At some point, everyone has dreamt about leaving the 9-to-5 grind and hitting the road, and we see more adventure travelers making a living from crazy beautiful places all around the world every day. Most people lose hope in the dream when it comes to determining the next steps.

Pushing your life adrift with purpose, can be done and the following tips will help you make it successful without a permanent address, traveling, and creating income:

1. Make Your Income Mobile

First and foremost, you have to transition away from the desk that has burdened you for years. Whether you keep the security of your corporate job or venture out with your entrepreneurial spirit, you need to employ your abilities to create income wherever you find yourself. If you need inspiration, walk past any coffee shop, and you’ll see a dozen people doing what you’ve dreamt about, with a latte and a scone in their hands.

By employing today’s technologies, people are performing sales, marketing, design, executive assistant roles, thousands of miles away from the actual office. The location is not a factor, it becomes focused on finding reliable power and wi-fi.

“To get rich, you have to be making money while you sleep.” – David Bailey

2. Define a Purpose

It is easy enough to cut the cord with the office and work from home, yet, truly spending time adrift with a purpose requires the removal of the crutches of routine and consistency. Moving where you lay your head each night takes the definition of your purpose.

Your immediate thoughts may be centered around reconnecting old friendships, expanding your passion for photography, or exploring new and old places with fresh eyes. It’s important to define your purpose so that you have a direction.  Maybe your desired result is to write a book, put it down.

3. Define the Boundaries

Expand your purpose by determining your physical, time, experiential and emotional boundaries. Coupling your boundaries with your purpose will help in determining where you’ll focus your time, how you will handle new opportunities and define your timeframe. When the journey gets tough, you will be thankful for having written down your mission.

4. Recruit a Partner

Finding an amazing travel partner who can join you during different parts of the journey simply enhances the experiences you will encounter. Also, it will add significantly more emotional value to the parts of the journey you share.

Ensure your missions complement each other’s, as it is quite important to make sure you understand each other’s goals before packing a bag. Consider how you will feel when the trip is no longer all about you.  

5. Have a Lifeline

Some of your plans will not go as designed. Keep a positive attitude, though, as most of the detours will result in greater experiences that you never envisioned. There will be a couple of times that make you question your sanity, but where you categorically want to be prepared is for the endless “where are you?” emails from your Mother and the truly catastrophic emergency.

Make sure you have a lifeline that knows your location, upcoming plans and knows how to help if there’s an emergency. Not just anyone can do this task. Determine the one person that would leave their life to save you, without question, and most importantly, without placing additional drama into the situation. Provide copies of everything. Consider what you will need if your things are stolen or lost. Provide your lifeline with an emergency fund, for you to get home if needed.

Prepare them, your Mom will call them anytime you don’t answer an email within 24-hours or haven’t posted to Instagram all day. Make sure they have patience, a sense of humor, and know when to stop telling you, “it will be fine” and engage the emergency plan.

6. Always be planning for the next move

Being adrift is about allowing the change to direct the journey. The goal is not to stick in one place all year, so it is important to be thinking about your next moves. Prepare a 30-day view of work demands and keep revising the plan as needed. Ask yourself questions like, “Where will I be in 30-days?”, “What is required to continue making my income?” and “Where is there reliable wi-fi?”

“Plan your next move, because every step contributes to your goal.” – Sukant Ratnakar

7. Share your Experience

Certainly, you must share photos for friends & family to experience the journey with you, and, depending on your profession, may want to expand to your clients. Share that you’re on a journey that is providing you with more balance and fostering a healthier person, but also makes you a better provider for your clients.

Not everyone will take the leap of faith. Doubts that all will be okay while adrift are louder when your life is more established. If you can create a vision and launch your journey, then it will be one of the best experiences of your life.

Do you live a nomadic lifestyle while running or working with a business? Leave your experiences and thoughts below!