Drinking from the Fire Hose

My poor, neglected blog! It pains me to see how long it's been since I've posted. It's not because I don't love you anymore, I have been a little busy lately. Ok, make that very busy. As my mentor WC would say, we've been drinking from the fire hose!

Yep, this is pretty much how I feel these days!

I'm not complaining about being busy. After all, we did set ourselves up for this... moving to a new country (where we barely speak the language), having a baby, applying for residency, making new friends, developing our contract work, and trying to squeeze in a little vacation time to boot. Somehow, we've managed to juggle them all, but it hasn't been easy. Sleep and sanity have taken priority over healthy eating and exercise. I have probably eaten more chicken strips in the past three months than I have in the last three decades (thank you, Pricesmart!)

We still find time for an occasional road trip!

But, I'm happy to report that we have weathered most of the storms and are looking forward to settling into some more peaceful, relaxing times ahead. For example, Jim and I have applied for permanent residency here in Costa Rica, so we don't have to make border runs every 90 days to renew our tourist stamps anymore. Baby Matty has received his birth certificate, social security card, and US passport, although we still need to apply for a special permit to take him out of Costa Rica.

Does he look more like A) a convict, B) an old man, or C) all of the above?

We are finally starting to make some strides in our Spanish again. The first month or so after Matty was born was very hard on our brains' higher processing centers. In other words, sleep deprivation made it challenging to even speak complete sentences in English!

We've also made some recent changes to our work/life schedules. It was exhausting for both of us to try and juggle work deadlines, taking care of Matty, and sleep, so, for the time being, I've become the primary breadwinner and Jim's the stay-at-home daddy. These roles aren't exclusive, but we are each getting more time to focus and no longer have to pass the baby back-and-forth like a hot potato. What can I say? The little one didn't nap as much as we'd hoped during the day! (But, thankfully, he's sleeping through the night!)

We have one last big task looming on the horizon: finding a new rental. Our current lease is up in July, and we're looking for a place that's a better fit for our needs. I've been searching for weeks now, and while a few rentals have come close, none of them have really matched what we're looking for. Stay tuned, friends, we'll keep you posted on our search!

In the meantime, please don't hesitate to hit me up if you're interested in coming down to Costa Rica for a visit. We're planning to stay here for a while (although I can't tell you exactly which town we'll be living in come July), and we'd love to share this experience with you. There are many beautiful places that we haven't explored yet, and we're happy to meet up for lunch or even a few days of vacation. You can send us a message through the "Contact Us" link at the top of the page!

Underemployed and Happy

Six months ago, I quit my job. You know, the demanding, high-stress, well-paying type of job. The "professional career" requiring extensive travel, a Blackberry, and a whole lotta responsibility.

Do I miss it? Yes and no. I definitely miss the daily social interaction and all of the wonderful, talented, and fun people who I worked with. It's also nice to make enough income that you can live comfortably and have plenty left over to save.

But, at the same time, it makes me sad to reflect on how much of my time and energy was devoted to work. When you add up all of the hours spent commuting, getting ready for work in the morning, going on business trips, and attending after-hours conference calls with overseas colleagues, you start to realize that it's much more than just the hours you spend at your desk. It just doesn't seem right to only get 2 days off per week (which inevitably must contain personal chores, not just leisure time) and just 3 weeks of vacation (if I had to take my BlackBerry with me was it really a vacation?)

More than anything, I disliked not having control over my own time. Now, I have the freedom to have a picnic in the park at 2pm on a Tuesday if that's what I want to do. While my current work requires daily attention, I can complete it at whatever time I want to, as long as it gets done. I can't describe how good it feels to set my own daily schedule.

These past six months have flown by, as I've chosen to use my time to travel, reconnect with friends and family, revisit old hobbies, and learn some new ones. How much of this would I have done if I were still working my professional job? Oh, maybe 3-4 days worth, if I'm being generous.

I don't have everything figured out, but that's ok. We don't know where we'll be living in 2013, but I'm already dreaming of the possibilities. We're only making a fraction of our prior earnings, but it's enough to stay afloat without dipping into our savings. We have a lot less stuff, but it's helped us realize how little we need. Life is pretty good, and I wouldn't change my decision for the world.

