{"id":11299,"date":"2017-11-27T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theprofessionalhobo.com\/?p=11299"},"modified":"2024-06-18T07:36:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T11:36:21","slug":"financial-case-study-lauren-juliff-blogger-author","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theprofessionalhobo.com\/financial-case-study-lauren-juliff-blogger-author\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial Case Study: Lauren Juliff, Blogger, Author"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lauren Juliff was born in London, England, and has spent the past six years travelling the world and venturing outside of her minuscule comfort zone. Once afraid of buses, eggs, small talk, rice, and most anything you can think of, through travel she has overcome anxieties large and small in a quest to prove to a former Lauren she can do anything she sets her mind to. Lauren runs the travel blog Never Ending Footsteps<\/a>, where she writes about her frequent misadventures, and is the author of the travel memoir How Not to Travel the World<\/a> (which I’ve read and really enjoyed!). She does quite well with her travel blog, as well as her book and some freelance writing \u2013 and she only works half the year. Learn more about Lauren’s (lucrative) work-life balance lifestyle here!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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This post was originally published in 2017. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content. <\/em>

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How long have you been living\/working on the road, and where have you traveled to?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve now been traveling and working online for six years, which blows my mind, as I originally planned to be gone for just one! I spent the first five of those years travelling full-time, then moved to Lisbon, Portugal, where I currently base myself for six months of the year. Portugal hasn\u2019t quite worked out for me, though, so I\u2019m going to be leaving at the end of the year in search of a new home to return to between trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve visited 75 countries across five continents in total, so far focusing mainly on North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. This year, my aim was to check out as many African countries as I could. Next year, I\u2019ll be focusing on Latin America.

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Please describe what you do for income. <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s evolved over the years and I expect it to change in the future, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First and foremost, I\u2019m a travel blogger<\/a> and earn the vast majority of my income through this. Specifically, I make money through display advertising, affiliate sales, and sign-ups for my travel anxiety course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, I was unbelievably fortunate to gain a publishing deal through my blog and I now earn royalties as an author from sales of How Not to Travel the World.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, I work as a freelance writer and editor, specializing in travel. My main work comes through a regular gig with Trip Savvy, but I occasionally write for various travel magazines and websites on a one-off basis. I have to confess that I really don\u2019t enjoy freelance writing, so I say no to almost anything that comes my way these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After dabbling with sponsorships when I first started blogging, I quickly realized it wasn\u2019t a route I was comfortable going down, so I\u2019m one of the few travel bloggers who doesn\u2019t work with any companies. That means no press trips, no comps, no sponsored posts, no brand ambassadorships, no social media sponsorships, etc. After realizing I despised having an obligation to write about what somebody else wanted me to, I decided I would instead work on building a successful enough business that I could afford to go wherever I want whenever I want, and then write about whatever I want afterwards. I leave a lot of money on the table by doing this, but it\u2019s worth it for me.

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How many hours per week do you work on average? <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It varies, but averages out to around 20 hours a week. My work schedule looks a little different to most travel bloggers and authors in that I aim to work solidly for one month then take the next month off to travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, this year, I took a month-long trip to Mozambique and South Africa, where I spent most of that time offline and immersing myself in those countries. I then returned to Portugal for three weeks and got settled into 40-hour workweeks, writing about those recent travel experiences and scheduling posts for upcoming trips. When those three weeks were up, I travelled to Namibia for three weeks to take a break from work and focus solely on travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a long way of saying that I work roughly 40-hour weeks for a month, followed by taking the next month offline. Lots of travel bloggers take pride in being able to say they haven\u2019t had a real vacation in years, but I find I\u2019m happiest when I have a clear separation between travel time and writing time.

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How much money do you make? <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically between $5,000 and $7,000 a month. Here\u2019s how it breaks down:<\/p>\n\n\n\n