Hello everyone, and welcome back to another GO! Interview. This week prepare to be inspired as we interview Nora Dunn, The Professional Hobo. Nora quit her day job in 2007 and has since been traveling full-time around the world. In between participating in numerous volunteer projects and plying her professional writing skills online, Nora has been kind enough to sit down and share with us her extensive travel knowledge and experience. Enjoy!

GO!: Hi Nora, thanks for joining us today. Shall we start with a brief introduction?

Nora: I’m Nora Dunn, a.k.a. The Professional Hobo! In 2007 I sold everything I owned in Canada, and I’ve traveled the world full-time ever since. In the last three years, I’ve traveled through/lived in nine countries – and counting. (By the end of 2010, it will be more like 15 countries).

GO!: I understand you are about to embark on a four month journey in Europe. Where exactly will this adventure take you?

Nora: This trip through Europe is much faster-paced than I usually travel. I generally travel full-time to experience a destination from the inside out; learning a culture by immersing in it; eating, working, and living side-by-side with people around the world.

However I was in Australia planning a six-month trip, and wanting to escape their winter. I also need to temporarily return to Australia (long story). So although it’s rare for me, I booked a return ticket to Europe for the summer.

I chose my European destinations based on volunteer and house-sitting gigs, and “couchsurfing” opportunities with friends and family. The trip came together surprisingly easily, and I realized that four months isn’t enough! I’ll be back.

For a detailed explanation of how I planned my European trip in less than two weeks, check out this article on how I did it.

As for what I’m looking forward to, I’m already in Spain and excited for every bit of the trip. Europe is an amazing place, full of vibrant culture and life.

GO!: I also understand you have involved yourself in a number of volunteer opportunities abroad. Can you tell us a little more about these experiences?

Nora: I love volunteering and have done it for years. Some of the volunteering I do while traveling is simply work in trade for accommodation, and some is more humanitarian in nature. Both are rewarding, and have given me access to a plethora of experiences.

Some of my more dramatic (humanitarian) volunteering experiences have come as a function of being close to (or in the middle of) natural disasters, such as Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, and the Victorian Bushfires in February 2009.

GO!: How do you financially support your travel lifestyle?

Nora: Despite traveling full-time, I’m not rich! I travel in a financially sustainable manner, volunteering or working in trade for my accommodation in many places, and using my location independent writing career to earn the rest of the money I need to continue traveling.

GO!: How did your blog, The Professional Hobo, come about and who is your intended audience?

Nora: I started blogging simply to keep in touch with family and friends and to record my traveling adventures. But as my experience broadened, so too did my audience, and I discovered there were lots of people who found my tales not only interesting but inspirational. (Who knew?!)

Now, my ever-growing audience consists of a few different demographics: people in their 20’s and 30’s who want more in life and like the idea of travel, and people in their 50’s and 60’s who want to reengage their lives with a new type of retirement – an actively traveling one.

GO!: Do you have any tips for aspiring travel writers?

Nora in the wild.

Nora: Do lots of research, and don’t quit your day job! It took me well over a year to get my writing income to a point where it could truly sustain my travels (and remember, I often volunteer in trade for my accommodation, so I don’t need to earn that much)!

Also, travel writing isn’t as glamorous as you may imagine.. it’s a lot of work and requires business sense, tenacity, and some raw talent. It’s a fiercely competitive industry, so it helps to have an area of expertise aside from travel as well (for example I also write about personal finance, which marries with travel nicely).

GO!: What will it take for you to settle down?

Nora: “Settling down” is subjective; for me it may mean simply having a home base somewhere to hang my hat when I’m not traveling (instead of perpetually living with no fixed address). Although I really (really!) don’t see myself as a domesticated wife with 2.5 kids and the white picket fence, you never know what the future will bring.

GO!: It is July 15th, 2015. Where are you and what are you doing?

Nora: Who knows! I have no qualms about the fact that I probably won’t travel full-time forever. However I haven’t covered that much territory in my three years so far and I have lots of places yet to visit; so I might still be meandering my way around the world in 2015. Then again, maybe an opportunity I can’t predict will come my way between now and then that will change (but not stop) the scope of my travels. We’ll all have to wait and see!

GO!: Any last words?

Nora: Full-time traveling certainly isn’t for everybody, but for me was a function of seizing my dreams now and not waiting for a distant retirement to live my desired life. To keep myself in check, I regularly ask: “If I were on my deathbed today, what would I think of my life? Any regrets or unfinished business?” If I answer yes, then my next question is “What am I going to do about it?”

Although we can’t always act on our desires right away, we can take steps towards a life we’re passionate about. All it takes is a dream, and the faith that it’s possible.