[FretDancer]

Hello Gents, I have been away from this forum for quite a while, life's been good, but right now there is something I would really like to discuss with my fellow RVFers.

Some probably have read the Dirk Pitt adventure books written by Clive Cussler. Dirk Pitt is basically a marine engineer, fit, handsome, good with the girls, does what he love, collects old cars. He is not rich, but travels a lot and goes on many adventures to far distant and unknown places, he is not stuck in a 9-5 job sitting on a computer. You could say he is like some sort of Indiana Jones, but maybe more exaggerated.

I am Computer Systems Engineer, right now doing my Masters, and although I do plan on finishing Masters, I seriously do not want to go to a 9-5 job sitting on a computer working on a huge company, despite the fact that I actually like coding and programming, and I am pretty good at it. I know this has been discussed countless of times here before.

What I am getting at, (and the people who have read Clive Cussler will know) is, is this Dirk Pitt lifestyle real as it appears to be? Is it attainable? Is there somebody here who is living this way or at least a bit like it?

Sometimes I wished I would have become an archeologist or marine biologist, or marine engineers? These are the kind of experiences from RVFers that I want to hear about.

[Katatonic]

Damn, I thought you were going to say you bought a hangar in Washington DC and filled it with exotic automobiles.

I used to love those books. I think the only way someone would live that kind of life would be to make your $$$ first, then take up an interest like archeology after the fact. Pitt inherited all of his cash in the books and worked for NUMA for the love of it.

I'm also interested to see if anyone here lives that jet set style life in a science profession.

[Gringuito]

(05-22-2014 05:11 AM)Katatonic Wrote:  

I'm also interested to see if anyone here lives that jet set style life in a science profession.

I have a postgrad in engineering though I never ended up working in the field. My companies are in the tech space so I may qualify. I've posted in other threads about my experiences. The short answer is that it's possible but you have to work very hard to get a life like that.

[NovaVirtu]

I read Inca Gold and loved it, I'll have to check out more books in that series.

I am highly drawn to that sort of lifestyle as well- it seems like each person aspiring toward that type of life kind of have to carve out a path for themselves.

Programming and coding is something you can do remotely right? You can probably live abroad while perusing those other interests on the side without professional credentials while living abroad- although you may find credentials necessary later on.

[TheFinalEpic]

(05-22-2014 07:02 AM)Gringuito Wrote:  

I have a postgrad in engineering though I never ended up working in the field. My companies are in the tech space so I may qualify. I've posted in other threads about my experiences. The short answer is that it's possible but you have to work very hard to get a life like that.

This guy knows his stuff. Essentially, you'll have to live a few years like most people won't so you can live the rest of your life like most people cannot. You have to work early in life, and build wealth that can set you free financially.

[jamaicabound]

I'm not familiar with this guy but really anyone wiith some special skills can work as they need money and travel with their skills. Heck even someone like a handy man or contractor can do stuff like this. i had a buddy who was really good with remodeling and stuff knew electric, plumbing, boilers, etc.

He isn't really a world traveler but he works when he needs to, makes a few grand, then travels or takes time off and hangs out with his kids and when he needs work again he does work again. He has a number of regular customers and a lot of other contacts he can get work when he needs it, toherwise just putting ads on craigslist he can make a decent buck. Now I guess there's really nothing stopping him from going down to Florida for a few weeks working there for a while and then heading back to Chicago when he gets board.

Now obviously this probably isn't the idea career as contractors are a dime a dozen but even with a common skill like that it can be done. If you have a more unique skill like marine mechanic I imagine you could travel all over the place anywhere near the water and find work easily, have adventures, etc. Hop around and work when you want as thats a skill not a ton of people have so its sought after

[Veloce]

One of my best friends is an oceanographer or marine engineer or some shit. I don't know his exact title. All I know is that he got a grant to study in Norway and is always out on research vessels, diving in submersibles, sailing on his boat, surfing, snorkeling. He's obsessed with the ocean.

