While on a recent camping and hiking trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, I stumbled upon this awesome and beautiful waterfall. What a magnificent place up high in those beautiful mountains of eastern Tennessee.
Until next time…
.
Most people would love to travel, but where would they get the money?
One of my passions in life is traveling as I’m a wanderer at heart. My folks moved a lot for the purpose of seeking better opportunities when I was a youngster. As a result, I attended 9 different schools while growing up. That might freak out a lot of people – it did me at first as a little guy, but after the first couple of moves to new schools and new friends, I began to look at these moves as new adventures. After high school, I joined the U.S. Air Force and had the good fortune to travel to many different countries around the world. After 8 years in the Air Force and with an Honorable Discharge in my hands, I entered the corporate world and had the good fortune to again, travel, both domestically and internationally. When I retired from the corporate world and then my own business, I continued my love of travel and made several trips to South America. I’m now working on my bucket-list which includes curtailing International travel and traveling more domestically. This resulted in the purchase of a cargo van and building it into a custom RV.
Since purchasing and building out my van, I’ve made 2 trips to the western states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California. I am currently at my home in Georgia recuperating from eye surgery. My doctor is now monitoring me for a month to insure my eye heals properly. Once she gives me clearance to travel, I’m heading out to spend the remainder of the winter in southwest Arizona; the Sonoran Desert and surrounding areas. From there, I’ll be exploring back roads and small towns of America. No calendar, no clock and no schedules. The only thing for certain is I’ll be following the sun as I wander around this great country searching out state and National Parks and other things of interest. Even driving to Alaska is on my radar.
“How do you finance your travels?”
That question is the one I get asked most often and is what prompted this article. I have spent countless hours on my computer researching ways in which one can earn money online, offline, full time or part time, on the road or from home.I’m not talking about get rich quick schemes or anything of that sort. I am talking about real, legitimate money. It’s not only possible but it’s a reality, not only for me but for anyone who has the desire to put in the time and effort. Furthermore, I’m not talking about having to have a lot of money to invest; I’m talking about making money with little to no upfront costs. You just have to research it and confirm that it’s legit and that you provide a good service or product in return.
So, in answer to that question, I have my retirement funds and I sell products online, but now and then, I will provide a service such as a consult for a fee. (I used to give my knowledge away for free then one day I realized that it’s valuable and people will pay for it) I was a very successful Professional Private Investigator for most of my working life with offices in Texas, Georgia and Florida. I’ve been retired now for several years, but I still get occasional calls from companies or individuals requesting my services, but that’s a very small stream of income compared to the Internet. I also teach others what I’ve learned in terms of earning a part time or full time income via the Internet while traveling. Basically all that’s needed is a laptop or smartphone and an Internet connection. Hey, I’ve conducted my business while sitting in a coffee shop high in the Andes Mountains of South America.
So when I’m asked questions about funding my travels and earning money on the road, I explain to people that I sell goods while traveling. The next questions then are inevitable – “how do you find goods to sell while traveling?” “How do you ship products?” “How do you get paid?”
Good questions all; let’s take a look.
NOTE: This article is not about the ‘details’ of selling on any of these platforms, but to show you there’s a way to make money on or off the road. If you’re interested in details, please contact me.
FLEA MARKETS: Rarely do I ever have a schedule to keep when I’m traveling, so when I happen upon a flea market or sizable yard sale, and if I’m in the mood, I will stop and have a look. Most people go to flea markets and yard sales to look for a needed item or just browse and while away time. I’ve learned that flea markets can be gold mines. I go to flea markets to see what I can pick up for a few bucks and then flip it on eBay or Amazon for 80-100 bucks.
RETAIL ARBITRAGE: Is an excellent way to make money, especially for beginners. For those of you who might not know, Retail Arbitrage is simply finding items on retail store shelves that you can flip and sell for a profit online, on such platforms as Amazon, eBay,Craigslist etc. If I happen to be in a store, such as a Walmart or Target, I’ll spend a few minutes looking for close-outs that I might be able to flip for a nice profit. I have an Amazon scanner app on my iPhone that I can scan a barcode with and the results of that scan will tell me if that item is profitable.Therefore, I don’t waste time or money on something that might not be profitable. I don’t do a lot of this, because I don’t want to get bogged down with anything labor intensive while on the road, plus I don’t have a lot of room in my van to carry too many items. But this is an excellent way for one to make a part-time or even a full-time income.
ONLINE ARBITRAGE: Is another way to make money. Simply defined it’s finding products online with the specific aim of exploiting a price mismatch between two market places, so you can resell them at a profit. I do very little Online Arbitrage. I mention it here only because it is a viable source of income.
