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Maybe People Do Not Want to Travel the World

FINCA TATIN, Guatemala- I may have made a grave miscalculation, I may have based my work and this website on a false pretense, I realized that I may be investing massive amounts of time and effort into moot points and words that don’t hit their intended mark. Vagabond Journey is based on the premise that [...]

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FINCA TATIN, Guatemala- I may have made a grave miscalculation, I may have based my work and this website on a false pretense, I realized that I may be investing massive amounts of time and effort into moot points and words that don’t hit their intended mark.

Vagabond Journey is based on the premise that people want to travel the world, that their is a sizeable market, a large audience of people who want to travel perpetually, live a full life of wandering that goes beyond vacationing, that goes beyond leisure, that there are people who want to make a life of traveling.

As I have done.

I made the stark error of thinking that other people want to live like me.

I am now realizing that they don’t, people want to take vacations, they don’t want to travel the world. I feel arrogant in my assumption that I live a better life than most other people, that I found a secret key to good living, and that if I shared it people would want to take it with open arms.

For five years I have been writing explicit information on how to travel the world long term, and in doing so I think that I may have missed my true target audience.

————————–

My friend Dave from The Longest Way Home asked the question:

Is this really marketable?

We have been discussing the possibility of doing an ebook or an electronic magazine together. We are looking at a mountain of work, we are debating if we really want to start climbing up this hill, we need to ask ourselves the question: are enough people really willing to pay money for information on how to travel the world long term?

Is there really an audience for this kind of information, and, if so, are they willing to pay us money for our knowledge?

We both need money, both Dave and I need to start making our websites, our writing projects, more profitable — or we need to pack it in. We both know this, we both have end of the year deadlines. We both are willing to work our fingers to the bone typing, assembling words, we are both more than willing to not sleep to make a living from these projects that we have come to love, that have become obsessions of sorts. So we must ask the question:

Do people really want to travel the world? Do people really want to travel for years and years and never go home? Are there enough people out there who want to give up their jobs, homes, family roles, and group of friends in exchange for the Open Road.

Or is this a merely a romantic thought which balances itself out in short vacations?

Do people want to travel the world?

Please let me know, I cannot tell.

————————-

I began thinking a funny thought that had never really surfaced before:

Maybe people don’t want to be like me? Maybe they don’t want to travel like I do.

I never framed this question before, it was my previous notion that everybody would rather live a life of travel than working 40 hours a week inside of a cubical, it was my notion that I live pretty well, that other people are envious of me, that I can make a living from teaching others how to live abroad and travel for as long as they want.

The entire market base of Vagabondjourney.com was based on people wanting information on long term travel, on traveling as a lifestyle.

But who really wants to travel the world?

Traveling long term is life, it is not an escape. I work every day as I travel, I am not a slouch, I am not on vacation. I live a solid life in ever changing locations.

As I work in this hotel in the jungle of Guatemala, I can confirm that I have not yet meet one single traveler coming through here who displayed interest in travel perpetually. Some people are on long trips, some for multiple years, but they all have return dates, they all have plans to go home. It is quickly becoming my impression that the point where traveling mixes with real life is where most people lose interest.

The main conception of travel, as far as I can tell, is an escape from regular life, it is a way of living in which there is no work, no responsibility, where permissiveness can be given full reign, where consequences have rubber teeth, where the beaches are beautiful and the sand does not get stuck in your ass crack, where ugly old guys can lay beautiful women, where plump chicks can feel beautiful by screwing  well toned, young men, where adventure is devoid of danger, where all dreams come true on the other side of the rainbow, on the big rock candy mountain. The tourism industry has sought to service this conception of travel. This is the idea of travel that is firmly entrenched in the collective consciousness of the world.

I think I had to travel for five years before my mother realized that I was not on vacation, that I was not taking the easy way out by traveling.

