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Today we interview Gareth Johnson, who as well as being the founder of Young Pioneer Tours is the person who started this website.
He has been “Paid to Travel” since he was 21 years old, and been an online entrepreneur for almost 20 years.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I was born in London and brought up in Kent. I was not particularly scholastic and left home at 16. I then spent the next 5 years pretty much in dead jobs before I decided that enough was enough.
When and how did you move abroad?
At 21 I was kind of resigned to my life a bit before I heard about someone living in the Cayman Islands and earning decent money. Quite simply I worked my arse off. sold my shit and then brought a plane ticket.
On October 27th 2001 I flew to the Cayman Islands without a job, only finding one a few days before my visa ran out. I spent the next 3 years as a bartender in the Caribbean. Seen the movie cocktail? Well that was what my first night was like….
How long have you lived abroad where have you lived and where are you now?
Now is my 23rd year abroad. After the Cayman Islands I got a job on cruise ships before becoming an English teacher in China. This was where I founded Young Pioneer Tours, which has largely been my job since.
I lived in various places over this time including multiple cities in China, as well as Bulgaria, North Korea, Vietnam and most recently Cambodia where I have been bases for almost 4 years.
What businesses, or work have you done in order to stay living abroad?
For the first 5 years, or so that I lived abroad I was working as a bartender in the Caribbean and on cruise ships. After this I decided on a change of tact and became an English teacher in Xian, China. I worked my way up to headmaster before founding Young Pioneer Tours (link), which has been going for 17 years.
During this period I have also ran my own bars, media companies, as well as being founder of the first group to crowd fund buying a tropical island.
What is the one advice you would give to someone thinking about moving abroad, or wants to get paid to travel?
First and foremost moving abroad is really easy, you sell your shit and you book a ticket, no one can do this for you and if you don’t have the courage it wont happen. I have lost count of the amount of people who have asked how I have done what I do.
You have you own destiny in your hands. And lay people will not help you. This is partly why I started this company.
What is the one piece of business advice you would give?
Generally speaking almost the same as the last advice. Do not wait for a “dream partner” or some kind of sugar daddy investor. I wasted 6 years doing this, but the reality is successful people are not looking to help others. And the reason? No one helped them.
If you want to do a business and don’t have money start small, or work in any number of well paying jobs that allow you the chance to get paid to travel and save money. The old adage that the harder you work the luckier you get is oh so true.
What is the one program, app, or piece of tech you simply cannot live without?
Things are constantly changing when you do business online, but there are certainly a few things that I have counted on for many years. Firstly a good phone, which in my case at least is an iPhone. This allows me to work and be productive where ever I am.
Secondly there if you work online any tool that helps you track your site hits, such as Google Analytics, but more importantly beat everyone at SEO. For this Moz is a firm favorite of mine.
And of course a good web host, with me recommending Bluehost for beginner websites.
Do you want to share your business links with us?
Ive already mentioned a number of my companies, so I will use this to push The Street Food Guy, the second incarnation of a website that I have earned quite a bit of money from, as well as Paid To Travel.
With this new site I am aiming to showcase all the great people out their living the dream and getting Paid to Travel, but also act as the first ever mentor in this industry. Hopefully through this I will be able to help push more people over the line into fulfilling their dreams.