Kinnessa Spirington's Travel Guide

The world is shrinking before our eyes, technology is bridging cultures and nations, and translators are ensuring that we all understand each other and get along. As humanity progresses, the demand for high-quality translators will only go up. And there are now emerging markets that are very engaged in technological development like India and China, meaning that there will be an increasing demand in translators and interpreters specializing in these languages.

The great thing about being a translator is that you have the liberty to work from wherever you want, which opens you to the opportunity of traveling the world while doing what you do best. In this article, we’ll be looking at how and why you should embark on an overseas journey as a freelance translator.

Getting enough work

First off, it’s essential to make sure you have enough projects at least for a few months ahead, which will give you enough income that will supplement your buffer budget. Now you can approach this from a few perspectives.

You can apply for a large number of projects a month or two before you set off. This will give the opportunity to select the most worthwhile and well-paying projects. Furthermore, it’ll let you combine multiple projects, by finding two projects that don’t overlap in time and still won’t ruin your work/life ratio.

Another option is amassing a significant buffer budget beforehand and landing one well-paying project so that you have more time to explore the countries you’re about to visit.

Approaching your travel

Freelancers that have traveled long term very well understand the problem of working too much during trips. You’ll most definitely be conflicted for a while. Why? Picture this: you arrive in a beautiful equatorial country. It’s hot, you’re close to the ocean, you’re enjoying great food, but you’re forced to work during the day. This is going to be a recurring problem, which you’ll be facing.

Now, the way you should approach this issue is by establishing what kind of “work and travel” operation you’re going to be running.

Option 1: You approach this travel as working full-time, but simply changing location for a season or two. You find a great co-working place close to the ocean and go by your routine day in, day out, but you still enjoy the nightlife, and whatever benefits the location has to offer. You rather focus on earning money, not spending them.

Option 2: This is more of a vacation, where you take the time to put some money into your account by working intermittently. This allows you to extend the period of your travel and ensures that you’ll be enjoying your stay in a foreign country without worrying too much about your budget. You just find the best translation site that offers you a good per word deal and stick to taking occasional projects.

The technicalities

Before you set off, it’s essential to make sure that all of your technical variables are taken care of. Make sure that your CAT licenses are paid, some of them are fairly expensive and may interfere with your budget of not taken care of beforehand.

Proz memberships are also relatively costly, so make sure you have them paid in advance if you use the service frequently.

Don’t hesitate to buy a Skype number. This makes things much more comfortable for your clients if you communicate with them frequently via phone. This will make sure that they won’t have to suffer from your phone number changes once you move from one country to another.

One last thing

I just wanted to emphasize that this isn’t for everyone. It sounds very romantic on the books, roaming the world while doing what your love, but it is quite a tiresome affair. Frequent flights and bus rides will take a toll on your body and psychological well-being if not approached adequately.

Make sure you approach planning with care and don’t be too confident with your resistance and vitality when it comes to 24-hour transits from one location to another.

Conclusion

Traveling the world as a translator might be one the most exciting things you’ll embark on in your life, but it requires scrupulous planning and consideration. A poorly designed trip may become a nightmare very quickly.

We wish you good luck on your trips!

My first hitchhiking experience was amazing, and it is worth remembering since I got an opportunity to learn how to hitchhike, and how to be successful in catching rides. I also got an opportunity to know the best places where you can hitch for a ride – thanks to the generous drivers who enlightened me on how proper hitchhiking, and how to get drivers to pick you for a ride when hitchhiking.

With just 100 bucks, my first hitchhiking experience hitchhiking in the USA was from the seaport city of Seattle to San Diego, and it was a memorable experience. I spent at least than 27 hours on this endeavor, which includes wait time for vehicles, refreshing in stop-overs, and catching bites and some food along the way. My experience involved some vehicles since some of the rides that I picked were not heading to San Diego, which forced me to connect along the way.