ETSY STORE: I design coffee mugs (but I’m not limited to coffee mugs) to sell in my Etsy store. An Etsy Store can be had by anyone and there’s no cost to set up a store. Once it’s set up and you begin stocking it with items to sell, you’ll pay a 20 cent fee to list an item and of course there’s final fees once you sell something. I design my mugs on a platform by the name of Printify and then list them on Etsy. Printify is partnered with and is integrated with Etsy, so once a sale is made on Etsy, Printify will print the mug and ship it to my customer. It’s a seamless operation and Etsy takes care of everything for me including collecting the money and electronically depositing funds into my bank account. The beauty is, I don’t have any inventory and I only pay for the mugs once they are sold. I have no upfront costs, no money tied up and I never have to touch anything but my laptop computer or my iPhone. I’ve only recently begun selling on Etsy, but the prospects are unlimited. To give you an idea, here’s the link to my Etsy Store.
MERCH BY AMAZON: This Amazon program is awesome! It affords anyone the opportunity to sell “print on demand”T-Shirts, hoodies, long-sleeved T-shirts, etc as well as some other items such as Pop-Sockets on their platform. This program truly is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to sell online. You can sell shirts (and other items) with no upfront money. You could easily start a very lucrative business with this model. One simply uploads a T-Shirt design and Amazon does the rest. No cost at all to the seller. Your shirt will be printed and shipped usually within a day or so of receiving an order. Not only that, but Prime shipping is free! This can be a single shirt or multiple shirts. This is a great way to design and sell shirts. Amazon has made a significant investment in printing machines which cost in the neighborhood of $500,000.00 each and they have a warehouse the size of a football field housing these huge printing machines which are the size of a car and takes several people to operate. And, Amazon lets us use their machines at no cost to print and sell T-Shirts. You set your own price as to what you want to sell the shirts for. The only stipulation to pricing is that you make at least 1 cent profit. Therefore, if you were so inclined, you could design and sell shirts to groups such as Little League, bowling leagues, church groups, etc. for just a penny over cost. How great is that? Amazon lists these shirts and products on their site and another benefit is these items qualify for Prime Shipping. Amazon takes care of everything such as listing the items, selling them, shipping them and collecting the money and if there’s a customer service issue, Amazon takes care of that as well. Amazon then sends my profit to my bank account. It doesn’t get any better than that. I’ve been selling T-shirts with this program almost since it began.
eBAY: I’ve been selling on eBay for years. And again, the only issue I have with this platform is handling products. The seller has to take photos of goods they want to sell, list the item, write a description and when a sale is made, pack that item and ship it to the buyer. It’s an easy way to make extra money or even a full time income, but as you can probably tell by now, I’m just not crazy about handling products. I used to sell a ton of books through eBay, but that required a lot of driving around to used book stores, Goodwill, thrift shops, library sales and the like and rummaging through hundreds of books trying to determine if a book was profitable. Books are also quite heavy and can be costly to ship. I made some good money, but I spent a lot of time in book stores to make that money.
AMAZON FBA (FULFILLMENT BY AMAZON): For most, this is probably the best way to make a good income but there’s also a lot of work involved just like any other legitimate job or business. Once I got my eBay business running, I began selling online with this program about 10 years ago and did quite well, but frankly, got to the point I did not like handling products. I’m at that age where I’m retired and don’t have to work and was just not as motivated as I once was. I think most of us go through that. I wasn’t traveling much then, so it was fine as I had plenty of room at home to store products. So when I got the itch to travel, I basically put this business on the back burner. I am still active with Amazon FBA, just not nearly to the extent I once was. I am what is known as a PRO Seller on Amazon and I touched on Amazon above regarding T-shirts. When I want to sell something on Amazon (other than T-shirts), I use their FBA Program as opposed to their Merchant Fulfilled Program. As a PRO Seller, I get to take advantage of Amazon’s UPS rates. UPS is a major partner of Amazon and therefore when using FBA, my shipping rates are much cheaper than other logistic companies such as FedEx, DHL or the US Postal Service. UPS Stores are an online seller’s best friend. Look around; you’ll find UPS Stores in every town and city. So when shipping to Amazon, I take my items to a UPS Store and ship to Amazon. Amazon receives my boxes; unpacks them, sorts them, lists my items on their platform, sells them, ships them, and handles all the customer service including any returns. They then deduct their fees and electronically deposit proceeds directly to my bank account. All this makes selling on Amazon’s platform while traveling a breeze. The drawback to this program for me while traveling is dealing with products. I don’t have the room in my van to buy a lot of product and store in my van. I have a couple of acquaintances making well over a hundred thousand dollars a year as part-time sellers using Amazon’s FBA program while traveling the USA in their motor homes. These folks buy most of their products to sell on Amazon from flea markets and retail arbitrage. And being in large Class A motor homes, they have a ton of room to carry products.
