{"id":8469,"date":"2020-04-06T10:06:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T14:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theprofessionalhobo.com\/?p=8469"},"modified":"2024-06-18T07:34:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T11:34:34","slug":"financial-case-study-christopher-many-author","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theprofessionalhobo.com\/financial-case-study-christopher-many-author\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial Case Study UPDATE: Christopher Many – Author"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Christopher Many (whose online home can be found here<\/a>), born in New York City in 1970 to an American father and German mother, has always had a knack of breaking conventional norms and following his own dreams. More than anything else, he wanted to find out what lies \u201cbeyond the horizon\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After completing an apprenticeship as a boat builder in Bavaria, Christopher lived modestly at various locations, alternatively working and backpacking through the Caribbean, Asia, Europe and Australia. In 1997 Christopher set off on his first motorbike world trip with Puck, his Yamaha T\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9, and rode from Germany to New Zealand via India<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years later he returned to Europe, found a job in Scotland, and began to save up for his next venture: a round-the-world voyage with an ailing Land Rover he bought for only \u00a3700 (a little over $1,000). He named the Landy Matilda, and between 2002 and 2010 they journeyed together for 3,000 days through 100 countries. His book about this trip, Left Beyond the Horizon \u2013 A Land Rover Odyssey<\/a>, became a bestseller in Germany, and was recently released in English. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, reunited with Puck (the motorcycle) and with his partner Laura Pattara, Christopher left Europe and headed towards Australia. Right Beyond the Horizon \u2013 A Motorcycle Odyssey<\/a> tells the story of his four-year adventure on two wheels. After publishing the book, he spent 24 months in Australia, riding around the continent and criss-crossing the Outback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAfter six years’ absence, Christopher Many briefly\nvisited Germany in 2018…but only to buy an old, Decommissioned\nMercedes 308D post-office truck and immediately to set off again.\nCurrently Christopher and Laura are vagabonding through Europe with\ntheir bright yellow van. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nChristopher has now been on the road for 23 years, and\nhe’s still somewhere out there, doing what he loves most: travelling\nthe world and writing books about his adventures. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThis financial case study was\noriginally published in 2016. I invited Christopher to update us on\nhis situation, and how his lifestyle and income streams have evolved.\nRead on to discover how Christopher earns his living as an author and\nfull-time traveller!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Financial<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

How\nlong have you been living\/working on the road, and where have you\ntraveled to?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n2016: <\/strong>I sold all my\nbelongings, apart from what would fit into a rucksack, and opted out\nof conventional society to become a permanent nomad in 1997, when I\nwas 27 years old. Since then, I\u2019ve been continuously\ncircumnavigating the globe, either with my Yamaha T\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9\nmotorcycle \u201cPuck\u201d, or my antiquated Land Rover \u201cMatilda\u201d.\nBoth vehicles have carried me safely through Asia, Africa, Australia,\nboth Americas, and Europe \u2013 together we\u2019ve visited more than 100\ncountries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 UPDATE:<\/strong> Isn\u2019t it amazing how quickly time flies? When we last spoke, I was 46 \u2026 now I recently turned 50! And I really, really don\u2019t like it one bit. Not at all. If I had a say in the matter, I would have stopped aging long ago. However, it\u2019s not all doom and gloom. I\u2019m still doing exactly the same thing I’ve been doing non-stop for the past 23 years: getting to know our little blue planet better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd I must say: I love every\nminute of my over-landing life! Or at least the majority of minutes \u2026\noccasionally it can get rough \u201cout there\u201d. I did change my mode\nof transportation last year, and swapped my motorcycle for an old\nMercedes 308D post-office truck. It seemed better suited for a\nmulti-year European road-trip. Where I\u2019m sitting right now, the\ntemperature outside has plummeted to way below freezing. I\u2019m happy\nto be inside a heated van and not riding a bike. How many countries\nI\u2019ve visited? I guess I\u2019ve added another dozen or so since 2016,\nso the \u201cgrand total\u201d is somewhere around 110. \n<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Overland<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\nPlease describe what you do for\nincome.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n2016: <\/strong>I\u2019m a published\nauthor. The income from my previous book \u201cLeft\nBeyond the Horizon \u2013 A Land Rover Odyssey<\/em>\u201d\nis fully sufficient to cover my travel expenses, purchase petrol, and\nfill my belly. On occasion, I can even afford a slice of cheesecake,\nwhich I consider vital to achieving a state of wellbeing. I\u2019m not\nsponsored in any way by companies, and needn\u2019t promote my trips by\nholding regular slide-show presentations or book-reading tours (thank\nheavens \u2026 I\u2019m severely prone to stage fright), but instead, I can\nfocus full-time on doing what I love most: traveling the world and\nwriting about what I experience, without any distractions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 UPDATE<\/strong>: Yes, I\u2019m still a full-time author. Only now I have two books, \u201cLeft Beyond the Horizon \u2013 A Land Rover Odyssey\u201d and \u201cRight Beyond the Horizon \u2013 A Motorcycle Odyssey\u201d. A third book is in the making, but it will take a few more years until my manuscript is finished. So far, my books have been published in English, German and Portuguese languages. For the visually impaired, a copy in Braille has also been released \u2013 an edition I\u2019m particularly fond of. I strongly believe that everybody should be able to travel the world through literature. As you can see, my \u201cbusiness\u201d has grown!
