Written by: Mei Flynn, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
You may have experienced this in your life when something ends, and you feel lost, powerless and unsure of the way forward. Or you may have been through the experience of an ending in a relationship or job to realise that it was actually a new beginning that took you to a new and unexpected journey and caused your life to turn around in amazing ways.
Painful endings are disguised as new beginnings – Pema Chodron
In a previous article, I shared how the ending of my marriage led to an unplanned 3-month trip to Southeast Asia which ended up being 4 years and led to me creating a location free lifestyle as a digital nomad.
Travelling is the most powerful way to self-healing
Travelling has always been my passion and when I set off on my 3-month adventure to South East Asia I never imagined that I would stay on the road for the next 4 years. It is hard to imagine that anyone can go through life without a plan as often we are conditioned to have our 5 or 10 year plan, and there is nothing wrong with that. I love to embrace the unknown and see how life unfolds and this is when the magic happens as doors open all the time with new and exciting opportunities. This can be an uncomfortable space to be in to embrace the unknown, so I want to share some tips with you on what helped me embracing my free spirit side on this journey.
Tip 1
When I travel, I usually have what I call a skeleton or a loose plan. I usually plan the first few days in a new country and once I get settled I sit and plan the next steps with destinations I would like to visit. This can also be influenced by time as it is common to get a 1-month tourist visa for most countries but this will vary depending on your passport. It also depends on whether you plan to fly around the country or take the slower and more interesting route by train which is my preference.
Tip 2
Most people often wonder how I cope financially on the road. My divorce was the catalyst to embracing life as a digital nomad as, believe it or not, I hated working online before this, but I gradually stepped out of my comfort zone and 100% of my work is now online. This gives me the freedom and flexibility to work from anywhere and with people around the world. A good example of when we step out of our comfort zone the magic happens!
Tip 3
It can also be confusing which route to take and where to go next and I often do research which I call putting the feelers out. The next step is to sit with it and meditate and I often get signs on the way forward. You might be wondering what the signs are, for me it could be a connection with a person on social media, holistic centres in the country or a strong feeling that it feels right. After all nothing is permanent, and I only need to stay there as long as I want to and have the choice to move on at any time.
Tip 4
I usually choose to stay in a certain place for a few weeks as working online can be lonely and isolating so it is good to connect with local people in the community. I also love to stay in hostels as they are often more interesting than hotels and you meet like-minded people. The difference now as I approach 50 is my need for privacy and I prefer a private room than sharing a dormitory with a lot of other people. It is a win-win situation for me as it is cheaper plus I still get the hostel vibe and have met a lot of amazing people.
Tip 5
When we trust our intuition, we meet people and the flexibility in embracing the unknown can mean that we can take detours on our journeys and there is a certain element of excitement when we do not know what is next. I am always open to all the wonderful possibilities in life as the Universe is unlimited, but we often limit ourselves with our thinking and what is possible. It goes back to those limiting beliefs and weeds in our minds I mentioned in a previous article (resistance article link). We are often in a hurry to have life worked out but try to relax and enjoy the journey.
I meet a lot of people on my travels who do volunteering and it is a good way to keep costs down by working a few hours a day in exchange for a place to stay. When I arrived in Pai, Northern Thailand on the 2 day slow boat from Laos, I had planned to do a workaway assignment in exchange for food and a bed, but when I arrived the project had ended! As a result, I visited a beautiful meditation centre and ended up housesitting for a month as the owner was going away, perfect timing. This started as a month, but I ended up working at the centre running workshops and doing energy healing for 10 months. An example of painful ending beings disguised as new beginnings that I mentioned in my previous article about life being a rollercoaster.
My goal with this article was to share how we often would like to become a digital nomads to combine travelling and working. However, the fear of how to get started, surviving on the road, coping financially, etc often holds us back. It does not have to be a permanent move, but maybe try it like I did for 3 months and embrace the unknown and be open to the unlimited possibilities of life. I would love to hear your tips on creating life as a digital nomad.
Mei Flynn, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Mei Flynn is a Holistic Confidence Coach who inspires and empowers women 40+ to tap into their inner confidence to live the life they really want. She's suffered from low self-esteem most of her life and using a range of different psycho-spiritual techniques she has transformed her life and is now passionate about helping clients to do the same. The key is to help others to let go of limiting beliefs and blocks that's stopping them from living a happy and fulfilled life. Her mission is to help women thrive and not just survive.
