Relationships are hard. Intercontinental relationships are harder. Five years ago I was traveling the world out of a backpack and set up shop in Quito, Ecuador. I was bootstrapping a business and low on funds so Ecuador was perfect for my needs: US dollar, US time zone, cheap living. I was only planning on staying in Quito for a few weeks, however, during my second week I met a beautiful Ecuadorian girl and my two month stay has now been going on for five years.
Daniela and I have a challenging life together. During the early years, it was usually a few months together then a few months apart, repeat. All the while our governments making our lives as difficult as possible. It wasn’t ideal, but we were both independent people and made the best of it, often FaceTiming/Skyping and remotely watching Maury videos on Youtube together. Over the years we had many adventures: we lived in Ecuador, we lived in Italy, we spent time together in the United States. However, after 3–4 years, we were really tired of being apart.
In 2016 my business and I were both in a rut and I was looking for a change. I knew that I wanted to be location independent so we could be together permanently but finding something that would pay the bills and allowed me to work remotely from a scary-sounding country sounded implausible.
After I sold my company I became enamored with blockchain technology. As I taught myself basic coding skills to understand how Bitcoin worked I built a super cool Javascript Roman Numeral Converter on FreeCodeCamp.com and it was at that point that I knew software development was for me. I asked my fellow veterans at the nonprofit Operation Code to name the best code school in the United States. The CTO of Operation Code said, unequivocally, the best programming school is the Turing School of Software & Design. So, I moved back to the United States and the Turing School of Software & Design in Denver, Colorado, is where I went.
By ‘best’ school the CTO of Operation Code also meant the most intense school, Turing was twelve hours a day seven days a week of nonstop coding. It was drinking from a firehose. It was the perfect environment to learn coding deeply and quickly. The days were long but the months were short and before I knew it I had graduated and was ready to head back to Quito.
Trying to find a internationally-approved remote job straight out of a so-called ‘bootcamp’ with zero professional coding experience and as a 30+ year old person was challenging (one company even told me my age was an issue) but I knew if I put in the work that things would eventually work out. And work out they did.
What I have now is what I have always wanted, what I attempted to have when I started my small business, what I attempted to have as a pilot, what I attempted to have in the Navy. I get to travel, I get to have amazing and unique experiences and I get to live with the love of my life permanently. In addition, I get to work for a great company doing the most fun work I have ever done (except for maybe launching F-14Ds off of an aircraft carrier) and being paid handsomely to do so.
Thank you to the Turing Staff (especially those who took a special interest in me: Sal, Mike and Ellen Mary) and to the very supportive Turing community who helped make all of this possible.
And if any of you want to know one of the many reasons we love living here our apartment below, overlooking Quito’s La Carolina Park (Quito’s Central Park), is gorgeous, furnished, includes utilities and a maid and …is only $900 per month. Ha, try to get that in the United States!