His wife divorced him in Norway and I called him to check on him. He hardly seemed fazed, probably because he's got a lot going for him and apparently started banging new chicks immediately.

I know he got a degree in engineering but I don't think he's the cream of the crop when it comes to engineers. Just a very down to earth, very likeable guy. By all observations it seems like he's got a pretty badass life spending lots of time outdoors and doing what he loves.

Not sure if that answered any of your OP Fretdancer but if you want more specifics, shoot me an email with some questions and I'll forward them to him.

[classicjimmy]

(05-22-2014 09:36 AM)TheFinalEpic Wrote:  

Essentially, you'll have to live a few years like most people won't so you can live the rest of your life like most people cannot. You have to work early in life, and build wealth that can set you free financially.

This is the best piece of advice I think I've seen on here in a while with regards to really living the playboy lifestyle.

I am not a huge expert in Computer Engineering but I'll run on the assumption that somewhere in that field (tech firms?) there's some serious cash to be made.

I've just started my summer working at a big (bulge bracket, for those who care) bank in Investment Banking. I know a bunch of Managing Directors that pull $5MM+ a year after their bonus comes in and they are still slaves to their paychecks. How you might ask? They have simply gotten used to "spending what's in their pockets". When they got a $1MM bonus, they made a down payment on a house in the Hamptons. They don't need any of this stuff, yet they somehow can't live without it.

This video pretty much encapsulates how you can spend away your money pretty quickly even if you're making 7 figures. Yeah, its from a movie but tonnes of people actually live like this.

By all means live comfortably, but for every extra dollar you earn beyond what you need to spend to survive, only spend 20 or 25 cents of it, and put the rest away in investments. Before you know it, your money will be making more than you are.

By saving 25-75% of your after-tax paycheck (or even pre-tax if you can play the game right), all of the sudden your money will be making more than you do. If you manage to save $1MM, you can retire pretty comfortably. The annualized (read: average, although not quite but if you don't know what annualized is it's close enough) return on the S&P 500 from 1988 to 2013 was 10.27%, and the lowest it's ever been is 9.28%. That means if you're living off $90K a year, you can probably live sustainably forever on that $1MM.

Or you could blow it all, "live like a king" and be a slave to your paycheck. Your choice.

[Krusyos]

If you want to travel abroad and have lots of money to do so, you have to work for yourself. Don't even bother trying to work as an employee over the internet: 1) no employee ever gets rich while he remains an employee and 2) you want to be a free man, not a slave to the whims of a master.

You have to become an entrepreneur in order to be able to live like a king. Yes, the old maxim is true, you'll have to work your ass off for a few years. You will also fall flat on your face several times, but that is totally normal. Remember that although you can fall to the bottom... there IS a bottom... a place where you can start climbing again with new knowledge about the issue.

You are a programmer, right? Take a moment to think. What kind of software DOESN'T exist right now? Would people pay for this kind of software? I'm not familiar with the field, but think about what programming is capable of, and what does not exist. Once you have the two in tandem, you have a potentially profitable idea.

You'll be brainstorming for a long time, potentially months, before you come up with a good answer. During this time, you should also be reading books on entrepreneurship and business, seeing as you will not have the funds to have someone manage it for you while you are building your wealth. Start a Kickstarter project if it's going to be very expensive.

Now, this is where the hard times begin... holding down a job while developing the software on the side. You're going to have to live like a hermit until the project is finished, making sure you only spend money on essentials, because you will need to pay for a website, legalities (fuck the government and their intervening ways), etc. Indulge in coffee as much as you like. It's gonna be your gasoline for the next month/s or year/s.

If you've done your shit right, then when it's finished, you should make at least enough money to cover your costs. If it utterly fails, you're going to be very depressed. But don't be. You've learned from your mistake, and use that to produce something even better.

Repeat until it works. Then do whatever the fuck you want to. Travel the world, party it up, burn a church, it doesn't matter.

[Gringuito]

^^^ This

[TopPanda]

Good thread - if anyone knows how to find good paying IT jobs overseas then please spill the beans.

