Ever dreamt of escaping your desk job and having more freedom? Of course you have! Trouble is you eventually wake up and remember that you’ve got a job and bills to pay, right?

What you need is your own portable means of income that will give you the flexibility and freedom to work anytime, anywhere.

Imagine working in your garden, from a beach, or your holiday home in Brazil. Well, with the technology available today, the dream can actually be a reality.

So what businesses are most suitable for this type of mobile work and lifestyle? There are more than you think. Just take a look at the Top 10 list below and if any of them spark your imagination, use the links to investigate further and see what is possible.


1. Virtual Assistant

Take your administrative skills worldwide! Who says that you have to work for one boss in the same company? Anyone with office and computer skills could set up as a VA from their home. Using modern technology your clients can be based anywhere.

www.ivaa.org (International Virtual Assistants Association)
www.AssistU.com
www.allianceofvirtualassistants.org.uk


2. Ebay Trader

Ebay is an international online marketplace, making it a perfect business to operate from any country. With a little organization you could spend 6 months in the UK trading under Ebay UK and then 6 months in another country of your choice trading under the Ebay sister site of that country.

Sign up for a free Ebay account and take a little test drive!

www.ebay.com


3. Newsletter Publisher

Package your knowledge in a newsletter, distribute it electronically and charge a subscription fee to people interested in your subject. The thirst for knowledge knows no boundaries. This works perfectly well as an electronic newsletter as well as via postal mail.

www.emailuniverse.com


4. Online Tutor

Online tutors or e-tutors guide students through an internet learning experience. If you have a teaching background, why not create courses that can be delivered electronically via email, online tutorials or audio/video conferencing, as well as telephone conference calls.

www.elearningprofessional.com (Certified e-Learning Professional Programme)
www.sheffcolac.uk/lettol/ (LeTTOL – Learning to Teach Online)
www.teleclass.com


5. Personal or Business Coach

Coaching is a profession you can do part time, full time, in addition to another job. Most coaching is conducted via the phone and email, and with the many low cost phone packages available, it is becoming increasingly easier to run this type of business from any location.

www.coachfederation.com (International Coaching Federation)
www.coachville.com (Coachville – extensive coaching information portal)


6. Web Designer / Graphic Designer

If you can create graphics, logos, brochures, newsletters, posters, signs, advertisements, using desktop publishing software or web designer software, you could run your own design business from home, and that home could be anywhere.

Contact your local colleges for courses.


7. Writer / Travel Writer

Writing is perhaps the ultimate portable business. With your laptop and your imagination, you could write whenever, wherever. Why not become a Travel Writer and turn your travel adventures into a book, or write articles for magazines about your experiences.

www.writernet.org.uk
www.awaionline.com (American Writers & Artists Institute)


8. Stock Market Trading

This doesn’t have to be for the elite or financially well-versed anymore. Keep abreast of market trends and stock performance and this could be a viable business operational from home or any location.

www.tradingday.com


9. Copywriter

A copywriter is someone who uses words to sell products and services. One huge perk of being a freelance copywriter is the flexible lifestyle. You can earn your living from anywhere in the world –a holiday home, an island, or your own home.

www.awaionline.com (American Writers & Artists Institute)


10. Computer Software Engineer

Using your skills in design, development, testing and evaluation of computer software you can develop your own products or work on a freelance basis for companies worldwide.

See local colleges for courses.
 

Have you recently decided that you would like to start an anime collection? If you have, you are not alone. The anime genre has expanded well beyond what it was when it was first developed. In fact, there are now kid-friendly anime books, films, and television shows. What does this mean for you? It often means more options when looking to start an anime collection.

Speaking of your options, when looking to buy anime collectibles, you will find that there are a large number of them. For starters, anime collectables can be purchased in a number of different conditions, including new and used. There are also options in terms of purchase locations. To have the best chance of success, when starting an anime collection, familiarize yourself with each of your options, as well as their pros and cons.

To get started, it is best to focus on conditions. Many anime collectors choose to only purchase collectables that are brand new. This is because there are a number of benefits to doing so, especially from the standpoint of a collector. For starters, brand new anime collectables are in great, if not perfect, condition. This also leads to another pro, which is a better value. Rare or hard to find collectible that are brand new are likely to be valuable in cost. However, should you wish to purchase these types of collectibles, you should expect to pay for the value.

