What to do when you arrive in a foreign country + Update
Sunday, April 4, 2010 9:54I’ve been a little quiet lately, but I’ve been a little busy. I’m currently in Puerto Iguazú in the north of Argentina, home to one of the seven natural wonders of the world – Iguazu Falls. It was spectacular to say the least.
So I was open to suggestions as to topics I could write about, more people seemed to be interested in how I travel and move around.
Travelers come in different shapes and sizes, but by far the most fun and interesting is to travel as a backpacker. I travel like a backpacker – except without a backpack. I rarely stay in hotels, unless I’m attending a conference or something like that, Hostels and guesthouses are the way to go.
Firstly, hotels are designed for privacy. Hotel staff will give you ‘hotel advice’, and one of the only places to mingle is the hotel bar, which if your hotel has one, is not the best place to meet like-minded individuals.
Hostels and guesthouses are the best option, you can meet other travelers and can always find someone to hangout, drink and talk shit with. And before you go thinking you’re too baller to stay in a hostel – I’ve met millionaires and even the son of a King staying in hostels. It’s a social choice. Most hostels have private rooms as well, which makes it kind of like a hotel, except more economical.
I work and travel in cycles, so I’ll typically settle in a place, shared house or apartment for a few months so I can do some work, and then spend some time traveling before settling down again. A few times I’ve stayed in hostels for months at a time as well.
So, imagine you are traveling to a foreign country where you don’t speak the language nor know anybody there, what is the best way to approach this kind of situation?
If you’re anything like me, traveling with a bunch of expensive pieces of electronics, the last thing I want to do is roam streets with all my gear. The first thing I usually do is hop onto Hostelworld and find a hostel that has WiFi, and decent reviews. So once I arrive, I hop in a taxi and have a place to get online, sleep and find out more about the country/city I’m in.
I’m not a fan of books like the Lonely Planet(I used to live with one of the writers, who was a major dickhead, maybe this has something to do with it), either way, I prefer to just chat to people who have already explored the country, which you will always find in a hostel. The other good thing about hostels, is this will be one of the best places to ask people about finding some more permanent accommodation. Guests staying there or staff can always point you in the right direction. That is more or less the only preparation you need, just make plans as you go.
You don’t always have to be prepared, some of my best memories have come from unplanned adventures. For example me and 2 Israeli girls spent a night in a drug rehab center in the middle of the Colombian jungle because we missed the last bus. Disaster at the time, but one of my favorite memories.
Right now I’m in a bit of a situation where my plans didn’t quite work out.
My original plan was to head north through Paraguay to Bolivia in 2 days time. However only 2 hours ago, I found out that I need a tourist visa to enter Paraguay, which kind of screwed up my plans, which is fine, since my plans are never concrete anyway.
So my new plan is to go around Paraguay and stop in Salta, Argentina, before going north to Bolivia.
As long as hostels exist, you’ll never be up shit creek without a paddle, so just get on the road and shit will work itself out! Anyways, if you can’t afford to be away from the internet for more than 24 hours – you’re doing it wrong.
I’m writing this blog post poolside at a hostel I’m staying at right now.
Business wise, now that March is over and I’ve had a chance to do my accounts. It has been another record month for my e-commerce stores, which is a pattern I hope will continue.
I had an phone appointment with a search specialist from Bing this week, who offered to import my Adwords campaigns over to Bing. After looking at my campaigns, I was told they wouldn’t work so well on Bing, so she’s going to recreate campaigns for me. If you’re willing to spend more than $500 a month, this is pretty much open to anybody. I’ll report back on how this goes once the campaigns are live.
Mynameisdu1 says:
April 4th, 2010 at 10:30 am
You know how to live!
