A Living from a Campervan??

[zipnolan]

Met a chap once in Germany, he asked for free camping in exchange for work ie... toilet cleaning, waste cleaning, cutting grass etc but by doing this the static customers on site sought his services (cash in hand) for their odd-jobs ie painting, electrics, chassis painting, plumbing etc...
We often saw him getting back handers and he did it for about 10 years before moving on.

 

[Deleted member 2636]

Some very interesting "people" work from their motorhomes around Rouen... They don't seem to do much sleeping in them though and always leave at around 2am...

 

[kimbowbill]

Well im back out full timing again, house costs covered for a few months, i have manged to pick up some extra work cleaning, gardening and decorating, clearing peoples huts out, i check out shop windows, get chatting to staff in chemists and GP surgery, they know all the old folk that need help, you just need to put yourselves out there, nobody is gunna come a knocking on your door, but you know that anyway, leave your number with carers, district nurses, they are easy to spot, i have and managed to get work, i have had to reduce my hourly rate. the competition is fierce, but some money is better than none, my next move is having some leaflets done, only £12, if i get a good response i will take somebody on to help me.

Just this weekend got chatting to the daughter in law of a WC member, she just mentioned she was from sheffield, jokingly i said "do you need a cleaner" , her cleaner has just had a stroke and was going to be advertising for someone in the next few weeks, job done, word of mouth is the best form of advertising

another good one is help with moving, not the heavy stuff but the ornaments, cleaning and packing them, boring stuff but hey, who cares when they pay you £15 ph, a fraction of the cost the removal company charge, just look out for houses that are sold, put your details through the door, i've had a couple of them,

i think if you have a skill like sewing or crafty stuff, your on to a winner,

 

[BillyPants]

There are loads of campsites across Europe who will give you a pitch with EH in return for a couple of hours work a day, and other who require part time workers for a days pay. If you plan ahead to work at several you could travel and earn your keep at the same time.

 

[Viktor]

Well this is my plan anyway, I am busy teaching myself the basics of internet marketing and looking at various products to offer for sale.

If I were you I'd forget about internet marketing and concentrate on providing a personal service that solves a problem. The internet marketers mostly make their living from teaching the theory. Few of them are runnning a successful site generating a profitable income.

Even if you have a wonderful website build with all the onsite and offsite optimisation available (which is difficult to do without protracted monthy subscriptions to multiple tools for the purpose), the next problem is traffic. If you have no visitors you have no business. Next comes testing of your marketing for conversation rates as to what page layouts and wordings caused people to buy i.e. on average a reasonable target is 1 sale per hundred visits. Again it's difficult and your monthly outgoings on hosting the site, membership subscribitions for necessary time saving and efficient software tools will easily be more than two hundred pounds per month.

So you need a lot of sales to make a profit, and we;re not even talking about the many many hours of time you will spend trying to put it all together.

There are other pitfalls too such as inadvertantly using a copyrighted item, or failing to cover yourself with website terms and conditions and privacy policies using proper legal material from an internet lawyer. You have to protect yourself from laws in different countries, and of course email spam complaints to your IP is another whole ball game on it's own.

 

[jimbohorlicks]

Hi There
Best of luck with your full timing.
i read an article some time ago where there was a house sitting agency for europe-you would be able to plan a journey say through france to the south of spain -house sitting on the way. I,m sure its available on the internet somewhere.or even in the UK
Another way is that as your English speaking -maybe you can earn your way teaching english for some payment in return at a french campsite for example

just a thought.

Best of luck

 

[krizteen]

What do you do now? Can you not do something similar as you travel about?

It's me go thinking about what to do when I go full timing, I don't want my money to run out..

 

[splitty67]

This thread made me think what i could do whilst travelling. Im quite artistic and very crafty (in the honest sense..lol) and decided like Jess WVW id look for a hand sewing machine. So if anybody has one on offer id be grateful.
I could then offer my services of repairing curtains etc (buttons on shirts for you men..lol) Im not able to offer much in the way of motorhome mechanics or electrics but would be more than happy to help out with repairs to anything in the habitation area.
Im also thinking of doing a little craft work along the way, any ideas would be welcome

Can you sew me a shirt on this button when you've got time?

 

[maxi77]

In many countries formal employers will not take on casual staff unless they are registered taxpayers, which is probably something most would like to avoid. I have seen full time motorhomers earning a crust at car boot sales in the Algarve but there are not many. Many of the earning opportunities suggested are already maxed out in the Algarve by the expat community. As far as I can make out any area popular with expat northern Europeans already has many expat run cottage industries all fighting for a shrinking expat euro. There are itinerant yachties who earn a crust servicing their less skilled fellow yachties with electronics, boat craft and engine maintenance. There is casual no questions work available in many areas but you will be up against the local unemployed who will most likely be favoured.

 

[n brown]

I can see your point,but don't necessarily agree. when I first got to the Algarve I found that the ex pats would rather pay me more than a local guy A.because,like a lot of ex pats, they never learnt the language and B. because they didn't trust the locals and considered them lazy ! I worked with a lot of locals and they were like brit builders,some were ok and some weren't. anyway it's still the same,like to like

 

[maxi77]

I can see your point,but don't necessarily agree. when I first got to the Algarve I found that the ex pats would rather pay me more than a local guy A.because,like a lot of ex pats, they never learnt the language and B. because they didn't trust the locals and considered them lazy ! I worked with a lot of locals and they were like brit builders,some were ok and some weren't. anyway it's still the same,like to like

What you say is very true but there is far less work now than there was, I know one builder who is commuting to the UK for work. Many who of those who ran businesses depending on the expat trade are finding life hard and many would get out if they could get a decent price for their property.

