Trans-Siberian Rail Route: Making Money While On The Road

Anyone who knows me personally will know that my current job is something 'dreams are made of' when it comes to being paid to travel. Working on cruise ships gives you the opportunity to see some beautiful places that otherwise could be difficult to see, or just expensive to get to, and depending on the company you work for you really can see the world. For 6 months or more you get free accommodation, free food, free travel - my company even fly you out from your home country to your embarkation city for free. Which all sounds rather idilic, if you ignore the excruciatingly long hours with no days off, being paid the equivalent of around £2.20 an hour.

Due to the intense lack of spare time, you can save a decent amount of money if you really want to, giving the opportunity to do very little work (if any at all) in your spare time between contracts. Last 'vacation' I had ended up being 8 months long, while I finished a TEFL Qualification, so I used my newly acquired knowledge and worked with French children as a teacher at 3 summer camps over July and August 2015 for LEC - Séjour Linguistiques. This boost of 6 weeks work was all I needed to survive 8 months out of ship life.

I recently figured out, in 2015 I worked a total of 5 months, 2 weeks and 5 days.

(Now before you start thinking us cruise ship workers are all absolute slackers, please read my other posts about the realities of ship life.)

This time round, however, we've been having a look at how to make money while on the road, rather than just watching the bank balances slowly but surely deplete. I know what you're thinking here, 'how can you run a business successfully while moving every other day with little to no internet'... Well my friends, let me explain something that I have only recently found out about myself...

Fulfillment Warehouses: companies that will hold your products and ship them out as orders come in.

This can help lower the costs of postage, as well as making the process quicker in general, not just for those who are on the road but those who are starting their own business's at home. I've always found postage to be a bit of a kick in the teeth when you think you're buying something for a decent amount then it's got a huge price tag on the postage. These companies solve that problem, although you do have to pay them - obviously - for their service, but these costs are minimal in comparison to the amount of time, effort and money you're saving in not posting products yourself.

Though Fulfillment Warehouses may not be for everyone. As Richard Lazazzera explains in his article The Beginner's Guide to Ecommerce Shipping and Fulfillment, it's become a trendy thing to do for companies to make the unpacking of a product a bigger part of the shoppers experience with the company, through aesthetically pleasing product packaging. Instead of just the typical brown cardboard box or manila envelope than you'll get from corporate giants like Amazon, many smaller companies are starting to think of intuitive ways to enhance a customers experience - 'your packaging and presentation can be an effective way to set yourself apart.' (quoted from the above article) in the minefield that has become of ecommerce businesses.

For us, however, Fulfillment Warehouses seem to be a perfect way to make some cash without too much hassle, that is if you go with the right company anyway...

After a little research there seem to be a couple of top contenders:

- Shipwire - which has a mix of reviews with some concerns to do with their customer service, but they are very much an international service, with warehouses across USA, Canada, UK and Asia.

- Fulfillrite - which seems to have 5 star reviews all round, with a few customers choosing to move from Shipwire to Fulfillrite. However, their warehouses are based in the USA only, with international shipping options.

- Whiplash Merch - which again only has 5 star reviews, with comments on how quick, simple and inexpensive it is to set up and run, and how fantastic the customer service is. They ship worldwide, with warehouses in the USA servicing Canada and Mexico, and warehouses in the UK servicing the EU, 'If we can't find a continent match, we'll simply select the warehouse that is closest geographically to the destination' (quoted from Whiplash Merch's Questions page'.

Something that really inspired me to look into how you can logistically run a business and make money while travelling is Tim Ferriss's 4 Hour Work Week. I had been signed up to his website and newsletters for a while but had never got round to reading either, until it was relentlessly recommended to me during a period spent in airports/coach stations. Tim Ferriss has become internationally famous after releasing his secrets to becoming more productive in 4 hours of work than working every waking hour of every day. His tips and tricks and examples are all so logical, it's hard to see how we don't all work so little for such a huge reward.

To anyone considering setting up their own business, anyone who's interested in how to work as little as possible for the biggest amount of reward, I suggest 4 Hour Work Week as an absolute MUST read.

Remember at the end of the day to work smarter, not harder.

(Image found at Happyologist.co.uk)