At the moment I've just joined a UK company that could potentially open doors in Asia, but there are no guarantees.

As to selling your own software, yeah it's a good idea, but harder than it looks.

I did very well when I started my niche software business in 2002. But the world is a different place. I never spent anything on advertising - there was very little competition. Now there is. Take a look around you - more than half the tech blogs seem to be written by Indians. That competition just wasn't there in 2002. Plus there are any number of open source projects going on, so whole niches are much harder to enter. And on top of that it's much harder to rank in Google.

My advice is to work your ass off in the current IT boom and invest wisely in property and other income generating assets. Then you'll be able to travel like I did last year, and have plenty of time to tinker with ideas.

[FretDancer]

Lots of great posts. I see many people have a similar way of thinking about entrepreneurship. I like it, and I totally agree with it.

But leaving entrepreneurship aside, what about the kind of careers/professions/jobs (whatever you want to call it) like archeologist, marine engineers, marine biologists?

What I mean is, we can all see that entrepreneurship is the way, but does it have to be the only way? I wouldn't mind being on the field (oceans, sea, anything) and not being an entrepreneur, if what I am doing makes me feel alive and not miserable.

[scotian]

(05-25-2014 05:50 AM)FretDancer Wrote:  

Lots of great posts. I see many people have a similar way of thinking about entrepreneurship. I like it, and I totally agree with it.

But leaving entrepreneurship aside, what about the kind of careers/professions/jobs (whatever you want to call it) like archeologist, marine engineers, marine biologists?

What I mean is, we can all see that entrepreneurship is the way, but does it have to be the only way? I wouldn't mind being on the field (oceans, sea, anything) and not being an entrepreneur, if what I am doing makes me feel alive and not miserable.

I live a lifestyle that is somewhat like that, I don't consider myself to be a big adventurer or anything, but I work about 4-6 months a year in the oil biz and fuck off wherever I want for months at a time and still bank tens of thousands of dollars a year doing it. There's a few oil and gas threads on here that you can check out for ideas. If you're willing to work outside and get your hands dirty then an oil career could be for you and not all of them are back breaking manual labour, some are all on computers.

If you want to be on the water, make a shit ton of cash, work directly for a a major international company and have lots of time off then I highly recommend work in oil and gas, specifically offshore on oil rigs or pipe laying barges. There's plenty of options to consider but since you're good with computers and I assume decent at math as well then I think that you'd be a good candidate for an Advanced Ultrasonic Testing (AUT) technician. One of the best parts is that you don't really have to go to school to get into it, its a one or two week course but really you can just walk into a company office and apply for a job and they'll train you. Here's a link to the training body in the USA anyway if you want to study it: https://asnt.org/MajorSiteSections/Certification

Here's the scoop: AUT is used all over the world to inspect welds by shooting them with high frequency ultrasonic sound beams to test whether or not the weld is fit, it picks up defects such as cracks, porosity, etc that could results in a metal structure blowing up, for example, a pipeline rupture.

Where its used: All over the world wherever metal is joined (welding) so: oil and gas, pipelines, nuclear reactors, aviation, civil (bridges, commerical buildings, etc), marine industry (ship building and repair), etc.

Here's a decent video of how AUT is used, as one of my buddy explained to me, "Its like I get paid to play video games all day" (video gets better at 0:35 mark). The guys in the video are the grunts who do the physical work, you'd have to do this for 1-3 years before moving on to a senior technician role where you sit in a truck and analyze data all day and report it to the clients.

I've met AUT techs who've worked all over the world: Canada, USA, Nigeria, Norway, Middle East, Peru, Indonesia, Russia, India, Oz, etc. They all make big money, many are paid over $1000/day to do this type of work.

Here's some companies that employ AUT technicians, Google them and check their job opportunities page: Oceaneering, Mistras, Applus/RTD, Acuren, Team industrial Inspection. You can also check some oil related websites such as Rigzone, Rigg-Access, NDT.org, Oil Careers and Inspection jobs.

