Why I Decided to Move

Since I was a child, I had a grand dream of living in Asia. The idea of living in a completely different country was absolutely fascinating to me and I spent hours watching Youtubers from different countries show their audience the food and the culture of their country. The thrill of living this adventurous life always allured me.

Countless times throughout my grade school years, I would beg my parents to enroll me in international school but my dad always dismissed the idea because he was not ready for his first and only daughter to depart from the household.

My First Solo Adventure: Tokyo at 18

The first time I traveled internationally was the my summer of freshman year. I had successfully secured an internship in Japan!

Doing what? Not a clue.

The job itself was not very clear to me. It had something to do with crypto (which I basically had no idea what it was at the time) and it was a startup. But most importantly, I would be living in Tokyo for a entire summer!

My greatest dreams were finally coming true. Overjoyed with anticipation, I overpacked 3 enormous luggages and on my flight I boarded.

When I first landed in Tokyo, I had a very stark realization of how difficult solo travel is. First, I only had 2 hands but 3 giant luggages. Second, I had never been to Japan nor do I learn a word of Japanese. Lastly, I did not know a single person there. I felt completely alone.

After the extreme discomfort settled in during my first weeksin Japan, I found to love the experience of being in a new environment. Once a lonely foreigner, I made friends with people in my housing complex and suddenly every night was filled with exploration with some of my new closest friends.

One night after visiting Tokyo SkyTree, I thought to myself "Wow. This is cool.. I guess I don't need to live in the United States." and that thought was freeing. Suddenly the world felt larger and I felt that it was truly my oyster.

How I Actually Became a Digital Nomad

During COVID, the world essentially shut down and I had been handed the golden opportunity to take my university courses online. Funny enough, I had a delinquent boyfriend at the time who convinced me to take my classes from across the world in Dubai because he wanted to go on a 2-week long shopping trip to secure some of his recent crypto gains.

What a crazy experience.

For the second time of my life, I was living on a different hemisphere. I actually felt that my life was actually more peaceful abroad and that made me happy. When I in a different country, I felt that I could be whoever I wanted to be and go wherever I wanted to go.

The freedom was addicting.

I knew that if I truly wanted to live abroad, I needed to make something happen. One particular day, I truly visualized myself living across many different countries and the excitement of this vision made me realize that this was one of my truest desires. From that day on, I made a commitment to myself that I was going to make it happen - and from there, there was no going back.

How I Funded My Travels

To become a digital nomad fresh out of college, I was desperate to make it possible. Because I had just graduated at the top of my class (and a semester early), I was naive enough to believe that I could do anything.

I researched online and found that my options were:

1. Find a remote job in America
2. Become a travel influencer (like everyone and their mom)
3. Join a work away (volunteering/working in exchange for free housing)
4. Start my own business (sell some products or services online)

After weighing all the options and evaluating what I could realistically see myself doing, I gravitated towards starting my own business. I thought about the different services that were in demand along with what I was good at. Content creation had always been something I enjoyed doing so I began offering my services to businesses that were looking for content creators to represent their brand!

It was not an easy journey but I made it work and eventually, the business became successful enough to fund my dreams.

My Favorite Countries

One of my most frequently asked question I receive is "What was your favorite country?"

I always preface my answer with a disclaimer that every country is unique and interesting in their own way. A few countries  really stood out to me and I could totally see myself living there long-term. Here are those countries:

1. Argentina - fantastic food, super chill culture, very affordable, and overall lovely. During my month of living in Argentina, I practically became a carnivore and I had more wine than I had ever in my entire life. I also randomly met Vitalik Buterin while in my apartment complex and Argentina won the World Cup. Despite the country's incredibly unfortunate economic fiasco, Buenos Aires felt more alive than any city I had ever visited. It had the perfect balance of bustling city-life and peace. Argentina is a country that I would love to spend more time in the future.
2. America (particularly Hawaii) - familiar language, great food, happy people, and beautiful nature. After spending a couple years away from home, I began to miss  all the luxuries of America. Despite having its own issues, the United States is 100% a great place to live when evaluating the quality of life and the opportunities available here. The American Dream is a real thing and I am now very  thankful that I was born here. San Francisco, Hawaii, and Texas have become some of my favorite cities in the world. These cities are vastly different but very much 'home' in their own unique ways. Who knew I would find 'home' while being a million miles away?
3. Mexico - delicious food, warm people, and very diverse. I began to really fall in love with Mexico after spending almost half a year living in Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, Oaxaca, and Tulum. My boyfriend at the time was Mexican and he showed me all the best parts of Mexico. Now, I can totally see why millions of Americans move to Mexico every year.

Tips for Aspiring Nomads

If your truest desires are to travel the world, my only piece of advice is 'just do it.'

No - it will not be easy. Yes - it is 100% worth all the difficulties. The most difficult part of this adventure is taking the leap of faith and hopping to that first country.

My greatest tip is to be conscious of your desire and focus all your efforts on getting yourself financially independent enough to do it. If you are coming from the U.S., one benefit is that you already live in one of the most expensive countries in the world so it may actually be cheaper to live in a country in South America, Europe, or Southeast Asia.

For starters, deicide on a target country (NomadList is one of my favorite resources for research). Then, begin searching for remote jobs or sign up for a WorkAway opportunity. You can literally make your dreams happen if you desire it badly enough.

Don't just sit there and wait for the opportunity to fall into your lap because that could take decades. You definitely want to travel when you're young because when you're older, your responsibilities rack up and it becomes much more difficult to pull away from the flow of life. If you want to live a life of adventure, the first step is to figure out what options are possible to make it happen.

Here are some helpful resources to help you on your journey:

1. https://nomadlist.com (for researching countries)
2. https://www.flexjobs.com (find a remote job)
3. https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad (research / community)
4. https://www.google.com/travel/flights/saves (track your desired flight)
5. https://www.homeexchange.com (swap homes with others!)
6. https://www.workaway.info (work in exchange for travel)

Becoming a digital nomad made me become a free person. The experience taught me how to be independent, how to be adventurous, and how to work with people. These invaluable lessons were 1000% worth every penny and every moment of discomfort along the way. Again if you want to break free from a linear life and begin LIVING, I encourage you to do it.

I will leave you with 2 quote..

“Remembering you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” -Steve Jobs

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do." -  Mark Twain

Will you create your own adventure? Or will you spend your life watching someone else's?

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