Articles for Freelance
Translators and Other Freelancers
Working as a Freelancer
How to Work While Travelling the World
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Making
preparations for the big bike trip
Have started making preparations for the big bike trip, which I
hope to launch around end April, assuming I’ll have everything ready
by then. Such as four waterproof big bicycle bags which I plan to
strap to the sides, but it’s been more than 20 days...
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the full article…
The
ONLY Thai girl I am attracted to
So get this, this is pretty well the ONLY Thai girl I have met so
far who I am attracted to. The pictures don't really do her justice
[do not describe her in the complimentary way that she deserves],
when she occasionally lets her hair down it reaches her bum, she
has beautiful poise...
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the full article…
Miscellaneous
letters
Got one of my brainstorming ideas as I was on my four hour jungle
trek on Sunday. Making some good cash from this new customer, $2,500
over a three week period. Good paying work which I don't wanna turn
down, and have ended up neglecting the big book translation of Czech
immigrants to Cleveland...
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the full article…
I
have always felt I will be a writer one day...
Ever heard of wordpress? It just occurred to me you may want to
put your content up there. You have a lot of these emails and can
pretty much create a website straight away...
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the full article…
About
freelancing and travelling
There is another option to all this, get a job working through the
internet, such as translations. Also not easy, but it allows you
the freedom to be wherever and whenever you want to be, as long
as you have a laptop and an internet connection...
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the full article…
Thai
girls are like demon possessed little witches
The more I get to know these Thai girls the more they scare me.
They are like demon possessed little witches...
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the full article…
Living on
a mystical island of Koh Phangan in Thailand
Yo, a friend asked to see pics of the island
where I'm staying at, so thought I'd write this blurb, even though
I plan to stay here another year and hence this chapter of my travels
is not completed yet...
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the full article…
From Malaysia
to Thailand
Yo, been a while I guess. A friend was asking
for some recent pics when I realized I forgot to put up the last
chapter. Had left the Malaysian rainforest but shortly before doing
so received an invitation from a HelpX.net host...
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the full article…
From
Laos back to Thailand
Just got out of Laos, in Vientiane, its capital city, where I purchased
a two-month visa for Thailand. Now I can go there and relax. Gonna
hook up with Justin, the guy whose house I stayed at in Bulgaria...
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the full article…
How
to publish a book
Concerning the below, yah, lets move forward. Just tell me what
I need to do, cause I've got more time than you. Should I proof
and improve some of the earlier stuff, when I was writing quickly
and expected to proof again in the future?...
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the full article…
Back
in Thailand
Back in Thailand, and I find the people are nicer here, which is
more important to me. Been told the nicest in Asia. Been talking
to a school director here about relocating me up into the mountains
and helping a village with their solar setup and all that...
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the full article…
Feeling
increasingly uncomfortable here on the island in Malaysia
Right on. Thankfully I have zero costs here. Then I have the occasional
job but really need to up my income to at least a thousand bucks
a month so that I can pay back debts and build up my reserves again,
and save up for my Africa project...
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the full article…
My
belongings
I've scaled down ALL my belongings to a big and small backpack (plus
dangling violin). I'd say half my stuff is computer related (recently
bought a fan which plugs into the USB, to cool my head when it gets
too hot)...
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the full article…
Staying
in Malaysia
Here in Malaysia I'm told I can rent a room somewhere for about
65$ a month, so I can do that if nothing else is reasonable. Or
I was told that it is really cheap in the Philippines...
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the full article…
About
running a blog
Yo, just read your last mail on my mobile. I gotta walk along the
road for a couple of minutes to get a signal. Looking forward to
heading south tomorrow morning, and today in the afternoon we will
all go to the beach...
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the full article…
A
short travel update
Thanks for the advice dude. Been traveling now for five years, but
just cut the umbilical cord and left my truck behind in Europe.
Can check it out at kenax.net/travel...
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the full article…
Planning
to publish a book about my travels
Hmm, been doing a bit of thinking. Will read your letter again later
but a bit excited and wanna get some of my thoughts out while their
stirring in my head...
