Yahoo Finance Work trend letting Aussie earn $8k a month from Europe
Aussies are packing up their things and embracing the work-from-anywhere lifestyle.
Digital marketer Ben Debono has been working while travelling for the past couple of years, visiting everywhere from Albania to Greece to Central America.
The Adelaide local started his own marketing business, Bobo Digital, six years ago and said this had given him the freedom to work from anywhere.
“One of the reasons I started my own agency was because I wanted to go to South America for a year. I thought, ‘I’ve got some money in the bank but it’d be nice to work and travel at the same time’,” Ben told Yahoo Finance.
“I was able to generate enough money while I was in South America because I was spending South American pesos and earning Australian dollars. I wasn’t earning a lot but enough to get by and be able to do all the things I wanted to do.”
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Ben is now working with his clients, who are mostly based in Australia, while visiting Montenegro. He will soon head off to visit family in Malta and Wales, before packing up and moving to London next year.
The freedom to travel, meet new people and experience different cultures were the main benefits of working from anywhere, Ben said. But there are some downsides, with the Aussie still working his normal hours while travelling abroad.
“There are days where I am travelling with friends and they’ll go to the beach and I’m just sitting here in an apartment pounding out work for 10 hours while they are having fun,” he said.
“So, you definitely have to be disciplined with how you go about it and be driven and not lose sight of the fact that you are still making money and you have deadlines with clients.”
Growing trend
Ben is one of many Aussies who are embracing the work-from-anywhere lifestyle. New research by freelancer platform Fiverr found ‘anywhere workers’ were now choosing to travel more and for longer periods of time.
More than 80 per cent of anywhere workers planned to continue this lifestyle for up to five years, the worldwide survey of 2,000 digital nomads found, while 83 per cent planned to move locations at least once every six months.
Fiverr CMO Gali Arnon said work and travel were becoming increasingly blended as the global workforce evolved.
“It’s incredible to see this type of work becoming more common across the globe. This growing group of workers are taking control over their careers while enriching their lives experiencing what the world has to offer,” Arnon said.
“From full-time workers to freelancers, being an anywhere worker has never been easier and the opportunities are endless.”
The main reasons workers are choosing the lifestyle range from a desire for more flexibility, excitement and adventure, to having grown tired of the typical 9-5 job grind.
Anywhere workers were largely Millennials, Fiver found, and were workers who had a fair amount of work experience and had found full-time remote positions that offered them the flexibility to work and travel.
Most in-demand jobs
Fiverr's latest Business Trends Index found it was digital jobs that were sending Aussies across the globe.
Some of the most in-demand jobs on the platform were:
YouTube Shorts video services
Instagram Reel editor
Shopify manager
Etsy digital planner
Making it work
Alongside his digital marketing business, Ben also picks up freelance work through Fiverr - setting up and managing Google Ads campaigns. He is currently earning up to $8,000 a month on the platform, with gigs ranging from $150 to $915.
For other Aussies hoping to jump on the work-from-anywhere trend, Ben recommends being disciplined and, if you are intending to freelance abroad, building up a profile before you head overseas.
“Jump in and give it a go. Platforms like Fiverr and Upwork afford you the opportunity to do so, which is fantastic,” he said.
“Focus on expanding your network so you don’t have as much reliance on those platforms and can build your own businesses.
“It’s a grind to get up and rank high. You’ve got to do a lot of work for cheap but it pays off when you get to that point.”
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