Story from April 2014, El Tunco, El Salvador.

It was 7 am in the morning and I was hypnotized by the power of the ocean. I had tears in my eyes, because I was running out of my travel budget and I didn’t feel like going back to Europe although I had the opportunity of returning to my old job or finding a new corporate job. What I really wanted was to learn how to surf.

I was at that point when I’ve been traveling for almost 2 years and I asked myself: “Is it possible to have a business or a career that is wrapped around my nomadic and surfing dreams and not the other way around?” I used to work as a marketing project manager before and didn’t want to give up on that career because I liked it. However, I didn’t want to go back to my old lifestyle. So I used to sit on the beach in El Tunco and look at the waves to find the answer…

I had to face the reality.

I had to make money to keep on doing what I loved to do. Moreover, there was no point of learning how to surf in my home country – Slovakia – because we have no ocean. And there was no wish to live in Denmark, because after living there for four years, I couldn’t stand the weather anymore (sorry Denmark). The conclusion was that I had to be there – by the ocean and where it was sunny and hot. In the tropics!

Later in the afternoon, still sad and without any specific plan, I went to yoga to relax and meditate. Believe it or not, I had a very special encountering. After the yoga class I started talking to Ale from San Salvador and I explained her what my dreams and desires were. To my big surprise she understood perfectly and she recommended different websites for location independent freelancers. She knew what she was talking about. Because she was one of them ☺

Hey world! I am a digital nomad.

From the next day I started a journey of a digital nomad – a journey of a freelancer and an aspiring entrepreneur, keeping my travel lifestyle alive and most importantly I learned how to surf… ok, ok I’m not a pro surfer yet (haha). It’s a very difficult sport and it takes lot of time to learn, but thanks to my lifestyle I can enjoy the ocean much more than I’ve ever thought ☺

Before I’ll write and explain you more about the digital nomad lifestyle (future blog posts), I would like to share the 9 REASONS why I love this way of living.

1. Work-life balance
Travel helped me realize that I didn’t want to work in an indoor office from Monday to Friday. It also helped me realize that I needed to spend more time in the nature and do sports to be healthy and happy. But it was the combination of travel and online work that allowed me to achieve a better balance in life.

2. Location independence and outdoor offices
I love the idea of working from anywhere. Big city? Small village? Central America? Mexico? Bratislava? I love to explore new places, because first of all, I am a traveller. Moreover I like to create my own office. Friends in El Tunco used to laugh when I used to say: “Today I’m working from the “ocean office” or the “pool office” or the “mangrow office”. It was just up to my creativity where I wanted to work from.
Currently, I am based in a co-working space in Bratislava, which is also a very good experience. To be exact, I have to add that there is a certain dependence on a good internet connection and on quality technical devices. However, that’s something I can live with.

3. Work in my field
I am happy that despite the fact that I quit the corporate culture, I found a way how to continue in marketing and communication – globally. I’ve been into it for many years and I have still lot of energy and ideas to get realized.

4. Meet and work with like-minded people
Perhaps I was lucky, but some of my clients are or want to be digital nomads. We understand each other when the internet connection sucks or when the waves are excellent ☺ On top of that, it is very exciting to be part of the digital nomad movement around the world and share knowledge. Check out the digital nomads I met during my travels.

5. International environment
Since I was a child, I was fascinated by different cultures and languages from all around the world. I am very grateful for being able to work and communicate with people from Canada, Australia, Brazil, El Salvador, the UK, Slovakia, and Denmark. The same goes for traveling. I had so many different travel buddies in the past three years that I can’t remember all countries they came from.

6. Entrepreneurship and creativity
The more I work as a freelance marketer, the more I learn and think about entrepreneurship and creative ways of product development and communication. It’s also a great lesson to be my own boss or a coordinator of several people from all around the world.

7. Slow travel
One of the great advantages of a digital nomad lifestyle is that as much I can move from a place to place, I can also stay for a long time. There is no rush, because I am not on vacation. I spent 5 months in El Tunco again this year and I formed a special connection and understanding of El Salvador.

8. Build my own voice
I’ve been blogging and writing for three years now, but it is now when I feel that someone can benefit from my experience and I can help someone to get closer to hers/his dreams.

9. Freedom of doing what I love and having fun
Surfing and traveling 🙂

BONUS REASON: Make money while traveling – I will write about this topic very soon!

Stay tuned for more blog posts about how to travel and work online and how to combine it with your favorite activities, e.g. surfing and what are the challenges – and some tips and tricks on how to solve them.

Safe travels a lot of productivity
Silvia

About the Author
Thanks for reading this article 🙂 My name is Silvia and I’m form Slovakia. I’m passionate about entrepreneurship, marketing, traveling, surfing, photography and I’m in the search of the best ways how to combine it all. Over the past 3 years I changed my lifestyle completely. From an employee in a larger company I started freelancing and working online to be location independent. What drives me is the idea that if I want to, I can book a ticket and go surfing anywhere in the world and stay as long as I want. Also, I gathered lot of content and ideas inspired by beautiful people, places and products. I blog and organize presentations about these topics. Safe travels!