Little do people seem to know that travel is work, and it is the work that lends it value. It takes work to build character, it takes world to build experience, knowledge, it takes effort to learn, to see things in new ways, to be sure you really know what you are talking about, to talk about new things. Traveling is learning, it takes effort, it takes work — both mental and physical. There is nothing leisurely about it.

The conception of travel is a fraud.

I base this website on the premise that there are people out there who want information on how to travel the world perpetually, on how they can work abroad, save money, stay happy, and travel as a way of life. But how many people are really doing this?

I need to start out selling the dream. I want to create a romantic notion of perpetual world travel: “I have been traveling for 11 years through 46 countries on 5 continents.”

Uh, la, la, and all that.

If I started this website out with the passage:

Warning: there is nothing in this website about eating in fancy restaurants or going to tourists sites or attractions. This is the record of real life spend in perpetual motion. I work at least 8 hours a day like everybody else, I raise a family, I live a life of study, learning, writing. I am on call all day long, I collect impressions of the world as I move through it, this is a job that does not end. I publish this website every single day without any days off. My goal is to meet people, learn, process, and share. I work formal jobs for very little pay, I am constantly wondering how I am going to get enough money to make the next move. I care nothing about seeing the sites and “doing places.” This is not a vacation, this is real life. Vagabonds travel to work, and the essence of the traveling life is found in working daily for your own sustenance while seeking a glimpse of understanding of the world you live in. This website serves to share information on how people of the world really live, beyond the costumes, outside of the curio shops, beyond the smiles of tourism.

Who would read any further?

This is not a very marketable description of a travel website.

But this is the real life of the perpetual traveler. It is a real life. I think it is pretty romantic, I think that it is pretty good, though I must admit that I may be a sort of masochist: I appreciate the essence of a day spent stimulated, at full attention, eyes and ears open wide, a day of learning, a day of working, building, creating, accomplishing. I can imagine no worse day than one with nothing to do but swing around in a hammock, flinging monkeys at the coconuts, drinking colorful cocktails with twirly straws, a day of leisure. This day could only be matched in horridness by one of tours, being around other tourists, seeing sites, being catered to, not having to show any regard to my daily sustenance because I have enough money to just pay for all my needs and wants without thought.

The popular conception of travel is a hell for me.

And I am sure that the way I travel would be likewise received by most people.

“Nobody wants to travel like you do,” my wife spoke honestly to me over a year ago. It is just now that I am heeding her words.

——————————

I thought for years that I was living a life that others wanted to emulate — I am certainly happy, I think what I do is pretty cool — but it is becoming obvious to me that just because a person takes an active interest in long term travel and working around the world does not mean that they want to do it.

Maybe people don’t want to be like me, maybe they don’t want to be perpetual travelers?

I must admit that the evidence points towards the above statement being correct: most people seem to want to go traveling, but most also want to go home. Most people want both worlds, a stable job and life mixed with a month or two of traveling a year. The idea is firmly entrenched that travel should serve as a counterweight to working, a way of balancing out the year, a shift in extremes to keep life even.

To travel year round for many years seems extreme, and some may be impressed with my record, but few want to really do it themselves.

It is a very odd person, indeed, who travels for ten years. They are also very rare.

In all of my travels, I can count the number of perpetual travelers that I know on the fingers of one hand.

Andy Graham
Malcolm Glasgow
Dave from The Longest Way Home (though he is traveling with the intention to find home)
Loren Everly
Craig Heimburger

I can also fill my other hand with travelers who change locations around the world on a year or two basis.

All together, in 11 years I have only met perhaps ten people who are moving about the world somewhat perpetually.

At most, only ten.

So when I think about Dave’s question — Is there a market for what we do? — I must step outside of my own hopes and really ask the question:

Does anybody want to travel the world?

People want to travel the world, but they want to have a home more.

—————

I remember watching a group of teenagers once at an interstate rest stop in the USA. They were loud, they acted as if they thought they were cool, it was clear that they thought all of us old onlookers wanted to be like them — that it was the greatest thing in the world to be young, to be a teenager.