Oil and Gas is booming in the USA now so its a good time to get into this line of work and shouldn't be too hard if you're willing to move to a place such as Texas or North Dakota however, AUT is used in every single state so if any of you want to get into it, you may luck out and get hired on by a company closer to home.

[polista]

Two things to mention:

1) Maritime professions have been touched on, but primarily of the engineer and biologist varieties. I know of two friends who are neither but work on merchant ships (or something like that) and they've been making good money for a while. One went to an academy for like one or two years, but he makes close to 200k/yr in guaranteed income with benefits now. I cannot speak to the work-life too much, but I do know he is basically stuck on a ship for 4-6 months out of a year, but is free to globe trot after with all the money he couldn't spend while on board.

2) If you are a good technologist and driven enough, consider working as a consultant. Build of a set of good clients, establish a place of residence in the USA (rent some cheap apartment in a low/no tax state), say you're based out of there and file your taxes/other stuff accordingly. Then, just travel. If you're good enough, you can earn well over 150k/yr while working modest hours and have the geographical mobility to travel.

[Atlantic]

Great thread, Ill have to check out these books. I used to love the Biggles series when I was a kid.

Scotians info on possible oil and gas careers is impressive as usual. Ill be sure to add my bit when Im back home this weekend. The hostel computer I am using right now is fucked.

[Switch]

If you like coding and are pretty good at it why don't you try your hand at freelancing, or some other mobile tech job. There are plenty available out there, and with a masters you should be able to charge pretty reasonable ($50/hour+) rates. That would allow you to travel, make cash, do what you love, as long as you have an internet connection. You could reasonably be working 3 hours/ day and still be making 45 grand a year. I don't know how that would fit into being on the ocean all of the time though.

If you have some money saved up you could buy a sail boat and just sail around the world if you wanted. You wouldn't live lavishly but you'd have almost unlimited freedom.

[FretDancer]

Scotian great post. I never heard about that field of work and looks very interesting, I will read more on it. I haven't forgotten about your Working on the rigs thread, one of the best around here.

(05-27-2014 06:22 PM)Switch Wrote:  

If you like coding and are pretty good at it why don't you try your hand at freelancing, or some other mobile tech job. There are plenty available out there, and with a masters you should be able to charge pretty reasonable ($50/hour+) rates. That would allow you to travel, make cash, do what you love, as long as you have an internet connection. You could reasonably be working 3 hours/ day and still be making 45 grand a year. I don't know how that would fit into being on the ocean all of the time though.

If you have some money saved up you could buy a sail boat and just sail around the world if you wanted. You wouldn't live lavishly but you'd have almost unlimited freedom.

I have tried, Elance, Odesk, can't remember what else. I hate it because you have to compete against so many people (usually a bunch of Indians) on a direct level it's not even funny. I feel I am wasting my time reading through all the job offers and posting proposals and following all the process...

[nomansland]

(05-25-2014 10:41 PM)scotian Wrote:  

If you want to be on the water, make a shit ton of cash, work directly for a a major international company and have lots of time off then I highly recommend work in oil and gas, specifically offshore on oil rigs or pipe laying barges. There's plenty of options to consider but since you're good with computers and I assume decent at math as well then I think that you'd be a good candidate for an Advanced Ultrasonic Testing (AUT) technician. One of the best parts is that you don't really have to go to school to get into it, its a one or two week course but really you can just walk into a company office and apply for a job and they'll train you. Here's a link to the training body in the USA anyway if you want to study it: https://asnt.org/MajorSiteSections/Certification

Here's the scoop: AUT is used all over the world to inspect welds by shooting them with high frequency ultrasonic sound beams to test whether or not the weld is fit, it picks up defects such as cracks, porosity, etc that could results in a metal structure blowing up, for example, a pipeline rupture.

Where its used: All over the world wherever metal is joined (welding) so: oil and gas, pipelines, nuclear reactors, aviation, civil (bridges, commerical buildings, etc), marine industry (ship building and repair), etc.