As for used anime collectables, there are also a number of pros and cons to buying used. One of the many pros or plus sides to buying used anime collectibles is the possibility to find rare items that were popular before anime collecting developed as a hobby. These are items that were likely used by individuals who did not know that the items in question had the possibility to become valuable one day. Many buyers also receive discounts on used collectibles, as values decrease when collectibles are removed from their original package. Although relatively easy to afford, it is important to keep value in mind, especially if you are looking to buying collectables that can later be sold for a profit.

As for your buying options, examine hobby shops, both on and offline. Online hobby shops tend to provide you with a better selection of anime collectibles, but refrain from outright discounting your local hobby shops. The only downsides to buying anime collectibles from hobby shops is the focus. Many specialize in collecting and other hobbies in general. This is ideal for those with more than one hobby, but specialty anime collectors may want to look elsewhere.

For the best chance of finding rare, hard to find, and valuable anime collectables, anime dealers should be approached. Although still rare, many locally owned and operated anime dealer businesses are starting to popup across the country. This is due in part to the rise in popularity of the anime genre. With that in mind, if you do not live in a large city, it may be best to examine online anime dealers. These dealers can easily be found with a standard internet search.

Anime dealers are often considered the best source of collectibles, especially those that have the possibility to increase in value. You are also likely to get a much better deal. When using other approaches, such as online auction websites, many sellers decide to charge whatever they want. This leaves a good chance of you paying too much money. Although there are no guarantees, most anime dealers are professional and experts in the field. This means that many have an accurate idea of what should be paid for a collectible. Doing business with anime dealers also often reduces your chances of overpayment.

As highlighted above, you have a number of different buying options, when looking to start or expand your anime collection. As a reminder, you never know what you may find, so you may want to examine collectable in both new and used conditions, as well as those sold by hobby shops, individual owners, and professional dealers.

Open spaces such as racetracks, golf courses, polo fields and fairgrounds made for the earliest airfields. These offered flat and smooth surfaces with predictable winds, which were essential for initial gliders and fixed-wing aircrafts to take flight.

Together with locations situated on prairies or close to water where winds could be predicted, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, were popular choices for early controlled and powered flights.

While Huffman Prairie near Dayton, Ohio entertained the Wright Brothers’ groundbreaking 1905 flights of the Flyer 3, and the Parisian ground of the Champ de Maneoeuvres, Issy-les-Moulineaux witnessed Louis Blériot’s pre-1910 flight models, neither of these grounds facilitated passenger flights.

The first commissioned airports were in Germany in 1910, which were primarily for the Delag-operated Zeppelin airships. Delag then constructed airship sheds in many German cities situated near rail hubs from 1913. These could handle passengers and maintenance of their airships. Prior to War World I in 1914, close to 34,000 passengers across 1,600 flights had been attended to in these airports.

By 1912, the United States had 20 airports, which were mostly converted from fields and country clubs. In comparison, over the course of World War I, 67 military airfields were established on farms and parks, although with the understanding that most would be reconverted when the war ceased.

There was even a failed attempt at a passenger service in South Florida in 1914, where a waterside building was modified to cater to passengers and aircraft supplies. With the close of World War I, 980 fields were listed as official airfields. Yet, unfriendly golf courses and insufficient racetracks rendered most of them unusable by aircraft.

The first regular airmail flight took place in May 15, 1918, on a polo field situated in downtown Washington, D.C. Dry Nevada lake bottoms, gas stations found on roadways, and even packing crates which housed airplane deliveries, served as “aerial garages”, otherwise known as hangars and maintenance shops. The post-World War I military parade grounds of Le Bourget and Tempelhof were converted into airports.

By 1919, five air stations, including emergency stops, were constructed by the U.S. Postmaster Otto Praeger between New York and Chicago. The Federal Government convinced local Chicago businessmen to contribute to a $15,000 hangar, with potential profits from passenger travel.

In 1920, scheduled international flights became commonplace in the United States with passengers traveling by Aeromarine West Indies Airways between Key West, Florida and Havana, Cuba. With 145 airports by the end of 1920, the airport system slowly began to take shape across the nation.

Early Post Office air stations featured 2 perpendicular runways and a tower with a light beacon of the intensity of 500,000-candlepower. These stations eventually evolved into 2,000-foot by 2,000-foot square designs by 1924, which facilitated multi-directional takeoff and landing regardless of the wind.