My biggest travel fear

Well, friends, I think it’s time for an update. Jim and I are finalizing our travel prep before shipping out of the country on May 7^th. We thought that we had gotten rid of 95% of our belongings, but apparently there is still a lot left! We look forward to spending the next week packing up, donating, and selling all of the remaining stuff.

Being compulsive list-makers, I think we have approximately 37 lists going right now. Actually, to be more accurate, Jim has 13 Excel spreadsheets and I have 14 handwritten notes on scraps of paper. Some of the lists cover the exact same topic, but were written at different times. There’s just something soothing about writing a list, isn’t there? Making a list decreases my anxiety by giving me one less thing to remember. At some point, I plan to post copies of our packing lists as well as our tips on 101 things to do when embarking on a life of long-term, worldwide travel.

But for now, the most pressing thing on my mind isn’t making sure that I remember to bring my passport. Nor do I have any anxiety about the countries we’re visiting or the fact that I’m not fluent in Croatian, French, or Afrikaans. Heck, it doesn’t even bother me that we only have 2 nights of accommodation booked in Croatia (our first stop) and will be “winging it” for the remaining 5 weeks. All of these things are challenging, but they will get sorted out because they have to.

The one thing that keeps me awake at night is... worrying about a reliable internet connection!

That’s right, folks, I said an internet connection. After spending years in front of a computer in graduate school and then being tethered to a Crackberry at work, my biggest concern is having an internet connection. Can you believe it?

Wanna know why? Well, friends, I have a confession to make. My name is Natalie and I’m a digital nomad. A digital nomad is someone who works remotely in order to live a nomadic lifestyle.

There are lots of employment options that bode well with the lifestyle of a digital nomad. For example, many long-term travelers generate income from photography, graphic design, web design, blogging, and writing. What all of these have in common is an ability to work anywhere in the world using “digital” technology.

My personal goal is to develop several revenue streams that allow me to become location-independent. What do I mean by that? Well, I’m establishing several different options for making money using only a laptop and an internet connection. That way, I should have the ability to live and work anywhere in the world I choose (subject to immigration restrictions), as long as it has a reliable internet connection.

As you can see, since my livelihood is dependent on the internet, it’s very important to have access 24/7. Unfortunately, this means that I am not traveling the world on an extended vacation… I will be working as a digital nomad!

Lists, lists, and more lists!

FAQs

What are you doing?

We decided to cut loose from our lifestyle as thirtysomething professionals to step out and see the world. We quit our jobs at the end of 2011, sold our stuff, packed our bags, and finally hit the road in May 2012. Our first stop was England! Since then, we've been wandering around Europe for the summer.

You have such great jobs! Why are you quitting? Are you crazy?

We were very grateful for our jobs and enjoyed the people we work with, but the jobs didn't align with our current life dreams. Maybe we're crazy, but we felt like the longer we waited, the harder it would be to take the plunge and try something radically different.

Why are you doing this?

For the sake of adventure and personal development. We want to broaden our horizons and experience new people, places, and cultures. We're excited to see what we find.

How long have you known that you wanted to do this?

It's hard to say. Jim's a lifelong adventurer and Natalie's been dreaming of living overseas for decades!

Why now?

We feel like the stars are aligned and we want to take this opportunity while we have it. We don't have kids or a house, have paid off most of our debts, have money in the bank, and are healthy and ripe for adventure. Most importantly, we want to do it!

Where are you going?

There are a lot of places in the world that we'd like to see. Here's our itinerary for 2012.

When are you leaving?
We left Phoenix in May 2012.

How long will you be gone?

There really isn't a time limit. As long as we're willing and able to do so.

Aren't you scared?

Absolutely. We both have moments of anxiety about jumping off the cliff. When we start to panic, we ask ourselves, in a couple of years, which would we regret more: continuing to live as working professionals or taking a risk and trying something new? Then the answer's easy... LET'S GO!

How can you afford it?

This is a really difficult question to answer. We saved up a little money to get started have been living pretty frugally during our travels.We lined up some great housesitting assignments. We've also been exploring our options to work remotely as digital nomads.

Updated September  2012