I looked at them in disgust — being a teenager again was the last thing that I would ever want to do. I became so happy that I was not them, that I was not young and that stupid anymore.

Groups tend to think a lot of themselves, they tend to think that other people want to be a part of their exclusive club, to be like them. This is often the last thing that onlookers want. We usually look on and say, “Man, I am glad I am not one of those jerks.”

Where their are group ideologies, insider/ outsider dichotomies, the insiders often reconfirm to each other that they are doing something great, something that every other person also would like to do.

This often could not be farther from the truth.

I was caught up in this dynamic, I thought that the brotherhood of perpetual travelers had masses of prospective initiates. This could not be farther from the truth.

Maybe people don’t want to travel the world?

Maybe I need to change my strategy to meet this new impression?

Maybe people don’t want to travel the world?



Booking.com

Filed under: Perpetual Travel, Travel Philosophy

About the Author:

I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 91 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. has written 3692 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

Support VBJ’s writing on this blog:

VBJ is currently in: New York City

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  • Bob L July 5, 2010, 5:54 pm

    ‘Bout time you realized this…..

    I can offer my opinion here, for whatever that is worth. Won’t cost you nuthin’

    I think there are a lot of people that dream of quitting work and wandering around the world. Few are really serious about it, but dreams are not supposed to be serious, well, not all of them. Hell, I dream about quitting work and wandering around the world, but if I was serious about it, I would have done it. I suppose that is why I started reading your site, to feed my dream. Your excellent writing kept me here.

    I would think that if you gave most people the chance to wander around the world with plenty of money to do whatever they wanted, they would take you up on the offer, but eventually get tired of it. I suspect that a lot of people would enjoy living in various locations for extended periods of time, even if they were working. There are few people who really dream of living as close to the bone as you do. That is too much like work for most people.

    Think about it, if someone in the US inherits $500,000 they could invest it and easily travel the world on a low budget. I bet few would do this.

    Now, is your website/e-magazine marketable? Maybe. People love to read about the things they dream about. Selling dreams can often be highly profitable. I suppose you never really know until you try it.

    There are two websites about World Traveling on motorcycles. Both do a lot of business. One is more about actually setting out and doing it. There are tons of stories from people on the road. They do OK business, people read their monthly e-magazine and they have advertisers etc. The other is more about the dream of “Adventure” travel, with more people taking shorter trips, and doing adventure trips close to home etc. Yes, it has world travel info and stories there too, but it is more about the dream of adventure. Guess which one is busier (I don’t know if either makes much profit, but I assume they do). The one about dreams is the most widely known, and the busiest.

    Dreams sell.

    Bob L

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    • Michael July 5, 2010, 8:48 pm

      Write a book… You really are a writer who is traveling . Not the other way around.

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      • Wade | Vagabond Journey.com July 6, 2010, 10:26 am

        Really appreciate this suggestion. Very well may. Thank you.

        Walk Slow,

        Wade

        Link Reply
  • Sam July 6, 2010, 12:12 am

    Sorry for the long post in advance. I agree with Bob L. on this one. Dreams sell. Reality…not so much.

    No one wants to commit their life to a cubicle (I include myself in this crowd), but they do want comfort in knowing that tomorrow is secure. There are those that want to travel for extended periods of time but you are right in that they don’t see it as a life long endeavor. There is an end date, however, that doesn’t mean your site doesn’t cater to a larger market. There may be some marketing overhaul to be done in framing your message but don’t give up on the idea you have going. The main portion of what you are doing is marketable. I think people want to know that the possibility to perpetually travel is out there. The cubicle dwellers want to know that they could give up the cube. That doesn’t mean the will do it and most definitely will not. Just by knowing it can be done they are content in taking their month vacations (if even that long). I think what people want is a dream of traveling and then some logistics on how to do it smartly. This ‘smart travel’ can be applied to a 1 week, 1 month or 1 year trip. No matter how long someone has to travel they want to know how they can stretch their money, meet locals, or walk down an unfamiliar street safely? I think the two ideas of perpetually traveling and budget travel are similar but not synonymous.

