The Freedom to Work Anywhere

The freedom to work anywhere there is an Internet connection and a congenial spot to work in, that's what this blog is really all about.

A few years ago I began to lose my hearing, apparently from a bad bout of German measles when I was a child. It seems these things don't always make the worst known until later in life.  I now have 20% hearing  on my left side and 40% on my right. With hearing aids I do just fine, but I cannot wear headphones, no ipods for me, no dictatyping, no telephone reception work with a headset, no telephone headset while working as a Help Desk Analyst.  I did find a job at a real estate office, I was supposed to be preparing the documents for purchase and sale, but they kept asking me to answer the phone, and I kept getting the names and numbers wrong, and I was fired.

 After that I determined I would try to find something I could do from home. The only thing I am comfortable with is research and writing.  So I established The Chocolate Gazette, and began to research chocolate, an amazing topic really, and if not quite my most favorite food in the world, it would definitely make my 'desert island' list.

I don't expect to make my fortune writing articles about chocolate, but it was a place to start and so far I'm enjoying it.  I haven't written in a long time and at first I found myself completely tongue-tied, and facing that blank page was a bit daunting.  But, word by word (bird by bird as Anne Lamont would say) I've oiled the rusty machinery and found  my voice.

Doing some freelance writing, editing and proofreading is next on the list.  I've signed up with Textbroker and Elance.  Just filling out one's profile and submitting writing samples that have not already been published somewhere is a bit of a work out.  The next stage is to actually bid on jobs or in the case of Textbroker, request work.  I'll let you know how it goes.

 I've given myself a year to 18 months to try to make some sort of a living from my website and writing.  So far it's all work and no income but the groundwork does take time.  I have watched my website visitors go from 0 to 5 per day, to 10 per day and now close to 100 per day.  I am learning about Search Engine Optimization and marketing.  Being an introvert, as most writers are, I am considering using an online service for marketing.  I'll let you know how that goes.

 If I can make a living at this my goal is to move to Portugal in the next few years.  It's warm, the people are friendly, it's 4500 miles closer to my brother and his family in Germany than I am now and I love Europe and would like travel around the Mediterranean.

 

 

Follow along, if you like, and I'll report regularly how things are going for me.  If it works for me it could work for you too.