I am a location independent freelance writer and I love it. There are two main kinds of location independent professionals - the nomadic kind and those who have chosen not to live in a large metropolitan area. I'm the second kind. I spend most of my time in the Caribbean, but am lucky enough to be able to work from anywhere.

The great thing about being a location independent professional is the freedom to travel at the drop of a hat. This year alone, I have worked from Barbados, New Jersey, Bahrain, London and Nottingham in the UK. It's a great way to see and experience lots of new places and sometimes to have a better lifestyle at far less cost than in a large metropolitan area.

Issues To Consider

There are a number of things to consider if you are planning to become a location independent professional. One of the key things to do before getting started is to research the location and possible accommodation, as if you are running a business, you need to be able to get started once you're off the plane. Issues to consider include:

• whether you will be allowed to stay in the country and for how long
• how feasible it is to work there
• whether the infrastructure supports the kind of work you need to do

This last one is very important. If you are a freelancer who needs to work with large files, then going to a country where dialup is the only internet connection you can get probably won't work for you or your clients. On the other hand, if you work mainly with text, then perhaps you might be able to manage.

If you plan to run a location independent business, then you need to have access to good telecoms systems - you just can't get away from it. Luckily for me, I've got a 2MB ADSL connection, which means I can do video calls, VOIP and more or less anything else I need to do to be a successful freelance writer.

Tools For Location Independent Living

Another important thing for a location independent professional is the tools. First of all you will need a laptop with a webcam that is Wi-Fi enabled. That's the minimum. If this is your main computer, you'll probably need one with a decent sized screen. You will also need a way to access your files from anywhere. I tend to store mine in the cloud - using Google Docs and online backup provider Syncplicity to ensure that I have access to all critical files, wherever in the world I happen to be.

If you are going to be nomadic, then you have to consider what to do with your stuff. Some people leave it in storage, which can be an expensive option, while others hold a mega yard sale and keep only what they need. In my case, I knew I was leaving for good, so I sold what I didn't need and shipped the rest.

Location Independent Resources

There are more and more people interested in the location independent lifestyle and luckily there's a great resource they can tap into - the Location Independent Professionals site, run by Lea and Jon Woodward. They've been living the lifestyle for a few years now and the site addresses most questions you could possibly have on the issue.

There are times when I miss friends in this or that location, but email, Skype and Facebook help me to keep track of what's happening in their lives - and I get lots of visitors, which is always fun. Now that I've been location independent for almost four years, I don't think I could ever go back.

Sharon Hurley Hall is a location independent freelance writer. She blogs at Get Paid To Write Online.