Hello,New here, first post. I have to guess you know my type around here. I am a young professional (engineer) with a small family and have no intention of spending the next few decades scrambling for the McMansion-with-two-car-garage-and-BMWs-SAD (standard american dream). I really have no interest in it at all. So my plan is to join you mad people and define the terms of my life in my own way. That's my personal introduction. Here's my question: I know there are people out there who make their FT incomes through means of software development, web development, pro photography, etc. I read the blogs. But does anyone here use CAD for their income? Like SolidWorks? I am an engineer with experience in product development and industrial design, and am not above doing "CAD monkey" work either. There are sites that connect freelancers with contract jobs, but I am skeptical that I could generate full-time income. At least $35k. OK, that's it. Now I just need to wait for the wise insights to roll in. Right, guys?-goldymar

Well. Unlike many posters who throw out a very general question, yours is very specific. It may be a long shot finding someone with those qualifications AND is a member of this forum AND is active and willing to respond. You might have better luck looking for a CAD forum somewhere and get their opinions about working remotely and average income. Once you have that info, you can do whatever you want with the money.I used to provide technical support to medical transcriptionists. Many of them worked from home and never visited the hospitals/doctors they supported. They have several online forums to trade info, so it's possible that CAD engineers do the same thing.As far as the American dream goes, nobody is forcing you to chase it. Visit some of the financial websites and you'll read stories about people who live very simple lives and save most of their income and retire comfortably in their 30s and 40s. You can also read stories about the opposite end of the spectrum where people earn large sums of money and pi$$ it all away. You can do that in a house or in an RV.Good luck.

Yes. Many CADD jobs do not require you to be sitting in an office. One of the issues that I have looked into is internet connection. We will often stay in places where interacting with the client for plan review is difficult because of lack of internet or wifi.The issue of whether or not you could succeed, is a different question. If your work does not require face to face interaction, then it doesn't matter if you design from your living room or on a beach.

I tend to agree with KORBE, the biggest issue with doing SolidEdge/SolidWorks on the road (telecommutting) will be the bandwidthI would guess most employers would want a good bandwidth connection (on your dime) that they can then have you use some implementation of VPNI know my (old) employer did. Further the PC that connected to the VPN had to be 100% (internally) encrypted.NO LEAKS, no chance of your computer being stolen and sensitive data being leaked.One additional issue I can see is your workstation. My main workstation has two monitors, plus accessories. Few RVs are really setup with a good work-station location. You might want one with dual recliners, so you can remove them and setup the workstation there.

Thank God my father taught me the value of property and how to make money other than working for others.It allowed me to make huge profits in various McMansions and other buildings over the years as well as living in very comfy surroundings while my earnings increased.I fail to see the romance - living my adult life in 400 sq ft of poor construction.I'll bet others here feel the same but my hats off to those who venture out & march to their own tunes. ...:B

Altern wrote:Thank God my father taught me the value of property and how to make money other than working for others.It allowed me to make huge profits in various McMansions and other buildings over the years as well as living in very comfy surroundings while my earnings increased.I fail to see the romance - living my adult life in 400 sq ft of poor construction.I'll bet others here feel the same but my hats off to those who venture out & march to their own tunes. ...:BI am so confused…..if you have no desire to live in "400 s.f. of poor construction", why are you on the "Full-time RVing" forum? What did I miss? As to the OP, I hope you find what you are looking for in the CAD field. Our son is in that field now and would love to eventually be able to do it from the road.Good Luck.

Full-timing on contract CAD work | Good Sam Community

piku
Explorer
Mar 07, 2014
I think the logistics of working remotely doing CAD work is pretty similar to programming or really anything.

There are two types of clients. Those that are comfortable with remote work because they prefer working remotely themselves and those that are not. You will always have endless struggle with the nonremote people.

For instance one of my clients will give me no work and interact very little remotely despite prodding from me. Once I fly in though, he has a laundry list of stuff for me to do and constant lunches, dinners and onsite consulting. He just can't get the remote thing down.

