Are you a traveljunkie? Do you daydream of travel? Here's the story of how I broke free and started exploring the world . . .
Since I was roughly 5 years-old, all I ever wanted to do was travel. I was one of those kids that hoarded National Geographic magazines and had world maps on her walls. Whenever extra money and/or extra time was coming my way, I always thought of travel. I had the good fortune of traveling to exotic and fun places with family while I was growing up - that only fueled the desire for MORE travel.
In college (while working as a travel agent, of course), I initially thought it would be cool to find a job where I had to travel for work, but after speaking with people who had to do it routinely, I changed my mind fast. They did not paint a pretty picture about that aspect of their job. It was common not to have much of a choice of destinations (if at all), most of the time was taken up by a meeting (not sightseeing), and bringing family or friends along was not an option. Worst of all, when vacation time came; the last thing they wanted to do was travel! Based on these discussions, I decided that I would wait until I could travel on my own terms.
After college, I hopped around from corporate job to corporate job - trying to find the 'sweet spot' of a good paycheck and ample vacation time. Unfortunately, over-demanding jobs made it uncomfortable to be out of the office for too long, so small weekend trips became the norm.
I quickly became unhappy
I felt like my dreams of long-term travel (past 7 days) were NEVER going to happen.
In 2007, I "snapped" . . . quit my job, sold all of my belongings (except what I could carry in my suitcase) and I set out on a road-trip. Didn't really have a destination in mind (or a plan), I just decided to live off of my savings and spend some time visiting friends/family in other cities. This was the beginning of my nomadic lifestyle, but it wasn't sustainable on my savings alone.
It dawned on me that for centuries people have moved to new places for a better harvest, better paying jobs, better education, etc - I could do the same. My road-trip ended in San Francisco where I stayed with a friend until I found a job and an apartment to rent. My perspective on 'home' shifted. My plan was to stay temporarily until I had enough money saved to enable me to move to a new place (when I was ready). In 2010, I was plotting my "escape" to New York City when I decided to do something EPIC for my 40th birthday. I decided to take a trip around-the-world!
Shortly after my decision to take an around-the-world trip, I also decided to blog about my adventures. The blog was where I documented my research, explained how I was saving money for the trip, and how I got friends & family (and other travelers) interested in my journey. Setting-up and maintaining the blog was a crash-course in the digital marketing field - I seriously had NO IDEA what I was doing. But, I loved learning about website building, search engine optimization, content marketing, social media engagement, and paid/affiliate ads.
When I returned from my travels, I knew that I wanted a job - No, a career - working in digital marketing. Not only would I use the new skills I developed over the course of 2.5 years, but it was easier to find work that could be done remotely . . . thus, helping me stay nomadic.
While there are many resources out there sharing work-at-home jobs, I found my current position through FlexJobs.com. There are SO many scams aimed at those looking to work from home and I was overjoyed to find a service with LEGITIMATE jobs, with real companies. Instead of being a freelancer and/or having my own company, I opted for a full-time employee position since it's a guaranteed paycheck and provided much needed stability (being 'on the road' is unstable enough).
In upcoming posts, I will share details on the reality of being a digital nomad, my favorite travel gear & services, and ultimately why I decided to become an expat.
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