In my experience most of the "travel blogger" industry is fake in that they project a self-sustainable journey when in reality they have a lot of money to lean on or they peddle "exposure" to smaller establishments that comp their stay.

Very few people actually do the couchsurfing or couponing style because to most people that approach is miserable and/or dangerous.

I have personally met dozens, maybe a hundred, people that have traveled around on a budget. CouchSurfing especially used to be filled with some really interesting people. (No idea if it still is, but my impression is that it's become more of a dating site.)

Not everything is a scam.

I find people expect to have both a career lifestyle and remote lifestyle at the same time, but it is much easier to find the edge case employers and jobs and expect some level of disconnect from the rat race. That's the whole point right?

There are thousands of small businesses who need a developer/digital rousabout. I am talking 5-20 employees.

You make your life far more complicated if you try to freelance many clients, as it can be difficult to organise everything and be available at all the right times. Possible obviously, but why not save yourself the hassle amd just manage some small businesses ecomm website or something, and go enjoy your time abroad.

There are plenty of unsexy remote jobs, especially in customer service. You won't make more than $35,000 a year, but that's enough to survive virtually anywhere.

I could afford it because I had pre-existing relationships with the businesses I worked for (as a writer, not a developer). While technically freelance, I didn’t have to worry about finding work while I travelled.

If you can, it’s probably easier to go remote with an established income than quit and start from scratch while travelling. Otherwise you will spend a lot of time hustling to get clients.

I tried this out when I took a year break to travel. I got gigs from Upwork easily. I was able to limit myself to 10 hours a week and it paid for my travels. What I found was that there are all kind of companies out there looking for all sorts of helps, you just have to be proactive with outreach.

They're billing dollars and paying baht or rupiah.

remote salary job and "live" in one country collecting that salary while traveling the world.