    Personally speaking I come to your site and read what you have to say often. I don’t come because I will be traveling perpetually. I love the idea but can’t say I want to commit to it just like most five year old children who say they want to be firefighters or teachers don’t actually become firefighters or teachers. I know that in a month I will start a journey that will keep me traveling for the immediate future (of at least a year) but probably not perpetually. I want to do this in a smart way. You provide that knowledge.

    One last comment. You are, by nature, marketing your site to a frugal group of individuals whether they are perpetual travelers or not. Your demographic audience holds tight purse strings…

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  • bicycle luke July 6, 2010, 2:57 am

    Totally agree with Bob and Sam.

    It’s definatly the dream of escaping the cubicle that brings people back to your website, but for me it is also your stories and your writing. You are a great story teller and I enjoy living vicariously through you.

    Maybe people are not going to subscribe to your website to unlock the secret to being a successful vagabond, but it sure makes for entertaining reading and i’ll pay for that. Dont define what Vagabond Journey’s purpose should be for its readers, but let it become a refuge from the standard travel website.

    Even if a reader is not planning on hitting the road for the rest of their life, they might find themselves at your site because they want to see another side to ‘tourism’ and the lonely planet made them sick…

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  • Un Turist July 6, 2010, 4:38 am

    I believe your blog is marketable as a curiosity, as an alternative thing, not as a source of information. In a way, I believe your blog markets as entertainment, if you want in the same way as fiction. Some people may read you because it’s exciting to follow the adventures (even the trivial ones, such as scaring off some ladies) of three characters who do something out of ordinary.

    I consider myself as one of those who want to travel perpetually, I have already quit my job and started moving for 3 weeks already – still in Europe, in August moving to Indonesia for an year and so on. When I have done 2 years of travelling and clear my thoughts about it, I will maybe contact you and Andy on a more personal level. For now I’m an outsider of this 10 persons community 🙂

    Considering this, I read your blog both as a source of information and entertainment, but I wouldn’t see how I could be part of making your blog profitable, as a consumer of it. I click on adds from time to time just as a sympathy for your work, but I will never buy something. Also, I will probably buy your book when it’s out (and Andy’s), but that’s about it. I’ve shared your blog and Andy’s with many friends who are culturally open and typically travel outside the country (Romania, very conservative, as you know it), but they found little interest in following you doing banal things.

    So maybe your blog indeed has an identity dillemma.

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  • Un Turist July 6, 2010, 4:39 am

    Needless to say, it was you and Andy who motivated me to quit my job and get moving.

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  • FruuGal July 6, 2010, 8:30 am

    You are facing a difficult truth. There are not many travelers who will follow your path. The upside? You are special and your readers recognize that.

    Nothing wrong with selling the Dream. We get vicarious pleasure from reading about how you travel perpetually.

    I think it intelligent and mature to re-evaluate your goal and methods. How can you move forward and gain the success you seek? The first step is to accept reality and embrace it.

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  • Debbie Goss July 6, 2010, 10:12 am

    I think that you are onto something. Not many people want to live as you do; but they/we do want to learn about other cultures from the inside out. I want to read about how fruit is picked, what it feels like to be stung by a scorpion, health clinics, jungle sounds, crossing borders in the middle east, panhandlers in NYC, etc, etc. You are my nightly reading! I don’t want to do any of those things. I don’t want to climb a mountain or go to war either, but I do want to read about those experiences.

    Short story – I once subscribed to Sports Illustrated because I loved Larry Bird, – but I found myself reading about curling, hockey, tennis and every other article in the mag. Why? Because they had GREAT writers. Everything they published was interesting because of the writing. I also subscribed to Archeology – and read none of it. Why? The writing sucked! They could make an interesting subject boring.

