This is a question I get asked or accused of occasionally. How do I afford to travel around in a caravan?<\/p>\n
The biggest concern with starting this lifestyle is how to earn money while travelling – well, for people who aren\u2019t retired anyway. I\u2019ll admit, I still haven\u2019t got the perfect set-up, but I\u2019m getting there.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a graphic designer and turns out this is a great career for travel. It honestly didn\u2019t cross my mind when I start my university course. I\u2019ve now been workings for over 10 years and was able to still do this job in London and Melbourne as the same software is used worldwide.<\/p>\n
4 years at university
\nBachelor of Art & Design (Graphics) at Auckland University of Technology.
\nYarn company in Auckland
\nWentworth Distributors is a New Zealand yarn company that distributes it\u2019s brand \u201cNaturally\u201d.
\nDesign projects included refreshing their overall brand look, printed brochures, website, yarn labels and press ads.
\nWorld-wide advertising in Auckland
\nY&R Advertising with clients from Bank of New Zealand, Farmlands farm retail store.
\nDesign projects included layout of magazines, booklets, press ads, online banners, mailers, forms, brochures, DLs, billboards.
\nFreelanced in London and Auckland
\nThrough recruitment agencies who place me in a company. These jobs range from 2 days to 6 months.<\/p>\n
London: GPJ international events company, Mitie strategic outsourcing company, City Index financial markets company, Jack Wills clothing store, Hogan Lovells law firm and Action for Children charity.<\/p>\n
Auckland: Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, Villa Maria Winery, Special Advertising, Hyde Advertising, Radio Network, SkyCity, KPMG and Auckland Council.
\nSmall design agency in London
\nClients were Legal & General insurance company, Bagel Street food retail, D\u2019lish food retail, The Belfast Airport Foodcourt, The Who Cares Trust charity and Specsavers opticians.
\nDesign projects included magazines, multi-paged leaflets, food packaging, food court design, press ads, posters, newsletters and exhibition stands.
\nFamily run corporate company in Melbourne
\nConnective is a corporate company who are the middleman between banks\/lenders and mortgage brokers.
\nDesign projects included refreshing their overall brand look, WordPress websites, emails, sale brochures, direct mail campaigns, stationery, banners, online and print ads, expo events and videos.
\nTravel company in Auckland
\nFlight Centre is a worldwide retail travel company with over 17,000 employees and 30 brands across 11 countries.
\nDesign projects included After Effects digital screens for the retail stores, website banners eDM\u2019s Flash banners, campaign posters, press, DM\u2019s, videos, travel expos, pull-up banners and other print material.
\nSmall design agency in Hawkes Bay
\nMilk & Sticks is a new company with some impressive clients. They are Keep New Zealand Beautiful, Fingermark – a technology company and New Zealand Broadcasting.
\nDesign projects include website design and build, logo design, brochures, booklets, posters, social media banners, t-shirt design and more.<\/p>\n
When I decided to buy a caravan I\u2019d been saving for a house before deciding that this was never going to happen in Auckland. I switched my aim towards a caravan instead and saved for another 6 months working at my permanent Auckland job.<\/p>\n
I then quit and went on a roadtrip to find the caravan and bought one in Nelson in the South island of New Zealand. I had grand plans of starting an online business that would support me. Turns out 3 months is definitely not enough time to succeed and I didn\u2019t particularly enjoy the direction I was going anyway.<\/p>\n
After 3 months, I ran out of money and made my way back to Auckland where I freelanced over winter – doing small trips away in the caravan to the Waikato and the Coromandel. I learnt that it\u2019s hard to live in a caravan in a city if you don\u2019t have friends or family with land for you to stay on. After a few false starts, I found the best campground option in Northcote.<\/p>\n
In spring, an old workmate asked if I wanted to work part-time for her new graphic design agency in Hawkes Bay. I was desperate to get out of Auckland as living in the city wasn\u2019t what I wanted – especially while living in a caravan. I\u2019ve been at Milk & Sticks for over 6 months now and it\u2019s worked well. I\u2019ve ended up going into the office \u2154 of the time and travelling and working online \u2153 of the time. Working part-time has also enabled me to focus more on TravellingK.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately the contract has gone quiet lately and this last week I\u2019ve been worrying about money – which is never fun. I\u2019ve learnt that I can live on 2 days a week of work, and save a little if I work 3 days a week. In the last month there\u2019s been a few times when I\u2019ve worked less than 2 days a week which means I\u2019ve dipped into my tiny savings. And there have been some big caravan expenses lately – from things breaking to getting ready for winter.<\/p>\n
