So you took the decision to live in Asia. But the main question now is, what you gonna do for a living? How you gonna make money and support yourself? Unless you already are well off, this is a question that arises in the head of every Passport Bro.

When It comes to deciding to work overseas as a Passport Bro, there’s certain things you would have to know and decide for yourself.

The first and main issue is the time difference.

People that are computer developers, webmasters and true digital nomads will never have this problem because they can work at any time during the day to finish their projects and get paid. However not everyone has these skills and if you want to find a remote job from the US for example, you will need to work American hours.

If you are an American, you are looking at a +11 hours (from East Coast USA) for Thailand and Cambodia. The Philippines would be a +12 hours. So if your job is based from the West Coast in the US from Los Angeles for example, then the time difference would be +15 hours in the Philippines.

American companies and employers don’t really hire people that are based overseas, so you will have to be first in the States to get a remote job and then fly to Asia. If you work in Sales or Customer Service, my suggestion is to start a remote job in the US for a month or so and then fly to Asia on a weekend when the office is closed and you have enough time to get to your destination without them knowing.

Make sure to get an apartment that has very good internet connection. If you want to hide your presence in Asia from your employer, you will need to use a VPN. I am saying this because, many Customer Service and Sales jobs require you to use their software and their IT department can see your IP Address. Using a VPN hides your real Asian IP Address and you can “camouflage” yourself with an American IP address. The only issue is that using a VPN slows down your internet connection, so having a fast internet connection in the first place can resolve this issue. I strongly recommend using PURE VPN, is one of the best VPN in the market today.

Another important thing to remember is that you need to have international service with your American, British, Australian cellphone. For Americans, Verizon and AT&T charge $100 a month for this, while T-Mobile charges around $60. So if you know that your employer will need to call you, you will need to have this. A cheaper option would be to have Skype and use the SAME calling ID as your phone number. By having your cellphone number active, your employer won’t really suspect that you are not in the US (or home country).

If everything goes ok, the main issue will really be the time difference. Once based in Asia, you will have to start working at 8:30pm and finish work at 4 or 5am (if your employer is the based on the East Coast). It’s even worst if your employer is based on the West Coast (14-15 hours difference), so you will have to start working at 11:30pm or Midnight local Asian time and finish work at 8 or 9am.

This is really hard to do and it kills the whole purpose of living in Asia and you won’t be able to have a good time. You will find yourself waking up at 4pm or even 5pm, very tired and at 8:30pm you will have to start your daily shift. You won’t last long by doing this.

FOR AUSTRALIANS AND EUROPEANS

If you are an Australian or European, then it’s much easier. The time difference for Australia is just -2 or -3 from Sydney and Melbourne. For Europeans is +6 from Central European Time. Our fellow Australians and European Passport Bros won’t have an issue by working remotely.

If they do have a remote job and have to work day time in their own country, then they won’t even feel the difference.  If you are a European living in Asia and you work during European time zone, you can expect finishing work around 11pm which is not that bad.

SUGGESTION FOR AMERICANS

My personal suggestion for Americans that are not self employed and need to create themselves an income in dollars, is to find a remote job from the States that is an OVERNIGHT shift. These jobs are indeed during the late hours in the States (from 8pm till 3-4 or 5am) BUT due to the time difference, they are actually during the day time in South East Asia.

Remember, there’s 11 to 12 hours difference and this is actually perfect. You can find yourself working day time and making American Dollars with an average pay of $500-$600 a week, maybe a little more. You don’t really need more than this if you live in Asia since everything is really cheap compared to the Western world.

You probably asking yourself, what jobs are overnight shift and remote? There aren’t many jobs like that. Most of them are Call Center Customer Service Representative at night, or a night dispatcher or night counselor (in the medical field). You will have to intensively look on Indeed.com or on Google to find these kind of jobs. Craigslist is also a good option to search. Once you apply for any of these jobs, you should have a decent chance of getting it because not many people in the States apply for these kind of jobs overnight.