Transcript
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Hey nomads.
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Welcome to Digital Nomad Stories, the podcast.
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My name is Anne Klaassen and, together with my co-host, kendra Hasse, we interview digital nomads.
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Why?
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Because we want to share stories of how they did it.
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We talk about remote work, online business, location independency, freelancing, travel and, of course, the digital nomad lifestyle.
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Do you want to know more about us and access all previous episodes?
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Visit digitalnomadstoriesco.
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All right, let's go into today's episode.
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Hey, hey nomads.
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Welcome to a new episode.
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Today I'm here with Thalia.
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She is a blogger for Notes by Thalia, and I'm really excited to have her on the show today because she's also a digital nomad, so I'm really excited to hear more about her blog, her nomad life.
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She's currently in Vietnam and I love Vietnam.
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I'm obsessed with Vietnam, so I'm also really excited to hear a little bit more about that.
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Thalia, welcome to the show.
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Oh hi, thank you so much for having me.
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Yeah, so tell me a little bit more.
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What do you do exactly with your blog and any other projects that you have going on?
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Yeah, of course.
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So I am primarily a self-care blogger and I've had my blog now for the past three years, but I'm also now a lifestyle design coach, helping women actually break free from the nine to five and travel the world, because that was how that's what exactly what I did to get started into the digital nomad life.
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So, yeah, it's, I split the blog with the coaching business, which is cool, extremely fulfilling awesome, that's really cool.
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So what do your days look like now that you're in vietnam?
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Like what is like the time that you spend on your blog versus coaching, and like, is it 50 50?
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Or can you walk us through a little bit, like what a typical week looks like for you?
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sure.
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So being in vietnam is awesome.
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I'm in hoi an as well, which don't know who's been but there's a co-working space in the middle of the rice paddies and it's just surrounded by nature, super quiet, really peaceful, and so every morning I go to yoga in the yoga studio just next to the co-working office, and then I basically start work in the co-work and I'm here most days.
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And you know, know, when people say I've seen like a meme as well recently it's like, oh, break free from the nine-to-five and have more freedom.
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But then when you build your own business, it's like I'm working 24 hours a day.
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And yeah, I wouldn't go that, I wouldn't go that far into saying I work 24 hours because I come from a health and wellness coaching background and self-care, so I do have those work-life boundaries, but I definitely do spend like a good chunk of my day, maybe eight hours, on my work, because I love it so much and it's small.
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It doesn't feel like work to me.
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When I wake up, it's like I actually, yeah, I'm excited to get to work and do what I do.
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So start the day with yoga, get to work, have lunch, work some more, maybe go for a sunset walk as well, and then have dinner and maybe do a little work, because sometimes I do get a creative boost at night, like now when it's 8 pm and I'm talking to you.
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And when it comes to, yeah, balancing the business, I am still figuring that one out and navigating it, but primarily I want to work more on the coaching business and then the blogging will come second.
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But I think I do have a healthy balance at the minute and I have this thing where I see my days and it was basically a productivity hack that I came up with when I was still in the UK struggling with productivity and it's basically this hack where each day of my week is a different theme.
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So Monday is basically like CEO day, they call it, or just admin working on my business.
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Tuesday is outreach day, so I outreach to other creators and ask for collaborations.
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And then Wednesdays, thursdays, sundays they're my coaching days, where I get on calls with clients or I'm following up with clients, marketing as well, creating content for social media.
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And then Friday is my blogging day, so I'll sit down and write my blog and do my newsletter as well, so, and then Saturday, completely free day, take it off, go to the beach, chill, explore the town.
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So yeah, that's kind of how I balance my week at the moment.
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Cool.
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Well, it's really interesting to hear that you have such a structured week and I like the theme days.
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I don't do it every for every day of the week, but I do have Mondays.
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No client calls, only internal calls with my team, because I just use that Monday to know what's going on, like literally seeing where we are and what I should be working on and what everyone else should be working on over the coming week, and that has worked really well so far.
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And I make exceptions when I have to.
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You know, but I assume you probably also do that.
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You know when you have to switch things, switch things up or move things around, then you can.
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But yeah, no, that's really interesting to hear that that also works really well for you and you're in Vietnam now.
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How long are you in Vietnam for?
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Can you talk a little bit more about that?
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yeah, so I'm here until the end of May for reference, 30th of April right now and I have been here for a few weeks already.
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I was actually in Vietnam back in February as well, loved it so much.