    You are very good writer! Whatever you write about will be good because of your fresh perspective and ability to translate that into words.

    PS If everyone wanted to wander the world there would be millions of people with backpacks and very few cities. No air pollution or oil spills – hummmm.

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  • Andy Graham HoboTraveler.com July 6, 2010, 10:51 am

    I agree, but in a way, I know your life is better than the people in Cubicle. Yes, they will all jump in now and say, as Bob L said,
    “Bout time you realized this…..”

    Take care, the want you obeying and being parts of the cubicle, they want you to share their misery. If life was so good where they were, you would be reading about them, not them reading you.

    The art here is to keep digging for the “Prajna.”

    Careful when you sell dreams, the majority of people who sell dreams are selling snake oil, and this is short term, not a long-term way of making a living. Personally, I hate reading Blogs, Travel, etc, it makes me sick to read the lying sack of Sh##t that is put up. Real life of a traveler is exciting enough without romanticizing it.

    Remember, they are reading, you are writing, they are not living, you are living. You are not living vicariously through them…

    Take care, notice how the Social Norms were trying to enforce you to believe?

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  • Don July 6, 2010, 4:09 pm

    ‘“Nobody wants to travel like you do,” my wife spoke honestly to me over a year ago. It is just now that I am heeding her words.’

    Be careful, when we say “nobody wants” or “everybody thinks” it usually means *I*.

    How many backpackers were there before guides like Lonely Planet? How many are there now?

    If I wanted to live your life I wouldn’t have a clue on how to do it.

    The book you were thinking about writing, how many books like that are there right now? Are there any?

    If this is opening up a new market it may be worth remembering that nobody needed the mobile phone or the iPod before it was there.

    Have you talked to a publisher?

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  • Francoise July 6, 2010, 8:35 pm

    My 2 Canadian cents…

    Ultimately, and whether you want it or not, most of your readers are living vicariously through you.

    And you’re right, most people don’t want to travel perpetually. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want to follow along for the ride and learn from you.

    Whatever your readers’ motivation, they come back because they’re getting something, however intangible, out of your writings.

    I hesitate to call it entertainment… but that’s what story tellers & writers do, they entertain, inform, and the better ones sometimes teach a few valuable lessons along the way.

    You’re a very good story teller. Dare I say like a well grounded Rolf Potts. I’ll be disappointed if you don’t, at some point, write a book.

    There is tremendous value in what you’re sharing with us. You’re proving that we are free to create, choose, change our lifestyles even if they don’t agree with societal norms and expectations.

    Transforming that value into dollars is a whole other matter.

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    • Wade | Vagabond Journey.com July 6, 2010, 10:56 pm

      Thanks to everyone who offered feedback here. It really means a lot. I truly need to hear your opinions and advice every once in a while to help figure out where I stand. Thank you for the spark of light in the dark, you really gave me a clearer picture of what roads there are before Vagabond Journey. I like where I stand now, with all of you, not sure why I am thinking about going anywhere else.

      Thanks!

      Walk Slow,

      Wade

      Link Reply
  • Russ July 7, 2010, 12:37 am

    I’ll keep this short because everyone has already said it. Just because it’s only a percentage of your readers that are serious about quitting their current life – whatever it may be – for a new one as a perpetual traveler, doesn’t make what you write any less “good” or useful. Everyone is here for a reason, and they are taking something from what you write. Doesn’t matter if you’re selling a dream or selling reality, or whether we’re in a cubicle or on the road, we’re all here reading, and enjoying it as well. And that’s just the regulars. I’m sure you get thousands of hits from people who are planning their two week vacation, wanting the inside scoop on where they’re going. Whether you agree with their reasons for traveling, and whether they’re a tourist or a traveler, they still may click on your ads, buy your gear, or become a regular reader, and thus are doing their part to keep you on the road as well.

