partner, and try to get him or her excited by the possibilities. If they are totally against the idea, then there is very little you can do IMO.

Q: My partner and I want to become PTs but we have children. How can we educate our children if we were to lead this type of lifestyle?

A: If I had children I believe I would educate them myself. The basics - reading, writing and maths can easily be taught by parents. Science, the arts, geography and history can all be taught by reference to real life, and with the help of interesting books and the internet.

These articles discuss the advantages and disadvantages of home schooling. Also, here's an excellent list of MP3 files authored by John Taylor Gatto discussing the state-school system and home-schooling.

Q: What is the main advantage of becoming a PT?

A: For me it has been the happiness that feeling truly free has bought me. Having very few possessions for example (laptop, digital camera and clothing is all!) really does mean I can jump on a plane at the drop of a hat.


Q: What is the biggest barrier to starting a PT life?

A: Your mind. Living as a PT is an attitude as much as a lifestyle.

If you are interested in in the PT lifestyle I highly recommend purchasing Dr Hill's classic book "PT - Perpetual Tourist", an electronic version can be bought for just $23 online here. You'll also receive a copy of his book The Passport Report, togethor with two other ebooks entitled PTO - Portable Trades & Occupations and The Invisible Investor (II).

A future PT?

A quick shout to a new buddy I made last week: Nabomb, this guy has a very similar outlook on life as yours truly.

Disillusioned with the whole 'live to work' culture he quit a well paid job as a lawyer in the pursuit of happiness....it takes balls to do this, so I tip my hat sir.

Check his blog out, it's regularly updated and well worth a read.

The Five Flags

This is an excerpt from the book Forbidden Knowledge, Information They Don't Want You to know Robert E Baumam, JD, while I don't necessarily sympathise with all of the following I do think it makes interesting reading:

A five point plan for those with courage enough to pursue freedom.

Governments are viewed as providers of facilities and services, if they offer good accomodation and make you feel comfortable and prosperous, you stay. If your government becomes too demanding or too nosy, or if a competitor offers a better deal, you can move on. Economic opportunities, financial privacy, taxes, extradition treaties, social values, military obligations, quality of passport, stability of government, medical standards, respect for property rights, personal safety and freedom of travel, thought and action are all taken into consideration when choosing legal residence and citizenship.

People of intelligence and wealth owe it to themselves and their descendants to have more than one flag. Why? No country or governement has ever survived more than a few generations without annihilating itself or its own middle and upper classes.

The Perpetual Traveller's relationship with government is a matter of choice, an option. The passport you hold and the country where you live should not be a burden that you were born to and must be saddled with forever.

Individuals can remove themselves from the control and jurisdiction of any government by acquiring dual citizenship, investing internationally and becoming human multinationals. In order to accomplish this redistribution, you merely have to arrange your assets according to the following simple outline. Your five flags:

Flag 1: Passport and Citizenship. These should be from a country unconcerned about its offshore citizens and what they do outside its borders. There must also be no tax or military requirement for non-residents. Passports must be available to foreigners. Dual or multiple nationality is one of the cornerstones of the PT philosophy.

Flag 2: Business Base. These are the places where you make your money. They must be different from the place where you legally reside, meaning your personal fiscal domicile.

Flag 3: Residence and Domicile. These should generally be in a tax haven with good communication systems. A place whee productive people can be creative, live, relax, prosper and enjoy themselves, preferably with bank secrecy and no threat of war or revolution.

Flag 4: Asset Management. This should be a place from which assets, securities and businesses can be managed by proxy. Requirements are the availability of highly competent financial managers, confidential banking and the lack of taxation of non-residents or non-citizens.

Flag 5: Playgrounds. These are the places where you actually physically spend your time. Quality of life is top priority. Normally, because of legal restrictions on how long one may stay without being considered resident for tax purposes, it is necessary to have from two to four playgrounds. For the most part a PT should avoid spending more than 90 days in any particular country.