So if you know of anyone after a graphic designer let me know! The ideal client would be a small to medium sized business who is happy for me to work remotely. I\u2019m keen to have another day of work a week.<\/p>\n
I started TravellingK over 1.5 years ago and have been spending money instead of making money. It\u2019s definitely been a passion project. Web hosting for this website costs money, the website template to make it look nicer cost money, my monthly bill for the programs to edit the videos cost money. I\u2019d hate to find out the grand total I\u2019ve spent and add up all the hours of work.<\/p>\n
In the last couple of months – basically since I reached 1000 subscribers on YouTube, there has be a change. I had been making $5 a month through those annoying YouTube banners that sit on the videos. When I reached 1000 subscribers it jumped to $10 a month – this is also probably because of the change to YouTube with needing more subscribers and view to monetisation your channel. Now I\u2019m over 2000 subscribers and earning $17 a month! I\u2019m hoping it just keeps growing.<\/p>\n
Also, I can\u2019t touch this money until I reach NZ$130. But the good news is I\u2019m so close to reaching that amount! Soon, very soon.<\/p>\n
I finally started Patreon which now seems to be the main way a YouTuber can make a living.<\/p>\n
You can pay as little as $1 a month and have access to a whole lot more. I am more open on this platform as it feels safer for a solo female than on a public platform like YouTube or Facebook. I share some of the graphics I\u2019ve designed (although I\u2019ve been a little slack and only posted 1 so far, but more are coming!). I share more up to date news and the little wins for TravellingK.<\/p>\n
The $5 and $20 a month tier also have a group monthly Skype chat with me.<\/p>\n
The $20 tier gets a personal thank you message in my videos!<\/p>\n
I think this is the best way for me to make any money for TravellingK at my 2000 subscribers level. I think this is the level YouTubers need support. It\u2019s a tricky balance to keep growing the channel but earn enough to live off. Once I get to a certain level, then I should hopefully have more time to make other sellable products and be more self-sufficent. There are days where I wonder why I\u2019m spending so many hours doing this. So, if you would like to help, please consider becoming my patron.
\nDesigning merchandise<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve also started designing RV and kiwiana designs that a company called RedBubble print and post out to people. I\u2019ve sold 3 products so far and plan to keep adding more designs. Well, when I find the time. I do have plenty of ideas for this.<\/p>\n
Click here to see what designs I\u2019ve created so far.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve also started designing stickers. Some small ones to add to journals or walls and also larger stickers for on caravans and motorhomes. Again, this is an area I\u2019m expanding and will keep updating!<\/p>\n
Click here to see the latest stickers.<\/p>\n
As a graphic designer, I\u2019ve regularly bought images from Shutterstock but it\u2019s interesting being on the other side – contributing the photos. It\u2019s not the fastest way to make money as I\u2019ve sold 1 photo and only made 25c. I\u2019ll keep adding photos and see how it goes.<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s it – this is how I afford this caravan lifestyle.<\/p>\n
I have been worrying this last week about money with the contract job going quieter. I really really don\u2019t want to end up back in Auckland as I\u2019d be back to full-time freelancing with less time for the videos and they\u2019d surely become very dull too.<\/p>\n
The 3 main ways to help:<\/p>\n
There\u2019s definitely less certainty to a permanent 9-5 job but there\u2019s no way I want to go back to full time in an office. I\u2019m curious to learn if you have any other ideas for me to earn money? I\u2019d be keen to hear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is a question I get asked or accused of occasionally. How do I afford to travel around in a caravan? The biggest concern with starting [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n