Not a Bad Starter for a Beginner

As it is in other fields or areas, being a novice has its own unique set of challenges, and the first attempt is not likely to be that successful. Often, with time, after a lot of investment, practice, and do-overs, you get to know how to do something appropriately without spending a lot of time. That aside, my hitchhiking experience started off at Seattle, and I can say that the experience was okay, because there is an elaborate transport system that links Seattle and San Diego, which made the whole experience seamless.

Hitchhiking Spots

Given the distance from Seattle to San Diego, selecting excellent and elaborate hitchhiking spots is crucial if you want to be up for a successful hitchhiking experience. In Seattle, I had to try out my luck at a Petrol station, since it is among the most convenient locations to hitch for a ride.

Well, if you are a novice and you want to start out on the right foot, then you’d be better off starting your experience at locations where the odds of successfully hitching a ride are high. A petrol station suffices, and it is where I started off my hitchhiking.  A combo of spots helped me maneuver all the way to San Diego since most of the rides I hitched were not heading to San Diego straight away.

The Highways

Since hitchhiking across from a city to another involves getting to other states, this experience was enriching since it involved multiple states. I hitched a ride in at least two instances in state highways, and these highways not only offer a wide variety of drivers and scenery but also allow you to get a glimpse into what life is like in those particular local areas.

What’s more, the experience can be even more rewarding if you stand at stop lights just outside of towns along national highways, since the chances of catching a ride at these palaces are very high.

Check the Relevant Laws

Hitchhiking from a major city in one state to another city in another state could be at times complicated because hitchhiking laws by state vary from one to another. Some states permit hitchhiking, and there are those that do not allow hitchhiking. Even in states that permit hitchhiking, you have no guarantees that you will be on the safe side since you could still have run-ins with the police and other relevant law enforcement bodies.

Before you embark on hitchhiking, ensure that you know the laws and rules that govern hitchhiking in the states that you intend to cover. This way, you will be able to avoid run-ins with cops, who at times, are happy about giving you a difficult time.

Maps and GPS

I carried a map with me on this particular hitchhiking experience, and also made use of GPS on my phone. At times, when you are hitchhiking in places that you are not familiar with, a map could come in handy. GPS will help you to know how far you are from your destination, and it will also help you to get insights into other alternatives routes and highways that you could use the next time you plan to hitchhike to those places.

Since this was my first experience and I was a novice regarding hitchhiking, some GPS helped me know locations, and I was able to learn more about those locations on a practical level.

In summary, depending on the places you want to hitchhike, you are bound to have unique and different experiences. Not all areas offer the same experiences, and you should expect to undergo various situations and experiences in the places or spots that you choose to hitchhike.

The main features of the floodplains that make it beautiful for agricultural practice are the blowing slit along the bank.  Moreover, the accumulation of the soil develops bluffs that are mainly described by the steep slopes managing the Missouri River Valley.

The curving tree lines or the curved scar-like pattern within the vegetation is the tributaries of Missouri River. The notching height of the levees diverts water from the river. Tributary mouths are fundamental since they offer shallow-water habitat thus developing as the water source for the floodplain wetlands.

There are three places where the levees have been breached. Moreover, the underlying scouring and massive sand deposit related to the leave breaks. On the downstream side of the levee break is the sole natural way that a mature stream alters its course across its prevailing floodplain.  The levees breaks are associated with the bends within the river channel.

The water flow at the bends of the river channel meanders as the current moves via a bend, which makes levee on the bends more vulnerable to failure than the corresponding levees on the straight channel segments. The notching height of the levees diverts water from the river. The downstream side of the levee break is normally the natural method that a mature stream alteration its existing course across the floodplain.

The formerly well-defined pattern of the cultivated fields, which was noticeable on the underlying pre-flood image, will be covered with bright white areas. The scouring and massive deposits are mainly related with the prevailing levee breaks.

Missouri River would cut new channels at the third hole during the following floods in case the levees are not constructed. This is because the location of the third hole has a sharp bend, thus, when the volume and height of water increase it will break its bank and flood the surrounding areas. Construction the levees normally results in deposition of the sand by the river and consequently preventing it from flooding in case the level of water is increased. The level of water normally increases, when there is heavy rainfall upstream of the river thus making the large volume of water to move downstream hence resulting in massive flooding and destructions of vegetation and farms.

