International Living---Fund Your Life Overseas (6)

These 3 Photos Paid For My Trip...
By Andrea K. Gingerich

At one point during my childhood, I had over 100 pen pals outside of the United States because I longed to visit other countries and experience their cultures.

After attending college, my career as a biologist took me to some interesting places around the world. I studied salamanders in South Carolina, sea turtles in Costa Rica, insects in Belize, and desert tortoises in the Mojave Desert.

It was during this time that I also began taking film photographs. Like many photographers, I dreamed that someone would pay me to travel around the world to document the beauty of our planet. Little did I know, that "someone" would be me.

I have been a contributing photographer to iStockphoto (a "microstock" site that anyone can join) for nine years. During that time, my iStock portfolio has grown to over 6,000 images. While still expressing my interest in science through my photographs, I have also changed careers in search of my dreams to travel.

Most of the time, my adventures are tailored toward abandoned and strange places and locations with incredible biodiversity. When preparing for an adventure, I tend to extensively research the area where I am going so that I know where to find those subjects of interest. I do not shoot traditional stock photography so it is often a gamble if my photographs will sell or not. But the images that I capture are of my own personal interest and passion rather than financial goals.

I often bring my camera along if I am going out for day-long adventures. I spent one day on a tour boat in Philadelphia with family. It was a clear day and the tour would lead us to some interesting sites so I knew that was a prime opportunity to capture some unique shots of the Philadelphia skyline. I was right. This photo has paid for all of my family to take the boat tour, visiting many sites around Philadelphia, and all enjoyed several great restaurant visits:

During a two-week adventure in Acadia National Park in Maine, I didn't have the expectations that I would gather any top selling stock photos, but I wanted to photograph the beauty of the area for my own gratification. A year later, and I now have one photo that paid for the whole trip:

Whether at home or traveling, I often walk a lot. It provides me with opportunities to capture interesting subjects that would often go overlooked. I have a lot of photos of textures, but this one has provided my income with a little cushion:

I suggest carrying your camera along as often as you can because you never know when you might find a winner.

I spent the better part of 2010 traveling and living off of the royalties from my stock photos. I lived in temporary locations here and there while photographing many sites and places that were of my own personal interest during that time. The excitement of traveling this way has encouraged me to shoot more than I had in the past.

It has taken me a while to get to where I am... but here I am, living my dream. Do not become discouraged with the beginning processes of stock photography. They are essential in the learning curve of the market and will help you in the long run.

International Living---Fund Your Life Overseas (5)

3 Good Photos and an Easy Income Secret

Below are three photos we bought from freelance photographers (who happen to be IL readers) to publish in International Living magazine.

After each picture you'll find a note from the photographer with some more details about the image.

Apart from these simply being good, enjoyable-to-look-at photos, I'm sending these to you today because taking photos like this (and getting paid for doing it) is a skill you may already have.

You don't need to be a prize-winning, professional photographer to get in on this. Thanks to stock and micro stock photography, anyone can put their amateur snaps online to start getting a regular income. (If you're new to these terms, everything is explained here.)

We'll have more on this during the week, including some insider tips from people who are successfully doing it.

For now, enjoy the photos below...and figure out if you could take photos like them from your new home overseas.

Greg Lucre
Editor in Chief, Fund Your Life Overseas

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Sarita Simmons says: From tiny tea shops found in the ancient Hutong neighborhoods of Beijing to the elaborate tea houses of Shanghai, tea plays a major cultural role in the rhythm of daily life in China. Indeed there is such a passion and art to the drinking and serving of tea you can't help but be drawn under its spell.

While on an AWAI photography trip to China, I took this photo in one of Shanghai's tea houses. The hostess wanted us to experience the taste and smell of the tea, and how each one compared to the others… much like in wine tasting.