Dennis says:
April 4th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Hi,
I saw your posts on wickedfire and after that I read your blog. Great info about how to take IM to the next level. Thank you for that
I am still in the starting phase of my IM journey and I want to finish my current projects first, which are also the first sites I have, so that makes me a real beginner at SEO. And after that I want to go the “physical goods” way, because I think it’s the best longterm plan online. No fear of adsense account banning or searching for new cpa companies because the offer isn’t available anymore. But building a real company.
I have to learn a lot, adwords, facebook ads etc, shoppingcart software and learn more about marketing in general. I have a long way ahead of way, because I am a big time noob
But that doesn’t matter. Step by step I will get there.
But the reason I make this comment is the hardest part of getting your own shop/brand is to find the right product. Every extra information you can give on this blog about finding the right product to sell will be very helpful for me…hint hint
I understand the stuff you already layed out, like:
-low production costs and high sell price
-competition analysis
-small products–> less shipping costs
-and the other stuff you mentioned.
I can understand why you went with the contact lenses, because it has all the main benefits you mentioned.
But somehow I still find it hard to get ideas for good products which fall in this categorie.
But I still have a couple of months before I start that part of my IM journey so I have to keep my eyes open and look on alibaba for ideas. But somehow I just don’t get it at the moment….damned.
Great lifestyle you have and have fun in South America. I subscribed to your blog. I don’t want to miss your IM tips and your travel posts.
cya
Dennis
vlad says:
April 4th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
you’ve got a great life. i’m curious what’s the biggest problem you’ve had since you are traveling. Did you get in any dangerous situations?
PPC Icon says:
April 5th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Great post man, keep em coming. Theres a chance I might be trying this backpack travel thing within the next 6 months, and you just answered several big questions in this post
phillipmarlow says:
April 6th, 2010 at 12:55 am
You’re doing it exactly the way I plan to roll it out. Keep these blogs coming. Great content. Meeting people in hostels is a great way to meet the right kinds of people. They aren’t as robotic as the rest.
Vlad says:
April 6th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
you’ve got a great life. i’m curious what’s the biggest problem you’ve had since you are traveling. Did you get in any dangerous situations?
Bruce says:
May 19th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Hi,
I saw your posts on wickedfire and after that I read your blog. Great info about how to take IM to the next level. Thank you for that
I am still in the starting phase of my IM journey and I want to finish my current projects first, which are also the first sites I have, so that makes me a real beginner at SEO. And after that I want to go the “physical goods” way, because I think it’s the best longterm plan online. No fear of adsense account banning or searching for new cpa companies because the offer isn’t available anymore. But building a real company.
I have to learn a lot, adwords, facebook ads etc, shoppingcart software and learn more about marketing in general. I have a long way ahead of way, because I am a big time noob
But that doesn’t matter. Step by step I will get there.
But the reason I make this comment is the hardest part of getting your own shop/brand is to find the right product. Every extra information you can give on this blog about finding the right product to sell will be very helpful for me…hint hint
I understand the stuff you already layed out, like:
-low production costs and high sell price
-competition analysis
-small products–> less shipping costs
-and the other stuff you mentioned.
I can understand why you went with the contact lenses, because it has all the main benefits you mentioned.
But somehow I still find it hard to get ideas for good products which fall in this categorie.
But I still have a couple of months before I start that part of my IM journey so I have to keep my eyes open and look on alibaba for ideas. But somehow I just don’t get it at the moment….damned.
Great lifestyle you have and have fun in South America. I subscribed to your blog. I don’t want to miss your IM tips and your travel posts.
cya
Dennis
Joe says:
October 14th, 2010 at 6:07 am
I’ve only just recently come across the travelling affiliate phenomena.
I do affiliate marketing myself and now live abroad but don’t make enough to do it full time and travel yet though.
Good stuff!
Paris Wells says:
October 15th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
“spent a night in a drug rehab center in the middle of the Colombian jungle” did make me laugh!! “One day we’ll look back at this and laugh” situation! I’m guessing you outsource the selling of your physical contact lenses to people in each of the countries? Your tales of South America have only encouraged my plans on visiting one day!