Below, you will meet some people who are doing it with success.

Norm Sklarewitz - freelance travel writer ******************************************************* Norm lives in Los Angeles, California. He has written thousands of magazine and newspaper articles and columns since being engaged exclusively as a freelance journalist. He also has been Los Angeles Bureau Chief for U.S. News & World Report, and a staff reporter for Wall Street Journal, which included a stint for paper while based in Tokyo.

Here’s our conversation with Norm -

** What is your daily schedule? ** -----------------------------------

Actually, there really is no one typical day. Some days can be making a lot of phone calls, researching, and writing, while other days can be 25-50 percent administrative in writing queries and responding to questions from editors regarding assignments and stories already turned in. I check my email frequently, probably compulsively. I find that email has taken over 90 percent of communication. Faxes have almost stopped. And some days involve meetings, interviews out of my office at home, and going to industry functions. But no day is like a nine to five day. I often work late into night and start early as well. To reach someone on East Coast I have to make calls early. I work heavily with Asian sources, and their day begins around four to five p.m. my time, so I'm working till 10 p.m. to make sure I get what I need before I go to bed.