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHow many hours per week do you\nwork on average?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2016: <\/strong>Work? I view writing more as a fervent passion than a job! Anyway … I guess every author develops their own routine, and what works for some, may not work for others. My routine? On average, I need about a week to research and write a 10-page chapter. So once every month, I try to find a comfy and inspiring setting where I can settle down<\/a> for a few days, reflect upon the past weeks\u2019 experiences, and put my thoughts to paper. Or \u2013 to be precise \u2013 into my laptop computer. My publisher would have a heart attack if I handed in a 400-page hand-written manuscript!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 UPDATE:<\/strong> I haven\u2019t really changed my work routine at all. I still work on average one week per month on my books, followed by three weeks of exploring and collecting experiences. Of course, the writing is now infinitely more comfortable in our camper van. I have a real table, electric lights, a heater, solar-panels to recharge my laptop, a fridge and a coffee-kettle (I can\u2019t write without coffee). This is pure luxury! For the past six years I\u2019d been living in a tent with a sleeping-bag. Recharging my computer with my motorcycle-battery was sometimes difficult, and working with a headlamp inside a cold, wind-tossed tent wasn\u2019t always ideal either.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHow much money do you make?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n2016: <\/strong>My income fluctuates,\nand depends solely upon the quantity of copies my publisher sells. I\nreceive an annual royalty payment \u2013 always in the first week of\nJanuary \u2013 and whatever I earn, will have to be enough to cover all\nmy expenses until the following year. The basic calculation \u2013 as\nstipulated in my contract \u2013 is really very simple: my royalties are\n8% of the net retail price per copy (most publishers pay between 6.5%\nand 10% royalties for non-fiction). So, as an example, my previous\nbook \u201cLeft Beyond the Horizon\u201d has a net price of USD $25. Of\nthese $25 dollars, my publisher gets $23 dollars, and I get $2 …\nwhich explains why not many travel writers are mentioned on the\n\u201cForbes List of Wealthiest People on the Planet\u201d. Still, one\nmustn\u2019t forget that the publisher needs to cover the costs for\nediting, printing, distribution, marketing, and more … all I need\nto do is write. I\u2019m not complaining: every time a reader buys a\ncopy and I receive my $2, this allows me to fill my motorcycle\u2019s\ntank with a gallon of fuel (and ride another 47 miles towards the\nhorizon), or my belly with a big slice of cheesecake! Thank you, dear\nreaders …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 UPDATE:<\/strong> Although my business has grown, my income hasn\u2019t. I still only earn about USD $6,000 per year, on average. Maybe this will improve soon. I recently self-published my original English-language books with KDP Amazon. The royalties for Kindle eBooks are great: 70%. My previous publisher only paid 8% royalties! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, being an author is not about earning \u201cbig bucks\u201d, it\u2019s about a passion for the written word. And I love the magic of words \u2013 how these strange, abstract blotches of black ink on a white sheet of paper, when assembled in a certain fashion, can conjure images in the mind and stir up cocktails of emotions. I want to tell my story, and the tales of those I had the great pleasure to meet en route. EVERYBODY on the planet has a story to tell, and worth telling. Just imagine the vastness of our combined experiences if each and every one of us wrote a book \u2013 printed and published, they would amount to a mind-boggling and wonderful collection! My Horizon books are my little personal contribution to this library.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nDo you make enough money to\nsupport your lifestyle?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n2016: <\/strong>Yes I make enough. I\nnever knew that the Land Rover enthusiast, motorcycle fan-club and\noverlanding communities were this large! And no, I do not need to\nengage in any other work, at least not in return for payment.\nSometimes I might help out here and there for a few months, but\npurely for the enjoyment of \u201cfun\u201d jobs. I never accept money \u2013\ngive me a bottle of wine, some food and good company \u2013 that\u2019s all\nI ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI\u2019m fortunate, I presume … not every author sells\nenough books to finance his lifestyle. But I also live modestly on\nthe road, travel less than 1,000 miles per month on average, cook my\nown meals, and camp usually \u201cwild\u201d in the bush for free. This way\nI can keep my travel budget to under USD $6,000 per year, which \u2013\nin other words \u2013 necessitates the sale of only 3,000 books p.a.\nShould I sell more, and have money left over, then I deposit the\nexcess into my savings account, splash out on a new set of tyres, or\ngo perhaps scuba-diving with my partner Laura. Should the book-market\ncrash and I sell less, well, it\u2019s not the end of the world. I\u2019d\nthen travel slower, cover shorter distances per month, spend less\ntime in costly countries, and if need be, even forgo my cherished\nmonthly bottle of wine. Where there\u2019s a will, there\u2019s always a\nway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 UPDATE:<\/strong> Even though I\u2019m now travelling in Europe with a van, and not with a motorcycle through Asia, USD $6,000\/year is enough to keep me on the road. Van-life is inexpensive, if you live modestly and avoid costly campsites. I was pleased to discover that USD $500\/month per person is sufficient to live a nomadic life on this continent \u2026 as long as I can stop my partner Laura from buying yet ANOTHER pair of shoes. She really is relishing the extra storage space in our van. On our bikes, she owned only one pair of motorcycle boots. My girl deserves better!