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  • Brandon July 7, 2010, 1:28 am

    You are completely right when you say people want the best of both worlds. They want freedom and security at the same time. I know because I am of that mindset as well. They are afraid they cannot have one without the other.

    Traveling perpetually means ultimate freedom, but in the minds of most, it comes at the cost of sacrificing security (steady employment). This is a scary concept for those who have families to support.

    Obviously people want to travel with their families but are not going to put forth the effort to do the research it takes to do it, like finding out how to work and find accommodation abroad because the normal life of being in debt and strapped for time robs them the time needed to actually put the travel plan together.

    I am single and have no responsibilities so I can travel when I want and I have forsaken long term relationships to keep my dream alive. But I’m not most people. Most people have commitments bigger than themselves.

    However, I firmly believe if people had a STRAIGHT UP ‘HOW TO’ GUIDE telling them how to travel perpetually AND have security at the same time, the market would be enormous. But as of now there is NO guide ANYWHERE like that.

    You’re website has all of the information (MORE than enough) needed to do this but what it lacks is compiling the information into an easily digestible format that a time and energy strapped can consume. Your website is enormous and is a testament to hard work and determination. An ebook would solve this problem and be successful. Here’s why:

    1. It laser focuses people’s attention and
    2. It focuses on peoples desires, not needs

    Although your daily posts certainly INSPIRE people to want to travel, they want information on how to achieve the same results while retaining a certain level of perceived security (however, in this economy all security is ‘perceived’ anyways)in a step by step format. Hand holding.

    If people do nothing with the information, they will buy the book because it will cater to their desires “where permissiveness can be given full reign, where consequences have rubber teeth, where the beaches are beautiful and the sand does not get stuck in your ass crack.”

    People may not want to travel perpetually but the tactics used to travel forever can be applied to someone who travels for 6 months to a year. Same tactics but less travel time still equals success. It still gets people out their door.

    So you can market it as a How To Travel for a Year guide or something. One year is way less of a commitment than the rest of your life.

    Or, even if they consider the book mere entertainment, it will be successful.

    Case in point: Four Hour Work Week. What percentage of people took action on the information presented in the book to those that actually bought it? .001%? The book is still a best seller with people that do nothing but sit on their ass.

    Your real success would come from only ONE person who took your information to heart, quit his job, and traveled the world. Not EVERYONE who bought the book.

    You can open a door, but you can’t make me walk through.

    But it’s nice knowing the door is open when I EVENTUALLY decide to walk through.

    Link Reply
    • Wade | Vagabond Journey.com July 7, 2010, 12:40 pm

      That was amazing Brandon. Really took it to heart — you said what I hoped could be the reality, the last string of assumption that holds this monster up. I was thinking that the string may have snapped and everything was just as good as being crumpled up on the ground, but from what you said, from what others said, there is still a reason to keep going with the travel topic — it is still valuable, still worthwhile.

      Thanks,

      Wade

      Link Reply
  • Coronel Hapablab July 8, 2010, 8:18 am

    I, for one, want to travel the world as you do. In fact, every day I spend here in my home, knowing that I don’t have the knowledge to just go out forever (I’m 20 and I want to perfect my english, as well as learn more idioms) depresses me.

    Maybe you won’t have a lot of people ready to follow you. But you really are helping me realize that my dream is possible, that I can live the way I want to. I thank you for that.

    Also, on an unrelated note, do you find the idea of traveling the world living in an autocaravan feasible? It may sound weird, but is part of my future project.

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    • Wade | Vagabond Journey.com July 8, 2010, 12:35 pm

      If your spoken English is as good as your written, it seems as if you have a pretty good handle on the language.

      Thank you for your feedback and support — I really appreciate it.

      It seems to me as if regional travel with an autocaravan is a good idea. Though moving it overseas may prove to be a hassle. Though don’t give up on this project, it could prove to be a good one.

