Why I Quit a Job I Loved to Become a Digital Nomad

It was the beginning of April 2018, and I did something I’d never done before. I went away on my own for a weekend of solitude.

When friends or family members offered to join I politely declined. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt I desperately needed a couple of days to get some unthought ideas out of my head and onto paper.

Two days later, back in Sydney, I resigned from my job of 4 years — a job I loved — with zero plan of what I’d do next.

Here’s why.

Pausing to reflect

I was living the kind of life that many of us do — working seriously hard, and managing to keep up a busy social life. My head felt constantly busy and I felt constantly behind on something. There were things I had wanted to do for months that I hadn’t had a chance to, because the constant cycle of work hard, play hard was taking up most of my time and all of my energy.

I was having trouble remembering what I was supposed to do next, let alone having any time to reflect on what I was doing right now.

The busy-ness had finally became a bit overwhelming, so rather than filling my long weekend with friends and events as I usually would, I took a 3-day pause, and undertook some forced reflection in an attempt to really put my thoughts in order, for once.

It sounds simple, but even those who often spend time alone rarely use that time specifically for reflection or life planning.

It’s amazing what we can find inside our own heads when we do.

I spent my weekend curating my unthought thoughts by using my Leaders in Heels journal, which features prompts like ‘How would you spend your perfect day?’.

Mine featured yoga, meditation, new places, and new faces, but it also featured work.

For me, the ideal day isn’t just about relaxation and adventure, it’s also about feeling the satisfaction of achieving something worthwhile. It’s being able to combine all of those things effortlessly.

The idea of living that kind of a life felt a bit idealistic and ambitious — potentially even unattainable. At the very least, it felt unachievable in my current cycle.

It wasn’t that I was unhappy in my job. I was progressing, I was stimulated, I felt respected, and most of my closest friends were my colleagues, so I actually enjoyed going into the office every day.

But even though I felt challenged professionally, I was comfortable with the routine I had created.

And to me, ‘comfortable’ leaves you in danger of not living mindfully; not stopping to consider if you’re leading the life that will have you looking back and smiling.

When you’re in a routine, working days, weeks, and months can fly by without any moment or prompt to stop and think about whether you’re still doing what you want to with your life.

My worst fear was to blink and suddenly be one of those people — like so many I spoke to — who said things like:

‘Do it while you’re young, while you have no commitments… Like I wish I had done’.

I had to give three months notice at my job, so I resigned straight away and figured I had time to force myself to figure out what to do next.

Making the decision

Now don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as if I just came up with this idea out of nowhere. It had been bubbling under the surface for months, maybe even years. But it took taking the time out to sit and think for me to act on it.

For a long time, I’d been desperate to visit South America — a destination I imagined to be full of colour and culture, and different to anywhere else I’d been. I knew that I didn’t want to visit on a short trip.

To me, there’s a difference between ‘holidaying’ and ‘traveling’. Traveling is getting sick of repacking your bag, tired of researching new places, and bored of wearing the same clothes. But it’s also having your perspectives constantly challenged, learning mind-blowing things every day, and trying things you didn’t know you’d love doing.

South America was a place that needed to be ‘traveled’.

But the thought of putting my career on pause and then eventually needing to start again felt both terrifying and unwise.

So I began to look for ways that I might be able to combine travel and work.

Once I thought of it, the idea made so much sense for me…

Like many people, I’d been someone who always needed to have a holiday on the horizon. I’d arrive back from a trip and immediately start planning my next one. But something about that lifestyle didn’t sit right with me.

A two-week holiday never felt like enough time to fly somewhere (from Australia) and then acclimatise, explore, enjoy, immerse.

But most importantly, I didn’t want to spend my life constantly waiting for my next break from work. I’d always thought that people who were wishing away the working week in desperation for the weekend were not doing things right, and this felt like a similarly strange way to live. We shouldn’t be spending the large majority of our life wanting to be somewhere else; waiting to get to the ‘good bits’.

Instead of looking for ways to escape everyday life, we should make our everyday life something that we don’t want to escape.

So I considered how I could make my perfect day a reality, almost every day.

Taking the plunge

What I discovered is this: you can’t wait for the circumstances or the money or the inspiration to find you. The situation will probably never feel perfect — but if there’s something you really want to do, you can find a way to make it work.

I wanted to travel South America, but I definitely didn’t have the money I needed to travel for as long as I wanted to.

I wanted to keep working, but I knew I couldn’t continue at the job I had while traveling.

I had no idea how (or if) I’d find enough work to support me. I had no idea how long I’d be able to make it work, or if I’d even enjoy it.

I just knew that the timing was right for me and everything else would have to fit in around that.

And I got lucky. Before my 3 months notice was up, I found a job that was perfect for my skill set and a boss who didn’t care where I worked, as long as I got sh*t done. Then I found a group that I could work alongside for the first month so I wouldn’t be alone, and I’d still get to experience the social and learning aspects that I love about working in an office.

And off I went to spend my first month in Peru.

Since then, I’ve searched for tarantulas in the pouring night-time rain in the Amazon rainforest; watched Guatemalan volcanoes erupt; swam in Mexican cenotes and under Colombian waterfalls; rode ATVs past fairy chimneys in Turkey; and frolicked in the snow in the Ukraine.

I celebrated Dia de los Muertos in Mexico City; tasted wines in Malibu; picked coffee beans in Jardin; watched Cirque du Soleil in Vegas; rode a horse to salt flats in the Sacred Valley; and visited friends old and new in New York and San Francisco.

I had some not-so-fun experiences — from being robbed (more than once), scammed, and ripped off — to trying to do yoga classes in Spanish, feeling homesick, and learning how to stay productive when WiFi won’t cooperate.

But they were more than made up for by the experiences I gained — like my first time surfing, skateboarding, sand boarding, paragliding and scuba diving.

I found out what it was like to live in cities around the world, said yes to all the local foods (and drinks), did my best to learn new languages, and met tons of people from all around the world that I now call my friends.

Nothing went to plan, but I leant into all the twists and turns, let go of any expectations and embraced all the surprises.

And I did all of this while working in a job that allows me to continue to grow as a professional.

Choose to live life on your terms: it’s entirely possible

One year on from making the decision to leave my job, I’m conscious that I need to continue to check in with myself to make sure I am still living the way I want to — the way that makes sense for me right now. All it takes is setting a little bit of time aside to reflect on what’s important.

When was the last time you asked yourself if you’re living the life you want to?

—

Sophie is a creative content strategist, growth marketer, digital consultant & digital nomad, who’s driven by a passion for businesses with a strong social mission. You can follow her travels on Instagram or connect with her on LinkedIn.