STEEMIT: Steemit is a blogging and social networking website owned by Steemit, Inc that uses the Steem blockchain to reward publishers and curators. I’ve only been involved on Steemit for a few months and have not been as active as perhaps I should. But from a money making stand point, it is perhaps, the best social media site out there, because it’s the perfect opportunity to make money writing. I’m still learning Steemit, but from what I’ve gathered, the more you write and post, the more money you can make. Two (2) posts per day is what is recommended by the person who introduced me to Steemit. There doesn’t seem to be a limit as to how much one can earn. So far, I’ve made over 100 posts. You make money when other “Steemers” upvote your post. I have a lot of posts on Steemit that have not yielded a single penny but I have some that have paid anywhere from 2-3 cents to 25 cents to a few dollars. The most I was paid for a single post was $96.45 and one post in the $29.00 range. Steemit works on cryptocurrency, but don’t let that confuse you here. You can exchange the cryptocurrency for dollars.
Here is my basic grasp of it. Steemit is a social media site built on a block-chain and everything you do on it is recorded. All of your writings are considered a transaction and will be recorded. Because of its transparency and the fact that anyone can look to see how much you have earned and look at your history to see what you have withdrawn, makes it a rather honest place to be. Basically how Steemit works is that everyone creates posts and these posts receive up votes. When they are upvoted, you earn money. You can even upvote your favorite posts too and receive a small percentage of that post’s earnings as well. Some of my posts have been perhaps a full page or a little more. I’ve also posted just a photo with maybe one sentence or paragraph description of the photo. So far I can’t tell the difference in terms of money earned. So I’m thinking, for the next several posts, rather than take the time to research for an article, I will post some interesting photos of my travels and perhaps a sentence or 2 describing the photo and see what happens. I’ve seen some posts with just a photo and description earning as much as several hundred dollars. I’ve also seen some lengthy posts bringing in that amount. So there is money to be earned posting on Steemit. I know of no other social media sites paying for posting articles. Feel free to check out my Steemit site at:
IMPORTING: I do some importing and sell those goods on eBay, Amazon, Craig’s List, and even Facebook using the drop-ship method, so I never have to touch the products.
I purchase directly from factories in China and have the product shipped via U.S. Mail from China directly to my customer in approximately 12-20 days. I don’t purchase large items because of potential shipping issues and cost. I purchase small items such as survival gear items, cell phone cases, dash mounted phone holders, even knock-off type Go-Pro Cameras, etc and I’ve never paid more than$3.00 for shipping on a single item. In a lot of cases, I get free shipping. These are all profitable items that sell well and because I deal only with reputable factories and sellers in China, I’ve never had an issue with a lost shipment or credit card abuse.
CRAIG’S LIST: Most of us know about Craig’s List and I’m sure some of you have used it over the years to buy and sell. I’m sure too, that most of you are aware of the dangers that can be associated with Craig’s List. We just have to be prudent when using this platform. However, the fact remains that Craig’s List can be a good place to conduct business. Aside from buying and selling on this platform, it can also be used to find employment, post ads for services you might want to offer, etc. In my travels and research, I’ve met a few people that use Craig’s List regularly as a means of finding employment on the road. One gentleman I met has all sorts of handy man skills. Since he’s not old enough to retire and draw social security, he relies on Craig’s List to find odd jobs to suit his handy man skills while on the road. He tells me he can usually get all the work he needs. Another is a computer geek and he uses Craig’s List to find jobs in his line of work, whether it’s loading software or repairing a hardware issue, he seems to do well. There appears to be plenty of advertisements for all sorts of skills on this platform. I’ve never used Craig’s List for anything but buying and selling but my research confirms their FREE ads do work.
With all the research I’ve done, I could probably write a book on this subject. (Now there’s an idea for yet another stream of income). In fact I have one book on Amazon’s Kindle now, but it’s related to my former profession as a Private Investigator.
Because of my love of “wandering” around this great country, these platforms serve me well, especially T-shirts on Merch By Amazon, mugs on my Etsy store and selling drop-ship products from China.
By the way, I am in the process of setting up a YouTube Channel for uploading videos on while traveling. I’m still in the learning stage of using my video editing software. Once I learn the software and get my channel up and functional, I’ll be sending out an email as to the YouTube channel address. And of course, I’ll be posting it on my blog as well.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at:
Until next time…
bj
We’ve all seen the ads on TV and in magazines selling us on the idea to “Go RV’ing.” It’s always the same; a photo of a beautiful big Class A, Class B or Class C RV Motorhome parked in a beautiful and scenic campground or park with a stunning backdrop of some sort, such as a shimmering lake, the ocean, a campfire, the mountains and usually with an absolutely stunning sunset. Our imaginations kick-in and we see ourselves enjoying that scene with family and friends.
Reality then sends us a message saying, is that really the way it is?
