In July 2020, when I transitioned to a fully remote role, and moved back to the east coast from LA, the main goal was just to get home. Three months into the pandemic, I was spending 12+ hours a day working from my approximately 100 sq ft bedroom, walking in one mile circles around my building, and standing in lines outside of a variety of Whole Foods just to escape my urban prison. I was one of the lucky ones. I never stopped working. I even got to visit the construction project I was managing a couple days a week and actually converse with humans face to face, even if it was largely masked and from a 6+ ft distance. We now know that what was supposed to be two weeks of lockdown turned into 2+ years of fear, seclusion, uncertainty, loneliness, and turmoil. Some are still struggling to live their lives as normally as possible, and some of us are determined to fight to make it even better than before.
"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all"
About a month into lockdown, I knew I needed to get home somehow. I knew that my time in LA and with my employer at the time (who I love and miss), was coming to an end. Everything has a season…and this one was in its autumn. The pandemic just brought on its winter much sooner than I had expected.
Looking for a new job at the outset of a worldwide disaster seems counterintuitive, I will admit, but somehow it worked out. I moved home with a new fully remote job. I had worked in a remote environment before and knew it was a good fit for me, though admittedly I did not see the complete corporate cultural shift towards a much more remote workforce coming, but am so grateful that it has, and that it can remain my reality moving forward.
The other drive behind working remote has always been that freedom to work from anywhere. Initially, the pandemic and its subsequent restrictions made that dream just that, a dream. In the last year, the cost of living has done the same. How can one afford to travel anywhere for any period of time when they are paying over $2k a month for their “permanent” housing?! The answer is, you cannot, at least not in good conscience.
So as my claustrophobia and wanderlust increased, I knew I needed to take the situation into my own hands and do something a bit drastic/out of the box (though to me, this seems completely normal and appropriate). Starting October 31, 2022, I put almost all of my earthly possessions into storage and will now be traveling and working from anywhere my heart desires, for as long as my heart desires.
This journey had only one logical place to start…Los Angeles. I had left a part of me there, the part that was living her best life before the pandemic hit. I needed to go back to remind myself what that felt like, and why I so desperately need to insert life back into my life. We all lost things, and even worse, many lost people, that were near and dear to us over the last 3 years. I lost the things that made me me, brought me joy, made me excited for the future…and yet, I was still one of the lucky ones. And like everyone, I am still fighting to feel alive again and this nomadic journey is a hell of a place to start.
I invite you to join me on my journey of exploring new destinations, meeting new people, and having new experiences. I plan to share all the joys, challenges, tips, tricks and lessons along the way. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”...and I am so ready to start living again!
Can’t wait to learn how you’ve made this fun lifestyle work and how I can do the same!