Photo by polifemus (out of order).

This is a guest-post by John Konrad.

At 18 years old I was ill-equipped for the future and struggling academically. I had been an A student in high school but managed to succeed only with the help of caffeine tobacco and by working every late night that preceded a big exam. It seemed to work and during my senior year I had been accepted into the United States Naval Academy.

Then life crashed. The regimented schedules set by the military instructors combined with my father’s diagnosis with cancer from Agent Orange and some immaturity on my part to cause my grades to plummet and, upon completing the difficult first year, I was given the boot.

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Photo by Angela7dreams.

This is a guest-post by Gary Arndt.

In March of 2007 I sold my home of eight years, put my possessions in storage and set out to explore the world. Since then I’ve visited 34 countries and territories and have been able to update my blog on an almost daily basis. My goal was to see as much of the world as I could. Blogging was secondary. I had been running a personal website since 1998, before they were called blogs, so keeping a journal of my adventures was natural.

Blogging from the road isn’t easy, especially if you want to take it seriously. In many places finding internet access is difficult if not impossible. Internet cafes vary dramatically in quality and there is no guarantee you’ll be able to use a USB drive. Here are some of the things I’ve learned from blogging which can help you lead your technomadic life.

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Photo by DownTown Pictures.

This guest-post on outsourcing your work to a local sales-person is by Warren Greeley, writing from Chicago, Illinois.

There is this reoccurring daydream I have of working on my laptop while lounging on a beach somewhere I’ve never been, with white sandy shores and clear-blue water as far as the eye can see.

There is a problem though. I own a business that has a well establish local niche — and it’s my main source of my income.

I had a simple but great idea to fix this problem. This idea was to implement a local sales person to do the selling for me. In doing so, the burden of pitching my services is taken (mostly) off my shoulders—and—my location becomes less necessary in serving my local niche.

The benefits of hiring a local sales person, then, are great.

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Photo by 13hobby

This is a guest-post from Sharon Hurley Hall, writing from the Caribbean. Read part 1 of this two-part series if you missed it.

Communications And Connectivity

Paradise: It’s great to know that even in the tropics, you don’t have to lose touch with the rest of the world. The Caribbean is wired, mostly thanks to Cable and Wireless. That means you have internet cafes, dialup, ADSL, WiFi and satellite TV. In fact, you’ve got everything the modern freelancer needs. Working in the tropics doesn’t always mean cutting yourself off from the rest of the world — or does it?

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Photo by jenschapter3

This is a guest-post from Sharon Hurley Hall, writing from Barbados.

Freelance writing from a Caribbean island could be the ultimate work at home dream. Not only do you get all the usual benefits of freelancing (setting your own hours, working in pyjamas, more time with the family) but you also get to work in a beautiful place which is frequently featured as a celebrity getaway.

If going on holiday to the Caribbean evokes sighs of longing; living there sends the envy into the stratosphere.

Even so, every paradise has its troubles and working from a tropical island isn’t always rosy. Here are some of the pros and cons of freelancing in the tropics.

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Photo by hal990

This is a guest-post from Mark Hayward, writing from the Palmetto Guesthouse in Culebra, Puerto Rico.

In one of my previous guest posts here at Anywired I discussed how to remove yourself from the office and take your show on the road. Today, I thought that I would give you a little insight and look into how I went from the cubicle to the Caribbean.

My story of searching for personal freedom might be a little different than most as I now live in the Caribbean and am currently trying to develop my web presence from here. But, whatever your web worker dreams are, this story should hopefully resonate with many Anywired readers, because I’m truly an “everyman.” I do not come from money and have done every possible job from working as a waiter, landscaper, and warehouse worker to presenting data and policy to high-level government officials.

To be sure, my goal to live in the Caribbean is most likely quite analogous to your situation, whatever your objective might be, whether it’s starting your own business, telecommuting a couple of days a week, or traveling the globe. My journey was probably not too different to what many of you are hoping to achieve.

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Photo by Ahron de Leeuw

BootsnAll travel network has published its top 10 destinations for independent travelers, based on a criteria combining history, culture and value. Some of the locations (like Thailand, Ethiopia and Nepal) offer decent hotels at less than $10 USD a night. At those prices, you’ve got a much better chance of juggling bills at home and hotels anywhere.

As someone gearing up to spend much of 2009 working internationally and traveling solo, I’ve found this list insanely useful.

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