Well, many years ago, my wanderlust kicked in and I decided to find out for myself. After several years of traveling around North America, I can tell you that this lifestyle does exist. Not only does it exist, it’s thriving! However, let me also say that the most scenic and enjoyable camping I’ve found is free. In the beginning, I paid the fees of the RV parks, some of which were charging upwards of $50 – $60 for a space for the night. Not only did I find that too pricey, but in most cases I was close enough to my neighbor to hear him snore.
So where is all this free scenic camping?
• National forests
• Some state parks
• The mountains **
• The Oceans
• Deserts
• Public lands such as BLM (Bureau of Land Management)
• When out exploring for a free scenic site, remember to never pass a National Forest office, BLM office, or area Visitor Center without stopping. While there, ask for free maps, camping conditions, road conditions, etc.
And the list goes on. You just need to do some research.
** I recently spent a week in the Great Smoky Mountains, right on the banks of a fast flowing river. I had a beautiful, secluded campground with beautiful scenery and an awesome waterfall. The cost of that campsite? Absolutely nothing, zero, nada, zilch! I happened to be there in the fall, so Mother Nature provided me with the most wonderful display of colors I have seen in years – the turning of the leaves.
There are also numerous free apps available for your smartphone. Here are just a few that I have on my iPhone:
• Campendium
• ParkFinder
• RV Parky
• RoadTrippers
• The Dyrt
NOTE: Not all these apps will direct you to free camping sites, but they all offer good information for any camper / RV’er.
When looking for free camp sites, my favorite go to is not an app, but a website.
That site is: http://www.freecampsites.net. Simply type the location where you would like to stay into the search bar.
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Quartzsite, Arizona is a small oasis in the desert of southwest Arizona and lies approximately 22 miles from the California border directly on I-10. Only 2 off-ramps feed into the small town of Quartzsite.
Aerial view of Quartzsite
With a permanent population of approximately 3500 residents, it becomes the third largest city, population wise, in the state of Arizona during the winter months, swelling to 1 million plus.
Traveling East on I-10 Toward Quartzsite
The biggest draw is the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Lands surrounding Quartzsite. Arizona has some 12 million + acres of BLM Land and can be used by the public for recreation purposes including camping for free. Snow birds from the frozen north flock into the desert during the winter as southwest Arizona averages only 2″ of rain, cool nights and sunny days in the low to mid 70’s making this a preferred location for tens of thousands of snow birds who RV in, bringing with them their prospecting gear and ATV’s.
Quartzsite is surrounded by mountains and desert
In addition to the draw of the desert for RV’ers; the RV Show is a major draw as is the QIA Pow-Wow (http://www.qiaarizona.org/PowWow.html), world famous gem shows, the largest swap meet in the world, RV Trailer Parks with full hookups or dry camping all make this area of Arizona a “must-visit” destination. and thousands of acres of BLM areas to accommodate the RV’er, Prospector & ATV enthusiast.
LTVA (Long Term Visitor Area)
Quartzsite is surrounded by open desert and magnificent mountains and has long been a crossroads for an array of people.
Established as a stage stop on the site of old Fort Tyson in 1866, Quartzsite is now internationally famous for its annual Rock & Mineral shows. Quartzsite Improvement Association, (QIA) started it all 39 years ago with the first “POW WOW” rock & gem show helping to build Quartzsite to its status of “World Famous Rock & Gem shows.” Today they have over 10 themed shows with a variety of venders. Some stay for a few days, others a few months. Quartzsite’s history is rich with prospecting & mining from the 1880’s to early 1900’s. Even today’s modern miners and prospectors are drawn to “try their luck.” Some find nuggets, gold dust & specimen quality gold bearing quartz.
The “Hi Jolly” Monument located in town, honors the camel driver, Hadji Ali (Hi Jolly) who took part in an unsuccessful 1850’s experiment to use camels as beasts of burden in the desert. To the south are the Kofa Mountains where you’ll find Palm Canyon, a tight gorge and home to Arizona’s only native palms. Historic and scenic areas include, Crystal Hill, Tyson Tanks, and Tyson Wells Stage Station Museum.
Some links you may find of interest:
Quartzsite Museum
http://www.quartzsitemuseum.com/
Tyson’s Well Stage Station- Museum, operated by the Quartzsite Historical Society Inc. The original adobe stage station was built in 1866 by Charley Tyson at its present location. It was an important way station on the California – Arizona line because of excellent water and grass for the horses. Miners and freighters, hauling mining equipment and military supplies from the river port at Ehrenberg, AZ also stopped here.
The Quartzsite Historical Society opened Tyson’s Well Museum in February 1980, after extensive restoration work. The original structurally sound walls were retained and others were rebuilt. A shell of stabilized adobe brick was built around the original walls to protect them.