* * *
Florence Yee Devermann says: This woman had such a serene composure. I wanted to capture the calm and quiet atmosphere she created while she spun. So I got on my knees, keeping the shuttle in the foreground. One of the things I remember most fondly about being in Ecuador's Andes is the friendliness of the people. They had a certain innocence about them. It was like stepping back in time.

* * *

Caroline Maryan says: My husband and I live six months of each year in Seoul, South Korea. Our home is actually in Williamsburg, Virginia, but we spend much of the rest of the year traveling. Because we spent four years living in Indonesia, when our children were young, we have always wanted to return to Asia.

And when my husband retired we saw the chance to live our dream. Since then, apart from South Korea, we've lived in South Africa, and spent a lot of time in England as well. This is a photo of some Korean boys dressed up for the celebration of the Buddha's Birthday at the Jogyesa Temple, in Seoul.

Editor's note: If you want to get up to speed on how to turn your photos into cash...as quickly as possible...there's no better way we know than with the Ultimate Stock Photography Workshop-at-Home Package. Of particular interest to Fund Your Life Overseas readers will be how to turn your photos of travel, family, pets, even furniture and household items into a passive income stream... so you can earn money while you sleep...

International Living---Fund Your Life Overseas (4)

Easy Business Ideas in Panama
By Jessica Ramesch

For most expats, David's a place to pass through on the way to more popular destinations. But as far as expat Stephen Hyland is concerned, the capital of Panama's Chiriquí Province, David, is Panama's new business frontier.

"I wanted to work for myself and make more money, and in David…well it's like going back 20 or 25 years. Barriers are low, and it's way easier to start a business than in Europe or Australia where I have experience," says Stephen.

He and local partner Angela Valdés have just started their café called Da-Li.

"Panamanians make up about 80% of our target market. It would be foolish to focus solely on the expat market here. There aren't enough expats to support a business like this," says Stephen.

--Recommend by IL--

GET PAID TO LIVE OVERSEAS

What if you could collect your paycheck from the beach? Or from the mountain-view balcony of your own penthouse? Or from a café table in Paris?

What if you had the freedom of a portable income... so you could just pick up and go?

In fact, thousands of expats — many your fellow readers — are already doing it. And I'd like to show you how you can join their ranks...

Read on:
************************************************

Despite that, David has other niches to fill and a growing middle class eager to spend money in venues that are unique in any way. "We don't fit into any one category," says Stephen, explaining how Da-Li has set itself apart. "We are part coffee shop, juice bar, art gallery and community center. We hold events and classes and are looking to collaborate with as many local providers as possible. For example, we may have a sushi chef sharing the space soon. We want to maximize the locale. In any market there are always established players, and it's difficult to grab some of the share. You have to stand out."

What other businesses might do well in David? Stephen reckons you could start a trendy Internet café for as little as $10,000 here. He'd like to see more ethnic restaurants and cosmopolitan bars here, and he feels other locals and foreigners agree.

"We could also use some bookstores and fashion outlets," he adds. When asked about his first months as an entrepreneur in David, Stephen doesn't hesitate. "I wouldn't change anything," he says. "We learned a lot about choosing items for our menu, staffing and marketing…you make mistakes for a reason. You need them."

And Stephen has learned his lessons. He advises that in smaller towns like David, consider having a local partner or manager. It helps when dealing with the language barrier, getting through red tape and local permits, negotiating prices and with networking. And always keep an eye out for other opportunities. "Your first attempt at doing business in a new country may or may not be successful. But each attempt is a golden learning opportunity. If you do well, ask yourself: How can I branch out? If you don't, then reevaluate the market. The more you learn, the better your future will look," says Stephen.

International Living---Fund Your Life Overseas (3)

''I Needed to Reinvent Myself''
By Glynna Prentice

Libby Rush is finishing up a year teaching English at a small foreign language school in Campeche, Mexico. It's been ''a wonderful experience,'' she says—and she's already considering where she may teach next. Ecuador, Honduras and Nicaragua are on her short list—as are some other cities in Mexico.

