Digital nomads.
That’s the current trend among millennials, where bloggers and photographers travel the world but make bank with their posts and pictures of various destinations.
Getting to travel and still make money from your trips is definitely a dream, but while many are picking it up, not everyone is able to generate the revenue they wish, according to Web Work Travel.
However, there are always a few who are able to make it big, and one of them is Aileen Adalid.
From A Corporate Life To Freelancing
24-year-old Aileen Adalid, born in Manila and raised in Batanes, Philippines, has always been a free spirit.
The youngest of three moved to Manila after she graduated from high school, where the wanderer then graduated with a business degree from De La Salle University when she was 19-years-old, and entered the working world.
During the course of studying for her degree, Adalid worked at four different international companies – Nestle, Unilever, Siemens and Deutsche Bank. The last of which was her first full-time job for two years.
At the age of 21, Adalid handed in her resignation letter in spite of her good performance and promising career, the reason being that she wasn’t being paid enough (only US$300, around S$407), and her passion for traveling was ignited after meeting other travellers and hearing their stories.
In an interview with The Business Insider, Adalid explains that she realised the corporate life wasn’t for her. Her interests, instead, lied in both entrepreneurship and travel, so she left her job with just about S$815 worth of savings in her bank.
The Start Of Adalid Gear
When asked how she managed to make ends meet after leaving her job, Adalid revealed that she turned to freelancing.
“I started working as a remote freelance graphic designer, web developer, and marketing assistant taking on different projects but with a main stable client who employed me. My pay at this point was more than double of what I earned at my office job, and I was able to control my time more for working as I started to travel around more.”
On her travel blog I Am Aileen, Adalid explains that she learnt the necessary skills for graphic designing and web developing on her own through free resources she found online.
After a while, with her set of skills, she managed to get a stable job with an online Swedish company that paid double of what she earned previously. However, she got a second reminder of how the corporate life just wasn’t for her.
“But after a year with them — learning all their processes and seeing how profitable the business was — I pitched the idea to my best friend to adapt their kind of business. He was interested; so I ended my contract and dedicated our time to learning more about how things worked as we decided to launch the business together as partners,” she says.
In May 2014, Aileen along with a friend, started Adalid Gear, an online retail business that sells health and outdoor accessories through Amazon.
She Now Earns S$6,800 A Month, Even Without Her Business
According to The Business Insider, Adalid Gear now earns a revenue of around S$95,000 in monthly sales on average, while Adalid herself earns about S$6,800 a month, including earnings from business partnerships, sponsored posts and social media shoutouts.
Adalid’s travel blog has even made it to the prestigious Top 50 Travel Blogs list by The Expeditioner, clinching the 24th place.
Adding on to that, she also received her first Global Youth Travel award for her blog.
With an influence like hers, it’s no surprise Adalid receives amazing deals and free trips and accommodations as well. However, she makes sure not to compromise the sincerity of her blog by accepting just any offer.
“I want the blog to remain authentic, personalised, and uncluttered. Besides, I already earn most of my ‘keep’ from my online business,” she says.
Five Rules To Becoming A Digital Nomad
Adalid became the well-known travel blogger she is today through 5 simple rules, which she has shared:
- Know what you really want and what kind of life you are getting into
- Reinforce your desire to travel and work remotely
- Plan your trip
- Put your plan into action: Start saving and working
- Quit your job and start your life to travel
Her success story is definitely more due to her hard work and smarts, but there is no doubt that we’ll be taking heed these steps from now on!
Feature image credit: I Am Aileen