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Came back because I'm splitting my time between Thailand, vietnam, bali and Greece.
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Yeah, I'm half Greek, so I go back every summer because I still think it's the best place on earth, even though I've been around the world.
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And so, yeah, it's that kind of what it looks like at the minute.
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So I'm back from Vietnam until the end of May and then heading over to Bali for a couple of months cool, awesome, yeah.
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So can you talk a little bit more about how you found those well bases?
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Actually, you know, when you say that you move around between those countries kind of continuously, how did you find out that this, this, works well for you and that you want to keep going back versus exploring new places?
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You know over, over and over again what I think a lot of digital nomads actually do with Stephanie.
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Yeah, it was definitely trial and error.
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So I officially left the UK back in October 2021 to start my digital nomad journey, and that first year was a lot of moving around.
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So I travel full-time now with my partner and we were in Greece, we went to Turkey, we did Dubai, we went to Jordan and we were trying to like, and then we even spent three months in Italy and then to Mexico and we were trying to cram in a lot in that one year and towards the end of the year we were just exhausted.
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We were just like this can't be the lifestyle, because we can't balance work and building a business, making money and traveling, all in a healthy balance.
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So last January we kind of really looked at what can we do?
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Where can we stay for longer periods of time where there's co-working spaces, where we can kind of balance the traveling bit with the productivity, and we really settled on Asia.
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I'd already been here before in my late 20s, but I kind of had the the realization that I don't want to work in a nine-to-five anymore.
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I just quit my quit.
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My job went solo, traveling by myself for a year and a half.
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So I already done Asia and I fell in love with it.
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My partner hadn't.
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We're like, ok, let's go to Bangkok.
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So we basically moved everything, went to Bangkok for a few months and just fell in love with that and we wanted to stay longer term in Thailand.
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And obviously with the visas it's always a bit hit and miss, so we do like the tourist visas still.
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So every time our visa comes to an end we hop over to a different country.
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So now we're in Vietnam and then we'll go to Bali and we kind of just stay on a cycle.
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It was only this year that we really invested in co-working spaces, because there's some great ones in Bangkok but I mean, for me, city life just isn't it.
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I prefer being in nature, I prefer being by the beach.
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So we did a really massive like actually I say we, it was more me, the more the planning one.
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He's just like, yeah, yeah, we'll do it goes along with it.
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So he did like a huge research into Southeastia and how many co-working spaces there were.
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We found an awesome one actually in kolanda in thailand and we went there this year and we spent a month there.
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I didn't want to leave, it was incredible.
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And then that basically led us to the co-working space here, because I think you'll find, especially in Southeast Asia I don't know what it's like in like around the world but a lot of the same digital nomads kind of travel to each co-working space.
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So, yeah, we still meet a lot of people that we knew at other ones.
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So we've kind of, yeah, started to build that, that that path now, and I've heard that there's one just opened up in Siargao in the Philippines which is on my bucket list for next year.
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Cool, I can't remember the original question.
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I said I love to go on Tantan, that's all good.
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No, my question was what like how you found out that this, this kind of calm, like mix of countries, that that works well, and like continuously traveling between those.
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But that makes a lot of sense and that definitely answered the question.
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So when you say co-working spaces, does that mean that you go to a place like in Hoi An now and you find a co-working space and then just find your own accommodation close by?
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Or is it also a co-living space?
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Often stay in separate accommodation, just because it gives us, I guess, more flexibility to travel around more and meet other people as well.
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And it just works out for us because, especially for me anyway, with my the whole productivity work-life balance, I don't want to be living where I'm working, I want to have completely separate spaces and it kind of helps me shut down from the day, leaving the co-working space and traveling back to our Airbnb, going out for dinner.
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So it really does help me kind of switch off from the day.
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Yes, so that's kind of how we do plan it in that way.
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Yeah, exactly, that definitely makes sense, really cool.
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So that's one thing you learned right, like that, co-working spaces, but then not staying at the co-living but still using the co-working spaces that that really works well for you.
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And then a theme days is something that you implemented before you started traveling.
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But what else have you learned from traveling for the past?
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I think three years, it is now right Since 2021?
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.
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Yeah, so years full-time digital nomad and then it's like two and a half before that just trying to find myself and teaching English as well in South America.
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But what I really learn is I don't know how to say this in like a sexy way probably isn't going to sound sexy at all, but for me the most important thing has been to work on my mindset and kind of do that inner work.
