Guest Post by Anne-Marie Watson Bitterly disappointed. That’s how I felt when I realized I wouldn't be able to find a job as an expat in the US. Together with our kids, I relocated for my husband’s work to the USA, over two years ago. As I had my children late in life, I had established a part-time but useful career as a marketing contractor in the Australian Pharmaceutical Market for eight years before moving to the US. After an extensive career as a full-time employee, and then having …
Portable Careers — Can You Really Make a Location-Independent Living? (Part 2)
Is it possible in today's global economy to make a good living with a portable career as a writer? That's the question my friend Russell Ward asked recently. Here's Part 2 of my response. (You can see Part 1 here.) Yes, you can earn a living -- a very good living -- as a freelance writer. When thinking about this -- or any -- portable career, there's a catch, though. Make it Your Business You'll only succeed if you approach it your portable career as a business. That means you have to …
Portable Careers — Can You Really Make a Location-Independent Living?
Recently my online expat blogging friend Russell Ward asked that question. "I've been an office worker my entire adult working life. I've been in government for ten years, in a blue chip corporation prior to that. In both sectors, I've worked in traditional office jobs, devoid of flexibility and misaligned with my outlook on life. "Both roles have been a means to an end, a way to pay the bills while I worked on the other aspects of my life abroad - family, lifestyle, our home. "In the past …
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Use a VPN with your Tablet or Smart Phone
Recently I started using a VPN (virtual private network) on my Android tablet. If you're using your Android device (phone or tablet) on a public WiFi network, snoopers can glom onto your data so it's important to protect yourself. Especially if you're using your tablet to connect to bank accounts, a VPN is a very good idea. You can review the most important reasons to use a VPN here. As an expat, you've got another reason to use a VPN, even if you're on a secure WiFi network at …
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18 Tools for Portable Career Productivity
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about staying focused and moving ahead with your portable career even when life gets in the way. I promised to share some productivity tools with you, so here goes. Some are free and some are not. These are all applications and programs that I use -- a lot -- and recommend. If you don't have a business or portable career, you won't need all of these. Security Password Protection I'm putting Security at the top of the list. Even though we don't …
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Your Portable Career — How Do You Keep it On Track when Life Gets In the Way
I admit, I'm not very good at juggling. No, I'm talking talking about the balls-or-clubs-in-the-air kind of juggling. I'm talking about the elusive work-life balancing act. Right now, I'm having a hard time staying on top of my normal business tasks. After living here in Panama without a car for six months, we finally decided to buy one. The search for a decent, affordable used car is a lot more time consuming than I had anticipated. Instead of planning future articles for this site, …
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