“There will be one billion digital nomads by 2035.”
Actually, one billion one. Counting me. I’m about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. 4 months. 4 countries. But versus your typical traveler, I’m not going just for fun or to experience the world. I’ll be traveling with a group of smart-minded freelancers, entrepreneurs, and other digital nomads to travel while working remotely. Did you know that “four in five employees find they’re more productive when working remotely?”
dig•i•tal no•mad
/’dijidl ‘no,mad/noun
Digital nomads are people who are location independent and use technology to work and conduct their lifestyle in a nomadic manner.
A few months ago my Mom went to a Women’s Conference on the Isla de Mujeres in Mexico where she met Janet Rouss, author of Courage Freedom Happiness: Life Hacks from a Digital Nomad. Janet told my mom about this program called Remote Year which pulls together a group of people to travel the world while working remotely. A group of digital nomads. She bought the book and gave it to me.
Where had this been all my life? I read her book and became excited about the opportunities a program of this magnitude offered. A once in a lifetime opportunity.
A few weeks after finished reading her book I graduated, for the second time in two years, from the Rochester Institute of Technology with my MBA. The first time with a BFA in New Media Design. Here I was with two degrees from a well-known school, no job, and feeling a little unsure of myself. This was the first time in my entire life I didn’t have a plan nor anything to do next.
I was applying for full-time positions when I came back to Janet’s book. Why not? I decided to fill out the short inquiry form on the Remote Year website to learn more about the program. After a few phone calls. A lot of back and forth deliberation. Some pushing from my Mom. I decided to sign-up for a four-month program (a year seem too big a financial and time commitment for me at the time.)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
I’d made the commitment. Now what? I need to find work to do on the trip and enough work that I could not only pay the fees for the program but also cover food expenses and excursions. I started applying to remote and freelance job opportunities. Aquent. Vitamin-T. Onward Search. Indeed. Working Nomads.
Two weeks later I still had nothing. I needed to do something else. After many, many, many conversations and pushing from my Parents. I landed on a new approach: start my own design business. Artio Designs.
I sat down with my parents, founders of Haley Marketing Group, to calculate my budget for the trip and define a goal. With the budget for my whole trip and I set a goal to make a certain amount of net profit each month of the journey. But with only a month before I’m set to leave it’s crunch time.
We threw around a lot of ideas for product and service offerings, outlined a basic business plan, and now here I am writing to you. I’m asking you to support my longing to travel while working on my skills (beats waiting tables don’t you think?) and helping you with your design needs. Contact me today!