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      • Coronel Hapablab July 8, 2010, 3:39 pm

        Thanks. It really means a lot.

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  • Krista July 8, 2010, 1:53 pm

    I side with those who acknowledge the fact that though many of us will never travel the world perpetually, we are nonetheless more than happy to read of your experiences and adventures. I visit your website almost exclusively for your blog – any travel tips that I pick up come from the blog, rather than searching around within the site for specific information. Your writing style, your observations, your day-to-day challenges and existence – this is what I visit Vagabondjourney.com for.

    The suggestions for you to write a book or e-book are probably very apt – you can sell the Dream. I have read a number of travel books about places that I really have no intent to visit myself; however, the books sure make for an informative and entertaining story – just as your story would. I am quite certain your existing blog posts provide you with a wealth of material for a book already. One other blogger (originally titled Cat in Rabat [Morocco]), who I started reading at about the same time I found your work, has also found herself a published author of travel writing based on her blog posts: http://thiscatsabroad.blogspot.com/2009/10/so-to-be-gathering-dust-stealing-hearts.html I could definitely see a new audience of print readers enjoying the writing we have already found on your blog. I wish you success in whichever money-making path you choose, Wade! You have a lot to work with already.

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    • Wade | Vagabond Journey.com July 10, 2010, 2:27 pm

      Thanks Krista,

      This feedback is excellent, it really gives me a better idea of how this is all received. I really appreciate it. I am going to try to make the site more interactive, more streamlined, and better able to give people what they want from it.

      Not sure how I am going to do all of this yet, though haha.

      With much appreciation,

      Wade

      Link Reply
  • Chris July 11, 2010, 10:05 pm

    Wade:

    I gained a couple of insights from your article.

    1. That you are worried about the market for perpetual travel information due to lack of monetization from the website.

    2. That you want market feedback

    To answer your question, there is absolutely a huge market for the type of information that you provide. Your lack of monetization isn’t indicative of the market. As a representative of the market and a consumer of perpetual travel information, please allow me to make some suggestions.

    First, there is little to no concise products available that teach this information. To get what we require, we have to slog through years of blog posts from the travelers that you above mentioned (I don’t think Craig is even really blogging anymore). I would jump at the chance to pay up to $50 for a really good and concise book that paved the way to such a lifestyle. The better and more detailed the book is, the more its value. Such a product, at least well titled and marketed, doesn’t exist. Why not? What are you waiting for? You could even just make it a compendium of your best blog posts. Draw the readership with your blog, and monetize with a concise paper based product for sale. Despite the obvious perception of many blog authors, there is a large market contingent, inclusive of myself, who value well written and detailed paper based resources.

    Whether we want to travel perpetually or for a shorter period of time is irrelevant. The method for extended travel remains the same. As you before stated, there aren’t many with the expertise to make a truly useful and detailed guide. Take advantage. However, make sure that you put out the best product that your ability allows for. Don’t cut corners in terms of time and effort. This will protect your market share. Also, make sure it is titled in terms of the specific problem that it solves or best benefit that it offers. Don’t use a vanity title. Make it clear.

    You do have a few other competitors. I know that Andy is writing a book soon as well. Get going. I don’t see another way to turn your expertise into a product that will allow you to better avoid exchanging your time for money working hourly jobs.

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    • Wade | Vagabond Journey.com July 12, 2010, 1:56 pm

      This was exactly what I was looking for. I think you are correct, thank you.

      Will get going on the book.