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I know this is probably not the most practical tip out there, but for me it's key to having such a healthy digital nomad lifestyle.
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Because what I've learned is a lot of my friends and family they're all back home.
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They don't understand like this lifestyle that I live and they're all asking me when you guys going to come back and settle down, buy a house, you know, get married and have children.
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And I learned quite I learned a few years ago that that wasn't really the life that I wanted to lead.
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I want to create, you know, this freedom-based lifestyle and really live on my terms.
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And what's helped me with that is working on my mindset and building that resilience.
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So when I kind of get these comments from family that can kind of dampen it and dishearten you a little bit, I can kind of really just look inward and be like no, no, I'm on the right path.
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I know that I'm doing this for me and kind of not being influenced as well by those societal expectations and what your family want you to do.
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So yeah, I think that actually makes a lot of sense.
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I think it's also you know, when you're traveling you always take yourself with you.
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You know, like, wherever you go, so if you're struggling with something, then that struggle will pop up again, like you cannot really run away from it.
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In my experience, trust me, I tried in six years almost, of traveling, but no, no, it will pop up sooner or later.
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So, yeah, you just have to deal with stuff.
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And I think mindset is so important because you can be in the most beautiful location in the world, but if you don't feel good, you don't feel good and you're not going to have a great experience there.
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Yeah, 100% agree.
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Yeah, that's true and I think it's if people always say that as well.
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When you want to go traveling, they always say, oh, you want to escape your reality.
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And I think, yeah, in a way, maybe if you haven't really faced your inner demons and you think that you're going to be okay in another place, like, yeah, that is a form of escapism.
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But if you actually do the inner work first and you kind of really know who you are as a person and then you travel, it's not escapism, it's just finding, yeah, just going somewhere to find a better life for yourself.
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And, yeah, I just think that's super powerful absolutely.
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But I also think you can use travel to your advantage to deal with stuff.
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So I always try when I move locations.
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I always try to see that as an opportunity to reflect on what life looks like and kind of like what's going on in life, and then setting an intention for the next location.
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And this is something that I started doing after, you know, years of not doing this and just going with the flow and just keep going, keep going, keep going.
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But it actually works really well because it's just this kind of organic moment where it makes sense to do that and it's kind of a reminder every time, every few months.
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It's like okay, like let's reflect, see what's working, what's not working where we are, and it's it's more.
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It's not impossible to do that when you don't move around, but it might be a little bit easier to do it when you do, and then also you arrive in a completely new location with a completely clean slate, right.
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So to build new habits.
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I find that way easier when I move locations.
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Again, not impossible if you don't move, but it is, in my experience, it's easier if you do.
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Yeah.
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I love that.
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That's so great.
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But, yeah, do the reflection and those new, those two journal prompts as well.
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They're my favorite.
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What is working and what's not working?
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And yeah, I think and again going back to your previous question I think that really did help me as well and figure out where I wanted to base myself and how I kind of decide where to go, because obviously originally I mentioned that we did move to Bangkok for a few few months and even though I loved it, it wasn't the best for my health and my wellness because I kind of felt a bit limited there with working out and just nature.
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I need to be surrounded by nature.
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So it was kind of something that I did reflect on, like this is not working for me and the food's not really the healthiest as well.
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But then moving out, getting into nature, going onto an island or being more towards the coast was definitely, yeah, definitely helped a lot yeah, exactly, you also mentioned that you were in Latin America.
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Uh, I think you said to teach English.
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Can you talk a little bit more about that, like what?
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What made you decide to go out there and what was your experience like?
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so that was yeah.
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So this was a few years ago now and and so I mentioned okay.
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So, for context, I used to work in London a nine to five.
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I was there for just short of seven years.
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I was a model agent working in the fashion industry and, as you can imagine, it was extremely toxic and stressful environment.
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And yeah, just before I think no, I just turned 27.
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And I just kind of had this awakening that I didn't want to be there anymore.
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I wasn't happy, my well being was at an all time low and I was just partying every weekend to kind of escape this reality and I wanted to make a change.
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Travelling had always been on my mind, but I was kind of, you know, a bit nervous to go by myself, slightly scared, and there was no one really around me to support that dream that I had.
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Yeah, I just got a lot of comments being like, well, you're too old to go.
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No one goes traveling when they're 27.
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You do that before and before university.
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And then I had, like really good friends as well tell me, oh, it sounds like you're going on the gap year and they'd be making fun of fun of it kind.