That's the beauty of teaching English abroad: It's a very portable career. And that's exactly what Libby likes about it.

''I needed to reinvent myself,'' says Libby, after the real-estate underwriter she worked for closed shop in 2009. She wanted a career that was ''fun, where I could be of service,'' and that let her travel abroad in search of the perfect retirement spot. Teaching English fits that bill.

Libby began her research online and eventually settled on the ITTO (International Teacher Training Organization) school in Guadalajara, Mexico. She liked ITTO's mix of classroom instruction and hands-on experience teaching students. Plus ITTO is well known in Latin America, the region that most interests her.

''Asia is too far away for me,'' she says ruefully. ''I want to be close to family...to be able to get back to the U.S. easily'' and to her two grown children.

Of course, that means forfeiting those high Asian salaries. According to Libby, Europe and Asia pay English teachers higher salaries than they can get in Latin America. ''In all of Latin America, except maybe Chile, the pay is low.''

To compensate, though, ''in a lot of places they provide accommodation as part of your contract,'' she adds. That's the case with her Campeche job, for instance, which provides her with accommodation and half-pension (breakfast and lunch) in addition to a salary.

Libby did consider a well-paying teaching job in Vietnam. But the school didn't accept her TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate: It required a different one. There are ''lots of different certificates'' available for teaching English, she notes. Her advice: If you know you want to teach in a specific region, make sure you earn a certificate that's accepted there.

Libby hasn't lost any sleep over that job in Vietnam, though. Her TEFL certificate is widely accepted in Latin America, where she wants to retire. Campeche is her first overseas assignment, and it's taught her a lot about what she's looking for in a retirement spot.

For one thing, she's realized she wants to live near a beach. She's started making lists of beach towns to research in her target countries.

For another, she wants to be able to take her dog, Gigi. Libby left Gigi behind when she came to Campeche—but she doesn't want to do that again. Alongside that list of beach towns, she's started jotting down cities near international airports she can fly to with Gigi.

It may be a case of ''do as I say, not as I do.'' You really need to be ''free of encumbrances'' to teach English abroad, Libby notes...even as she makes plans to bring her own little canine encumbrance on her next teaching adventure.

International Living---Fund Your Life Overseas (2)

See the World For Fun…and Profit—Create Your Own Niche Tours
By Cynthia Morris

One of the greatest joys in life is making money doing something you’d willingly do for free. Like taking a wine tour of Argentina, stopping at all the vineyards in Mendoza…or traveling through Greece with a paintbrush in hand to learn the art of watercolor…or maybe staying in a lavish villa in Tuscany with friends and a chef who comes to teach you how to cook local specialties and pair the dishes with wines.

The good news is: You can quickly and easily turn travel dreams like that into paid-for trips. That’s what I do. You can easily get paid to enjoy your favorite destinations, too. And as often as you’d like. In fact, the more you travel…the more money you can make.

I love French culture and discovering new things. When I was young—with a “useless” French degree in hand—I vowed to spend as much time in France as possible. But life quickly got in the way, and that resolution faded.

Then, four years ago, I came up with an idea that reignited my dream. An idea that today lets me visit France in new and exciting ways every year…cover my travel expenses nicely…and make a profit every time I go.

I do it by creating and leading niche tours. I led my first one back in 2005. Over the intervening years, I’ve learned what works (and what doesn’t). So each tour I take I have more and more fun—and I make a lot more money too!

When I first came up with the idea of creating niche tours, all I really wanted was someone to pay me to go back to France every year. I figured: I love France. I know all these cool places most tourists don’t get to see. And I bet there are a lot of other people out there who want to travel like I do—see the country in a way typical tourists can’t.

I imagined I’d create my own tour. Design the schedule. And advertise it online. If all it ever did for me was bring in enough money to pay for my trip, I’d be a happy camper.

Addicted to Easy Money

But as it turns out, my first tour not only paid for my trip to France that year, but I had enough money left over to extend my stay for two weeks and buy myself a brand new Macintosh laptop.

