Whenever people hear that Jon and I travel for a living, they automatically assume we’re having fun all the time, as if we were on vacation 24/7.

And I wish we were.

I wish we could take walks on the beach and sip out of half-carved coconut shells or jump into an ATV and ride over the hills whenever we feel like it. But….the thing about traveling, and having to make a living off of it, is that it’s not glamorous as many of us imagine it to be. It’s actually quite stressful.

I mean, imagine trying to build your own business (or brand) overseas without having a stable paycheck, with just a few hundred bucks in your savings account? Or, if that’s too hard to visualize, then imagine trying to survive with whatever savings you have left, with no job? It’s terrifying, isn’t it?

That’s exactly how Jon and I feel all the time when we’re traveling. We’re determined that things will get better if we work hard but we’re also scared about what might happen if things instead turned for the worst.

That’s why we’re always in front of the screen, writing articles or editing videos.

That’s why we’re always reflecting upon ourselves and how we can improve our work efficiency.

That’s why we’re careful with where our money goes to (higher-quality food for prolonged energy, nicer pillows for better sleep, a Kindle to read more).

Because if we spend too much of our time, talent and resources on the things that don’t necessarily contribute to our goal — a life we can truly say is our own — then we’re one step closer to packing our bags and going home. And obviously, that’s not what we want.

So to give you a better perspective on what “traveling for a living” means for some people, like Jon and I, I will give you a sneak peek on how we go through our day. Some of it might shock you, some of it might seem unremarkable, but at least this will give you another perspective on those who work and travel. 

Here goes!

Depending on when we sleep, we usually wake up between 4:30–5:30AM (before sunrise). Even though we’re tired as fuck and would rather hit the snooze button to get another five minutes of sleep, we force ourselves to get out of bed because ultimately we want more hours of the day to do what we want and what’s necessary for our growth. 

After all, “if you don’t sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice.” In our case, we’re sacrificing sleep (6 hours is good enough). 

Then after brushing our teeth, we immediately go to the shower and crank the water to COLD. We both hate it. But cold showers have toughened us up, making us believe that anything hard is doable and that we should do it despite how painful or time-consuming or tedious it may be. 

We then mix together, in a cup, fresh lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, sea salt and natural mineral water. Drinking this is equivalent to a juice booster without the calories, giving us the minerals our body needs to replenish itself after a long night’s sleep. 

It’s also good because we fast until 12pm. 

*Bleh* Not my kind of drink. 

Afterwards, we meditate for about 30 minutes — sometimes with music, sometimes without. It really depends on our mood and what we’re trying to get out of it. Meditating with music helps stimulate more thoughts and ideas, whereas meditating in silence trains you to be aware of every little thing around you. 

It’s pretty nice since at this hour, it’s fairly quiet. 

And now, I’m ready to do my thing and kick some butt! But before I do….some makeup. 

While Jon…I don’t know what he does, but he’s most likely writing or reading or researching something he’s been itching to know. 😜

The next 2–3 hours is spent working in front of our laptops. No disturbance. No distractions. Just our full attention and commitment. 

We then drive to the gym and workout for one good solid hour. It’s such a refreshing break after sitting around, in one spot, for so long. 

Plus, it gives us a reason to….

EAT…something good. 😋

It’s one of the things we both look forward to in our day, considering that we’re huge foodies. 

The next destination, through this awful heat, is…

…a coffeeshop! Where we continue to work for another 3–4 hours. 

By the end of our second work session, we’re pretty exhausted so we usually head straight back home and start cooking. The meal depends on what Jon could make out of the limited ingredients we have at home and fortunately, since we bought sourdough bread the other day, he made salami sandwiches.  

Mmm… 😋

The rest of the night goes to bonding time, where we talk and listen to each other about anything — what the biggest highlight of our day was, what we’ve accomplished, what we could’ve done better on, what’s been bugging us, what we’ve learned or discovered, etc. It’s when we completely wind down and relax and reflect on what we’ve both done and what we could do better the next day. 

Obviously, there’re so many tempting opportunities within our day to have fun and not work, especially when there’s so much to see and do when we’re traveling. But because Jon and I are still in the midst of exploring our potential and the person we want to become, we choose to step back (away from what everyone thinks we do) and work — not just on ourselves but for a life we can truly say is our own.