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So there wasn't really a supportive environment.
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But I was like, ok, I have to do this for myself.
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I've always wanted to go.
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Let's just go for a few months and see how I get on.
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And so I went to Southeast Asia for five months by myself, like no pressure.
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I saved up for the trip, so I was spending savings.
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I wasn't working or anything.
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But while I was there I met a lot of people who were teaching English online or even in that place, and I was like, oh, this sounds interesting.
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And I was like, okay, this could be an idea because I fell in love with travelling.
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After five months I went back home and the first thing my mum said to me was oh, you best look for a job now, then you're home.
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And just the thought of coming said to me was, oh, you best look for a job now, then you're home.
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And just the thought of going back to a nine-to-five job just made me feel physically and mentally sick.
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I was like I can't, I can't do that.
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So then that's when I really explored teaching English as a second language, because I saw it as my way out of the nine-to-five life.
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I was like, okay, this is something that I can earn money with but also still travel at the same time.
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And this was in 2018 and so, yeah, I got my TEFL certification and then I started looking for jobs and I found an amazing dream job at the time in Peru, in a city called Arequipa, and it was for in-person teaching for six months.
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I was like, oh my god, this sounds like a dream.
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I've always wanted to go to Peru.
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I can explore and do South America afterwards.
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So, yeah, it was kind of one of those things where I fell in.
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I wanted yeah, I wanted to continue to follow my travels, and teaching English for me was the easiest option.
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So headed over to Peru, was there for six months, and then I wanted to travel more in South America, so then I transitioned into online teaching.
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So, to help fund the rest of that trip, yeah, and it was incredible, I really enjoyed it.
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Yeah, it was really, and I think it really did open up as well the doors of this full-time digital nomad lifestyle, because I wasn't really familiar with the term back then.
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I just, you know, you had.
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I mean, even still, a lot of people aren't familiar with the term.
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So, yeah, it was something that I did and then I moved.
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I think it was, I think.
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Yeah, I moved back home because South America was a tough place for me to be, like safety-wise, and I did kind of feel like a weight on my shoulders.
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I loved it.
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But after a year I was kind of like, ok, I want to go home, I'm feeling a little bit homesick.
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So I went back home and then I was there a few months and I was like no, I want to continue to travel.
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I was kind of like you know, when you kind of like get itchy feet, you're like, okay, I'm gonna settle down now.
00:20:03.983 --> 00:20:04.849
And then I got itchy feet.
00:20:04.869 --> 00:20:16.162
I was like, no, no, I want to continue to travel, and I actually got offered a job in a teaching job in Japan, which was, then my absolute dream, because I always wanted to go to Japan, and I was like, oh my god, this is amazing.
00:20:16.162 --> 00:20:21.028
And it was going to be a year as well and I was really looking forward to it.
00:20:21.028 --> 00:20:27.265
And then Covid hit and then the job got cancelled and then I got stuck in the UK.
00:20:27.265 --> 00:20:39.686
But the silver lining was that was the time I continued teaching online and I built my blog at the same time, sharing self-care and productivity tips for people who were working at home during that time.
00:20:39.686 --> 00:20:52.741
And then, once my blog became popular and I started growing an audience, I was like, ok, I want to go full time with my blog because it really means something to me and I can really see this going quite far.
00:20:53.474 --> 00:21:07.836
And then that's when I halted the the teaching and went full-time with my blog yeah, exactly, it's so interesting to hear, kind of like the steps that you took to then now be in Vietnam.
00:21:07.836 --> 00:21:10.563
You know, work on your blog and your coaching.
00:21:10.563 --> 00:21:18.719
I think for a lot of people it may look like, okay, well, she just started doing this one day and then started traveling and that's it right, like.
00:21:18.719 --> 00:21:20.804
But no, there were steps involved.
00:21:20.804 --> 00:21:34.317
So first, like the first step because it was probably the easiest thing to do for you was to teaching, teaching English and getting a feel for South America, and then, you know, going online, because then you can, you can explore more.
00:21:34.317 --> 00:21:54.781
You know, like, all these steps I think are super necessary and I think it's really good to also provide that context for people who are listening to this episode that it's not one straight line like, oh, this is what I want to do, let's go do it, but it's like figuring it out and taking some in between steps that are really important as well 100%, I think.
00:21:54.821 --> 00:22:04.877
Ever since I started my blog, I was always like I want to like, yeah, just sharing realistic guidance and advice, because it's not always as glamorous as what you see on social media.
