I've been going to Warren Buffett's annual meeting for nearly 10 years, but usually I fly. I decided that I would drive this year. Why? First of all, flights were more than $400 round trip. If I traveled by plane, I would also have to rent a car. That's another $150 or so. Besides, I would be a prisoner to my flight schedule then. By driving, I can decide when I'm ready to leave.
But the real reason I am driving is because I wanted to see if I could pay for my trip by mystery shopping along the way. As I've done in the past, I enjoy the challenge of doing a little work while I'm on vacation or at least en route to my destination to offset the cost of the trip.
I'll regret doing this later tonight, but the money is good. I'll be driving nearly 700 miles before reaching my hotel tonight in St. Louis. But, I am earning about $370 in mystery shopping fees along the way. Sure, I'll be exhausted tonight when I finally enter my last report, but I'll wake up fresh tomorrow morning, content knowing that I've covered most, if not all, my travel costs.
For added measure, I'm going to challenge myself to find even more work on the way home, and maybe a job or two while I'm in Omaha.
As the owner of a mystery shopping business, I can tell you that you are like a lot of shoppers. I can also tell you that you can earn more, and justify your travel several times over by becoming a video mystery shopper. One of my shoppers earned $1100 plus $1000 in travel expenses over 6 days traveling up the East Coast. Video shoppers are in high demand, and there are very few of them. Just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteKimberly Nasief-Westergren