MY STORY

I had been working for two years as a staff reporter for a business journal in the U.S., and it was high time to escape. Not just the confines of the office routine, but the confines of the country. I had traveled a lot throughout my life with my family and a little on my own, and I was restless once again. I needed to get out, and the Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship turned out to be my ticket. (If you have ever been involved in community or nonprofit work, I highly recommend you look into this incredible opportunity.)

So, I arrived in Prague as a student; but after my one year course was up, I knew that I couldn’t go back home. I had always wanted to live abroad, really truly be part of an international city, and I realized that Prague was absolutely perfect in every way. Located centrally in Europe, I could be in an entirely different country in just an hour or two. I could walk everywhere, every day, and shop at local vegetable markets, butcher shops, and bakeries. I loved the challenge of everything being strange, and my goal was to make it familiar. This was how I wanted to live for now; and I would do anything to stay here—which meant starting out as an English teacher—something that every eager expat new to Prague usually must do to pay her dues (and rent).

But during the next two years of this unstable and exhausting work, I made sure to dedicate every free moment to researching new markets, where I could publish the dozens of article ideas that came to me every day. I signed up for freelance writing newsletters, scoured the online job boards and forums, queried editors en masse, and scribbled down article outlines, while the preschool kiddies were having naptime—all the while reminding myself that I was truly a writer at heart, not a teacher. I wouldn’t stop until I reached my goal of becoming a financially viable, full-time freelance writer.

I finally began to accumulate clips—mostly from travel writing websites—but then I began to reel in the bigger fish based on my business writing experience. But where did I find such markets? Mostly, the publications were U.S.-based; but by then, I had built up enough confidence to call myself a freelance writer and hit up the local English language publications. Through this method, I found several steady and well-paying gigs. Because expats are a rather volatile bunch in general, companies requiring native English speakers, including publications, are often in need of new expats to replace those who have just left.

What is important to remember is that if you are living cheaply (like I was on the Czech koruna) and earning on the dollar (or euro or pound), your life becomes a lot more simplified and stress-free. You won’t need to be working all day, every day to keep up with your rent and bills; and you’ll have the freedom and flexibility to travel and explore your new world. Isn’t that the dream after all?

BEFORE YOU MOVE

You do need to know that you will be able to be financially stable during and after your transition abroad. I am going to assume that you already have a stable freelance writing income; but you need to make sure that when you move, your work can move with you—meaning that you don’t want your biggest client to be one that requires on-site meetings or in-person interviews in the city where you currently reside. If that’s the case, then you need to find other gigs that can make up for this loss—gigs that are telecommute-friendly and don’t care about interviews being done over Skype or e-mail.

But also know that as an expat freelance writer, you are in an excellent position to enter into areas of writing and markets that you never would have been able to before. Almost without trying, you are automatically a travel writer. Doesn’t matter if you’ve never written up a travel article—there are publications out there that are greedy for all the travel tips and destination reviews they can get their hands on. From smaller travel blogs to in-flight magazines to the high paying markets like Travel & Leisure, the editors are out there, waiting for your fresh perspective on the new world, which you now inhabit. But not only that, they (and their readers) want to know how you got there and what it takes. If you're already familiar with travel writing, then this move is a match made in heaven for you! Every day of your life abroad is a travel article or three in itself.

You will want to start researching local English-language publications in advance, contacting editors or even other contributors to introduce yourself, and discover what opportunities might await you once you arrive. See if you can set up a meeting with the editor over a lunch or a coffee. If you can prove yourself to be a reliable and thorough writer, just like with any publication back home, you will receive steady work. What’s even better is if you can understand the local language enough to conduct interviews, do some copyediting, or even translation work. Once you are comfortable as an expat, you will find that working as a freelance writer abroad is even more exciting than freelancing has ever been before—and the sky’s the limit on the amount of articles you can generate and publish. It’s truly all about self-discipline and persistence.

EQUIPMENT TO TAKE WITH YOU

From personal experience, the less you bring with you, the better. You’re only going to accumulate more once you get there. It’s inevitable. But you do need some freelance writer business basics:

• Good camera for high res pictures, preferably with rechargeable batteries and charger. It’s important to have a good camera and have it with you at all times (with batteries charged!) because you never know when that perfect scene or image will jump out at you. For travel writing especially, you will need beautiful visuals to accompany your articles.
• Reporter notebooks, Post-it notes, index cards.
• Several USB memory sticks and maybe even an external hard drive.
• Portable-friendly laptop (light and easy to slip in and out of a backpack or laptop bag—especially for when you are going through airport security) with Skype for interviews, a good headset, and a Skype conversation recording device. (Pamela Skype Recorder is free.)

NETWORKING

Great organizations to try include InterNations.org, CouchSurfing.org, HospitalityClub.org, and even Facebook pages dedicated to your city. Also, a very useful place to start networking before you relocate is through your university’s alumni directory. Look up graduates who now live in your destination country or city. Or if you are a part of any international societies or organizations (like Toastmasters or Rotary), contact the local chapter in your dream city, start up a good rapport, and let them know you’re heading their way soon. Once you arrive, search out and attend local expat meetups—you never know whom you’ll run into and what kinds of gigs you can get out of these meetings. You can find expat groups and organizations in the city’s local English language newspapers, magazines, or websites. And don’t forget to look for a local coworking group for the ideal way to meet with other local freelancers.

VISAS

Each country has its own set of visa regulations and procedures, depending on your country of citizenship and on your purpose and length of stay. Contact your destination country’s embassy, and find out what documents you will need to apply for a long-term visa. In general, the basic documents for a long-term visa include proof of accommodation, proof of financial stability, personal statement regarding reason of stay, health insurance, passport copy, certificate of no criminal record, two photos, and processing fee. If you happen to have a relative or spouse who was born in the country you will be relocating to, then you can most likely use this connection as a purpose of stay for your long-term visa.

USE YOUR CULTURE SHOCK

Once you arrive, you’re bound to be quite overwhelmed—both fascinated and freaked out. What have you just done? What were you thinking? How can you really make it here when you don’t even know the language? Well, now’s your chance to explore the local cafes and parks and turn your befuddlement into a mini-therapy session. Write down all your fears and worries and excitement and curiosities in detail; write up e-mails and letters and postcards to your friends and families or even to yourself. And when you’re done, take a deep breath and look back over what you've just poured out. You’ve got a ton of article diamonds in the rough, just waiting for you to polish them up and pitch them to the right editor.

LANGUAGE LEARNING RESOURCES

http://www.livemocha.com: Excellent, highly interactive lessons.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/: Entirely free, very interactive, and very thorough.

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Suchi Rudra, a full-time freelance writer and full-time expat, camped out in Prague, Czech Republic for the past four years and is currently in nomad mode once again with plans to relocate to the sunnier skies of the Old World. Her work has appeared in a variety of travel publications such as Transitions Abroad, Europe Up Close, PlanetEye.com and India Currents; and she also regularly contributes to several business journals on the topic of sustainability. Aside from frolicking across the globe and scribbling all about it, Suchi also sings at small cafes and works on her short stories. Her first novel, Kitaab, written after a year-long stay in Bombay, was published last summer by Six Gallery Press. Suchiprague[at]gmail[dot]com

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