@timnomad picking up quality work can be tricky and like @wanderingdev sayโs it is all about networking and the cliche of โitโs not what you know but who you knowโ.
Iโm a full time web dev with about 4 years full time experience. At the moment, Iโm working full time for a company in London. Iโm self taught, have no degree but have done pretty well by specialising in one industry and thatโs the industry I have worked in most of my life, before moving into dev work.
I would say that taking a kind of scattergun approach and taking on everything an anything would be a bad move. Try and specialise in what you know and equally as important try and specialise in a skill and try and make that a skill that is in demand. For example, Iโve 17+ years experience in the music industry from retail to distribution to running labels and now I specialise in providing big data solutions that are in line with the way the industry has moved; near real-time analytics for streaming data, social data etc etc. I think what iโm getting at, is donโt just think websites, with cloud computing you can do so much more.
That said, I have seen other nomads taking on small projects like websites for hotels/guesthouses in exchange for a room and food. Sounds like a great way to get some experience on a low to no budget!
As far as learning goes, I would 100% advocate collaborative learning. Personally, Iโm much more inclined to dive in and code without reading docs or following guides and rarely learn much that way. I do learn a lot however from the other devs I work with and likewise, kind of crystallise my own ideas when explaining things to others. I guess a bootcamp could work that way, but my worry would be that if there are fundamentals that you just donโt get, you could come away confused. Iโve never done one so hard say.
Iโm leaving London in Sept for Myanmar and will be based there for a year, doing some work remotely. I fully intend to reach out to tech start up community there to be amongst other devs and hopefully keep my skills fresh and share a few things. Give me a shout if anyone is out that way.