Book a place for a few days, test it out, if it works out drop the host a message - not via the platform, mind, do it via WhatsApp or something, a lot of them give it to you when you arrive to facilitate comms - and ask to extend your stay and pay via cash/bank transfer/credit card directly with them.
I secured a decent enough place in Mexico City like that and even got some discount as host doesn’t have to charge to make up for the loss via AirBnB’s own cut.
lol corporate finance types don’t live in hostels, come on. maybe a small percentage of them.
That’s why you don’t tell them you’re bouncing around. People tell too much and then act surprised when the information that works against them and they disclosed, backfired on them.
I used to be one of those people, too, but I learned the hard way. I always limit the information as much as I can, they don’t really need to know those kind of things in my line of work - and I’m also always mentally prepared for losing the project at no notice, should they find out somehow and corner me with that or tell me “You need to come back next week or we’re terminating your contract”.
Yeah a lot of those course gurus telling you how to make money on X really make money on selling you courses on how to make money on X.
Quite often those courses are absolutely abysmal, they might also even have terrible advice - but if you’ve bought a pig in the poke, you can’t really get your money back. Even those who claim “100% satisfaction guaranteed!” always have some fine print in the T&Cs they try to exercise and claim you were not eligible because…, and then your only way is to chargeback via a CC.
Any reason you can’t or don’t want to get it?
I would be eligible but I don’t want UK to have full rights over me, this country became increasingly more fascist and totalitarian in the past decade and a half, unfortunately.
I might consider it there’s a new government with a different policy; at this point I’m happy with being a citizen of a different country and knowing I at least have somewhere else to turn to or, at the worst, I will just get kicked out to where I’m originally from which is miles better.
You won’t make a lot of money from Data Entry, all those things touted as remote even since before the pandemic like that, pay peanuts in the grand scheme of things, and it’s terrible time/effort:earnings ratio.
If you wanna be a digital nomad, make sure you excel in a job that can be remotely, and then either start an onsite job making yourself absolutely indispensable and go traveling, or get your own hustle going where you absolutely smash the hell out of it and take it with you.
If you don’t have skillset and confidence, Digital Nomading can very quickly turn from a fun time to absolute hell, where you’re stuck in a foreign country with limited rights (often just on a tourist visa/permit), far away from home, and nowhere to turn to or nothing to do.
That can prop you up but it’s not like it’s gonna make you a lot of dosh, especially in certain countries - you have to charge what people are willing to pay, and you’d have to be booked pretty much back to back to actually pay off a flat as a Digital Nomad in Mexico City.
I tend to not use AirBNB. It’s always more expensive
It’s really not, but you have to game the system.
Book an AirBnB for a week, if it’s nice, check the availability for the next month(s) and if it’s not booked up, talk to the host directly. You’ll get a massive discount most likely, because they get shafted by AirBnB as much, if not more, than you do, with platform’s fees.
That’s how I got my flat in CDMX where I’ve been for majority of this year. I randomly ended up there late December last year because the place I booked didn’t work out and I had nowhere to go, I loved it so much and found it so convenient I befriended the host/landlord and just renting directly from him now at a lower rate.
Granted, it’s still not a local rate, but unfortunately you have to have a proper visa and local bank account to rent like a local, which I don’t have - I’m still technically a tourist here. But it still works out for me, because it’s just about what I’d have to pay for a room back home (London), and I get my own flat in a good district for that money here.
Social Media/Digital Marketing, 15 years in that although like /u/girliegirl80 I’ve started taking onboard clients/projects outside of music - mostly because they pay better; sadly in a lot of cases musicians are relatively poor and it’s tough living off them alone.
Still do music-related stuff, but mostly on an equity basis, so I invest my time and skills in return for share of the profits generated, once they start bringing the money in.
What I can tell anyone, is money in the music biz (or really in most of entertainment) is in micropayments, royalties, residuals etc. Even with a lot of movies, directors or actors ended up much better off taking risks and agreeing to a percentage of gross profits as opposed to a flat fee.
It is, but you have to approach it from a different angle, IMO.
Be an expert in what you do and be the one dealing the cards. If you’re constantly chasing and applying for whatever jobs are posted out there, you have to play by their rules and deal with whatever they decide to throw you.
Either approach people as a service provider, saying you can do this, this and this and this is your price - or, at the very least, just make sure you’re able to stand your ground and say “Cool, I can easily do this and I can even throw that into the package you’ll be getting, but here’s the caveat: I work remotely”.
Also, as some others have already said: it’s easier to be remote on a contract vs. to be a FT/Perm employee with a salary and some sort of perks attached, which means you have to spend time on growing your network and maintaining it: industry people, but also key fixers like Talent Managers, HRs etc. who will reach out to you if they have a leak to fix that you might do.
I generally don’t take a payout on my rates vs London - at least not a massive one, I might take £10, £20 off on an hour but only if it helps with securing the contract because the client just doesn’t have the budget I would normally ask for. Why would I? I’m still providing the same skills, making the same things happen regardless of where I am. I charge for my knowledge and value I bring in, time saved to the other side, etc.