The 50+ Nomad Podcast

Jo Barnes
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Business
  • Updated Semiweekly

Where Adventure Never Retires! I’m Jo Barnes. I'm a British freedompreneur, digital nomad of 15+ years, and founder of The 50+ Nomad. This podcast is for freedom seekers over 50 who want to live with more adventure, purpose, and freedom than ever before. Whether that means full-time travel, part-time adventures, or simply building more freedom into your everyday life, I’ll share the tools, stories, and encouragement you need to make it happen. Each week, you’ll hear practical strategies for building portable income, real talk about the ups and downs of life on the road, and inspiring stories from my own journey and from others who’ve dared to start over in their best years yet. From choosing your business model to packing light, from staying healthy on the move to finding purpose beyond work, you’ll get the clarity, confidence, and connection to design and live your dream lifestyle. Because adventure doesn’t have an age limit, and your next chapter can be your best one. club.the50plusnomad.com

  1. 6d ago

    How to Build an Income Writing & Self-Publishing Books

    I’ve been saying I’m going to write and publish books for years, so when I reconnected with my old friend and independent author Sharon E. Buck, I basically hijacked her for an hour and asked her everything I wanted to know. 😂 Sharon has written 26 books under her own name, ghostwritten another 10 or 12, and built a successful independent author business along the way. We chat about Amazon KDP, shorter books, covers and marketing, building an engaged email list, getting reviews, using AI without losing your voice, Sharon’s writing process, and what she’d do differently if she were starting from scratch today. If writing and publishing a book has been sitting on your “one day” list too, there’s loads in this conversation to get you thinking. Watch the full video conversation on Substack: https://club.the50plusnomad.com Get full access to The 50+ Nomad at club.the50plusnomad.com/subscribe

    How to Build an Income Writing & Self-Publishing Books

  2. Sep 23

    Jo Barnes Authors Journey

    Get full access to The 50+ Nomad at club.the50plusnomad.com/subscribe

    Jo Barnes Authors Journey

  3. Sep 14

    The 20 Promises I’m Making to My Future Self

    I turned 54 this week, which got me thinking about how I want to live the next 20–30 years, however many I’m lucky enough to get. In this episode, I’m sharing 20 rules I want to live by, from looking after my health and building financial freedom, to travelling more, creating before consuming, investing in relationships, trying new things, making more memories and refusing to let fear make my decisions. Life is happening right now. Let’s use the good stuff. This episode is also available as an article on Substack. If you’d prefer to read it, head over to club.the50plusnomad.com. Get full access to The 50+ Nomad at club.the50plusnomad.com/subscribe

  4. Aug 19

    Can I Build a $10k-a-Month Ecommerce Business While Travelling the World?

    I was in a particularly buoyant mood recording this episode and had far too much fun with it, including a spectacularly bad impression of dramatic TV “voiceover man” at the end. 😂 The question at the heart of it is one I genuinely don’t know the answer to: Can I build This Big World into a $10,000-a-month profit ecommerce brand while travelling full-time? Right now, I have one main product, around 3,000 packs of Travel Challenge Cards sitting in Amazon warehouses across America, a Shopify store I’ve been “finishing” for months, a PPC agency spending my money, an outreach guy in need of a little direction, a long-suffering VA, and an increasingly alarming belief that AI can help me do almost everything else. 😂 The business is making sales, but it’s also costing me money, largely because for the last six months I’ve been giving it whatever scraps of attention are left after writing, books, travel, family, rental properties and whichever shiny business idea has distracted me before lunchtime. So I’ve decided to find out what happens if I stop doing that. For the next 6–12 months, This Big World gets the best of my business brain, with the immediate challenge of selling 3,000 packs of cards over the Christmas period and the bigger goal of building the brand towards $10,000 a month in profit. There is, however, one fairly important rule. I’m not putting my life on hold to do it. I still want to explore New York, wander around Washington DC, travel the world, meet random people, have adventures and enjoy the freedom I built these businesses to give me in the first place. So can I build something substantial while still living a big, adventurous life? I have absolutely no idea. But I’m going to give it a bloody good go. Along the way you’ll meet the increasingly questionable cast of what may accidentally be turning into the ecommerce version of Clarkson’s Farm: Michelle the long-suffering VA, Rhett the ever-patient husband, Outreach Guy, Claude/AI the slightly unreliable new employee, Amazon my nemesis, Shopify my great hope, and 3,000 packs of cards waiting patiently for me to work out how to sell them. Welcome to Barnes’s Big World. What could possibly go wrong? 😂 Read more here - https://club.the50plusnomad.com/ See my fledgling Shopify store here - https://thisbigworld.co/ Get full access to The 50+ Nomad at club.the50plusnomad.com/subscribe