Airport fields were typically the size of 70 to 100 acres, with gravel or cinder covered surfaces to assist drainage. The fields were relatively bare, commonly with only one hangar, and bare essentials such as gasoline and oil storage, and telephone connection – all spread out to guard against fire or crash accidents. Most were built on the square postal air station design, although variety came in the form of perpendicular T-shaped strips or rectangles.
From the 1930s prior to World War II, pilots relied on airmarking to fly during the day. To aid navigation and identification of airports, rooftops or hillsides were visually marked. The 50,000-candlepower beacons were used for night flight instead.

The growth of airports began slowly in Canada, but it eventually grew to 77 air harbors by 1930 from an initial 37 in 1922. The Prairie Air Mail Service started to link Winnipeg with Calgary and Edmonton, where its older municipal airport opened its doors in January 1927.

Across the world, airports continued to experience growth. Australia saw 181 public airports with passenger flights and support capabilities by April 1936. This was on top of the 200 designated open landing areas. The Soviet Union had a massive airport linking system, which stretched across Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Leningrad, Kiev and Tashkent, north of Afghanistan. The Soviet airline Aeroflot served the world’s biggest domestic air network, with over 500 million passengers catered to by 1975.

Despite the majority of airlines preferring to fly from grass or water, and perhaps protestations from Henry Ford, the first laid hard surfaced runway in the U.S. was publicly unveiled in Newark, New Jersey, on October 1, 1928. It measured 1,600 feet in length. In 1929, Pan Am became the first airline in the U.S. to build its own airport – the Pan American Field. Part of the 116-acre field was rented to its competitor Eastern Airlines. As a precursor to radio communication between airplanes and ground staff, Pan Am used a radio station for Morse code signaling in 1930.

The Berlin Zentralflughafen Tempelhof was widely recognized as one of the world’s largest building in 1938. With simultaneous boarding facilities available for 300 planes and a handling capacity of 300,000 passengers annually, the Tempelhof roof could also accommodate 100,000 visitors watching airplane arrivals and departures. Its model of charging visitors admission fees was duplicated by countless airports trying to cash in on the public’s growing flight fascination.
 

Dog owners have all been there. You turn your dog loose to run for just a few minutes and the next thing you know man's best friend is scratching at your door, there once gleaming coat caked with dirt and debris, and emitting an incredibly foul odor. You now have two options. You can lock your dog outside and hope that it rains hard enough in the near future to wash them clean, or you can take valuable time out of your day and drag them to your local pet groomer.

There is another, less time consuming way to remove the embarrassing odor from your dog's fur. You might consider enlisting the aid of a mobile pet grooming service.

Never heard of a mobile pet grooming service? Think of it as a canine day spa that has been condensed and put on wheels. Most mobile pet grooming companies have built their pet grooming stations into the back of large vans or cargo trucks.

Pet owners who enlist the aid of a mobile pet grooming service will be stunned by the luxury their pets can enjoy without ever leaving their familiar surroundings. One mobile pet service company that operates in the United States has vans that are outfitted with blow dryers, and heated hydro baths, in addition to the pet groomers regular grooming tools and supplies. Some of the groomers that operate mobile pet units offer the pets they groom a vast selection of gourmet pet treats.

Pet owners who regularly use mobile pet units like the fact they are able to arrange the groomers around their work and personal commitments. Mobile pet groomers are willing to groom a person's pets on weekends or after regular working hours when regular pet groomers close their shops and go home to spend time with their own pets.

Using a mobile pet grooming service means that pet owners do not have to arrange time to drive their pets into town and then drive them back home again. The mobile pet service saves them time and money. The time and money they save becomes something they can enjoy with the rest of their family/

It sounds strange, but using a mobile pet service could actually improve your dog's overall health. Some dogs don't like to leave their home. The act of getting into a car and driving into town for a scheduled appointment with a pet groomer gives them anxiety attacks. The experience is stressful for everybody involved, the pet owner, the professional groomer. and most importantly the dog. Pet owners who have dogs that don't like traveling generally avoid having their dog groomed. That leads to the second way a mobile pet grooming service can improve your dog's health. A professional dog groomer will notice changes in your dogs hair coat and skin that could indicate health problems if not dealt with immediately.

Many mobile pet groomers start out as a small hobby for a pet groomer, something they might do to start attracting a clientele, or a way to nurse a passion for pets. It is not unusual for these pet groomers to find that the business is so lucrative that their business expands so much they arrange for another mobile unit and hire extra professional groomers to drive it from one client to the next.