Town of Quartzsite Official Website
http://www.ci.quartzsite.az.us/
The Quartzsite Gem and Mineral Club
http://qrgmc.org/
Boondocking Guide
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/waters/
BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Information on camping on BLM Land.
https://www.blm.gov/arizona
Quartzsite, AZ Weather
https://www.wunderground.com/weather/us/az/quartzsite
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The vast majority of these snow birds will settle down on the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Land near the small town of Quartzsite, Arizona. BLM Land is owned and maintained by the Federal Government and Arizona alone has some 12 million acres that can be used by the public for recreation. This land is used extensively by RV’ers during the winter months. Quartzsite has a permanent population of approximately 3500, but during the winter months, the population will swell to near one million, according to the figures I’ve seen. That is a lot of people descending onto this small town.
Quartzsite is located on I-10 approximately 20 miles from the California border and happens to be surrounded by a very large quantity of BLM Land.
The major benefit of spending the winter in Quartzsite is the fact that it’s very easy on your budget and the weather is near perfect. There are quite a few RV parks in town and if settling down in a park is your cup of tea, you’ll find the cost is usually less than in most other areas of the country. However, if your budget dictates a really good deal, you will want to set up camp on BLM Land which offers the following:
You can spend up to 7 months in one of the LTVA’s (Long Term Visitor Area) for under $180.**
You can get a 14 day permit for $40.**
** For these deals, you get access to an onsite dump station, a fresh water source, and trash dumpsters and some areas have toilets.
If you prefer an even better deal, you can camp on BLM Land for free. Here’s how that works:
You can stay in any number of other BLM areas around Quartzsite for up to two weeks for free, however, you will have no amenities at all; no fresh water, no dump station, nothing. After your 2 weeks are up, you will have to move to another BLM area at least 25 miles distant. A permit is required, but it’s free, it’s a way for Rangers to keep a head count and monitor BLM Land users.
So, now that you have a good idea as to what you can expect when camping on BLM Land, you might be thinking of what you will need in a desert setting with no amenities. Quartzsite, as I mentioned is a small town and supplies are limited and lines are long. The nearest Walmart is some 40 miles away in Parker, Arizona. Blythe, California is approximately 22 miles west on I-10, just across the Colorado River. There you will find some good places for shopping, but no Walmart.
Listed below are some things to consider and items you might want to put on your “to bring with you list.” Remember – this is off-grid camping and there are no amenities.
If you’re in a Class A, Class B or Class C motor home, you’ll most likely have a generator. The problems with generators is they can be noisy and an annoyance to any close-by campers. They use a lot of fuel if running for long periods of time and fuel is expensive. If you want air conditioning or like to watch a TV, then a generator will be necessary. If you don’t have one of the aforementioned motor homes, you can always pick up a portable generator that will power everything but air conditioning.
If you’re in a small RV, trailer, 5th wheel or a van with no generator, perhaps you’ll want to invest in solar panels. I have a converted cargo van with a refrigerator and my solar panels provide enough power for all my electrical needs which include my refrigerator, lights, power for my laptop and chargers for camera and phone, etc.
Don’t forget about dumping your tanks. The LTVA’s have a dump station, but with all the RV’s staying there, there will be long lines and besides, you’ll have to break camp to drive to the dump station. There are some entrepreneurs that come around with “roving honey wagons.” They will come to your rig and for a small fee empty your tanks and dispose of the waste for you.
You can also empty your waste tanks in town at dump stations for a small fee. The advantage here is that there’s usually no lines.
When you camp in the desert, expect dust. Dust is just a fact of life in the desert, so just embrace it. Cover all vents and cracks with cloth and tape or whatever you have that will help keep dust out. However, you can have your RV hermetically sealed and you will still have dust find its way inside. You may want to give your RV a good wax job prior to parking in the desert. This will help keep the dust at bay when the wind blows, then wipe down the outside whenever possible. You may wish to cover your furniture with sheets.
Boondocking, dry-camping, camping off-grid, whatever you want to call it; it’s basically the same thing and can be simple and comfortable for weeks or even months at a time, depending on how well you prepare. Most everyone I meet and speak with are all into boondocking for one common purpose – to relax and enjoy nature. You can live this lifestyle and enjoy Quartzsite or one of numerous other BLM areas.
So what do you think? Do you have some suggestions that could help a fellow boondocker? Comments? Feel free to leave any suggestions and or comments so we can all share and learn something from each other.
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For others, it means hopping into your RV and driving to a park and connecting your water and sewer lines and electricity and turning on your TV.
For me it’s somewhere in between. I have a cargo van that I converted to an RV. But, I don’t camp in RV parks. Nor does my van have all the amenities of the large, expensive motor homes. To me, RV parks aren’t really camping. RV parks tend to park motor homes so close to each other that you can hear your neighbor snore and they can be quite pricey. My van can carry me into the wilderness, National Forests or BLM Land where I may not even see another camper. Of course, most of those areas have no amenities at all, so you have to plan for carrying fresh water in. If you want or need electricity, then you’ll have to plan for that. I have solar panels that capture the suns rays and provides all the electricity I need for my refrigerator and lights. My van has a comfortable bed, so the cold, hard ground if not a concern for me. Further, should inclement weather become a problem, I have protection inside my van.