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nWhat is your vision for the\nfuture of your lifestyle on the road?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n2016: <\/strong>I love the simplicity\nof my nomadic lifestyle: I sleep when I am tired, eat when I am\nhungry, and shovel my Land Rover or motorcycle out of a Kalahari sand\ndune when I get stuck. And I write books some people will hopefully\nenjoy. That basically sums it up! I probably have far fewer problems\nthan your average home owner with a nine-to-five job and a family to\nfeed \u2013 my life and the past 19 years on the road have been\ncomparatively easy. So if you were to ask me, if I can imagine\ntraveling for another two decades, my answer would be \u201cyes,\ndefinitely\u201d. However, it is not my habit to think that far ahead.\nLaura and I tend to plan our days only one hour at a time \u2013 who\nknows where we\u2019re going to put up our tent tonight, what we\u2019ll\nfind to eat and who we\u2019re going to meet? And I believe that it\u2019s\nprecisely this unpredictability \u2013 the fact that the future is never\nforeseeable \u2013 is what makes life so incredibly exciting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 UPDATE:<\/strong> My voyages will continue. I have so many travel-related dreams, I couldn\u2019t realise a fraction of them in the next 100 years. I want to follow in the footsteps of Stanley through Africa to the source of the Nile, cross the Sahara on the classic RN1 in Algeria, circumnavigate the Mediterranean on a motorbike, and climb the loftiest peak in every European country. Perhaps I could sail the seven seas in a rickety boat or build a log cabin deep in the Canadian wilderness? At the age of 12, my room\u2019s walls were already plastered with maps and my shelves were lined with adventure books. So maybe it was all the \u201cfault\u201d of Jack London and Bruce Chatwin that I can\u2019t settle down? Beware of travel writers!

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAny advice for the aspiring\ntraveler about living and working on the road and managing finances?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n2016: <\/strong>The best advice I can\ngive you, if you have a meagre annual income, is to travel\nslowly<\/a> … especially if\nyou are an overlander with a vehicle. I probably couldn\u2019t live on\nUSD $6,000 per year if I traveled any faster. Why? Well, remember\nthat the combined costs for fuel, visas, shipping and flights can\neasily amount to HALF of your trip\u2019s budget. Irrespective whether\nyou conclude your voyage in a year or ten, the grand total of these\nexpenses remains the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what you can influence is your average expenditure per year. For example: an overlander who rides his motorcycle from Europe to Australia might cover 30,000 miles<\/a>, including a few detours. If his bike\u2019s consumption is 40mpg, and the average fuel price is four dollars per gallon, he\u2019ll need to budget $3,000 for fuel alone. Let\u2019s assume he obtains all the permits to cross China for $2,000, spends $500 on visas for the two-dozen countries on his route, and the shipment of his bike (including his own airfare) from Indonesia to Darwin costs another $1,000. That\u2019s $6,500 all up … a hefty sum for a one-year journey!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHowever, if the overlander takes things slowly, and\ncovers the distance over four years (like I am currently doing), his\naverage annual expenditure drops to a reasonable $1,625. On top of\nthat he\u2019ll only need to cover the costs for food, accommodation and\ninsurances, which are proportionate to his trip\u2019s duration. In the\nend, a four year motorcycle trip is only twice as expensive as a one\nyear journey, NOT four times! If you now subtract $1,625 from $6,000\nand divide the remainder by 365, this leaves me with almost $12 per\nday for food and accommodation \u2026 which is more than enough. On my\nLand Rover journey, by the way, the situation was much the same.\nWhereas my Landy\u2019s fuel consumption was higher, the trip lasted\neight years instead of only four. Hence, my average annual\nexpenditure was nearly identical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 UPDATE:<\/strong> Below is a detailed 13-point breakdown of all our monthly van costs in Europe, together with a pie-chart. Some of our expenses are \u201cfixed\u201d, meaning they cannot be influenced (such as road-tax, vehicle insurance, medical insurance, and a few membership fees). Other costs are variable, and depend upon our desires and needs (such as fuel, repairs, food bills, Laura\u2019s shoes, and how often we decide to sleep at a campsite instead of in the bush for free). For example: if we need to buy a new set of windshield-wipers, then we\u2019ll use some of our food-, fuel-, or campground-money to cover the unexpected expense, and adjust our travels accordingly. \u201cSock-money\u201d, by the way, is precisely that: spare change left over from the monthly $500, and I deposit into my \u201csock-bank-account\u201d. Maybe I\u2019ll use it one day to buy a new black t-shirt \u2026 or another pair of socks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n(See also:\n<\/em>Nora’s\nannual financial reports<\/em><\/a>,\ndetailing her expenses and income)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Christopher<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\nFixed costs per month, per\nperson: $132.77. <\/strong>These\ninclude:<\/p>\n\n\n\n