Levee breaks majorly control the speed and flow of water within the River bank. A large amount of sand is normally concentrated near levee breaks with solely small particles escaping and being deposited relatively further from the levee breaks. Moreover, the thickness of the sand deposits is dependent on the distance from the levee breaks. Therefore, thickest sand deposits are normally closest to the levee breaks because levee breaks normally filter sand deposits within the flowing river water and consequently blocking the passage only permitting smaller particles of sand to pass and settle farther from the underlying levee breaks.

The size of the sediment grains determines the thickness of the sand deposits from the levee breaks. Large sediment grains are normally near the levee breaks since they are normally blocked from passing through thus deposited massively near the levee breaks. Moreover, the thickness of the sand deposits mainly composed of large size sediments near the levee breaks. Conversely, relatively smaller sediments normally pass through the levee breaks due to their lighter density thus deposited farther from the levee breaks. Small sediments have a lighter thickness of sand deposits since the flowing water is constantly carrying them.

7 Life Hacks to Cheap Traveling

Many people dream of going to foreign lands, but they get depressed over the fact that their funds don’t allow them to fulfill these dreams. Well, traveling is not the cheapest thing, and it requires some savings.

There are so many costs included: flight costs, local transportation, accommodation, food, entertainment, emergency, souvenirs, and many others. How are you going to do all of these? Well, this article comes to your aid and tells you how to make your trip cheaper.

1. Make a Budget Plan

The prime step before you hit the road is making a budget plan. Whether you considered it or not, it’s essential to know that it is very helpful. It can help you organize your funds better and decide how much you need.

Consequently, you can decide on cheaper accommodation, less spending on souvenirs, and many other savings. So, this is something that should definitely be on your list.

2. Consider Hostels

It’s not unusual to imagine yourself enjoying a hotel pool with an expensive drink in your hand. However, it’s not something that should happen if you intend to have enough money for a successful trip. If you don’t have enough funds for a hotel, hostels are the way to go.

You’ll be surprised by what a hostel can offer. Not only you only pay a few dollars per night, but you can also make memories you’ll never forget. Choose the right type of hostel: relaxing hostel, rural hostel, party hostel, or any other. You can even end up making some friends around these areas.

Moreover, many hostels offer free food. They may not have exactly what you wish for, but they might serve pizza, BBQ and many others.

3. Choose Memories over Material Things

It’s obvious that you may want to buy certain objects to keep in your home. Still, are they that important compared to memories? That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy something for your family but limit yourself. Nowadays, the internet allows you to order a wide variety of things.

Therefore, visit as many places as you can and avoid buying too many things that you’re probably going to forget about in a while.

4. Rent a Bicycle or Just Walk

Buses seem such a great alternative at first. Still, do you think the experience is the same as it would be if you walked? You can’t control the bus, which means you can’t stop it to view the attractions or take pictures. Walking or renting a bicycle offer you different experiences, and they actually allow you to see more things.

Additionally, they keep you fit as well.

5. Shop at Local Markets

You may be tempted to go to the best malls and biggest shops there are. The local market is a better alternative, though. What you’ll be able to find here may not only be cheaper but have a better quality as well.

6. Visit Free Attractions

There are so many activities that don’t require an atrocious fee to allow you to have a great time. For instance, you can visit a lot of museums and art galleries that are free, and you could learn something as well.

There are very cheap fees for some museum entrances, but even they have days when the entrance is free.

7. Check the Free Local Entertainment

Who said you need to go clubbing to have fun? There are so many ways to entertain yourself that don’t require you to throw money out the window. You can easily enjoy some street musicians while spoiling yourself with some juice or a beer. It’s easy to find ways to have fun if you know where to look.

To sum up, you don’t need a huge amount of cash to have a great vacation. There are many attractions that are free, and accommodation that is very cheap. You just need to do some early research.