Moving to another country is an experience of a lifetime. You learn so much about yourself and others, and you’ll realize the beauty in seeing the many ways people live. You want to thrive while living abroad, not worry about generating income.

Even if the cost of living in your new country is lower than where you’re coming from, you still need to have a plan in place for how you’ll take care of your expenses. If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you know a few weeks after I moved to Mexico, I got laid off. This means my original plan for consistent income had to shift.

The suggestions I’m sharing with you are things I’ve done or am currently doing, so it’s not an exhaustive list. For more money making ideas, check out 44 Legit Ways To Make $1000 Fast in 2023.

Become a 1099 Employee

Over the last decade, I’ve had varying experiences being a 1099 employee, which is the legal term for someone who is an independent contractor rather than a full-time employee. The benefits to being an independent contractor include:

You have more control over your own time. When you’re a full-time employee, you’re limited by the constraints of your work hours, given to you by your boss. As an independent contractor, you set your own work hours. There are challenges to this lifestyle, one being you’ll have to find these opportunities and usually pitch your idea or interview for the role. But guess what? That’s no different than if you were looking for a regular 9-5 job.

You can work from anywhere. With most remote work in the United States, they say work from anywhere but they really mean stay in the USA. That’s because there are tax implications for your employer when you live abroad. But when you’re an independent contractor, you can live anywhere, literally. When you’re preparing to move abroad, look for remote roles that give you this flexibility. That way you don’t have to worry about tax issues or losing your job because they thought you were living in the United States.

sabbatical year, adult gap year, faith over fear, finding my purpose

You choose your clients. This for me is the best part. The idea of choosing who I work with makes me smile. Because let’s be honest, work life gets really hard when you don’t get along with your colleagues or when you down right despise each other. It causes additional stress which impacts your body, mind, and soul. It leaves you depleted and unable to show up in ways you want for the people you actually do care about because so much energy is going into people you don’t care about. When you’re an independent contractor, the power of choice is shared. You ask questions of the people and organization you’re considering supporting. You set your boundaries and make clear what is and is not your responsibility. It’s quite freeing.

I’ve been blessed to work with an organization for the last five years that is fulfilling and fun. So when I got laid off, I wasn’t too worried because I knew just from one contracted opportunity I could increase my income by $10,000-$15,000 USD per year.

When planning your own sabbatical, check with your current employer to see if you can keep your same role and transition to being an independent contractor. There will be tax and health insurance implications you’ll want to research. I recommend reaching out to The AFP Group, LLC. They’ve helped me tremendously in my journey towards financial freedom.

Teach English

There are a lot of opportunities to teach English in Mexico. Although I wasn’t actively seeking this role, a friend of mine asked if I wanted to support a local elementary school by helping students with their English acquisition. As a former Reading Interventionist, I jumped at the chance to be around children again and help them.

My Concerns With Teaching English Abroad

While there are some organizations that provide a solid curriculum and have an onboarding process for making sure their teachers are prepared and using scientifically sound methods to teach students a new language, others do not.

My school wanted me to teach English moreso because I was an English speaking person, not necessarily because of my experience in the American education system. I also was not provided with any curriculum or support. In America, I was not a bilingual teacher. And there is a lot that goes into being able to teach a new language to children. Just listening to someone speak in English, while it could help a little with training the ear to hear these new sounds, does not in and of itself result in students learning another language.

Although I enjoyed spending time on an elementary campus again, I could not in good conscience continue working there because I believed students needed an experienced bilingual teacher to more deeply support their language development.

Other Ways To Teach English Abroad

If you want to get started teaching English abroad, learn more about securing your TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) certification here. And TeachAway has a job board to help you search for your next role and they guide you through the steps to getting TEFL certified. And if you want to be sure you’re choosing the right organization to work for, TEFL.org provides a list of the 20 best teaching English companies.

Start A Business

Ever since I was a child, I’ve had the heart of an entrepreneur. My awareness of this idea to build something you’re excited about and that belongs to you came from my daddy, who himself has an entrepreneurial spirit.

I hate how social media makes you think it’s incredibly easy to be an entrepreneur. There is a big difference between becoming an entrepreneur and generating consistent income from being an entrepreneur. Is it “easy” to declare yourself an entrepreneur? Absolutely. Is it easy to make hundreds, thousands, or millions of dollars being your own boss? Absolutely NOT.

I’ve been on my own entrepreneurial journey for over a decade, and recognize what is easy and simple for me to do today is only because of the laundry list of trials and errors I’ve made along the way.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me tell you how I started pet sitting in Mexico.

In my previous blog, I told you about losing my first dog, Asher and about feeding stray cats at my first Airbnb in Merida. As I was preparing to leave that Airbnb, I shared this post on Facebook:

Some folks replied directly to my post and others sent me direct messages. Within two weeks, I was pet sitting.

Shortly after, I saw another Facebook post from someone who was compiling a list of pet sitters to be shared with all Expats. I smiled because it was a fresh reminder that when you open yourself to try new things, God will provide confirmation to let you know you are never without resources.

I stopped pet sitting because I was able to eventually rescue a dog I fell for the first time I saw him homeless on the street who my neighbor and I named, Max Galito.

In this era of the digital nomad, there’s so many options for how you can start a business. Once you’re clear on the problem you want to solve and the service you’ll provide to solve that problem, you can begin your entrepreneurial journey. Some things I’ve done include:

Online course
Starting my own tutoring company
Coaching
Consulting

While enjoying this #adultgapyear I started this blog. Yep, this very blog you’re reading right now. And I’m going to share with you exactly how I did it, how it’s going, and what I’m learning in the process. This isn’t the first blog I’ve had, but it is the first one I’ve been very intentional and focused on growing. Keep checking back to see how I generate income from blogging. The quickest way to get an update is to follow me on Instagram @believebeyondyou and click the notification bell in the top right corner.

You can take your own adult gap year. Click here to download this resource that helps you plan out your sabbatical. Whether you choose to take a full year or a little less time, this resource will guide your planning.