Consider the following possible scenarios:

Flag 1: A second passport from Canada, Brazil, Italy or Australia.
Flag 2: A business or source of income in New york, London or Singapore.
Flag 3: A legal or fiscal address is Monaco, Panama or Andorra.
Flag 4: Bank accounts or assets registered in Austria or Luxembourg.
Flag 5: Friends and fun in Paris, Bangkok, Manila, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Cape Town and San Francisco.

Every Perpetual Traveller should know and understand that governments only have power, i.e., jurisdiction, over it's citizens within their home territory or colonies. For this reason the Perpetual Traveller should generally stay out of the country on whose passport he travels. His major assets should be invisible and far away from the country in which he actually lives. His lifestyle should be as humble as possible.

For those intersted in the PT lifestyle W.G Hill's book PT - The Perpetual Tourist can be bought in electronic format for just $23.50 here.

Individual Liberty

"......just as the State has no money of its own, so it has no power of its own. All the power it has society gives it, plus what it confiscates from time to time on one pretext or another; there is no source from which State power can be drawn. Therefore every assumption of State power, whether by gift or seizure, leaves society with so much less power; there is never, nor can be, any strengthening of State power without a corresponding and equivalent depletion of social power."
- Albert J. Nock (1935)

PT

A couple of useful websites for Perpetual Travellers

Just a quick post today. I think I found a couple of useful site's for Perpetual Travellers last night:

Edit to remove out of date link.

Another interesting site is FlyerTalk. In contrast this site has an extremely busy forum (90,000+ members), and is very useful for info on frequent flyer programs. The site also has a lot of info on other travel related stuff.

Hopefully back tomorrow, I should really post at least something on my poker play I guess.

Perpetual Travel

I'm interested to know just how many Perpetual Travellers (PTs) there are out there.

I like to keep things simple, so I define a PT as someone who doesn't stay in the same place for more than 6-12 months I guess. Of course, there maybe plenty of PTs who decide to base themselves from one place for a few years. And I don't see why someone can't be a PT for just a year or two, before returning to a more conventional way of life.

Advancements in technology make it relatively simple to manage your life from anywhere in the world. This needn't exclude your professional life, I am fortunate to be able to pursue my career exclusively via the internet. As technology continues to advance so many more will be able work from anywhere they chose. Wi-Fi, easily available broadband and eventually even Wi-max are making simultaneous work and travel open to an ever growing community.

I anticipate a big jump in the Perpetual Traveller population over the coming years.

I'm giving thought to building a website designed for an online Perpetual Travel community. A place where people could share experiences, ideas, advice on all things PT. I can't find such a place online, if anyone else can please comment here. If registered a domain name and expect to go live with a non-commercial website within a week or two.

For those out there looking to figure out what is required to be a Perpetual Traveller I can only really define my formula, it's below and I hope it helps. For other opinions on what's needed to be a Perpetual Traveller check my links section.

My PT formula

Mortgage free with savings of US$50,000
Passport, Credit Card(s), Drivers Licence all registered to UK address of immeadiate family member.
Neteller.com account for global ATM card and online (work) transactions.
Good Laptop + Accessories
Good Rucksack (50litres is plenty for me) filled with clothes etc (Tshirts mostly!)

That's it, that's all it took for me. I look to live as good a lifestyle as possible on US$40/day. I find I can do that, certainly in South America. Rent (with all bills inc) on a sort-of-luxury studio flat with a shared pool is $20/day. The rest I spend on food/smokes/drinks etc. I'll post some pics to show you what you can get in BA for this.

To some $50K is a lot, to others it's not so much. To be honest the amount is almost irrelevant. Everyone's different, some can survive on US$5k per year and are confident to travel wit a small amount of capital saved. Others need enough to get by for a couple of months before finding a suitable source of income. Others have a lump sum saved and want to make it last as long as possible, sort of semi-retired. Yet more will have made sufficient to retire early.

For me, I figure I can travel and work at the same time. I want my savings to be edging UP not down, so I continue to logon most days, play some poker here and there. It's working for me. Others will have their own ideas of ways to make Perpetual Travel possible for themselves.

Enough for now.

Until next time: Be well

P_T