Another works for a company that has an entirely remote workforce. He himself is never in the same place for very long. The remote thing is no problem at all and he's very good at communicating and working around the various issues.

The other problem I had is that you really have to handhold people through webinar software. I tried to use google hangouts to do a presentation and it bombed. I ended up having to use gotomeeting under windows and thus wasn't able to complete the entire presentation. They had "social media" blocked with websense and it ruined my plans ;)

I suggest you tell your proposed client base that you are or will be out of the area for X period of time. You can really be there but lie. See how it works. See how they handle the various intracacies of working remotely. It really involves effort from both sides.
goldymar
Explorer
Feb 28, 2014
CarlGeo wrote:
goldymar
Have continued reading this site and various comments, including yours. There are some basic questions I have not seen you address in the communications.
Are you licensed, and if so in what state or states? What is your engineering disicpline, what field, and finally, who do you plan to market your services to?
The above are all basic questions you need, or must address before thinking of performing remote work. As I stated in my first response, you must establish yourself with your own office or as an employee of an established office. After doing this you can then think of branching out and performing remote services.
CarlGeo

Thanks for asking. I can answer these. I have been working full-time as an mechanical engineer focusing on consumer product design for 4 years. I am on my way to obtaining my license, which requires the completion of two exams. I have passed one already and plan on taking the next within the next year. This is specifically the state of Michigan. I do not know what individual states require.

In terms of clientele, I am going to contact product design firms, tool shops, and flex some connections in the nuclear power industry modeling valves and whatnot. I may also try the numerous staffing services and freelancing websites out there, but I think I would have a difficult time generating enough income through those avenues alone.

In the mean time, I have a steady full-time job. My current job seems like it should be perfect but instead its making me realize how discontent I am with a traditionally prescribed lifestyle and employment. I have done several freelance jobs in the past, and enjoyed it immensely. Combine that with my incessant exploration bug and I think FT RVing might be in my future. Plus, my wife is all in. What other excuse could there be? Hopefully I answered all your questions.

By the way. If you are curious, you can find my portfolio here: http://www.coroflot.com/markgoldy
Larryzv7
Explorer
Feb 28, 2014
I am a full-time RV’er who is retired and do not work, nonetheless, I created a “work-space” in the far rear corner of my 5th wheel. I primarily play video games but also work my budget, camping route, etc. and do other things at this space.

I removed 2-over-stuffed chairs that came with the 5th wheel; sold them on Craigslist, and built a small desk on one side where a chair used to be and put a smaller antigravity massage chair with optional heat on the other side at the rear of the trailer.

At my “workstation” I have a full-size printer/fax/scanner machine which is fastened to the desk, and the desk is fastened to the RV wall. The monitor locks into place when I am towing the trailer, and I have a desktop computer attached to the monitor.

I use my laptop computer when I want to do something outside or can not get an internet signal on the desktop; sometimes I will take the laptop to the nearest local library and use their wifi signal. I’ve had this setup almost 2-years and it has worked well for me.

P.S. I also have a small lightweight 2-drawer file cabinet next to the desk. Just thought I'd share this as an example of how one might setup a work-station in their RV.
JimM68
Explorer
Feb 28, 2014
Altern wrote:
Thank God my father taught me the value of property and how to make money other than working for others.
It allowed me to make huge profits in various McMansions and other buildings over the years as well as living in very comfy surroundings while my earnings increased.
I fail to see the romance - living my adult life in 400 sq ft of poor construction.
I'll bet others here feel the same but my hats off to those who venture out & march to their own tunes. ...:B

TROLL ALERT!!!
CarlGeo
Explorer
Feb 28, 2014
goldymar
Have continued reading this site and various comments, including yours. There are some basic questions I have not seen you address in the communications.
Are you licensed, and if so in what state or states? What is your engineering disicpline, what field, and finally, who do you plan to market your services to?
The above are all basic questions you need, or must address before thinking of performing remote work. As I stated in my first response, you must establish yourself with your own office or as an employee of an established office. After doing this you can then think of branching out and performing remote services.
CarlGeo
Gemstone
Explorer
Feb 28, 2014
"One additional issue I can see is your workstation. My main workstation has two monitors, plus accessories. Few RVs are really setup with a good work-station location"....

