How to live in paradise

Anyone can do this, all you need is the confidence to get started. I finished my BA Honours Business degree in 2004 and until 2007 I worked in the software industry for two of the biggest software companies. Everyday was groundhog day, get up at a studpid time in the morning only to then spend it with a bunch of jumped up little schmucks all schmuzing for the raise at the end of the year. It became evident to me that there was more to life than this, the seed inside my head was planted. over the next year I cut down the amount of money I spent and tried to save as much as possible. You can save a lot when you put your mind to it, just by cutting out half the beer you drink, making a packed lunch for work rather than going to the shop, and buying the budget brands in the supermarket. Another year of groundhog days passed and I had managed to save up a tidy amount. I booked a one way ticket to Bangkok, Thailand and handed in my notice, it was probably up there with one of the happiest days of my life.

Two weeks later I was relaxing on Lamai beach, Koh Samui with out a care in the world. After four months travelling around Thailand from the jungles of Chiang Mai to the beautiful beaches of Koh Phangan I had very little money left. Going back to the UK was not an option, instead I researched ways I could carry on my travels by earning some money. I looked into teaching English, if you are a native English speaker its very possible to do this and you can earn around 600 GBP per month. If you have a degree eduaction or TEFL/CELTA perhaps a little more. I decided against this for now as I wanted to change countries. Australia provides a one year working holiday visa which gives you the freedom to work pretty much doing anything. If you complete three months of remote farm work it is even possible to extend your visa for another tweleve months. It is very easy to pick up work in Australia, farms are always looking for people to help out or you can try the big cities like Sydney, Perth or Melbourne for office work if you dont like breaking your nails.

A week later I was in Darwin all set with a 30 year old VB Holden estate car with a 2.8 litre engine and a plan to drive across the Northern Territory to Broome on the West coast. Broome is a Beautiful
coast holiday town and is home to the famous Cable beach. I lived on a campsite with hundreds of other backpackers and after asking around managed to pick up a job in the Cable Beach Resort Hotel doing the laundry. Not a very good job but it paid around $20 per hour and was set right on the beach.

I was able to carry this on Four years in total and the countries that I have seen include, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Morocco and Sierra Leone. I managed to pick up jobs including Banana farmer, Melon farmer, Apple picker, Landscape gardener, Roughnecker and barman.

So go and live in paradise, I did and it was the best thing I have ever done.