  5. Aug 17

    How to Live a Bigger, Bolder, Braver Life in Your 50s, 60s & Beyond

    What if your most exciting years aren’t behind you at all? At 53, I’ve become slightly obsessed with time. Not hours and minutes, but the years I might still have ahead of me, and everything I could potentially do with them. Travel further. Build businesses. Write books. Get stronger. Learn new things. Meet fascinating people. Make questionable decisions. Embarrass my daughter occasionally. 😂 In this episode, I’m talking about why our 50s, 60s and beyond don’t have to be the years when we start winding down. They could be the beginning of one of the biggest, boldest and bravest chapters of our lives. We’ll chat about: - Why suddenly having more freedom made me think differently about time - The incredible story of Grandma Moses, whose art career took off in her late 70s - Why 20 or 30 years is an enormous amount of life when you think about how much the world has changed since the days of VHS, mixtapes and brick-sized mobile phones - Why we quietly stop considering possibilities as we get older - The danger of constantly telling ourselves, “I’ll do it when…” - Why confidence doesn’t necessarily arrive automatically with age - What living Bigger, Bolder and Braver actually means - Why courage is a muscle, and some of us have spent decades using ours on everybody else You don’t need to blow up your life, move to Bali or start jumping out of aeroplanes. Bigger is whatever bigger means to you. The next few decades are coming either way. We may as well make them our best years yet. Jo 🥰 Read more at https://club.the50plusnomad.com Get full access to The 50+ Nomad at club.the50plusnomad.com/subscribe

  6. Aug 2

    Two Carry-Ons and a Full-Time Nomad Life After 50!

    Hey adventurers, a slightly different Sunday post this week as I managed to get the amazing Chris Englert, a fellow nomad, on a call! Chris & her husband Steve have been on the road full time for 5 and a half years, so as a full time ‘newbie’, I was keen to hear about her lifestyle, how they manage their relationship and all her tips and tricks! If you’ve ever wondered what life as a full-time nomad after 50, is really like, this conversation is for you. We chat about everything from house sitting and hiking to budgeting, relationships on the road, building community, and why travel might just be one of the best ways to stay young. As a published author, YouTuber and creator behind Eat Walk Learn, we also chat about her books, building a community on the road, growing a travel brand, and how creating content fits into her nomadic lifestyle. Also… 🎁 Stay until the end to find out how you can win our Ultimate Adventure Bundle! (Scroll to the bottom of these show notes to discover how to enter and answer the competition question for your chance to win.) What You’ll Learn * Why house sitting can save thousands of dollars every year * The biggest mistakes new house sitters make * Slow travel vs fast travel (and why there’s no right answer) * Why walking is one of the best ways to experience a destination * How long-term travel changes your mindset * Budgeting realistically for a nomadic lifestyle * How Chris and Steve travel full-time without a permanent home * Building friendships and community while travelling * Keeping a relationship strong while living together 24/7 * Why writing books and sharing your journey can become part of the adventure Time Stamps 00:00 Welcome + introducing Chris Englert 03:00 House sitting: the reality, the benefits and the challenges 10:45 How Chris became a full-time nomad 17:00 Why walking changes the way you experience a destination 27:00 Slow travel vs fast travel 33:30 Budgeting for life on the road 36:00 Chris’s books and writing journey 44:00 Building community as a nomad 52:00 Travelling full-time as a couple 56:45 Chris’s Substack, YouTube and resources 58:30 Ultimate Adventure Bundle giveaway Resources Mentioned Chris Englert * Eat Walk Learn * Two Carry-Ons and a Plan * The Nomad Life * Wanderlust Wisdom * Kindling (serial novel on Substack) * YouTube Channel * Facebook Group Jo Barnes * The 50+ Nomad * This Big Travel Challenge Cards 🎁 WIN THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE BUNDLE One lucky winner will receive: 📚 Chris Englert’s complete Nomad book collection * Two Carry-Ons and a Plan * Nomad Life * Wanderlust Wisdom PLUS 🌍 Jo Barnes’ This Big Travel Challenge scratch-off travel cards. Everything you need for your next adventure. To Enter Listen to the interview, particularly towards the end where we talk about how to enter, and then answer this question in the comments below: Aside from money, what’s the biggest thing stopping you from creating your own freedom or nomadic lifestyle? Bonus points if you also include your biggest takeaway from the interview with Chris! We’ll read every entry and choose one winner at random. Competition closes: 8 August The winner will be selected by Chris and Jo and contacted shortly afterwards. (Prize can only be shipped to a US mailing address.) Answer below for a chance of winning this amazing bundle! Get full access to The 50+ Nomad at club.the50plusnomad.com/subscribe

