Did you know that you can use your 20s to produce something totally spectacular? Yes it’s true. I’m not here to be some weirdo motivational speaker sort of dude. I truly believe that you can do amazing things in your 20s. It’s actually not that difficult. All you have to do is start right now, beat off the distractions, and keep on going.

When it comes to what to do after college, there are many options to consider. In this specific series, we’re covering 7 alternatives to graduate school. Today we’re going to finish the series off with some fun. We’re going to create something totally cool in our 20s.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas A. Edison

How can you create something spectacular in your 20s?

Think of your idea.

The first step is to think of an idea or market that you’re going to aggressively go after. Now I don’t want you to get all caught up with chasing after some “perfect” idea that simply doesn’t exist and isn’t out there. This is why we need to find an idea quickly before we give up.

How can you find your highly lucrative idea?

1. Check Amazon top sellers.
2. Check out Craigslist.
3. Go through eBay.

These three sites alone should help you find some sort of a profitable idea. You must remember that you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. You just need to keep the wheel spinning. If something is a top seller or a in high demand you can create a similar product, a review blog, a complementary product, or even write a book on the topic. This is the best way to find a profitable idea.

Ensure there’s money in the market.

Now you want to validate that you’re actually onto something and that you can make money with whatever you choose to do. You don’t want to be working away for a years in an industry where there’s simply no money to be made.

How do you see if there’s any money in the field?

• Common sense. There are just some things that nobody would ever pay for. You don’t want to start some sort of a online dog trading club. You should strive to use common sense to gauge what the money is like.
• Basic advertising research. Basic research involves finding out what others are charging for rates, what the products go for, how much Facebook advertising would cost, and so on. You need some basic research under your belt.

That’s the best way to see if you can actually make some coin while creating something in your 20s. You don’t have to chase the dollars, but it’s good to know what your potential is from a realistic point of view.

Check out your competitors.

What are the competitors like in this field? Are there any competitors? Are they making any money? I’ve always been told that a rising tide will float all ships. I recommend that you check out your competition. You can see what they happen to be doing right, what’s wrong, what can be improved, and what gap you can fill. From there you can work on your unique selling proposition and penetrate the market!

Launch.

I wish I had all of the answers for you (and myself for that matter). The best thing to do is to just launch and throw it out there. What’s the worst that can happen? The best learning often happens on the job. That’s what I did with my first blog. I just launched it and learned from others as I went along. This is a simple strategy and the best way to ensure that you’re actually going to do something.

Just so that I don’t come off as a hypocrite, I’ll be honest. I’m still working on creating something cool! I’m not giving up. You shouldn’t give up either. The good news is that this basic framework will help you start and create something different this weekend. How about that for weekend plans?

A recap of the best options for life after collge:

1. Kill your debt.
2. Master a skill.
3. Do nothing.
4. Learn a new language.
5. Create something.
6. Start your own business.
7. Work abroad.

Do you want to learn a new language? Do you finally want to communicate in a new language? Will you finally increase the languages that you speak? This is a must-read post for anyone that wants to finally learn a new language.

When it comes to what to do after college, there are many options to consider. In this specific series, we’re covering 7 alternatives to graduate school. Today we’re going to try to learn a new language. Are you feeling adventurous?

How can you learn a new language? I speak English and Polish. I’m currently working n Spanish. What’s my plan? How can you learn a new language in your first year out of college?

Try one of the audio courses.

There’s the Rosetta Stone program and a few others that go over learning a language with you. I used one of these programs to pick up some basic Spanish. I’m nowhere close to being fluent in Spanish, but I’m comfortable with knowing the main words. The beauty of these audio programs is that it’s only 30 minutes a day and you can slowly pick up on the language. These courses are ideal when you have a busy life. You can listen to the audio programs from anywhere.

Watch a show in the language.

I once earned an interview on the radio where the person mentioned how they learned English from watching The Simpsons. It sounded pretty absurd at the moment. The one day I decided to give it a try and it was actually pretty interesting.

Visit a location that speaks the language.

I thought I picked up Spanish until I went to Cuba and tried to communicate with the locals. I quickly learned that I was clueless. It’s one thing to learn the main words, it’s a totally different thing to actually be able to communicate. If you want to travel, I highly recommend that you go to a location where you want to learn the language. There’s nothing like immersing yourself in that culture. The reason that I find this works is that you’re forced and have no choice but to learn the language. If you don’t learn the language, you’re going to have a tough time getting around or getting anything done at all.

Work with locals of the language.

This one isn’t exactly all that easy because you can’t control what sort of individuals you work with. I do know that a few of my friends learned a new language by working in that country with people that only spoke the native tongue. This is one step above from visiting the place. When on vacation you won’t be forced to learn the language necessarily. When you work abroad with locals, you’re going to have to speak that language or you won’t be able to hold your job for all that long. Long story short, if you want to learn a new language and travel, why not work somewhere you want to learn the language?

That’s how you can pick up another language after college. What language will you learn? How long is it going to take you?

A recap of the best options for life after collge:

1. Kill your debt.
2. Master a skill.
3. Do nothing.
4. Learn a new language.
5. Create something.
6. Start your own business.
7. Work abroad.

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You’re done college and now you want to travel. You want to see the world. You want to learn a new culture. You also want to learn a new language. There’s just one thing stopping you- money. You need to find a way to make money. You need to find a way to pay down your student debt.

When it comes to what to do after college, there are many options to consider. In this specific series, we’re covering 7 alternatives to graduate school. Now it’s time to find work abroad and leave home for an extended period of time.

What if you want to work far away after college? Here’s how you can work abroad in the near future…

Start looking for work.

The sooner you start the better off you’ll be. I highly recommend that you check out Dave’s ESL Cafe and start looking for work right now. There are many different work opportunities and countries across the world. If you start looking now, you can pick and choose so that you end up with the gig that you want, in the country that you really want to visit.

The reason that you need to start working now is that the recruitment process is a bit more extensive as you can imagine. To hire someone to work in a foreign country takes a bit more work. You have to go through the screening process with the company first. Then you have to figure out all of the travel details. This is why it’s advised that you start looking for work abroad far in advance.

Consider traditional work abroad methods.

There are many options for finding traditional work post-college. You don’t have to teach English or start your own business. You can consider traditional work in the service industry or by working at a hostel. You won’t get rich from any of these jobs, but you’ll make enough money to pay your bills and stay on the road longer. I met many friends while traveling through Europe that were working random odd jobs. One dude was working as a party host. His job was to take tourists around to parties and drink with them. That sounds like a fun job for two nights. I don’t know how his liver has held up this whole time.

Try to start your own business.

You don’t have to start your own business, but it would certainly help to make more money while you’re traveling abroad. If you’re clueless about this process or strapped for cash then you need to read how you can start a business with no money. You can easily start making money on your own from your laptop. There’s enough information on the Internet on this that I won’t monopolize this post with tips for making money online. I will suggest that you start a small location independent business so that you can make money to afford your travels and expenses on the road.

Plan out your travel.

How are you going to leave home? What’s your plan? If you find a job with a company and sign on for a long-term agreement, then they’ll likely take care of all of the details. If you plan on traveling on your own and earning your own income, you’re going to be responsible for everything. Don’t let this intimidate you.

All you have to do is pick a location that you want to fly to, look for cheap flights, and book your trip. Once you get there you can easily find many close-by hostels, buses, and trains to take care of your travel accommodations. Trust me, it’s not that scary.

Leave home.

You just need to leave home. Pick a deadline. Buy your ticket. Just go. That’s what I did. I bought my ticket to Poland for the first week of September and just went. My family doubted me. My friends thought I had lost my mind. I didn’t care. I knew that I wanted to leave home and see the world. Traveling alone ended up being the most eye-opening experience humanly possible.

That’s how you can work abroad after college. Will you take this leap and move away for work?

A recap of the best options for life after collge:

1. Kill your debt.
2. Master a skill.
3. Do nothing.
4. Learn a new language.
5. Create something.
6. Start your own business.
7. Work abroad.

“One of the most difficult things I experienced in my travels was trying to relate what I’d experienced to old friends and acquaintances who”d been at home the whole time I was gone.” — Jason Gaspero.

I’ve had a blast writing about travelling with you. I love to travel and plan on covering this topic in greater detail moving forward. For now we’re going to be closing the chapter on Traveling Like a Rockstar here on GPT.

There’s eventually going to be an end to your insanely fun times and complete freedom. There’s going to be that point where you need to go home. This might be by choice or you might have to go home because you ran out of money. Either way, you’re going to have to go home sooner or later. You need to figure out how to deal with this dilemma.

How to deal with finally coming home from an extended trip or how to not lose your mind when you have to leave a wild trip to go back to reality:

You might feel like a stranger.

The first feeling you’ll feel will be a bit confusing. You won’t know how to react. Should you be happy to be home or sad that your travels are over? When I first got back from my extended trip I was happy to be home. Then as soon as I settled in I missed my freedom and being completely spontaneous every single night. You’re going to feel like a stranger. Don’t fight this feeling. Just live with it. Conquer it. Don’t fear it.

Tell short stories.

Everyone is going to want to hear about your trip and all of that crazy stuff that you did. It’s cool to share stories. Just try not to get into too many details because your friends might not get them. There’s also nothing wrong with keeping the juicy details to yourself. Tell short stories so that you don’t miss your trip too much and so that your friends don’t get too jealous. You have plenty more left to experience.

Don’t let fear and selfishness back into your life.

You conquered your fears of being alone, leaving home, trusting others, and letting loose. Don’t let fear come back into your life. You have nothing to be afraid of. You just managed to travel by yourself. You learned to conquer your fears. It will be totally counter-productive if you let fear back in. Screw that.

Keep on learning.

Just because you’re at home now it doesn’t mean that you’re done learning. Apply what you learned on the road to your life at home. Start off by touring towns in your region. Check out new sights. Approach strangers on the street. Keep on learning. Never stop growing.

Plan another trip.

Now that you’ve had a taste of the world, what are you going to do about it? I start to plan another trip the minute that I get home. This forces me to work hard, save my money, and do what I can to earn my freedom. You should have the idea of earning your freedom on your mind all of the time. Where are you going to go next?

How did you deal with coming home from an extended trip?

If you want to learn ANYTHING else about traveling you need to check out the previous pieces on the topic.

Check out the other articles from the Travel Like a Rockstar Series:

Can I Travel When I’m Not Rich?

4 Little Known Ways of Saving Money While Traveling.

3 Things You Must Know About Traveling.

Is It Worth Staying in Hostels When You Travel?

How to Find Work Abroad.

The Best Excuses to Start Traveling Now

We always have excuses for why we can’t do something. Today I’m going to make excuses for why you can do something. There are many excuses for why we can’t go traveling. On the other hand, there are even more excuses for going travelling right now.

What are the best excuses to start traveling right now?

Attend a unique sporting event.

This is going to sound ridiculous for anyone that doesn’t follow sports, but a sporting event can be the BEST excuse to travel. How many times can you see a NASCAR race? How many times can you attend a WrestleMania? How much times in your life can you see the World Cup? Saving money is important, but certain moments are priceless. I attended a UFC show and let me tell you that it was the most amazing experience. It’s just one of those things that you’ll never forget. I plan on attending the Euro Cup when it comes to Poland next year because I have family there.

Is there a unique sporting event that you really want to catch? Start saving and planning right now.

Visit family.

We all have family in different parts of the world. I used my recent Euro-trip as an excuse to visit my grandparents in Poland. It was great to see everyone because it’s unfortunate how rarely we get to see family in life. If you have any family in a different part of this planet, why don’t you go and visit them?

Live in a different country.

When you live in the same place for your whole life you never challenge yourself. Hanging out with the same people and following the same routine won’t get you anywhere and you won’t grow. The greatest growing experience is to live in another place for an extended time. This when you really see what you’re made of.

Meet new people.

Are you tired of hanging out with the same people? When you travel you’re frequently meeting new people and running into new situations. You never know when a complete stranger at the hostel can become your new best friend. What are you afraid of?

Learn a new language.

Have you been keen on the idea of finally learning another language? There’s no better way to learn a language than to actually live in that country. When you live in the country you’re forced to speak the language on a daily basis and you’re going to learn quick. There’s only so much you can learn from listening to language podcasts online.

Make money.

Traveling isn’t all about spending money. You can work abroad as a teacher or any other gig. This will give you a chance to make some money while you get away from home. A win-win if you ask me.

It’s cheaper to live in another country.

If you can’t keep up with your bills, maybe it’s because you’re living in the wrong place. It is significantly cheaper to live in many places abroad, compared to North America. When you travel you’ll see just how cheap it is to get by in another country.

Do you have enough excuses to start traveling right now? What are you waiting for? Pay down your credit card debt and live life on your own terms.

Check out the other articles from the Travel Like a Rockstar Series:

Can I Travel When I’m Not Rich?

4 Little Known Ways of Saving Money While Traveling.

3 Things You Must Know About Traveling.

Is It Worth Staying in Hostels When You Travel?

How to Find Work Abroad.

(photo credit: francis.j.gonzalez)

Have you thought about finding work abroad? Are you sick of the employment landscape at home? Do you want to make money while you travel?

I need to start off by telling you that the work you find abroad all depends on how long you plan on being in the destination for. What this means is that most places won’t hire you to be a Teacher for 3 weeks. On the flip side, a bar is willing to let you serve drinks for a few weeks because that’s a job that may have a higher turnover rate.

Let’s get into the different types of work that you can find online depending on how long you plan on being gone for…

Long-Term Work Abroad.

If you want to start looking for long-term work in a different country you need to check out Dave’s ESL Cafe right now. The whole point of this site is basically to find work as an English Teacher in a different part of the world. I personally don’t have any experience with this. My friend, Steve, on the other hand used the site to find a one year teaching gig in South Korea for a full-year term.

What that means is that if you’re willing to be away from home for a full year and want to teach English then this is the best solution and resource for you. By teaching English abroad you get to learn all about a new culture while making some money.

How do long-term gigs work? You check out the ESL Cafe and then you start sending your resume to the jobs you want to apply for in the country you want to work in. Just like your regular job hunt, except you’re searching in cool parts of the world. Once you get an interview they’ll ask you for your credentials. Generally speaking a college degree is enough. You can get the English teaching certification as an added bonus. From then on you sign a contract and they take care of the rest of the details. You just need to find the company in the part of the world where you want to work.

This is quick overview because I want you to take action and not to sit around idly.

Short-Term Work Abroad.

This is the ideal solution for those that want to move around frequently while traveling or don’t want to be in the situation where they don’t have any money. I just came back from Europe so I can share with you the most common short-term gigs that I noticed:

• Serving drinks.
• Working at a hostel.
• Any service job.
• Tutoring.

General Work You Can Do While Traveling.

This is work that you can do remotely and you don’t need a specific location for. I won’t get into this here but you can easily start an online business with no money (I just wrote about this), that you can maintain as you travel the world. Since this topic is played out for now, allow me to share a few other options for general work you can do while traveling:

• Work your job remotely.
• Grade papers.
• Freelance writing.
• Dividend investing.

You can either waste all of your money while you travel. On the flip side, if you take a little initiative, you can turn a profit while you travel this world and have the time of your life. Which one sounds better?

Check out the other articles from the Travel Like a Rockstar Series:

Can I Travel When I’m Not Rich?

4 Little Known Ways of Saving Money While Traveling.

3 Things You Must Know About Traveling

Is It Worth Staying in Hostels When You Travel?

(photo credit: kokorowashinjin)

When I travelled through Europe I spent most of my time in hostels. To be honest, the only time that I didn’t stay in a hostel was when I was visiting family members. I took the last weekend of my trip to visit my grandparents and younger cousins that lived about a 4 hour bus ride from the current destination I was at.

Now I know that a hostel isn’t for everyone. This is why today I wanted to open up the discussion of whether or not it’s worth to stay in hostels while traveling through Europe.

What are the good aspect of staying in a hostel?

Instant social life.

You don’t have to look far for friends when you’re staying in a hostel. The beauty about a hostel is that there’s an instant social life. You don’t have to do anything to find fun. Literally everyone at your hostel is looking to have a good time. There’s always something going on and you won’t be bored for one minute.

Hostels are very cheap.

As we all know, hostels are much cheaper than hotels. On average I paid anywhere from $15 to $20 a night while staying in hostels. My favorite part was that some hostels offered free breakfast and dinner. For a boy that loves to eat like me in the morning this was ideal. Hostels were much cheaper than any other option. Sure I could’ve stayed with CouchSurfing friends, but then you’re forced to hang out with the same person the whole time.

Central locations.

Hostels are usually in the heart of the party and the city. All hostels that I stayed at were like a ten minute walk from the train station. This also meant that all of the clubs, restaurants, gyms, and stuff worth mentioning were close by. What’s better than being close to everything?

You can cook your own food.

What I love about hostel life is that you cook your own food. After eating junk food for a few days you’re going to be starving for some home-cooked meals. At the hostel, the staff can let you know where the closest grocery store is and then you can cook your own meals. Delicious.

You can say that I might be slightly biased towards hostels due to all of the fun that I had. What are the negatives of hostel life?

Difficult to focus.

Some nights I found it pretty challenging to get any work done. There was just too many people out and about having fun. My natural instinct is to join in on the fun and not to be the lame guy that’s hanging out on his laptop. This makes it tough to focus on my blogging work. What can you do?

Not as clean.

Let’s be totally realistic. When you have over a dozen travellers staying in the same place and drinking until the late hours of the night, the place isn’t going to be all that clean. Can you handle sleeping and living somewhere that’s not totally clean? This will be a make or break for most.

There are both pros and cons to staying in a hostel. I hope that this article makes the decision easier for you and you can figure out if it’s worth staying in a hostel the next time you travel.

Check out the other articles from the Travel Like a Rockstar Series:

Can I Travel When I’m Not Rich?

4 Little Known Ways of Saving Money While Traveling.

3 Things You Must Know About Traveling