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the full article…
In
Thailand, God’s hand
In Thailand now, southeast of Bangkok a bit. That city was too much
of a zoo for me and glad I escaped...
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the full article…
Getting
ready to go to Asia. In the airport
Well, my biggest fret is that now I can’t lock up a truck etc but
am sort of at the mercy of people I'm staying with, possibly in
straw huts without a door or lock. Thinking of always carrying my
most valuable with me, so definitely a new leaf I will be turning
and will have to be very careful...
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the full article…
Escaping
from Galia’s place
So after escaping from Justin's we didn't last long in Galia's vegetarian
concentration camp. Amazing how some people can live so far out
in space. Her daddy lets her stay at her house for free and she
develops all these ideas of the world moving towards self-sustainment
and people throwing their laptop out the window...
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the full article…
About
Bulgarians, earnings, plans
Heydo, just read your email on my phone and answering before get
online. Moved away from Justin's with Paul. Long story but it was
not a pleasant enough condition for us. So we moved to this chick
named Galia and are here for over a week...
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the full article…
Starting
to earn more after approaching thousands of translation agencies
Well, piece of my life that I just wanted to share with someone.
Had a good month this month and already earned about 1,200 Euro
by the 21st, and decided that it was enough to essentially secure
my trip to Asia in the fall...
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the full article…
About
writing and publishing content online
Yah, not long ago started installing WordPress here and there to
automate the upload of certain text, but decided not to apply it
to the travel blob cause I think a key part of the blob is the pictures,
which WP does not really speed up, or actually slows down...
Read
the full article…
How
to find really cheap plane tickets
A friend of mine showed me a plane ticket (I still find it hard
to believe) for something like 13 pounds from Sofia to London return.
Needs to be purchased WELL in advance. I already suggested this
long time ago...
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the full article…
The
girlfriend: would like to find THE ONE
Yah, I was never really fully satisfied with any of my girlfriends
in the past, and I knew it from the very beginning, but I wanted
a girlfriend...
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the full article…
Still staying
in Bulgaria but planning to go to Thailand
Sent my new credit card from CZ, your package,
and now I'm waiting for one last important package before I can
leave here - the mobile signal booster I may have told you about.
With that I will be able to drive onto some distant beach or mountain
top and have a strong enough mobile signal with which to do internet
and my work...
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the full article…
Travel outline
A slightly different area but still within internet
promotion. I've also recently got into trying to sell photographs
over the internet, so if you know anyone who is trying to sell paintings
or photos or whatever, I can easily expand in that direction as
well...
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the full article…
About translation
industry
Well, no matter how hard things get, globalisation
will only increase, and hence also translations. It is an industry
which has been growing at 20% a year I'm told. Too bad I missed
the boat. But I can always jump on later...
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the full article…
About female
friends
Yah, need some women friends in my life. I always
find their company refreshing and a good balance for me. I don't
need s€x but I get a high off their presence. Get tired of constant
male company all the time...
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the full article…
About computer,
online marketing, translation, CAT tool
I guess with email it can sound that way sometimes.
Especially after all my problems you say, "Get your computers
in order." Something like that does not help me at all. Or
when my harddrive failed in London you seemed to almost giggle on
the phone that I would force turn off my computer, contrary to what
I had been warning you against all these years...
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the full article…
About blabber
– waste of time. About wanting to be a writer.
The last few years in Prague I would sit in
the pub, sipping on my beer and listening to the conversation, and
it seemed to amount to absolutely nothing. Little jokes responded
by giggles and other little jokes, so I've actually learned to appreciate
being much more productive by myself...
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the full article…
About God
Cool that things are getting happier for you.
Hope you find a mate who will be interested in settling down etc.
Must be difficult in the US, I might guess. I was in Canada and
already there I did not like the general aggression, and stupid
conversations. It was embarrassing but everyone up there said "like"
every like second like word like. I thought I was in California
or something...
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the full article…
More about
software sales
Really glad to get that first tree planting
accounting software customer. Keta says I should raise my price
to 2500 CDN each. If I make it compatible with the industry standard,
people may practically have to buy it from me against their will,
cause the industry standard software charge 1500$ a year. Mine would
be just a one-time charge, and it is much better for accounting
purposes...