00:22:04.877 --> 00:22:21.019
Um, you know these travel influencers and these freedom coaches which, like oh, I, you know, made this much money in one month of being abroad, and it sometimes can be very unrealistic and it was for me a big, I guess a six to seven year journey.
00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:32.888
Now of the steps I took and what has led into where I am now, yeah, yeah, absolutely, do you have any tips for people who want to start their journey now?
00:22:35.560 --> 00:22:41.925
I think it's one of those things where, again, do the mindset work first just to keep building that resilience?
00:22:41.925 --> 00:22:56.258
But I always I have this exercise that I mean this is the exercise that I did when I was first starting out and it was really getting clear on my core values and my priorities.
00:22:56.258 --> 00:23:04.044
Because I know sometimes you see people, influencers on social media and you're like, oh, that's the life I want to live.
00:23:04.044 --> 00:23:12.308
But then you know you kind of replicate that and you go abroad and then you kind of find it tough and maybe you're questioning yourself.
00:23:12.308 --> 00:23:17.373
So I always say, go back to the basics and build the foundation first.
00:23:17.373 --> 00:23:24.582
Kind of define what success looks like to you, because it's going to be different to everyone else.
00:23:24.582 --> 00:23:26.910
And then get clear on your core values, get clear on your priorities.
00:23:26.910 --> 00:23:29.278
You know, what do you really want to make out of life?
00:23:29.278 --> 00:23:32.747
And then encourage people to kind of create that vision.
00:23:32.968 --> 00:23:34.561
What does your dream life look like?
00:23:34.561 --> 00:23:38.317
Because sometimes it's not always a digital, nomad lifestyle.
00:23:38.317 --> 00:23:47.338
People like the idea of it and they can see themselves doing it, but when they're actually living in it they realize that actually, oh, hold on a minute, I'm conflicted here because I want to have a base.
00:23:47.338 --> 00:23:52.515
I want to go home and I want to build more of a homebody lifestyle.
00:23:52.515 --> 00:24:03.875
So it is really getting clear on what your vision looks like and then breaking that down into goals and then taking action really every day towards what you want your life to be like.
00:24:03.875 --> 00:24:13.055
So I know it's kind of not the most direct advice, but I've been a coach and I focus a lot on well-being practices and mindset.
00:24:13.055 --> 00:24:19.648
So for me it's always going to be do that mindset work first, do the foundations first.
00:24:20.412 --> 00:24:24.351
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and I think also you know what you want.
00:24:24.351 --> 00:24:28.511
It also changes Exactly At least for me it does.
00:24:28.511 --> 00:24:32.932
But also hearing you say you know, when you started nomading, it was way more fast travel.
00:24:32.932 --> 00:24:50.288
And then at some point you're like, okay, this is not sustainable or fulfilling anymore, so let's slow down, let's go back to places that we really like, let's stay longer, let's have a routine and, you know, focus on good food and nature and all that stuff which is super important.
00:24:50.348 --> 00:24:52.394
I think it is not important.
00:24:52.394 --> 00:24:55.387
When you just start out and you know it's it's for a shorter time, it might not be that important.
00:24:55.387 --> 00:24:57.285
But when important, when you just start out and you know it's for a shorter time, it might not be that important.
00:24:57.285 --> 00:25:14.816
But then when you realize, OK, wait, this is my life, we need to make this sustainable because unhealthy and, yeah, enjoyable in the long term, then all of a sudden different things become important and then you know maybe it will change again at some point.
00:25:14.816 --> 00:25:15.849
At least for me it did.
00:25:15.849 --> 00:25:21.496
You know I fast traveled, slow traveled, had a home base not how to have a home base.
00:25:21.496 --> 00:25:30.451
You know all of that in, you know and it I think it keeps changing and I think it's really important to keep asking yourself these questions, right?
00:25:30.451 --> 00:25:45.291
So not just ask them once, but like keep asking yourself, okay, like what we literally talked about what's working, what's not working, and like checking in how you feel with what life looks like at the moment, exactly 100%.
00:25:45.311 --> 00:25:59.613
Yeah, nothing is ever set in stone and it is important to keep checking in with yourself and reflecting on the lifestyle that you've created for yourself and if it's actually something that you enjoy living in, or would you want to be doing something else?
00:26:00.534 --> 00:26:07.856
yeah, exactly, was there anything in the digital nomad lifestyle that you had I don't know certain expectations about?