Since then, I’ve been addicted to the easy money. I profit between $3,000 and $10,000 on every tour—depending on where I want to go and what I want to do there. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing. Or of an easier way to fund what are really fun travel experiences.

Plus you can get started right away. Because you don’t need any fancy degrees. And you don’t need to spend months mastering a specific skill before you can become super successful at this.

Is it golf, cooking, hiking, spirituality, bird-watching, gardening, writing, art, yoga, wines? Whatever it is that lights you up, you can design your travel experiences around it.

If you love horseback riding, for instance, and would love to design a trip around it…chances are there are other people out there who would be interested in that too. If New Mexico is on your personal travel radar, you can design a wilderness horseback riding adventure in Santa Fe.

Love history? Map out a tour of sacred and historic sites in St. Augustine. Visit ancient temples and museums that are off-the-beaten-path in Athens. Go wherever your favorite destination happens to be. Or take your interest and create tours around it in places all over the world.

The beauty of creating tours is that you can create any experience you want. Just visualize something that really excites you.

It’s easier than you may think to design a tour that will pay you well. You decide what kind of tour you’d like to create and where you want to go. Then you simply map out a straightforward plan. Not only will your personal travel expenses be covered but you’ll also make a healthy profit.

And you don’t have to do it full-time if you don’t want to. You can do what I do and plan your tours around your day job. That’s because the bulk of what you need to do to prepare for a tour you can do over the Internet.

That means you can do it anytime and basically anywhere you want to. Of course, you have to schedule time off to take the actual tour itself. But if you’re like me, you probably already take a couple weeks vacation each year. And it’s easy to fit your tour into your annual time off.

And, by the way, if you think you have to be an extrovert to do well at leading a tour, think again. The truth is: I’m downright shy. But it’s never been a problem when it comes to tours. Because I design them to attract people whose interests are similar to mine…people with whom I share common passions and hobbies. And so when you follow my lead to design tours like this, you’ll be surrounding yourself with the kind of people you’re comfortable with.

One thing you can count on when you create and lead your own niche tours is that you’ll never get bored. Even if you go to the same place over and over again, it’s never ever the same. No matter how many tours you’ve organized there’s always something new and different about each location you visit and the group you’re traveling with.

International Living---Fund Your Life Overseas (1)

Get Paid to Travel the World
By Sandra Kennedy

It was while exploring the Schist villages of central Portugal earlier this year that I realized just how much my life has changed. I'd retired from teaching and wasn't sure how I'd keep myself busy. But now here I am getting paid to travel, take pictures along the way, and write about what I recommend other people do and see. It's hard to believe it's even a real job!

But I'm living proof: It is.

I stayed at lavish haciendas, ate the freshest foods in Ecuador, got to know the smiling, helpful locals. I went to a Shaman healing ceremony, rode horses in the Andes and learned to weave. And then I sat sipping fresh mango juice, relaxing by the pool. It's hard to believe it costs me nothing to travel like this.

Okay, so I take notes and photos along the way and spend a few evenings writing up my impressions while they're fresh in my mind. Back home, I put them into proper sentences. But then more than one editor pays me for them.

I used to think it was too good to be true. But it's the life I lead today. I've always loved travel and photography. And as a retired teacher, I figured I could put a sentence together—though I'd hardly say I have great literary flair. So a few years back, I attended the Ultimate Travel Writer's Workshop in Buenos Aires to see if I couldn't gather the secrets to getting stories into print and cashing in on some of the perks I knew could come with this line of work.

One morning after breakfast, I asked International Living's roving European editor, Steenie Harvey (who was speaking at the event) about ideas for the workshop's writing assignment. After I told her how I'd rented an apartment to stay in for a week before the event, she suggested an article about living like a local.

I wrote it. And Escape Artist published it within a few weeks of my return home. I was hooked. I had the first clip for my travel writing portfolio.

