26 August 2008

makin' my millions!

Last Friday I started my plan to make millions! I put 9 things up for sale on eBay and I am just waiting for the money to start rolling in. Ok, so even if all 9 things sell, I will have only make about £45 but its a start! I have bought a lottery ticket for the past 5 weekends in a row. It started at £8 million and is now up to £55!! I have yet to win but I figure someone has got to and one week it could be me! So while I wait on the lottery I figured I needed a back up plan. Enter eBay. I don’t really expect to get millions from selling my clothes and shoes at an on line auction site...but I am at a loss here. I don’t know what I want to do with my life, Rhys doesn’t like his job, and neither one of us really want to work for 'the man'

Don’t you ever wake up in the morning and just want to do a job you love? If you are reading this and love your job, then I am so envious it’s not funny! Because it is not that we don’t want to work, we just want work that we love! I want to work for a charity, or run a hostel, or volunteer somewhere, work with inter-city children, or teach outdoor education...and on and on. Unfortunately, I need money to do any of those things. I have found that the fantastic jobs don’t always pay enough to actually live. Here in London the cost of living is so high and jobs in such high demand that unless you have loads of experience and extra cash on the side, it’s next to impossible to make a living out of a charity job or youth work. So while Rhys and I wait on the lottery and eBay to make millions, we have come up with a few other ideas on how to make all our 'work' dreams come true.

1. Giant outdoor festival in America. Think Glastonbury but middle-America. There are not any big outdoor festivals in the states. Not sure why really. There is Memphis in May, but no camping...and Woodstock 1996 was not successful. Oz Fest is a staple, but again that doesn’t really appeal to everyone. Huge artists from all across the board is what is needed. Potentially over spring break weeks... One in California area, one in Florida area...perhaps Chicago area as well. I think it would be brilliant. (again though, we need money to start it...although I envision we could make quite a lot)

2. travel guide for couples. Rick Steeves or Let's Go type of guide, but for couples. Not all hostel environments are suitable for the people that want to travel in a pair...so why not create a guide that offers dirt cheap travel for those who want to do in two's. I think its great, and there is really nothing out there like it at the moment...

3. Begging. I hear they actually make quite a lot. Roughly £30,000 a year! Plus you get to wear what you want, keep your own hours and have flexible holiday time. I was tempted one time when I was in Barcelona on my own to set up 'shop' on Las Ramblas. It is the main tourist street in Barcelona, millions walk down it everyday, and my thought was to sit there with my backpack and a sign that read "out of money. just want to go home to my mom" Young, single girl, travelling on her own. Just wants to see her mom. Seriously, I could have made a sweet buck or two! Unfortunately I do have a conscious, and couldnt lie to people. I was close to running out of money, but I didnt want to go home. But I am telling you, there is a good future in the begging industry.

4. Easy Jet Concept connected with Hostel chain in America. Ok this is seriously a brilliant plan. America is so vast and fantastic but few people travel around it because it is NOT travel friendly. No mass rail service, grey-hound is shady and it’s too expensive to rent a car and stay in hotels. So if we got someone, say Donald Trump, to front the $4 million to start up the business, I reckon this would take off. Create a low cost airline, no frills, cheap as dirt like Ryan air or Easy Jet that flies to major and minor cities in America. Think New York City to Raleigh/Durham or Miami, Florida to Birmingham, Alabama. There are big and small cities in America. We just need to create a cheap way to get from one place to another and cheap accommodation once there. Put a few hostels in each city and bang...tourism! Like the Oz Adventure buses in Australia. Loads of travellers all piled into a tourist bus that hits the major spots. They stop at sponsored hostels and locations. We could really market that in America.

So in absence of winning millions, someone giving us millions, or getting a sweet job at our dream company, it seems that Rhys and I will be stuck in our dull jobs, selling things on eBay, waiting for the millions to roll in. If any of you out there know someone looking to invest in a great start up company, let me know...I have loads more ideas! :)

3 comments:

Susanna said...

I have been considering doing something similar to your idea 2. Of course, not for couples as I do not have "couple" status. However, it would be interesting to brainstorm a collberation on such a thing. Let's think about it ...

kristina said...

well... i have made contact with a publisher for it and Rhys and I are submitting ideas on Friday! woo hoo... we should talk about it though and see what we can come up with

Devi said...

Love all the ideas (maybe skip the begging - it could be dangerous). How did your chat with the publisher go?