The National Forests allow this type camping as does BLM Land (Bureau of Land Management). There are Forest Service maps available for free to make finding a suitable camping site like this quite easy. In addition, there are a lot of apps available for your smartphone. These apps show where campsites can be found and provide directions for getting there. A couple of things to consider. All the BLM Land that I’ve been on forbids picking up wood, even dead wood for fires, so be sure to carry your own in if you want a fire and be aware of fire safety and you should check to see if fires are prohibited where you wish to camp. Bring all your trash back out with you, leave your site cleaner than it was when you arrived.
Now, if you’re one of those who likes to camp in a tent and be somewhat close to nature, but prefers a campground for security or whatever, then you may want to choose a park with primitive sites set aside for tent camping. This type camping does provide some security as well as bath houses and some semblance of nature.
Some folks like to really go primitive by canoeing into certain wilderness areas. Some enjoy backpacking for miles into the wilderness and tossing a tent or sleeping on the ground under the stars.
People get into camping for various reasons, the most common being to commune with nature. That can be difficult in a big RV in a luxury park while sitting in an air conditioned RV watching TV along with dozens of other RV’ers.
So, whichever you prefer, it’s ok, just do it. You’ll feel better after spending a weekend or a week out in the wilderness communing with nature.
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Some of you reading this may know that one of my passions in life is traveling. I am a wanderer at heart. My folks moved around a lot when I was a youngster; I attended 9 different schools while growing up. That might freak out a lot of people. It did me at first, but after a couple of moves, I looked at each move after that as a new adventure. After high school, I joined the U.S. Air Force and had the good fortune to travel to many different countries around the world. After 8 years of Air Force life, I entered the corporate world and had the good fortune to again travel, both domestically and internationally. When I retired from the corporate world, I started my own business which at times required some International travel. After fully retiring, I made several more trips abroad… as a tourist. I’m now working on my bucket-list which includes curtailing International travel and traveling more domestically. In this regard, I purchased a cargo van and built it into a custom RV.
To read about some of my travels and view some photos of destinations of my international and domestic travels, go to my blog at:
http://www.wanderingwithbill.com.
The RV’ing chapter of my life began about 3 years ago when I purchased a pretty good sized Class C RV. After about 3 trips in that big RV, I decided the Class C RV was too big for my needs as a solo traveler, and parking that big rig is prohibited in a lot of places I wanted to visit. Plus, getting only 9-10 miles per gallon of gas was eating into my budget.
Since purchasing and building out my van, I’ve made 2 trips to the western states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. I am currently at my home in Georgia awaiting cataract surgery, or I would be out west now. Once the surgery is behind me, I’m heading out to spend the rest of the winter in the Sonoran Desert in southwest Arizona and surrounding areas. From there, I’ll be exploring the back roads and small towns of America. No calendar, no clock and no schedules. The only thing for certain is I’ll be following the sun as I wander around this great country searching out state and National Parks and other things of interest. Even driving to Alaska is on my bucket list.
Some of my friends and family have asked me how I finance my travels. In addition to my retirement funds, I have found other ways by which money can be made by anyone on the road. In the last few years, I’ve done a lot of research and learned a lot about making money on various platforms, all while traveling. People say, “how do you find goods to sell while traveling?” “How do you ship something?” “How do you get paid?” Good questions all.
Let’s take a look at some ways.
NOTE: This article is not about the ‘details’ of selling on any of these platforms, but to show you there’s a way to make money on or off the road. If anyone is interested in details, please contact me.
FLEA MARKETS: Most people go to flea markets to look for a needed item or just while away time browsing all the different stalls. I go to flea markets to browse as well, but I’m browsing for something I can pick up for a couple of bucks and then flip it on eBay or Amazon for 80-100 bucks.
RETAIL ARBITRAGE: An excellent way to make money. For those of you who might not know, Retail Arbitrage is simply finding items on retail store shelves that you can flip and sell for a profit online, such as Amazon, eBay, Craigslist etc. If I happen to be in a store, such as a Walmart or Target, I’ll spend a few minutes looking for close-outs that I might be able to flip for a nice profit. I have an Amazon app that I use to scan a barcode and that will tell me if that item is profitable, so I don’t waste time or money on something that might not return a profit to me. I don’t do a lot of this, because I don’t want to get bogged down with anything labor intensive while on the road, plus I don’t have a lot of room in my van to carry too many items.
ETSY STORE: I design coffee mugs to sell in my Etsy store. An Etsy Store can be had by anyone and there’s no cost to set up a store. Once it’s set up and you begin stocking it with items to sell, you’ll pay a 20 cent fee to list an item and of course there’s fees once you sell something.