Here's a decent video of how AUT is used, as one of my buddy explained to me, "Its like I get paid to play video games all day" (video gets better at 0:35 mark). The guys in the video are the grunts who do the physical work, you'd have to do this for 1-3 years before moving on to a senior technician role where you sit in a truck and analyze data all day and report it to the clients.

I've met AUT techs who've worked all over the world: Canada, USA, Nigeria, Norway, Middle East, Peru, Indonesia, Russia, India, Oz, etc. They all make big money, many are paid over $1000/day to do this type of work.

Here's some companies that employ AUT technicians, Google them and check their job opportunities page: Oceaneering, Mistras, Applus/RTD, Acuren, Team industrial Inspection. You can also check some oil related websites such as Rigzone, Rigg-Access, NDT.org, Oil Careers and Inspection jobs.

Oil and Gas is booming in the USA now so its a good time to get into this line of work and shouldn't be too hard if you're willing to move to a place such as Texas or North Dakota however, AUT is used in every single state so if any of you want to get into it, you may luck out and get hired on by a company closer to home.

Is AUT the same as non-destructive testing?

[Vacancier Permanent]

As usual, smashing post Scotian! Take note FredD!

Also, do not discard the entrepreneurial route just yet. If you have some cash, say about 12k, here's what I'd suggest:

- get into the DC (Dynamite Circle), it's by referral only; no, I won't get a kick back, but its only open to people who can be vouched for by current members to keep the quality high. And I will have no problem to vouch for you amigo!). The DC is 97$/3 months so not too expensive but the quality of people there is 2nd to none. The brightest, smartest yet coolest bunch of buisness builders and location independent guys anywhere in the world.

Once inside the DC, interact and network with people and go post up for a year in a high density DCers location such as Saigon or Chiang Mai (15k is more than enough in these places for a whole year!).

Make contacts and learn from the pros as these guys are the smartest and brightest in their fields. Before long, you'll not only meet someone to mentor you but maybe even to partner with and work on a potentially very lucrative project while building a location independent biz.

Nomansland,
Ultrasonics is one of the many Non destructive testing methods.

[Marmite]

My brother works as an in flight chef for Etihad airline. He only works first class flights so he doesn't have to deal with the hassles of cattle class like normal cabin crew. Cabin crew can only fly ~80 hours each month, so he has plenty of time off / few days layover wherever he flies to. He earns in the region of US$800 a week plus layover pay with his accommodation / bills, and transport to and from work covered. He gets 90% discount on flights with his airline, and massive discounts with other airlines and hotel chains.

There is somewhere in the region of 4000 cabin crew at Etihad, and about 6000 at Emirates. Plus he has access to other cabin crew from around the world when they have layovers in Dubai / Abu Dhabi. He is balls deep with a new girl every other day / week depending on his mood.

If I could cook, I would consider it myself.

[kmhour]

I was a huge fan of the books growing up. I want to say I found "Raise the Titanic" in my grandfather's bookshelf and read the rest. It's a brilliant concept for a character when you think about it, part Indiana Jones, part James Bond, and Cussler had Ian Fleming's flair for the esoteric detail describing every bit of technology down to the model number. But a government agency with the broad reach of "NUMA" was a figment of Cussler's imagination and since no midlevel government employee has the scratch to house a hanger full of classic cars it's basically implied that his father the senator played a significant part in financing his lifestyle. Or if you want to read it differently, it's just another part of the fantasy.

I don't think you're asking about entrepreneurship and a computer systems engineer isn't really a coder/developer either. With a comp sys background, you aren't exactly going to be in demand as a marine biologist if you really wanted to play Pitt, but I assume your question wasn't completely literal. If you are interested in making good money and traveling/getting out of the office life, I know that there is plenty of demand in the oil business and expats can make bank. Find a niche in their technology, a traveling consultant of sorts. But usually consulting means grinding it out for a while to build up your base of knowledge and book of contents. As others have intimated, if the marine angle strikes your fancy there should be any number of ways to leverage your systems knowledge indirectly. But it's likely going to be in a government or research capacity so there probably won't be an Avions Voisin in your garage.