 

[n brown]

that's for sure,lot of people trapped in spain and Portugal financially

 

[Smaug]

that's for sure,lot of people trapped in spain and Portugal financially

True, but it's no more than the price of enjoying the good times tho, isn't it? Not trying to be sarcky, just that no-one can expect a "good time" period to last forever & there is always pain when the bubble bursts so I prefer to just accept it as the cost of the good times.

BTW, Maxi77, you may know me better as Searush elswhere! :boat:

 

[maxi77]

True, but it's no more than the price of enjoying the good times tho, isn't it? Not trying to be sarcky, just that no-one can expect a "good time" period to last forever & there is always pain when the bubble bursts so I prefer to just accept it as the cost of the good times.

BTW, Maxi77, you may know me better as Searush elswhere! :boat:

Hi Searush, in reality for the retired expats it is in general still a good life, we like many came back for personal reasons and will be back at least for the winter. For those who were running small businesses they were not so much cashing in on the good times but trying to make a living for their families, very very few ever made a killing so perhaps deserve a little sympathy, after all many were never given the vote and the expats certainly were never the beneficiaries of the largess paid out by governments as bribes for votes, so perhaps deserve the pain a little less than some.

 

[Deleted member 12539]

What about this.........
Caravan park and Campsite Job Finder UKCampsite.co.uk
Jobs abroad as well.

 

[Viktor]

Excellent link. I imagine WVW would be interested in this.

 

[CooP]

If I were you I'd forget about internet marketing and concentrate on providing a personal service that solves a problem. The internet marketers mostly make their living from teaching the theory. Few of them are runnning a successful site generating a profitable income.

Even if you have a wonderful website build with all the onsite and offsite optimisation available (which is difficult to do without protracted monthy subscriptions to multiple tools for the purpose), the next problem is traffic. If you have no visitors you have no business. Next comes testing of your marketing for conversation rates as to what page layouts and wordings caused people to buy i.e. on average a reasonable target is 1 sale per hundred visits. Again it's difficult and your monthly outgoings on hosting the site, membership subscribitions for necessary time saving and efficient software tools will easily be more than two hundred pounds per month.

So you need a lot of sales to make a profit, and we;re not even talking about the many many hours of time you will spend trying to put it all together.

There are other pitfalls too such as inadvertantly using a copyrighted item, or failing to cover yourself with website terms and conditions and privacy policies using proper legal material from an internet lawyer. You have to protect yourself from laws in different countries, and of course email spam complaints to your IP is another whole ball game on it's own.

This is all true and very good advice. I would recommend that any new venture be investigated and researched very carefully from all directions before rushing into any commitment. For myself, over the past ten years I have already started, grown and sold a number of moderately successful online enterprises so it would seem like a natural progression to continue with a familiar vein

 

[Jez]

What about software?

Hi. Just a thought as this has also occurred to me. Part of my job is writing software. With the increasing abilities of mobile phone to hook up to the internet there is nothing to stop you going anywhere you like to sit in your van and write software whilst looking at a view of your choice. For the other (and much bigger part really) is chatting with the customer. Often face to face so that means a visit. Not done it yet but plan is to use my motorhome to park up nearby and drop in, using the motorhome as a base of operations. All this hinges on your abilities as a software developer though. I think I picked up somewhere in the thread that you are internet savvy. So you're computer literate. Starting with something simple like JavaScript would lead on. All depends if it interests you though. I'm weird like that as it fascinates me so I'm prepared to put the time into it. Software development is (I think) one of those love it or hate it careers. Just a thought, but if you just write code for a living without the need to meet and greet you can code from anywhere in the world and fire it over t'internet to your customer!

 

[QFour]

We watched one young lady making money in her MH in France .. She sat by her table drinking a glass of wine when free .. She was very busy during the French lunch 2 hours ..



Alternatively you could try collecting scrap metal .. :lol-049:

 

[barryd]

Hi. Just a thought as this has also occurred to me. Part of my job is writing software. With the increasing abilities of mobile phone to hook up to the internet there is nothing to stop you going anywhere you like to sit in your van and write software whilst looking at a view of your choice. For the other (and much bigger part really) is chatting with the customer. Often face to face so that means a visit. Not done it yet but plan is to use my motorhome to park up nearby and drop in, using the motorhome as a base of operations. All this hinges on your abilities as a software developer though. I think I picked up somewhere in the thread that you are internet savvy. So you're computer literate. Starting with something simple like JavaScript would lead on. All depends if it interests you though. I'm weird like that as it fascinates me so I'm prepared to put the time into it. Software development is (I think) one of those love it or hate it careers. Just a thought, but if you just write code for a living without the need to meet and greet you can code from anywhere in the world and fire it over t'internet to your customer!

I used to do a lot of remote support for customers (I work in IT) when away in the van. One of the fondest memories was fixing a PC remotely for a couple of hours in London with my feet in Lake Maggiore drinking a beer, using a laptop and the tourist office wifi and then emailing them a bill for £120. I never even let on where I was.

I did this for a while with a handful of clients who knew I was away but were happy for me to support them remotely. I even did (a few years ago) some public sector project work which was just colaborating with others via email and intranet groups and writing up case studies. That paid very well indeed but its all gone now. The public sector stuff all dried up and most of the clients have gone bust. Last year I hardly did anything. You can do it but it can get tricky as sometimes you have to be there. It worked well for me for a while as I had just enough to keep me going but I was deliberatly not taking on too much work or developing new customers as I wanted to be away enjoying myself not working. It funded the trips for a while but the recession is still alive and kicking. I lost 4 key clients that kept me going in the space of 4 months this winter.

I might give busking a go!!