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the full article…
More travel
updates
Yah, checked out Sicily on the web and its supposed
to be cheaper than the rest of Italy, so perhaps not bad. In any
case, staying here in a pension for 5 Euro a day could end up cheaper
than living in Sicily, considering the food costs here. Furthermore,
I'm having problems with my caravan battery again, especially in
the cold, so here in the pension I can work in peace with tons of
electricity...
Read
the full article…
Staying
at a pension
So I calculated that I don't have enough cash
to make it reliably to Sicily, so I thought it would be a better
idea to hang around this village next to the projects, cause I know
some people there and know where I can get free internet without
feeling obliged to order food or drinks all day. Found a nice parking
spot by the river, the cafe opens at 6:30 in the morning, so my
plan was to sit out the cold mostly in the cafe and read books with
my head buried in the sleeping bag during the cold nights...
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the full article…
About borders
etc.
Yah, a ways back I had the same problem at the
border, before they were in the EU, and I figure the border guard
was just trying to weasle a bribe out of every driver. The escort
on our bus always brought 2 bottles of wine every time we crossed
over. Now it's pretty EU strict, with big signs saying "DO
NOT GIVE THESE ASSHOLES EVEN A DIME!"...
Read
the full article…
Software
sales
So, since the last time I wrote, a tree planting
company wrote that it is still interested in my software. Last year
about 7 companies expressed interest. One thing I couldn't get going
was to make it Plant Wizard (PW) compatible. PW is the industry
standard and to make my system compatible with theirs I needed to
see one of their exports...
Read
the full article…
Travel update
Hey dudes, long time no talk. The reason why
I'm asking you to subscribe to the online system is (a) about a
year ago my laptop harddrive fried and I've been learning to backup
absolutely everything online. I just don't trust these harddrives
anymore, as several others failed at the same time and I lost a
ton of information...
Read
the full article…
Translation
job industry
Translations can be pretty sporadic, and I guess
even more so now after the financial crisis and collapse of a lot
of global trading. In any case I have approached those 6,000 translation
agencies I mentioned, about a hundred have responded back and now
I am busy filling in their application forms etc...
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the full article…
Partying
is a waste of time
In Prague for about a week now and slowly settling
down. Have lots of things I want to accomplish here and not sure
if I'll even have time to accept any work, if it comes. Think I
have enough to survive and looking forward to the drive back through
Romania etc...
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the full article…
How much
they pay etc.
They like my cooking here so far, but the Bulgarian
team hasn't arrived yet. But I think they will be secondary, in
case that they wine for traditional Bulgarian food, but I think
it should be okay. Rog is giving me 7 Euro an hour, another British
dude just arrived yesterday and he will be the main project guy,
and then the Bulgarians will be doing all the grunt work for 2 Euro
an hour...
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the full article…
Translator
charges, programming etc.
Concerning the programming thing, yah, half
a cent for anything that goes through the system, then half a cent
if they want it vetted as well (the second half would require hiring
someone, or I could do it myself until the workload gets enough).
My markup has been 3 cents all these years so if enough turnover
goes through it it will hopefully be interesting...
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the full article…
Working
as a translator and travelling
Yes, Czechs can be real morons with the translation thing. I still think
I'm being grossly underpaid and hope that eventually enough Czechs will
realise what a bunch of asses they are representing them as outside the
country and agree to pay me 500Kc a page or something more reasonable...
Read
the full article…
Travel life
So it was a nice drive through the mountains
on my way off the island. I was sorta stuck in its middle, in the
capital city (long story) for about three months. Various adventures,
like the police thought I was a spy and demanded to examine all
my electronics, but finally got out of there so that I could make
it to my beloved coast. Took a special route to the port Lemassol
which I haven't taken yet and spent the weekend on Mount Olympus,
the island's highest point...
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the full article…
Why NOT
to cheat Google...
Yah, I was using google ads for a while, but
got frustrated at the small amount of pennies I made, I was getting
hungry, and started using proxy servers to click on my own ads.
