My Remote Year Gratitudes
Last year, I was at Thanksgiving with my parents in Texas, sitting down to a huge meal made with my mom and close family friends. I knew that I would be spending 2016 on Remote Year, leaving January 30th to fly to South America to start month 1 in Montevideo, Uruguay.
I spent the winter of 2015 — November, December, and January — preparing to start Remote Year and seeing friends & family for what I expected to be the last time for a year (so far proven true).
NYC to move my stuff in storage, Massachusetts for Williams Homecoming, Texas for Thanksgiving, DC for work, NC for Christmas, California for New Year’s, and home to Texas to pack and leave.
I had a brief relationship before Remote Year — we knew I’d be leaving before we started the romantic side of our relationship, and I’m sure that impending expiration date affected our dynamic somewhat.
It was my first relationship in about 3 years, so I was able to witness how I approached dating as a different version of myself with new wants and needs.
For the first time, I voiced what I wanted and expected, and we would discuss things that I’d never comfortably talked about or had someone be receptive to listening to in the past.
At the airport in January, we sat outside security together saying goodbye while I sobbed for half an hour. While I was sad to end our relationship, I was aware that it was also my farewell to that chapter of my life and version of myself.
Whatever it held in store and what that would mean for me, Remote Year would change the course of my life and impact who I become — not because that’s necessarily inevitable, but because I came in open and ready and curious.
On the surface, it’s easy to see how living in 12 countries over the course of 12 months with 75 other people would be life changing. New stamps have been added to my passport, thousands of photos have been taken, new foods and experiences have been tried.
There are many incredible (and often unexpected) moments that I’m grateful for:
- Month 1 — Montevideo
Carnaval parade, surfing for the first time, spending a weekend at a hippie beach outpost - Month 2— Buenos Aires
bonding with my housemates over homemade meals, going to Lollapalooza Argentina, seeing Fuerza Bruta, watching a crazy BDSM opera - Month 3— La Paz
biking Death Road, watching Cholitas wrestle, visiting the Salt Flats, consulting a local design firm - Month 4 — Cusco
having my breath taken away at the sight of the moon through a telescope, seeing the sun rise over Machu Picchu on day 4 of our trek - Month 5 — London
visiting museums, seeing Book of Mormon and Shakespeare’s Richard III, going to Oxford, speaking at our Junction event, taking a trip to Paris with 9 guys from RY - Month 6 — Prague
teaching yoga in the backyard of our coworking space, leading a branding workshop, going on a night tour of the castle, tour of a suburb with a homeless man - Month 7 — Belgrade
sunset runs along the river, taking a spontaneous 12-hour road trip in a day, visiting Lisbon, turning 30 with two other Battuta birthdays and having a big RY dance party at a club - Month 8 — Split
insane acrobats at clubs, cooking and baking with a full kitchen, 30 person family dinner, going on a solo trip to Morocco, signing up for my first half-marathon (at Angkor Wat!), seeing Plitvice waterfalls - Month 9 — Kuala Lumpur
starting recording my podcast, going for my first long runs, visiting Hong Kong again, high tea at an orchid conservatory, Bollywood dance class, RY Halloween - Month 10 — Koh Phangan
RY beach bonfire and lantern lighting, living in Thai island paradise, Kratong boat making, full moon party, cooking class, successfully completing my long training runs, getting PADI diver certification
But the deeper and more significant ways that Remote Year is changing my life are more subtle.
The relationships I began building with the 75 strangers I met in Montevideo have evolved over the past 10 months into something that is hard for me to describe.
Unlike college and work and other situations where you meet people at the same juncture in life and with similar interests or backgrounds, this community is something entirely different.
Yes, we all wanted to travel the world for a year, but aside from that, it’s the most unique group of people across age, interests, nationalities, careers, skills, and life experience that I’ve ever met.
Remote Year has been a valuable lesson — well, it’s been many valuable lessons, but this might be the most important: continued exposure to other people and places can change everything.
Naturally, within a group of 75 people, there are individuals with whom you’ll have more in common with and some you feel less drawn to. In normal life, you might never interact again or keep the dynamic at a very polite but low engagement level.
On Remote Year, however, at least in Battuta, that’s not possible.
Between our housing assignments and events and side trips and routines and meals and everything else, we’re constantly spending time with different members of our community.
We find ourselves at meals or away for the weekend with a hodgepodge group that no one would ever curate, but it happened thanks to random RSVPs.
So then, the dynamics shift.
We find common ground.
We realize that we have mutual interests and fears.
We create shared experiences.
We build a relationship.
10 months later, I feel so much love and appreciation for this diverse group of individuals.
I can sit down to a meal with anyone in my community and have a pleasant interaction. I can reach out when I need help or insights or support, whether it’s personal or professional, and find people eager to lend a hand or spend some quality time together.
I am beyond grateful to every person in Battuta and to Remote Year for bringing us together.
And then, of course, there was falling in love.
It was a tremendously significant part of my year and my life, and I’m deeply grateful for all of it. Words can’t capture my feelings or express everything it was to me, and it is almost too sacred to share.
I can say:
Our love challenged my identity and yet also centered me. It made me more complex and calm and confident. It taught me deeper empathy and patience while giving me many moments of joy and peace.
It was and is the truest love I’ve ever felt.
For the first time in my life, I saw my future with someone. I felt equal to and whole with another person. I felt connected to someone else from my core. I found a partner.
The circumstances we’re in do us little favors and ultimately led to the end of our relationship (for now?). I still feel that deep, true love inside of me and that feeling of partnership in spite of the distance between us.
This Thanksgiving I am grateful for all of the people and experiences in my life — 30 years and counting — all of which are constantly changing me and stretching me and showing me what a beautiful, complicated, wonderful world we live in.
Katherine is a digital nomad, working remotely while she travels the world — on the road since June 2014. She’s a member of Remote Year 2 Battuta, living around the world with 75 other digital nomads from February 2016 to January 2017.
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