Now, fiveyears later, my portfolio is filled with travel articles and photographs from Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Portugal, Uruguay, Argentina, Alaska, Maine, Oregon and Washington. And many of those articles came out of trips I enjoyed for nexttonothing or even free.

Daily Writing Tips---Spelling Diversity Between AE and BE

How Spelling Diverges Between American and British English As George Bernard Shaw is said to have said, “England and America are two countries separated by the same language.” It’s easy enough to find books and Web sites that provide evidence to back the old boy up, detailing such transoceanic translations as elevator/lift and critical divergences such as the relative meanings of “knocked up” (British English: “called on,” “woke up,” or “worn out”: American English: “impregnated”). What you’ll find here, however, is a discussion of differences not in vocabulary but in spelling between the English language’s two primary variants. The blame for the ornery orthography of American English (which is even more annoying to its users than to those who speak other variants of the language, because we actually have to, you know, use it) is primary laid at the oft-pedestal-mounted feet of Noah Webster, a nineteenth-century writer, editor, and lexicographer who almost single-handedly created the dialect I will hereafter in this post abbreviate as AE (as opposed to BE, or British English). Webster’s impetus was nationalistic — he desired a distinct language for Americans that they could feel they owned, and one that represented democratic ideals as well. The problem is, for all his meticulousness, he was maddeningly inconsistent, and the myriad successors who have added to the American word-hoard have followed suit. Here, to do my part to make amends, is a brief guide to the major distinctions in AE and BE spelling (and within AE spelling itself), with one or more examples: -ae (encyclopaedia, mediaeval) AE usually deletes the a from the diphthong ae, which is unfortunate, because the words look so cool with it. It is retained, however, in such words as aesthetic (though that word is also spelled esthetic). -ed (fitted, forecasted, knitted) AE usually drops the past-tense ending in these words. However, exceptions are made in such usages as “The tailor fitted him for a tuxedo.” -ed [irregular] (lighted, strived) AE prefers forms such as lit and strove, though the BE forms are often employed. -ement (acknowledgement, arguement, judgement) AE omits the first e from the suffix, though some writers of AE remain unaware as far as the first and third examples are concerned. -ence (defence, licence, offence) AE spells these words with an s in place of a c. -ise/-yse (analyse, criticise, memorise, realise) AE favors -ize/-yze endings. -l (enrol, fulfil, skilful) AE doubles the l that is not part of -ful/ful-; the l in that syllable is never doubled (except in inflected forms of full). -lled/-lling (cancelled/cancelling, levelled/levelling, travelled/travelling) AE omits one l in this form; some writers of AE still haven’t received the memo. -mme (diagramme, programme, telegramme) AE omits the second m and the e at the end of these words. -ogue (analogue, catalogue, dialogue, epilogue) In AE, catalog is clipped, though the full form is preferred for all its analogues. (See?) -our (colour, favour, honour, labour) In AE, the u is jettisoned in most words with -our; glamour is an exception. -oeuvre (manoeuvre) AE simplifies this ending to -euver (maneuver). -que (banque, checque) In AE, the French-influenced -que is replaced by a Germanic k. -re (centre, litre, metre, theatre) In AE, the letters in the -re ending are reversed, though the BE spelling for the first and last examples is sometimes employed in proper names for facilities to convey Old World class. -st (amidst, amongst) In AE, amid and among are preferred, though many writers of AE, professionals and amateurs alike, retain the -st ending. -t (dreamt, leapt, learnt) AE replaces -t with -ed, though some writers of AE, out of ignorance or because they prefer the more poetically pleasing appearances, use the BE form. -wards (backwards, inwards, upwards) AE omits the -s, though many writers of AE retain it (often inconsistently from one word to another). -xion (complexion, connexion) This suffix is unique to complexion, spelled identically in AE and BE, and connexion, now almost obsolete in the United Kingdom. Original Post: How Spelling Diverges Between American and British English Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook.