What if you could have absolute freedom?

The absolute freedom to go anywhere, do anything, be anyone…and do it all on your own schedule. No buzzing alarm clock, no time card to punch, no morning rush hour traffic, no more Mondays…nothing but the gentle, warm breeze of the ocean and/or mountains drifting in over your balcony and through the bedroom window. Nothing but free time to do whatever you want with. No more 40 hour work weeks, no more ridiculously high cost of living, and the most pressing issue on your agenda is what you want to do with all of your spare time. Scuba diving, snorkeling, rock climbing, hiking, camping, sitting at a cafe enjoying the afternoon breeze and sun for hours at a time…these are just a handful of the things you could be doing with your life, instead of grinding it out on the hamster wheel of 40 hour work weeks and cubicle torture.

Think you can only live like that on vacation? Think again.

Welcome to The Dream Life

It’s called the location independent digital nomad lifestyle. Traveling the world, living in exotic places that most people only ever see on the Discovery Channel or read about in National Geographic. Exploring exotic new cultures, meeting new people and expanding your horizons, and all while cutting your cost of living down from $2,500 to $3,000 per month to a mere $600-$800…yet maintaining the exact same amenities and lifestyle you had back in modern-day suburbia.

It’s more than just a dream. It’s a reality enjoyed by millions of location independent digital nomads around the world, living and enjoying the absolute freedom that comes with dictating life on your own terms.

My name is Tim Anderson. I spend my time living in countries where the cost of living is a fraction of what it is back home, where my money is worth 3-4 times what it is in the Western world. I work a maximum of three to four hours per day and spend the rest of my time camped out on the beach, hiking the mountains or the jungles, sitting in parks indulging in local customs and meeting people from different cultures around the world. I travel to exotic locations and spend six months or more in each place I go. My life is on my terms, and I alone dictate how many hours per week I work. I haven’t woken up to an alarm clock in years and my total living expenses per year rarely rise above $10,000, yet I spend the vast majority of my spare time in places that most people consider as vacation-only destinations which supposedly cost thousands per week to live in.

Before I was a location independent digital nomad I was a redneck construction worker from Colorado. I never finished high school and I never went to college. I was a third generation ceramic tile and natural stone contractor and installer for over 15 years before I made the transition into a location independent digital nomad. Now, I’m a multi-cultural explorer who has visited dozens of countries, speaks three different languages and has the freedom to do whatever I want, when I want. If I can do this, anyone can do this. You don’t need a degree or special training to pursue a dream of absolute freedom. You just need the desire to learn and the ability to adapt. In the words of the late Steve Jobs, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Sounds too good to be true

Of course it does! That’s because you’ve been taught since the day you were old enough to understand the English language that the only way to be a productive little worker bee who is part of modern society is to stay at home, spend a ridiculous amount of money on a college degree, get a mortgage on a house in suburbia, loans for two cars and then work your way up the chain in a corporate environment over a career of 40+ years barely eking out a living before you are finally “allowed” to retire into the good life of freedom, travel and setting your own schedule. But as more and more people are finding out in the modern era (such as via this article at MSNBC), the reality is that more and more people are leaving the traditional “American Dream” behind in favor of a location independent lifestyle as a digital nomad. And the best part about it is that anyone can do it!

You can get your start by signing up for the free newsletter and downloading the completely free digital ebook, 30 Ways in 30 Days: Transitioning Into the Location Independent Digital Nomad Lifestyle. This is the beginner’s first step and it gives you a detailed break-down of how to transition into this lifestyle in a mere 30 days. With 77 pages of links, alternative websites and hands-on information based on over 12 years of traveling and four years of living the lifestyle, there is no better resource to get you started down the path to absolute freedom.

In addition, there are a number of services available to help you break free of your chains and start living the life you’ve always wanted to live. The free newsletter and blog posts show you how to research the places that are best for your type of adventure, as well as how to find furnished, all-inclusive studios, apartments and houses that cost a fraction of what they do back home, yet include all of your utilities, WiFi and more. I show you how to find the best hospitals in various destinations, as well as the highest rated and most affordable restaurants, grocery stores, local markets, parks, plazas, cafes, movie theaters, opera houses, beaches, mountains, historical sites and more. I teach you how to find the best deals on flights, how to use medical tourism to your advantage, how to rid yourself of needless trappings, how to get away with purchasing one-way tickets into countries rather than splurging on round-trip tickets, tips for dealing with local transportation, where are the local hotspots to immerse yourself in foreign cultures and societies, and how to avoid getting labeled as “just another tourist” that the local taxi drivers and merchants regularly take advantage of. I show you what commonly-packed travel items are completely unnecessary because they can be picked up locally, how to travel out of a backpack instead of a suitcase, and I show you how to live like a local in every destination you travel to, blending in and becoming an accepted member of your chosen location.

On top of all that, the Live Like a Local guides available at Marginal Boundaries show you how to live like a king on what many would consider a shoestring budget of $7,000 to $10,000 annually, while at the same time having access to every single amenity you are used to having in your home country. Regardless if you are a pensioner or a location independent digital nomad who wants to get the most out of the cities you go to without needing to spend time on your own researching the realities of living on the ground, each of these extremely detailed guides take you deep into the heart of each destination available. Forget the guides that only focus on the major tourist sites of a destination, the “brand name” hotels and the “tourist friendly” places that are great if you are in town for a week and don’t want to venture out beyond the English speaking sections. Forget what you can find via any random search engine via the Travel Wiki or the Lonely Planet forums. The Live Like a Local guides teach you local customs, take you to the best local restaurants (not the tourist joints that you can find via any random Internet search), the local hangouts where you can immerse yourself in local culture and tradition, how to get the best exchange rates for your currency, show you how to avoid making the mistakes most first-time visitors to a country make, and how to be just as safe as if you were living in cozy little suburbia back in the States, all the while living in long-term accommodations and taking advantage of a ridiculously low cost of living that allows you to live like a king instead of a pauper, putting your hard-earned money back into your pockets where it belongs.

Why wait until you are 65 years old to retire and live the dream life, traveling around the world visiting exotic locations? Take charge now, and find yourself living a debt-free lifestyle where every penny you earn is controlled by you and you alone.

Is it really that easy?

All it takes is a conscious choice on your part to become one of the location independent digital nomads of the world. To rid yourself of the shackles of modern society and to unlearn everything you have been taught over the years about what it means to be an upstanding, productive member of society. You can either choose to spend your life in indentured servitude, or you can choose life on your own terms, living where you want, when you want and how you want. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Being ignorant is not so much a shame as being unwilling to learn.”

The friends I’ve made in my travels are part of what makes this lifestyle so exhilarating. I’ve lived in Bulgaria, Colombia and Mexico, and I’ve traveled to dozens of countries in between. As of 2012 I’m working on a continued tour of South America, and there will be more Live Like a Local guides coming down the pipelines. You don’t need to be a millionaire to enjoy this lifestyle; you just need the desire to break free of the so-called “American Dream”, to wake up from the Matrix, to spread your wings and fly. We are all of us human beings, and there is a massive planet called Earth that we all share as One People. Don’t let the lines on a map define who you are. Become a location independent digital nomad and make your home wherever you want it to be.

Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter for more concentrated travel advice on how to live the location independent digital nomad lifestyle. Leave a comment and stay in touch with us via our blog, as well as join in on the conversations over at Facebook and Twitter. And if you ever have any questions, feel free to drop me a line at twanderson@marginalboundaries.com. I read every comment and every email sent to me, so don’t be shy!

Our Newsletter Disclaimer

The Marginal Boundaries newsletter is for informational purposes only as it relates to information and products about living, traveling and working abroad.  We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We use MailChimp to power our newsletter, as clearly indicated in the sign-up form on the upper right of our website, which means we adhere to their privacy policy, which can be viewed in full at the main MailChimp Privacy Policy Page. If at any time you would like to unsubscribe to the newsletter, you can simply click on the unsubscribe button on the form, or you can click on the unsubscribe button and link provided within each newsletter that comes out.