Was making 20 bucks a day and could have easily made more, but didn't
want to push my luck. At total costs of only 10 bucks a day, this
strategy secured my survival, while I would go about my other work
with ease...
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the full article…
About opportunities
for working as a freelancer
Not having to go to work. Hmm, think I'm a veteran
at that, but I've reached a new and exciting cusp in my career as
a vagabond - php. I'm learning about dynamic web design and can
now make sites like expats.cz and anything I want...
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the full article…
About advantages
of working as a freelancer
After seeing all the domains you guys bought,
seemed like you were throwing your money around too much. But easy
to do when setting up a business. I've learned from experience the
art of starting slow, lean and mean, and work up slowly from a solid,
bottom base. Everything else is hype and too much excitement...
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the full article…
RV Lifestyles:
Staying Safe on Remote Campsites
Considering several shocking occurrences in
the Australian outback over recent years, it’s hardly surprising
that many people are easily put off the idea of camping in remote
areas because of what they see in the media. With crime seemingly
on the increase, the comparative safety of ‘bricks and mortar’ becomes
ever more comforting...
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the full article…
Rekindling
the Spirit of Exploration
Here’s a short test: Looking back over your
last vacation, was it (a) lots of fun for the whole family, (b)
reasonably adventurous, (c) an enjoyable learning experience, or
(d) none of the above. Be honest. If you answered (d) perhaps it’s
time to rethink your holiday strategies...
Read
the full article…
How to Camp
Smart
It’s one of life’s eternal mysteries: more
often than not, it’s the little things that turn a good day lousy.
Camping is no different. The big issues just come and go, but when
you least expect it -- Wham!...
Read
the full article…
How to Start
an RV Lifestyle - Several Tips
Dreaming of traveling the country in an RV
but need the basic information about how that lifestyle works? Here
are five tips from an experienced full-time RVer that could help.
Find out how to live and even work on the road while exploring the
wonders of this beautiful country...
Read
the full article…
Gone treeplanting
One of the reasons my visiting friend wanted
to see Nicosia the capital was because we were starting to get on
each others nerves and needed a break. When I was visiting Prague
over Christmas and mentioned that I could survive on the island
for about 10 bucks a day, his eyes perked and thought he had found
himself a cheap vacation and temporary escape from the cold winter
town. He told me he could cover my beers and food, and we shook
on it...
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the full article…
First friends
visiting me to Cyprus
On the plane I made sure to drink as much beer
as possible, to continue on the binge I had begun earlier that day
so that I could be well prepared and lubed for my grand entry into
alcoholic party Prague. Drank right up to the point of getting off
the plane, grabbed a city bus, and started dragging my very heavy
stuff the ten blocks from the metro station to my mother’s pad behind
the National Theatre. About half way there I passed the Battalion...
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the full article…
Staying in Cyprus
So I found myself a suitable parking spot on
the "other side of the wall", close enough to the border
so that I could catch a mobile signal from the Turkish side before
I got around to getting a sim card for the Greek half. Turns out
I was rather lucky to have over 400 points in credit because it
took rather long for my mobile internet to work on the south side:
apparently I was the first person in that country to want internet
on an HTC (fancy), or perhaps any mobile phone using a prepaid sim
card...
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the full article…
Escaping
the Cyprus heat
After I finished writing the chapter, during
which time they kept coming up to me thinking it rather odd I did
not want to join them dancing (must have been pressured by their
boss to make sure every "client" was satisfied), I joined
them at the bar and started chatting with them. After exchanging
some niceties and having determined I was from the Czech Republic,
the head girl said, "ah", and called over a rather pretty
Slovakian girl to keep me company...
Read
the full article…
Escape from
boredom
Well, the Turks have certainly turned out to be nice and cuddly
indeed. For those interested in Europe property investments, Yalikavak
Turkey seems a good bet. Lots of totally undeveloped shoreline,
warm climate, a nice quaint town which seems too hilly with snakey
shoreline to afford some future ugly industrial zone, and with a
growing British English speaking community for those who want to
settle in somewhere without learning a new language...
