Aren’t you sick and tired of only having 2 or 3 weeks of vacations per year? Do you like being told by your boss when and how long you can travel and go on vacation?
According to a study by the U.S. Travel Association’s Project Time Off, 55% of Americans didn’t take all their vacation days in 2015, up from 42% in 2013. Why? A lot of people fear that they would return to a mountain of work (37%), or that no one else can do the job (30%), among other reasons.
Moreover, studies show that taking a vacation is good for our health, lowers our stress level, improves our productivity, and yes, makes us happier.
Of course, everyone wants to take more time off and travel a lot, but not a lot of people can let’s be honest. Traveling can be expensive, especially when you finally want to splurge and stay at a 5-star resort.
Is there any way we can get out of the rat race? How can we earn a decent living, and even get paid while traveling? Would you like to travel more often and go to exotic places? Would you like to retire young, so you’ll still have the energy to travel around the world?
If you answered yes to one or all of these questions, you are not alone! Society teaches us to get a good work, with a decent paycheck, and to work hard until we can afford to retire. We don’t get taught how to invest, how to start our own business, how to make money work for us, instead of us working to earn money. In fact, when we are working to earn money, we are working so that someone else gets rich and free.
As for myself, I had a very good job in Finance, that I liked. But I wasn’t free. I wasn’t free to travel when I wanted to and to be there for my family. That’s why after I gave birth to my little girl, I couldn’t send her to daycare and go back to work right away. I started my own business, and I work very hard to make it successful so that I don’t need to go back to work for someone else. I am working for myself and for my family now. I am not saying it is easy. It is A LOT of work, for now. But I am not lazy… I like to work. The high quality of life I can provide for myself, my little girl and my husband, and working on something I am so passionate about, is all so worth it.
I wanted to write this article to show you 5 ways how to take back control over your life, finance, and freedom.
The goal here is to be financially free, to live your life and travel with your family on your own terms. Does it mean to get rich? Yes and no. You probably have already heard the saying that if you don’t have debt and you have enough money to carry your desired lifestyle, you are rich. Doesn’t it make sense?
For me, financial freedom means having enough money to live the lifestyle that I want and choose, and only working a little bit, if I choose to and when I choose to. Do you think it is possible? It is.
So here are 5 ways to gain financial freedom to finally be able to travel around the world with your family, on your own terms!
1st solution: An online microfranchise
One of the simplest solution to travel with your family on your own terms is to get your own online microfranchise.
Nowadays, it is easier than ever to build a business online. You can set up a website in minutes now, at a very low cost. But not all online businesses are created equal and can bring you to financial freedom. Blogging, for example, won’t bring you there, because having a successful blog means working a lot! Believe me.
An online microfranchise, on the other hand, is a better option if your goal is to travel with your family on your own terms. There are strategies that will help you build your online business part-time so that you can work from anywhere in the world, with your laptop or your smartphone. When I say part time, I mean working only a couple of hours on your own personal business. This isn’t the same as working for someone else. So within 1 or 2 years, you could be able to replace all of your actual income and quit your job to finally be free and work remotely, from anywhere in the world, on your own microfranchise. And if you want to take 2 or 3 months off to travel around Africa with your kids, your income keeps coming in even though you don’t work for that period of time, since the microfranchise will be running by itself. No staff, no inventory, no worries.
Is it too good to be true? No. Will you need to work? Yes. Will it always be easy? Nothing is. But don’t you think it would be worth it? If someone else did it, why can’t you?
2nd solution: Investing your money
Putting money asides and investing it is a safe solution, but I have to admit more difficult now that the interest rates are so low. It is safe if you choose your investment wisely.
Let’s say you would like to get $4,000 monthly when you’ll retire. Simply said, you would need to invest $1,000,000 at a 5% interest rate. It is feasible and safe, and only when you’ll retire you will benefit from it and then you will be able to travel on your own terms. For people that are more scared, this can be a good option.
For more information on how to manage your money wisely, Phil Town is an expert in the field!
3rd solution: Real estate
Investing in real estate, for example by buying a house and renting it, could provide you with a monthly income without having to work hard. Then, you can reinvest that income in a second property, that you can also rent, and with the domino effect, give you a substantial profit.
It is even more profitable if you are handy and resourceful, and decide to renovate a house that you buy cheap, and rent it or sell it at a much higher price.
Keep doing this over and over again, and you can become a rich. Of course, the 2008 house bubble crisis made some people fearful of this technique, but since the real estate nationwide is plummeting, it is more affordable now to invest in real estate.
If you would like to know more about this strategy, read Robert Kiosaky’s book RICH DAD POOR DAD. It is very interesting and inspiring!
4th solution: A brick and mortar business
If you are passionate about flowers, or baking, maybe opening your own flower shop or bakery could be your way of being able to eventually travel with your family on your own terms.
Starting your own business and managing it is indeed a lot of work, and it is not for everyone. Being an entrepreneur can be difficult, and even lonely. Finding the right and faithful staff can be even more difficult. But it is an option, and some people do succeed enough to reach financial freedom.
5th solution: Copyrights
If you are an artist, or you would like to leave a meaningful legacy, then writing books, songs, poems, or taking photos… all this can help you travel with your family on your own terms, with copyrights. Every time someone buys your book or your photos, you get a revenue.
There are also YouTube videos. You can become an international star and earn a lot of money in no time with viral YouTube videos. Let your imagination flow and experiment. Maybe one day it will work.
This is not as a safe solution as the other ones, but for artists, it can be the right one.
As for myself, I am starting to experiment with a couple of these 5 solutions. Which ones interest you the most? Have you tried one before, and with what results?