I design my mugs on a platform by the name of Printify and list them on Etsy. Printify is partnered with and is integrated with Etsy. Once a sale is made on Etsy, Printify will print the mug and ship it to my customer. It’s a seamless operation and Etsy takes care of everything for me including getting paid. The beauty is, I don’t have any inventory and I only pay for the mugs once they are sold, so no upfront costs, no money tied up and I never have to touch anything but my laptop computer or my iPhone. To give you an idea, here’s the link to my Etsy Store.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/checkmymugs
MERCH BY AMAZON: This Amazon program affords anyone the opportunity to sell “print on demand” T-Shirts, hoodies, long-sleeved T-shirts, etc as well as some other items such as Pop-Sockets on their platform. This is an awesome program where one can sell shirts with no upfront money. You could easily start a business with this model. One simply uploads a T-Shirt design and Amazon does the rest. No cost at all to the seller. Your shirt will be printed and shipped usually within a day or so of receiving an order. Not only that, but Prime shipping is free! This can be a single shirt or multiple shirts. This is a great way to design and sell shirts. Amazon has made a significant investment in printing machines which cost something like $500K each and they have a warehouse the size of a football field housing these huge printing machines which are the size of a car and takes several people to operate. And, Amazon lets us use their machines at no cost to print and sell T-Shirts. You set your own price as to what you want to sell the shirts for. The only stipulation to pricing is that you make at least 1 cent profit. Therefore, if you were so inclined, you could design and sell shirts to groups such as Little League, church, etc. for just a penny over cost. How great is that?
Amazon lists these shirts and products on their site and a nice thing about this too, is these items qualify for Prime Shipping. Amazon takes care of everything such as listing the items, selling them, shipping them and collecting the money and if there’s a customer service issue, Amazon takes care of that as well. Amazon then sends me a check for the profit. It doesn’t get any better than that. I’ve been selling T-shirts with this program almost since its beginning.
eBAY: I’ve been selling on eBay for years. Again, the only issue I have with this platform is handling products. The seller has to take the photos of goods they want to sell, list the item, write a description and when a sale is made, pack that item and ship it to the buyer. It’s an easy way to make extra or even full time money, but as you can probably tell by now, I’m just not crazy about handling products. I used to sell a ton of books through eBay, but that entailed a lot of driving around to used book stores, Goodwill, library sales and the like and rummaging through hundreds of books and trying to determine if a book was profitable. They’re also quite heavy and can be costly to ship. I made some good money, but I spent a lot of time in book stores to make that money.
AMAZON FBA (FULFILLMENT BY AMAZON: I am what is known as a PRO Seller on Amazon. When I want to sell something on Amazon, I use their FBA Program as opposed to their FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) Program. As a PRO Seller, I get to take advantage of Amazon’s UPS rates. UPS is a major partner of Amazon and therefore when using FBA, my rates are much cheaper than other logistic companies such as FedEx, DHL or the US Postal Service. UPS Stores are an online seller’s best friend. Look around; you’ll find UPS Stores in every town and city. So when shipping to Amazon, I take my items to a UPS Store and ship to Amazon. Amazon receives my package(s); unpacks them, lists my items on their platform, sells them, ships them, and handles all the customer service including any returns. They then deduct their fees and electronically deposit proceeds directly to my bank account. All this makes selling on Amazon’s platform while traveling a breeze.
STEEMIT: Steemit is a blogging and social networking website owned by Steemit, Inc that uses the Steem blockchain to reward publishers and curators. I’ve only been involved on Steemit for a few months and have not been as active as perhaps I should. But from a money making standpoint, it is, perhaps, the best social media site out there, because it’s the perfect opportunity to make money writing. I’m still learning Steemit, but from what I’ve gathered, the more you write and post, the more money you can make. Two (2) posts per day is what is recommended from the person who introduced me to Steemit. There doesn’t seem to be a limit as to how much one can earn. So far, I’ve made over 100 posts and. From what I can gather, you make money when your post is upvoted by other “Steemers.” I have a lot of posts on Steemit that have not yielded a single penny but I have some that have paid anywhere from 2-3 cents to 25 cents to a few dollars. The most I was paid for a single post was $96.00 and change, one post in the $29.00 range. Steemit works on cryptocurrency, but don’t let that confuse you here. You can exchange the cryptocurrency for dollars. Here is my basic grasp of it. Steemit is a social media site built on a block-chain and everything you do on it is recorded. All of your writings are considered a transaction and will be recorded. Because of its transparency and the fact that anyone can look to see how much you have earned and look at your history to see what you have withdrawn, makes it a rather honest place to be. Basically how Steemit works is that everyone creates posts and these posts receive upvotes. When they are upvoted, you earn some money on them. You can upvote your favorite posts too and receive a small percentage of that post’s earnings as well.
