How I Got Fooled into Becoming a Digital Nomad

Chayce Solchaga
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

Have you ever seen those pictures on Instagram with someone holding a tropical drink in hand next to a pool or beach while working on their laptop?

Photo Credit: https://www.crazysexyfuntraveler.com/what-life-of-a-digital-nomad-is-like/

A life as what Ben Stiller’s character in “The Heartbreak Kid” coined as a “Perma-Vacationer,” doesn’t come easy. Sure, you can have all of the fun in the sun as you want. But it is definitely not an easy road to get there.

Ever since I could remember, I have always had an appetite and curiosity for travel, and exploring new things. I always love hearing people share their stories of their last great adventure while secretly resenting them at the same time. I always had thoughts of “They probably have a trust fund,” or “They have parents that can pay for anything.” In reality, we as individuals are responsible for how to go about our lives. I remember promising to myself when I left Hawaii in 2008 to move to LA that I would give myself an “Around-The-World” trip by the time I was 30. I just turned 30 this May, and began to question my life choices and why I hadn’t reached my goal. It took me a while to realize that money, time, career, education, and relationships were not the things holding me back — it was solely myself.

This is the first of many trips I take as I challenge myself to traveling around the world. It definitely wasn’t easy, but I am taking a leap of faith as I quit my full-time job and risk my career as a Product Manager — to not chase my dreams, but to follow them.

As a wise friend once told me — “There’s a difference between chasing your dreams, and following them… don’t chase your dreams cause you’ll never catch them. Instead follow them and let them lead you to where you’re meant to go.”

CHEERS! — A Throwback to when I lived on Maui and the dream began.

The dream started one day sitting at work at Bad Ass Coffee Company while I lived on Maui. My good friend, Noel, saw a hippie dude playing on a PSP and said, “I see you ending up being some type of high tech hippie who just wanders from place to place.” I never thought much of her comment until recently when I realized that this was my life’s purpose all along. It’s like the book, “The Alchemist.” It took me well over a decade, 8 jobs, 6 years of higher education, and 3 states to find this out, but the answer was always right where I started.

Well, here’s to the start of an interesting next couple of years. Cheers!


Chayce Solchaga

Written by

PROFESSIONAL WANDERER | TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER| UX | PRODUCT MANAGER | IG: @cheehayce | @tripscoutapp ambassador

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