Ali Watters

Alistair “Ali” Watters wanted to escape the 9-to-5.  He knew there was more to life than the daily grind.  He started his first round-the-world trip in June 2002. He’s been roaming the planet ever since. He has worked primarily via the internet and some diving. Ali sought fun and purpose through world travel.

Objective

To leave the daily grind. To enjoy life and find meaning in it.

Background

Ali was born and raised in the United Kingdom.  Ali developed web applications in London from 1997 to 2002. He worked at some IT companies and an investment bank.  He realized the financial corporate life was not in his future.  He knew there was more to life than the daily grind and “life ticking away a weekend at a time.” Ali, 26 then, bought a round-the-world ticket in early 2002.

Travels

Ali has traveled to 43 countries since 2002.  He purchased his first round-the-world ticket from RoundTheWorldFlights.com for about £1000. He most likely purchased the 11-stop Escapade.

He started his first trip in San Francisco in June 2002.  He became PADI certified in Utila, Honduras. He learned Spanish and salsa dancing in Guatemala.  He learned how to surf in Hawaii.  He hiked in Fiji and New Zealand. He worked and partied in Australia. He returned to London in May 2003.

Ali embarked on a trip through Europe in July 2003. He traveled through Denmark, Sweden, several eastern European countries, and Italy over the course of two years. He gained and lost a girlfriend during that trip. He was impressed with Meteora and repulsed by Thessaloniki.

He traveled to southeast Asia in August 2005. He traveled through Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, Laos, and Cambodia. He learned Muy Thai for a month in Thailand. He became a dive-master in Malaysia in May 2006. He returned to London in August 2006.

Ali traveled to Ecuador in November 2006. He dove in the Galapagos Islands. He dove in Malaysia and Indonesia throughout 2007.  He entered a burning hostel in Kuala Lumpur, before fireman arrived, and helped people flee the fire.  He flew back to South America in December 2007. He spent the first half of 2008 in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Then he returned to Indonesia to continue diving. He currently resides there.

Income

Ali presumably had several thousand dollars when he began his trip.  He worked as a software developer for five years and then sold his home before he left in June 2002.  He didn’t work again until January 2003.

Ali did freelance programming to rebuild his cash reserve. He contracted a software development job in Brisbane, Australia in January 2003. He worked there for five months.  He worked for MyCloud.net for a few weeks upon his return to London in May 2003. He worked part-time as a dive-master in 2006.

Ali makes money online while traveling.  He created businesses for travel journaling, finding office jobs in London, and designing websites.  His job finding website is no longer running.  His web design service is most likely a small percent of his income. His travel journaling site, TravelBlog, is successful. He most likely earns the majority of his income from it.

Ali started TravelBlog in April 2002 as a means to share his adventures with family and friends back home.  He soon opened it up to let other travelers share their adventures. TravelBlog now has over 300,000 blog entries from 80,000 members.  Ali makes money through Google ads and World Nomads Insurance affiliate sales.  He most likely did not profit from TravelBlog until at least June 2003 when Google Adsense started. He has two Google ads on each blog entry; so, there are over 600,000 possible places for people to click and make him money.

What I learned from Ali

Traveling solo offers independence and variety.  You are only responsible for yourself. You are free to do and go as you wish.  You often find people who have similar desires, so you can share experiences with them.  Your adventure collides with others’ adventures, and you eventually part ways.

Reflections on Ali

One of Ali’s motivations for traveling was to discover the meaning of life. Early on, he considered it was about having as fun as possible.   He still does not have a clear meaning of life, after six years of traveling.

If nothing else, Ali solidified his identity as a courageous adventurer and successful businessman.  He realized after his first round-the-world trip that traveling was the best part of his life. He freelanced and built online businesses to support continued traveling. He found a new passion in diving. He escaped the 9-to-5 and learned how to live anywhere by making money online.