Since my senior year of college, my dream was to have an office with 1) a window and 2) “real” walls so I could hang my framed diploma and a picture of the nighttime skyline of Minneapolis.

However, after achieving those goals, I realized they weren’t that fulfilling after all…

So, I started dreaming about escaping my career in corporate America to start a new chapter in life that was full of travel, one of my true passions.

Pre-escape

In the hopes of making this escape a reality, I started reading blogs and watching YouTube videos from full-time travelers.  I also spent a lot of time researching places around the world and understanding the various costs of living.

In the end, my two biggest concerns were:

• Job & Career

In a perfect world, I wanted to keep my current ‘brick-and-mortar’ job but transition it to 100% remote that I could do from anywhere.

Unfortunately, my current employer had not been very amenable to remote work arrangements, so I needed to come up with a backup plan.

I decided my backup plan was to QUIT my current job and either find a 100% remote job with a different company or just take a sabbatical/mini-retirement to travel and contemplate life.

• Finances

To address my finances, I needed a way to increase my savings.  To me, this was pretty straightforward so I just sold most of my possessions and put the proceeds into a savings account.  I also made significant changes to my lifestyle and spending habits that allowed me to put more away each month into my savings.

COVID-19 Pandemic

By early 2020, I had accumulated enough savings to cover me in the event I was out of a job for a while.

I decided I was going to approach my employer about becoming permanently remote, and so I set a target date of April 1^st to make the big ask.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March.  Our corporate office closed, forcing all of our employees to work from home.

Not knowing what this virus and pandemic would bring, I decided to delay my April 1st plan to see how things played out for a bit.

Wheels in Motion

By early June, I felt the time was right.  Therefore, I sent an email to my immediate leadership about making my job permanently 100% remote.

I didn’t think this was a crazy request for several reasons. Most notably because we had just spent the previous several months working from home and proving remote work works!

My immediate leaders were very supportive of my request, but it took a few weeks to hear from my senior leadership.  I eventually received a meeting invite from our COO for a Friday afternoon at 4:00.

While we all joke about people getting fired on Friday afternoons, I was oddly nervous about it.

At the meeting, he told me they were eliminating my position and I had a couple options:

1) sign a separation agreement and take the severance package

2) accept a newly created position with almost identical responsibilities that was 100% remote, but the job came with a significant pay decrease.

After the shock wore off, I realized I had a big decision to make.

It actually didn’t take me long to decide since both sides of my brain were aligned.

One side of my brain felt this was God intervening to point me towards my dreams of travel and true destiny. This meant choosing option 1.

The other side of my brain voted for option 1 because:

• I had just spent the past 12-18 months building up my savings just in case I became jobless. Therefore, I wasn’t worried about finances – especially with a severance package too.
• Honestly, I was offended that they basically offered me my same position but with less pay. I took this to mean they thought I was over-compensated.

My last day of work was July 31, 2020.

I had no idea what I was going to do for work.  With enough in savings to travel for a year, I decided to just figure it out as I go.

Making It Happen

By mid-August, with my belongings safely packed in a storage unit, I was on a plane to Serbia to start my next chapter!

Fast forwarding one year later…

I’m still a full-time traveler.  My “better half” and I usually live in different places around the world for 1-3 months at a time and LOVE it!

I have not returned to corporate America, but I have started:

1) a travel blog to document and share my travel experience.

2) a private online community helping experienced business professionals travel and work remotely.

Global Accommodations

Without a doubt, our biggest pain point when traveling this past year has been finding suitable accommodations.

It is such a time-consuming process to comb through all the details of a property listing (ads, pictures, messages with the hosts, and all the reviews).  Before committing to a place, we ensure it will meet our needs for living and working.

Because of this hassle, I was super excited to cross paths with Linda McCall from Nomad Stays.

I reached out to her to introduce myself, and a few days later, we were chatting over virtual coffees!

Nomad Stays has a very unique approach to helping digital nomads find accommodations. They help you find and select your accommodations FIRST, letting that decision dictate where you travel next.

It’s perfect for digital nomads. They can travel and work from anywhere but often have specific needs and wants when it comes to their accommodations.

We’re currently living in Croatia but our time here is ending soon.  I am super excited to give Nomad Stays a try in another destination!