Our 36' DRV provides ample desk space for my Wife's 2 - 22" thin client monitors plus room to work. Being thin client applications, her bandwidth requirement is not huge. Not all RV's are so equipped, but modifications are possible.

I would search out a job first, establish myself as someone who completes work on time, shows up on time and demonstrate my work ethic/dedication to detail....then approach my employer about a trial telecommute period, with clear expectations outlined and agreed upon....when the trial period is over, you should have a good chance of becoming a full time telecommuter.....it worked for me as a Telecom PM. I had a VoIP phone with my office number ported to it, a DSL was required for ample bandwidth, as was the company VPN. My customers thought I was still in IN, while I was enjoying the weather in AZ.

Good Luck
Gemstone
goldymar
Explorer
Feb 28, 2014
Thanks for the positive responses. I don't know if my web research skills suck, but I have not been able to find much practical advice or information about contract/freelance engineering. Having a family requires that I have high confidence that I can make it all work. I will have to go over to the CAD forums and see what they have to say. Thanks, all!
restlesswind
Explorer
Feb 26, 2014
PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
First priority - establish a work from home position - make sure it pays what you need expense wise, and that you can save enough to buy the RV you want/ need.

Second priority - determine your internet needs and requirements. Determine if those needs can even be met from a mobile internet connection. I was able to do much of my IT job remotely from home during my last year working. However, I found that when I traveled - most hotel hardwired connections were not sufficient to do that work. Forget WiFi. Mobile internet via satellite is expensive and difficult to manage.

Third priority - pay off your TV and your RV, build a small emergency fund - then you can go.

Third priority - pay off your TV and your RV, small emergency fund fund - then you can go.
Better yet,build a medium to lage emergency fund.A "small"fund can be wiped out with one small emergeny
(Naturally the definition of "small" comes into the picture.)
We take the dining table out of our TT when we are going somewhere for a few months - setup a desktop computer in that location.
PawPaw_n_Gram
Explorer
Feb 26, 2014
First priority - establish a work from home position - make sure it pays what you need expense wise, and that you can save enough to buy the RV you want/ need.

Second priority - determine your internet needs and requirements. Determine if those needs can even be met from a mobile internet connection. I was able to do much of my IT job remotely from home during my last year working. However, I found that when I traveled - most hotel hardwired connections were not sufficient to do that work. Forget WiFi. Mobile internet via satellite is expensive and difficult to manage.

Third priority - pay off your TV and your RV, build a small emergency fund - then you can go.

We take the dining table out of our TT when we are going somewhere for a few months - setup a desktop computer in that location.
becworth
Explorer
Feb 26, 2014
Larryzv7 wrote:
Altern wrote:
Thank God my father taught me the value of property and how to make money other than working for others. It allowed me to make huge profits in various McMansions and other buildings over the years as well as living in very comfy surroundings while my earnings increased. I fail to see the romance - living my adult life in 400 sq ft of poor construction. I'll bet others here feel the same but my hats off to those who venture out & march to their own tunes. ...:B

Just because YOU have failed to see the romance does not mean that there isn’t any romance, all it means is that YOU have failed to see it. The lifestyle of a fulltime RV’er is healthier and has more intrinsic value and freedom than living in a big house and being part of the rat race. True value is not something you can buy or sell.

With all due respect to your father; the value of property, or any other material thing, is nothing, zero, zilch, when compared to the value of inner wealth; which is what I get living a simple life out here in nature traveling in my RV. The poorest man is the one who gets his comfort from money and material things.:B

>Larryzv7….well said. X2

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