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the full article…
Barelling
to Bodrum
Well, the fact that the Turks and Europeans have fought it out over
this soil over the centuries could be reason enough alone to write
a separate chapter on this, but the trip to south west Turkey, even
though it only took three days, was interesting enough so I shall
dedicate a chapter to that...
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the full article…
Staying
in Stoliv, Montenegro
Well, I did end up getting a lot of work, so it was nice to settle
down for a while, pay to stay in a camp so that I could sleep with
the back door open, and generally relax the more than a month that
I stayed here…
Read
the full article…
Arriving
to Montenegro
But first I had to pick up my liability insurance in Makarska. Back
in Zivogosce Croatia, I was having a conversation with a visitor
from Moravia (who was kind enough to give me a bottle of homemade
Slivovice – plum brandy) about his travels to Bosnia, and the one
thing he said they control when you cross the border there (note
that you have to drive through Bosnia for a small section before
getting out of Croatia on the east end) is that you have liability
insurance…
Read
the full article…
Traveling
through Croatia
So I did end up jamming with some of the campers in the secret garden.
Brought my violin and harmonicas, got the bongo couple and guitarist
together (who were about three tents from each other but never managed
to play together), and soon enough there was a cosy circle of other
campers seated around us enjoying the live music. The establishment
eventually asked us to stop, so we moved the instruments to the
beach and finished the evening under the moonlight by the ocean…
Read
the full article…
Working
while travelling: The dream comes true - off to Croatia!
Well, it took a lot longer to complete the caravan truck than I originally
expected, but it finally came. Not having work for a long time,
spending most of my time trying to get the truck together, and most
of my money on it as well, I was quickly running out of cash, so
my departure had to depend on finding some fellow travelers who
could pitch in on gas…
Read
the full article…
How to Live in a Caravan
I wrote this page as part of my google ranking experiments, because
I’ve gained this information and it can help others instead of just
rotting in my head, because the internet is free and I like supporting
that, and most of all, because everyone keeps asking me the same
question when I tell them I moved into a truck: "Er, uh, so
uh, like, where do you pee and take a shower?" They also frequently
ask how I can survive without a cute travel mate, but that is on
another page. So if you reaaaaaaaaally need to know…
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the full article…
How to Connect to Internet While Traveling
Many people enquire me about this, and it is important, especially
for me, since my translation business depends on it.
There are many ways one can hook up to the internet. I'd say the
most reliable of which would be through a mobile phone. These days
you can get a mobile signal practically anywhere. All you would
need is a good enough phone with which to surf the internet. For
this purpose I like to use the MDA III…
Read
the full article…
How to construct
a caravan - Beautification
I will certainly need to update this page further, as the pictures
below are not of great quality and I am still in the process of
beautification. I guess the main problem is that I ran out of money
and therefore could not invest into all the toys I wanted to…
Read
the full article…
How to use
solar panels to electrify your caravan
Of course everyone and their dog argued against me that it was simply
not possible, but no, the solar panels are working absolutely magnificently
and I am quite happy with them. My electrical needs are one to three
laptops worth for 8 hours a day. For this I was advised to get two
larger 110 Watt solar panels, which nicely fit on the top of my
roof. I got them installed by a welder, who designed it so that
they could be tilted in various ways and directions…
Read
the full article…
How to construct
a caravan
It seemed I spent the most time in the beginning, staring at the
metal and wondering how on earth I was going to attach the wood
to it without piercing a hole through to the outside. But before
I started with the wood, might as well do some cheesy pimping in
the front. I bought some fake and also real leather, and just glued
it on the ugly brown plastic dashboard…
Read
the full article…
Designing
the caravan
I first prepared this website because I wanted help from some of
my construction friends (located around the world) in designing
my caravan and future home. Now I'm rewriting it to help others,
if they would like to design their own caravan as I did…
Read
the full article…
Back to
Czech - buying a travel van
So I landed back in Prague in time to see my visiting mom and hand
my last year’s accounting to the accountant: two of the main reasons
I did not extend my plane ticket and stay longer in Mexico, boohoo…
Read
the full article…
Mexico Trip
- Off to Yosemite and Beyond
Take a few pictures of the Rockies I did, but the driver’s licence
seemed a bit more difficult than I had first imagined. A friend
of mine in Vancouver told me that, with the onslaught of Chinese
immigrants due to 1997 in Hong Kong, and their supposedly notorious
terrible driving, insurance premiums sky rocketed while I was away,
and in response to that the driver’s examinations have become so
much more stringent…
Read
the full article…
Mexico Trip
- Getting a Driver’s License
Take a few pictures of the Rockies I did, but the driver’s licence
seemed a bit more difficult than I had first imagined. A friend
of mine in Vancouver told me that, with the onslaught of Chinese
immigrants due to 1997 in Hong Kong, and their supposedly notorious
terrible driving, insurance premiums sky rocketed while I was away,
and in response to that the driver’s examinations have become so
much more stringent…
Read
the full article…
How to Buy
a Used Car
A great trick when looking at used cars is to look very hard at
the paint job. A key way to tell if a car has been re-built is to
open the gas tank and look around the tank for putty or scratches.