  7. Jul 30

    Show Up Before You're Ready!

    What’s really stopping you from hitting publish? After telling others to just ‘start showing up’, I finally took my own advice yesterday and did my first-ever solo live. I didn’t send an email, warn anyone, or promo it before I started. I put my lippy on at 9am all ready to go, then spent the next three hours doing every other job on my laptop to avoid it, and eventually just pressed “live” and started before I could talk myself out of it! (Which I did the day before 🤭) This one’s about why we freeze before we feel “ready”, and why “ready” is just a story we tell ourselves that stops us starting. In this live: * Why the thing holding you back isn’t fear of failing, it’s a craving for certainty that never actually turns up * The absolutely mad stats on how much content floods the internet every single minute! And why they’re the most freeing thing you’ll hear all week (spoiler: nobody’s watching your early stuff) * Simon Squibb’s first Instagram videos vs. the ones he makes now. I scrolled all the way back to the beginning because I’m a bit of a nerd, but it was worth it! * “Get it done, then get it right”. The line from my old mentor Jason Fladlien I keep coming back to * Why you can’t know what your audience actually wants until you show up and let them tell you Over to you: What’s the one thing you’ve been sitting on waiting until you feel ready? The half-written post, the note, the video. Tell me in the comments. Then go and publish the imperfect version this week. I did mine. Your turn. 👇 Read more at The 50+ Nomad Get full access to The 50+ Nomad at club.the50plusnomad.com/subscribe

  8. Jul 29

    7 Lessons I Wish I'd Known Before Starting My First Online Business

    What would you do differently if you could go back and start your business again? After 16 years building online businesses while travelling the world, I've made plenty of mistakes, spent money I didn't need to spend, chased shiny objects, changed brands too many times, and learned some valuable lessons along the way. In this episode, I share seven of the biggest lessons I'd pass on to any creator, solopreneur, or aspiring digital nomad, including why your audience matters more than your website, why consistency beats shortcuts, when to outsource, and why you don't need to build everything from scratch. If you're building a business after 50, or simply want more freedom in your life, I hope these lessons save you a few years of learning the hard way. Read more at The 50+ Nomad on Substack. Get full access to The 50+ Nomad at club.the50plusnomad.com/subscribe

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About

Where Adventure Never Retires! I’m Jo Barnes. I'm a British freedompreneur, digital nomad of 15+ years, and founder of The 50+ Nomad. This podcast is for freedom seekers over 50 who want to live with more adventure, purpose, and freedom than ever before. Whether that means full-time travel, part-time adventures, or simply building more freedom into your everyday life, I’ll share the tools, stories, and encouragement you need to make it happen. Each week, you’ll hear practical strategies for building portable income, real talk about the ups and downs of life on the road, and inspiring stories from my own journey and from others who’ve dared to start over in their best years yet. From choosing your business model to packing light, from staying healthy on the move to finding purpose beyond work, you’ll get the clarity, confidence, and connection to design and live your dream lifestyle. Because adventure doesn’t have an age limit, and your next chapter can be your best one. club.the50plusnomad.com

Information

  • Creator
    Jo Barnes
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jo Barnes
  • Show Website
    The 50+ Nomad Podcast

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