Are people trading and travelling for a living? Absolutely! If you think about it, you can trade stocks from anywhere in the world these days as long as you have an internet connection or a smartphone. Now all you need to do is head over to Instagram and you’ll find a ton of traders posting pictures of themselves trading on a tropical beach in the Caribbean, or on a yacht sailing the Mediterranean. Must be easy if you have the money, right? Well, as glamorous as it seems, there’s actually a long list of things you need to have before you can even think about being a travelling trader. Luckily for you, we’ve already looked into living this life to see how realistic it is.
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So You Want to Start Trading and Travelling?
Get in line! But in all seriousness, there’s obviously a few things that make it easier to switch over to this kind of lifestyle.
Do you have a job? If you have a 9 to 5 and need it for day to day living expenses, you might want to make sure you can cut it as a trader before you make it your life. Everyone wants the financial freedom to be able to trade stocks and make millions of dollars from a beach. But few actually have the ability to do so without making some major life changes.
Do you have a family? Not that you can’t switch to trading and travelling if you have kids, but it certainly makes things a little more difficult. Of course, you probably have a spouse you need to convince as well. So make sure you have a strong argument lined up to plead your case!
Can you afford to move to a new country? In case you want your trading and travelling trip to become a prolonged one, you’ll need to make sure you can actually afford to live abroad for an extended period of time. Are you a good enough trader that you can count on your trading income to live on?
These are just a few of the basic things to consider before packing up your life to be a travelling trader. If you’ve already determined you’ll quit your job and you’ve managed to convince your family, let’s move on to the actual checklist of things you’ll need when you actually set up your trading station in a tropical paradise.
What Do I Need For a Travelling Trade Station?
Internet: Probably the single most important part of trading from any location is a strong internet connection. Whether it’s from a mobile WiFi stick or your smartphone hotspot, you’re definitely going to need a stable connection when you’re as far away from an ethernet port as you can be.
Things to keep in mind? Some countries with the most beautiful beaches and pools, also have some of the worst internet infrastructures. It seems a little silly to travel to an exotic country, only to trade stocks inside of your hotel room.
Not very glamorous is it? Until you can afford to trade from your own yacht with high-speed WiFi, make sure you have access to a strong connection wherever you end up trading.
A Laptop: Space is a premium if you want to travel and trade. Don’t expect to be setting up your home trading station with four monitors and an ergonomic gaming chair. If you’re trading poolside you’ll have to stick to a single monitor on a laptop. So make sure you’ve practiced working on one screen. Here are some things to look for in a good trade and travel laptop:
- Big screen for your trading windows
- Long battery life because you probably won’t be near a wall outlet
- Fast processor with lots of RAM so you don’t get any lag
- Adding a WiFi card or adaptor so that you can boost your connection
Chromebooks can make great travel devices. But you won’t get the power or speed of a MacBook Pro. Of course, if you know about computers, you know a MacBook Pro will often run you double or triple the cost of a Chromebook. The last thing you want is to be stuck with a laptop that just can’t handle trading from the beach. Checkout some of the best laptops for trading.
What Country Is Best for?
This is obviously a personal preference. But for your first trip, you may want to pick a place that you’re comfortable going to. A country that welcomes foreigners. One where you can communicate with locals may be a nice way to ease into being a travelling trader. Other things to consider?
Do you need to pay taxes on the capital gains you make while in that country? Is the internet connection secure? Finally, if it’s a country or region where daily living expenses are quite reasonable, you probably don’t have to take as many risks in your trading strategy!
Who Can I Follow That Does Travelling and Trading?
There are a ton of people on Instagram or other social media platforms who claim they make a living by trading and travelling. You’ll soon come to realize that a lot of them have their fair share of skeptics who don’t believe in the lifestyles being portrayed. Haters gonna hate, right?
Cameron Fous: Follow Cameron on Instagram and watch as he posts pictures of his trading screen in exotic locations like Bali, Dubai, Jakarta, and Shanghai. Do you believe that Fous made his fortune from trading? He was one of the first online trading gurus to offer his trading expertise as a paid service on Profit.ly. But many people remain skeptical about his actual trading abilities. Is he a scam? Probably not. You can’t hate on a guy who looks like he’s living his best possible life!
Timothy Sykes: We previously wrote about Tim Sykes as a guru similar to Fous. He sold his trading services after previously hitting it big on the stock market. Funnily enough, Sykes founded Profit.ly, the platform that Fous used to sell his services. Sykes also loves to take pictures of himself trading from exotic locations around the world. Although he isn’t quite as wild or in your face, as Fous is.
Dave Portnoy: I use the term trader generously here, but Davey Day Trader Global himself often posts videos or live streams of his trading sessions from pools or beaches. Now, Portnoy isn’t quite on the same level as Sykes or Fous as trading gurus. But Portnoy is a celebrity and the El Presidente of Barstool Sports, making his net worth approximately $125 million. And people love him.
Any Other Tips for Travelling and Trading?
Get a watch! Seriously. Your smartphone works too but you never know when mobile networks will cut out. Especially on a beach halfway across the world. One thing traders never really take into account is that you’ll most likely be in a different time zone. So your entire trading routine will be flipped upside down. If you intend on trading U.S. stocks on the NYSE or NASDAQ, then you’re going to have to figure out what time the markets open and close, wherever you are.
Interested in trading cryptos? Luckily for you, the crypto markets are open 24 hours per day and seven days per week. But please make sure you’re in a country that allows crypto trading! The last thing you want to do is go to a new country and break the laws. Countries like India, Morocco, Vietnam, and Nepal are popular vacation destinations. However, any sort of crypto activity is banned and considered explicitly illegal.
Always have an escape plan in case things go sideways! What happens if you lose everything trying to be a day trader? Make sure you have enough capital to return home if you need to. Being stuck with no money in a foreign country is not the best situation to be in. Especially if you don’t speak the language.
Final Verdict
It sure seems like a dream come true, doesn’t it? Until you have to consider all of the things you need to get in order before and while you’re travelling and trading. Traders like Cameron Fous make it seem glamorous, and maybe it is, but Fous also has several million dollars in his account to back him up if things go awry.
If you really want to start travelling and trading, do the research and make a plan. Find a destination you feel safe going to and make sure you can handle the change in lifestyle outside of your trading hours. You also don’t want to head to a country where the U.S. stock markets are only open in the middle of the night, because trading on the beach is a way different experience at three in the morning. Bon Voyage!