If there is putty or an abnormal amount of scratches, this can mean
that the car was in an accident with the gas tank affected. One
thing to stand clear of is a builder or a vehicle that has been
in an accident and has been re-built. Generally, you tend to have
more reoccurring problems with vehicles that are re-built…
Read
the full article…
Mexico Trip
So, as some of you may know, I received a super large translation
project about half a year ago which has enabled me to realise much
of the dreams that have been bubbling up in my head over the last
few years. I’ve been stuck in Prague, nursing my baby (my business)
for the past more than a decade, until technology and circumstances
have finally given me enough flexibility to be able to take my work
with my on the road…
Read
the full article…
My Life
in Prague
After completing my university education, and with the fun of university
life behind me, my prospects for the future did not excite me. Prague
1I thought of opening a photo studio in Montreal, a city where I
had never lived but which I had visited and appealed to me. Or,
I thought, perhaps I should move to New Orleans. I spent my last
summer treeplanting, where I discussed with others what I should
do next. Most urged me to travel a bit before embarking on my "career",
so I decided to make a swing through Europe…
Read
the full article…
Dream of
working while travelling
This article of introduction was written for TranslationDirectory.com.
Actually, I have to be a little proud that I may have been instrumental
in bringing about the creation of TranslationDirectory.com because
I hired Serhiy Onoshko, its founder and present CEO, to help me
find customers…
Read
the full article…
Can you
be location-independent and enjoy travelling while making money?
Recently I was the willing target of several audio interviews. The
topic of course, was blogging, however as is customary, most interviews
begin with a little background study of the person in question…
Read
the full article…
21 Ways
to Improve Your Camping Lifestyle
Across the past 36 years or more, my wife and I have spent most of
our free time - and now virtually all of our time - in the Australian
outdoors. We started, as many do, with a small nylon tent and minimal
camping gear, all loaded into the boot of the family car. It wasn’t
long, however, before we graduated to a more robust outfit: canvas
tent and basic off-roader, followed by the relative luxury of a
camper trailer…
Read
the full article…
RV Travels:
How To Stay Healthy On The Road
It's no secret amongst experienced RV travelers: self-reliance saves
money. The more independent you are of tourist parks, power hook-ups
and all those other so-called necessities, the further your budget
will stretch. And the greater will be your freedom…
Read
the full article…
Travel trailer
A travel trailer or caravan is a trailer towed behind a road vehicle
(or traditionally a horse or similar pack animal) to provide a place
to sleep which is more comfortable, sheltered and protected than
a tent (although there are fold-down tent trailers). It provides
the means for people to have their own home on a journey or a vacation
(holiday), without relying on a hotel, and enables them to stay
in places where none is available…
Read
the full article…
Mobile office
A
mobile office is an office built within a truck, motorhome, trailer
or purpose built shipping container. Most common are towable offices
built on an axled iron frame for easy relocation. See also modular
buildings] that offers re-locatable offices. Mobile field offices
are often found on construction sites, or at disaster scenes where
a temporary office space is needed…
Read
the full article…
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