About
What is Ottsworld?
“No one grows old by living, only by losing interest in living.”
What is Ottsworld? It’s my journey from from traditional cubicle to digital nomad to travel expert to tour operator. I inform and (hopefully) amuse you on the topics of Travel and Life. If this is your first visit – I suggest you start here – it will guide you through the site and provide you some of my best and most popular blog posts.
My Journey to the Most Desirable Job in the World
I quit my corporate IT job in 2006 and said goodbye to blackberries (no smart phones yet in 2006!), meetings, and New York City. My original intention was to simply take a career break and come back after a year and determine next steps.
At that time, Ottsworld was born. It was my journal, and way to keep my friends and family updated on my travels.
I traveled around the world to 23 countries, finding a new exciting world outside of my office walls. My eyes were opened to possibilities and the beauty of simplicity; I didn’t want to go back to my old corporate existence. Instead I sold my possessions and relocated to Vietnam for one year in order to keep traveling.
To make money I taught ESL, sold photography, and started really working at building a blogging and writing presence, including launching another website about career break travel – Meet Plan Go!
Since leaving Vietnam in 2009, I have stayed on the road and have built up a following on my Ottsworld Travel Blog, created writing/photography career, do public speaking, and consult/participate on social media marketing campaigns.
While doing all of this, I wandered around the world solo without a home – no kids, husband, boyfriend (they would all just slow me down!) and spent 13 years living out of a suitcase and experiencing the world through housesitting, volunteering, writing assignments, and anything else that sounded exciting and came with a bed.
In 2017 I finally settled into a home base again in Denver; my nomadic lifestyle needed to come to an end. I continue to travel 75% of the time from my home base in Denver. And when I’m home, I foster kittens!
In 2018 I ran my first Ottsworld Group Tour in Ireland and I loved it. Ever since then I’ve been adding more and more tours to my favorite far off destinations.
where to go & when
I’ve taken my travel experiences & put them in a FREE ebook for you!
In 2020 I wrote an ebook called Where to Go & When and I give it away free.
To really see where I came from and how this blog evolved – check out these popular posts I wrote through the years of running this blog
How do I afford to travel full time?
No, I’m not rich. It’s pretty simple – I keep my expenses really low (I live in a studio apartment and don’t have a car!) and work my ass off hustling freelance and bartering gigs most of the year. My life is simple when it comes to expenses. However, I do have to have income coming in to support my travels and other life expenses, of course!
Here’s how I make money travel blogging:
- Running Small Group Tours
- Sell stock photography
- Hired for social media marketing campaigns
- Hired for speaking engagements or teaching
- Advertising on my website and newsletter
- Consult and run social media for small companies
And because I’m a writer and seen as a travel influencer (thanks Oprah!), about 75% of my travel is sponsored/comped (you’ll see disclosures at the bottom of articles here on Ottsworld if something was comped). I get invited many places, or if there is a place I want to go, I often barter my services for it. I do whatever I can to get by.
It’s not rocket science, I don’t have any ‘get rich/how to’ advice. I just love what I do and like to keep doing it. None of my income is guaranteed, all of it is unpredictable which makes life quite stressful at times, however it’s worth it to me in order to live life untethered.