And as an aside, while the earlier Dirk Pittbooks are great beach thriller reading, the later books began a descent into ridiculousness in an effort to top the last. So it goes.

[totemthepole]

Crimeshare. It's sleazy, but:

It's the portable job.

I just sort of fell backwards into it when I was forty years old on a vacation. I've been a charter boat captain all my life, I mean I USED to be, I never had any intention of being any type of salesman. I used to consider the yacht brokers, the only salesmen I ever dealt with, as a bunch of cockroaches.

I live on a boat, and sell timeshares in Mexico and the Caribbean. The two go hand in glove. If I want to move I can just sail to the new place. It's also good to be mobile, because different areas have different high seasons. Two years ago I spent a month sailing over to Cabo and spent the high season there, then spent all summer sailing back. I just spent the whole winter in Jamaica, and now I'm back in the Yucatan because I like it better here. But this is low season here, now, and I'm getting antsy...

Anywhere in the world where they have resorts, which means all the nice beachy places, they have timeshares. I can sail over there and get hired and paid CASH in one day. And the money can get CRAZY sometimes, like rockstar or NBA star levels. No kidding.

If you are in France, you can easily go to Nice, Majorca, or the Canary Isles and try it. Or all over the Med. Anywhere where there are tourists. Ski places in the Alps even. I hear Croatia is the new up and coming place. Getting in on a new HOT place is where literally MILLIONS can be made. I may just sail over there myself for the summer.

Now, of course, it's a straight commission deal. You can make tons of money, or you can make NOTHING. It's up to you. You also have to be in the right place at the right time. Croatia really looks like it's going to get hot, it's the place to be right now. It's not too hard to make a good ten grand a month, CASH, and working part time hours. You're not going to get rich at it, unless you go at it full blast and manage to get into the management levels. In Croatia right now there is the potential to catapult yourself into that quickly. Sales is a skill you can learn, if you are up to it. There is no such thing as a born salesman. The best salesmen are usually the ones that have been doing it the longest. Still, not everyone can do it. That's why they pay the big bucks.

Also, if you keep moving around, you can manage to be a "perpetual tourist" and avoid all taxes by being under the radar and paid in cash. However, this is why I have never made giant money, while seeing others make literally millions. I always tend to blow town once I've got a good amount in the kitty, and then sail around till it runs low. Down here I generally take off the whole summer because that's the low season in the Caribbean. On a sailboat you can go for months on minimal cash if you want to live off fish and rice and beans.

You don't have to live on a boat, either, I've met plenty of "timeshare gypsies" that are just on perpetual vacation, basically, and will be six months in Majorca, then six months in South Africa, then six months in Dubai, then six months in Acapulco, then six months in Thailand.....

If you look at a website I think called timesharestaffing.com you will see they are always looking for reps all over the world. Often you can line up gigs where they will pay the plane tickets and let you live free in the resort for at least the first month or two. This is what I did in Jamaica, had a nice two bedroom condo free, and got to chow down as much as I wanted at the all inclusive resort.

The downside? You are a timeshare salesman. It's a couple of notches below a used car salesman. People make jokes like "Don't tell my mom I work in timeshare, she thinks I play piano in a whorehouse"

I know guys that work the offshore oil rigs, and in a way it's the same sort of lifestyle. You have to be comfortable being a gypsy, not a lot of people can stand it. Doesn't lend itself to the Married With Children scene, unless your wife likes you being gone for months on end. There are other gigs like that, too. Look into what is called the "PT" lifestyle. PT means Permanent Tourist, Perpetual Traveler, Parked Temporarily, Prior Taxpayer. It's fascinating, there are tons of websites about it.

I met a guy in Brazil who just bought and sold golf clubs and other golf stuff on Ebay, and was in full PT mode. His main objective was just banging hot Brazilian babes. PT is really the way to go, especially in this screwed up modern world. Any type of location independent income. Goes hand in glove with Game, as well, if you like to travel to foreign lands and bang hot chicks there.