Travelling again.

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I opened my Betfair account on 22nd April 2003. I was one of the first subscribers to BetTrader and was a founding partner of JuiceStorm.com on 17th February 2007.

The JuiceStorm team built TradeHost for profitable automated trading and betting on Betfair in the UK, IE, AU and US horse racing markets. TradeHost Lite started in 2013 and is free forever.

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As I mentioned on the radio show when Badger, Adam and Mark were on a couple of weeks ago I’m now off on my travels again for a month or two.

I leave on 22nd January 2009 from Malta so my next post will be from Thailand. I’m keen to do some radio shows from there as well which will probably go out early evening. So stay tuned.

With that in mind I thought I’d just write a brief note on my view on the work life balance and how trading on any market can allow us to do exactly what we want when we want.

The internet now gives me freedom to generate consistent income anywhere I choose which ten years ago was virtually impossible. And believe me I tried. Many of you know that when my daughter was born in South Molton in Devon, UK, 11 years ago, amongst other businesses I owned I had also developed one of the first search engine optimisation companies. Long before the term SEO had been fashioned.

My, how times have changed. We didn’t optimise for Google – it didn’t exist! Today, 99% of this site’s search traffic comes from Google. Yahoo and good old Alta Vista have fallen by the wayside. Anybody remember HotBot? A favourite search engine of mine? Long since given up sourcing their own search results.

Now, you may wonder, has MOM finally lost his marbles and he’s waffling on about search engines? Well that brings me to my point…

Today, the internet combined with Betfair trading, forex trading, playing poker or simply starting an online business allows everyone a paradigm shift in the way they live their lives if they choose. 25 years ago I read a book by a guy called Bill Hill – a pseudonym I believe – and when I met “Bill” at The Lansdowne Club in Mayfair through his publisher a few years later I decided that I would do all I could to adopt the PT lifestyle he wrote about. Today I’m as near to a PT lifestyle that I’m ever likely to be.

I need never depend on a job again even though I still have a small income from my telecoms company in the UK. And recently it’s got a lot smaller because of the challenges facing sterling at the moment as I spend mainly in Euros.

The internet has changed my life. My life is better for it. I will continue to trade my main markets from Thailand exactly the same as when I am in Europe. I will also use Betfair via a Virtual Private Network which puts me in the UK and government interference that tries to stop me disappears. And that’s a major feature of being a PT. Arranging your life the way you want.

Even in the Betfair Forum many people talk about living abroad regularly and there’s a discussion going on currently – you need to be logged in these days to see it.

But one part of the PT philosophy that I varied was paying tax. I elect to pay my taxes in Malta as a non resident – less than 6 months here each year and no earned income in Malta. It’s a good arrangement if you want to stay in Europe and as I have taxable income streams and two children I adore I feel it makes sense. The amount of tax paid is about 3000 Euros each year which is capped and makes non gambling income fully legal worldwide. The full PT lifestyle is a tough nut to crack if you have family you want to see regularly.

So, there we are. Just a few ramblings before I fly away for another adventure. Adam of Racing Traders asked how my partner puts up with it. Well, I guess she’s figured it’s better to put up with my lifestyle philosophy than not. She sees more of me than people see each other in most “normal” relationships anyway.

Finally, I am just fixing up a time for another guest on WUBT who is a poker playing PT. Andy ditched a conventional career in his late 20’s to become a traveling online poker player. He is currently living in Buenos Aires, Argentina after sampling South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada.

We’ll get Andy’s tips on how to play poker profitably online and his views on the PT lifestyle too. I’m looking forward to it. In the meantime, stay safe and warm wherever you are and good luck to you all, as always, doing whatever floats your boat.