Some of my posts have been perhaps a full page or a little more. I’ve also posted just a photo with maybe a one sentence or paragraph description of the photo. So far I can’t tell the difference in terms of money earned. So I’m thinking, for the next 15-20 posts or so, rather than take the time to research for an article, I will post some interesting photos of my travels and perhaps a sentence or 2 describing the photo and see what happens.
I’ve seen some posts with just a photo and description earning as much as several hundred dollars. I’ve also seen some lengthy posts bringing in that amount. So there is money to be earned posting on Steemit. I know of no other social media sites paying for posting articles.
Feel free to check out my Steemit site at:
https://steemit.com/@billjones
IMPORTING: I do some light importing and sell those goods on eBay, Amazon, Craig’s List, and even Facebook using the drop-ship method, so I never have to touch the products. I purchase directly from manufacturers in China and have it drop-shipped via U.S. Mail from China directly to my customer in approximately 12-20 days. I don’t purchase large items because of potential shipping issues and cost. I purchase small items such as survival items, cell phone cases, dash mounted phone holders, even knock-off type Go-Pro Cameras, etc and I’ve never paid more than $3.00 for shipping. In a lot of cases, I get free shipping. These are all profitable items that sell well and because I deal only with reputable factories and sellers in China, I’ve never had an issue with a lost shipment or credit card abuse.
With all the research I’ve done, I could probably write a book on this subject. (Now there’s an idea for yet another stream of income). In fact I have one book on Amazon Kindle now, but it’s related to my former profession as a Private Investigator.
I am in the process of setting up a YouTube Channel for uploading videos on while traveling. Once it’s up and I’m on the road, I’ll write another post as to the YouTube address, etc. And of course, I’ll be posting on my blog as well at:
http://www.wanderingwithbill.com
If anyone has any comments, suggestions, etc, please contact me at:
http://www.billjones411@gmail.com
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.
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* Robert Paxton McCulloch (May 11, 1911 – February 25, 1977) was an American entrepreneur from Missouri, best known for McCulloch chainsaws and purchasing the “New” London Bridge, which he moved to one of the cities he founded, Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
*Source: McCulloch – Wikipedia
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There are many ways to find the low cost or free places to stay during your RV travels. The first of course is Google. Throw some keywords into Google and you’ll be surprised at what comes up. There are also quite a few apps available as well that can direct you to free and low cost overnight stays or even for spending a few day or weeks. I’ll list a few apps at the end of this article that might help you with your research.
Full service RV parks have become quite pricey, even to the point of costing as much as a motel room. This is especially true if the park is located near a city or major highway. Instead of a park like this, you may opt for a park with less amenities. You might also consider a state park. Keep in mind though, that some state parks and other recreational areas have no hookups and that’s fine if you’re trying to watch your money.
For the really frugal RV’er (and adventurer), you might want to consider camping out on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land or in a National Forest. Rarely is there any charge at all for these places and guess what? You won’t find any paid areas offering the views and terrain these areas offer. Remember this, there are no hookups, so you’ll need to carry fresh water and a means of producing electricity if you want or need it. Personally, this is the type camping I have been doing for years. I can’t recall the last time I stayed in an RV park and paid those high rates. I have solar panels that provides all my electrical needs. These areas are quieter, more peaceful and the most scenic.
A couple of caveats to keep in mind are the roads and dust. All of the roads on BLM Land and National Forests I’ve been on are washboard type dirt and your speed is very limited because of this. Insure everything in your RV is secured and expect dust to get into everything. If you can live with that, you’re in for some very special camping. Another thing is that some of the roads can be a challenge even for small vehicles, so if you’re in a larger type motor home, trailer or 5th wheel, you may experience more challenges in reaching certain locations.
As promised, here are some apps and other information that you might find helpful during your research.
NOTE: The below listed apps are on my iPhone (IOS), but they may also be available for Android. Check it out and see.
CAMPENDIUM: This app has a great deal of information showing such things as nearby RV Parks, nearby public land, nearby free camping, etc.
OH RANGER! : Helps in your search for parks
RV PARKY: Assists in finding RV parks near a city or place
ROAD TRIPPERS: Helps in mapping out your trip with interesting stops along the way
THE DYRT MAGAZINE: The latest camping tips, stories, lists, etc.
WI-FI MAP: Helps find wi-fi on the road
GAS BUDDY: Finds gas stations near you with prices
WAZE: Never leave home without it. If you’re not familiar with this app, you’ll need it and love it. GPS in real time and even alerts you to nearby police, traffic, obstacles on the road, etc
www.freecampsites.net This one is not an app, but a website that is my favorite “go to” for finding free places to park:
You might also want to check out TRAILER LIFE or WOODALL’S that can help you find those RV park sites that have lower rates.
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