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  • Ashley Cameron July 12, 2010, 6:45 am

    Hi Wade I am a long time reader first time writer 🙂 – since 2008 maybe. I originally found the site from a link from Travelvice.com which mentioned you combined “camping with bicycling and CouchSurfing” which I emulated. I am the type of traveler that works 6 months/travels 6 months- ( I am a film editor and I enjoy what I do almost as much as travel). I use your website in a similar way to how other travelers use Lonely Planet. The tips on the border crossing into Syria was especially helpful. Your writing is good but I am more interested in information on budget travel. Whatever you publish I’d be keen to buy regardless.

    ash

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    • Wade | Vagabond Journey.com July 12, 2010, 2:02 pm

      Thanks Ash,

      This seems to be a scattered market, it is evident that I need to streamline my approaches without letting any main topic fall by the wayside. I hope the book could make for more concise and useful reading as far as sharing the hard travel information, for the stories and other inquiries I think the travelogue format is appropriate.

      If someone was to use this website to find the hard travel information they would need to sift through loads of blog posts about a myraid other things. If I could put the “usable” information in print I think it could be far more usable.

      I will try my best.

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  • KatjaE July 13, 2010, 11:37 pm

    Your life is a dream to me. It’s probably never going to become my reality, but my own world is better because I know about you and I know that your life is possible. Your blog is refreshing, a breath of fresh air in the stuffy old blogosphere.

    So, most people don’t want to travel perpetually. So what? Many of them still want to experience your world vicariously.

    I don’t think that the “how to” or “usable” information is the most important part. But maybe that WOULD make a good book. If you were to start focusing mostly on that, I’d sure miss everything else — the stories and observations and perspectives that make your blog so very refreshing.

    Just my two cents. And I wish I knew how you could make the blog earn another two cents, or bucks, or whatever.

    — KatjaE

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    • Wade | Vagabond Journey.com July 16, 2010, 12:18 pm

      Hello Katja,

      Really appreciate your feedback and advice. I am glad to know that you are out there, somewhere. It is really good to know that even though you are not traveling right now that you can still enjoy a website about traveling. That is really great to know, it keeps me motivated.

      I also wished I know how to make more money from a website haha.

      Thanks,

      Wade

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  • Cat August 4, 2010, 5:32 pm

    Hi Wade,

    I have recently discovered your blog and I have been reading it with great interest. I don’t know the first thing about making money off a website, I can only say that the general sentiment shown in the paragraph that starts with “Warning: there is nothing in this website about eating in fancy restaurants or going to tourists sites or attractions. ” is actually what makes me come back here, because that is the same way in which I live my life too.

    If you were to write a book, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

    All the best,

    Cat

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    • Wade | Vagabond Journey.com August 4, 2010, 10:57 pm

      Thank you, Cat,

      You don’t know how $uch this means to me as I struggle to find time and space to continue publishing daily, as I try to keep moving forward as there is little indication that this project will prove financially rewarding.

      Comments like this are just what is needed. Thanks.

      Walk Slow,

      Wade

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  • Ronnie Spann September 12, 2010, 11:16 am

    Hello,

    As I stumble around here sneaking a paragraph or two, it has occurred to me that an extreme vagabond writing experience is something whose time has come. Now I have never been referred to as a per the masses type, but I will say that the adventure of writing and traveling from town to town is something that I want to experience. I feel some comfort in that the popularity of this form of movement through the world (mine will be the AT or maybe Yellowstone as Muhr)makes it a more-promising experience. There is not a huge market for people like us who are pulled to the trails or the roads of America first then maybe through Mexico then Belize. It just is not there. Yet. 15% when it was 2% of the populace now sees traveling and writing (thank you PayPal) as a viable way to live.

    Its Sept 12th, 2010… 17 days before my 46 year old feet hit the pavement, concrete, soil, path or sidewalk, and write along the way. I have sat back here in this back office writing and working almost non-stop for 16 months. I now have the clientele to support myself on the road and pay my child support as well. Speaking of that…. the boy needs a new pair of shoes.. back to Ezine..Elance….Blogger..WordPress

    Sincerely,

    Hitting the Trail Ron

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    • Wade | Vagabond Journey.com September 12, 2010, 11:30 am

      Have fun, man, let us know how you make out.

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