How would you like to just get up from your desk and go for a walk on the beach with the sand between your toes one month and the next month be topping up your inspiration reserves with a stroll through one of the world’s most architecturally stunning cities?
Some of you may be lucky enough to live in a place that affords such things, but if not and it sounds appealing, then I may just have the solution for you…
One thing I haven’t spoken about on this blog yet and something some of you may find an option worth investigating, is the Location Independent lifestyle that my wife and I lead.
Back in 2006, about 6 months after we got out of the rat race and set up our design and marketing business, we decided to load all of our belongings into storage, rent out our house and left the UK to become Location Independent Professionals; running the business from our laptops.
So far we have worked & lived in Panama, Buenos Aires, Toronto, Grenada (Caribbean), Dubai, Thailand and South Africa - spending 2-3 months in each place at a time.
At first, the Location Independent life might sound like a crazy (and unachievable) idea but as Illustrators, you are ideally suited to this type of lifestyle as you’re probably already location independent without realising it.
Think about it…
- You probably already work from home
- You’re probably already your own boss
- You probably carry out most of your business via the internet and/or phone
- If you work purely digitally, all you need is your laptop and Wacom tablet to complete your work
But why else, apart from the inspiration you may get from travel, might you consider doing this? As an aspiring illustrator, becoming location independent brings a number of additional benefits:
- If you’re smart about where you travel to, you can easily lower your cost of living without compromising your quality of life - which means that it’s a great way of making the money you earn from your fledgling illustration career stretch much further and can take some of the pressure off having to make your illustrations pay.
- Being immersed in different countries and cultures is sure to filter into your work and maybe make it more unique and interesting - perhaps influencing your style in a way you’d never have thought of.
This lifestyle certainly isn’t for everyone though and it took us a little while to adapt to it. I definitely had my initial concerns - but the benefits so far have easily outweighed the drawbacks.
As this is a big part of my life (even though we’re currently back in the UK awaiting the birth of or first child), I’ll be posting a bit more about this in the future because I think some of the concepts of the lifestyle are applicable to many aspiring illustrators - not just those of you to whom the nomadic lifestyle might appeal.
No related posts.
As a bit of a renaissance soul who loves to do many things (or ADD textbook case, but I prefer to say “Renaissance Soul”), I hope to include some form of art-making in my location independent portfolio some time in the future. Glad it’s do-able. Although I’m not sure how I’d choose what art equipment to take and what to leave behind!
Cath