How I became a digital nomad

When I first tell people that I work from anywhere and have the freedom to travel the world while working, their first reaction is invariably "You're so lucky!" I completely agree, and am grateful that I have the opportunity to live this lifestyle.

But once you hear the whole story you'll realize that it wasn't just a matter of "getting a job" that lets me do this, much less did it just "happen" to me. In fact, the series of events leading up to this phase of my life were mostly the kind that we usually consider anything but lucky. Here goes.

Translation is actually my third career. Prior to that, I worked in China as a TV host, then in Canada as a student recruiter for a private high school, both for about five years each.

Throughout this decade of doing other jobs, I had done freelance translation and copy editing on the side. Most of what I did was polishing other people's translations for academic papers, but I also did subtitle translation for about 20 films and TV series, and dabbled in other fields like video games and music.

While this was decent side income, and the academic papers in particular were consistent, I never really considered it as a full-time job. It was just never enough, sometimes there would be slow periods, and it was next to impossible to get new clients, especially after I moved back to Canada in 2014.

So I kept doing it on a part-time basis, and didn't invest much time or energy in improving my skills or acquiring clients. Between my day job and working evenings and weekends on translation and editing, I didn't have much time or energy left.

Fast forward to 2020; at the time I was commuting an hour 45 minutes to my job, sitting in an office all day, then by the time I got home it was 7pm, and after a brief rest I'd do an hour or two of translation before getting ready for bed. That was pretty much all I did every day. After five years of this routine I had become a typical "office muffin," and life was not very fun. And even though I was working two jobs, I still wasn't making that much money.

Then the global pandemic hit, and everyone at our office starting working from home. I very quickly realized how much time (almost four hours a day) and energy (lots) I was wasting during my daily commute.

Now that I was working remotely, I finally had time and energy to do things like exercising and reading books. I decided that Vietnam was the first place I'd visit after all this was over, so I started learning Vietnamese, which I had always been curious about. This rekindled my love for language learning, which had been buried for several years beneath piles of work, both real and fake.

That's right: one of the most astonishing conclusions I made during this time was that if I focused, I could get all my daily tasks done in much less than eight hours a day. Usually, four hours was plenty, and most days one hour was enough. With no one watching behind my back, it was no longer necessary to fill my work days with pretending to be busy.

This left me even more time for other things, like running. By summer 2020, I was running several times a week, starting with 5 km, followed by 10 km, then once in a while I'd do 15, and I even ran my first half-marathon.

Also very importantly, when doing translation and editing work, I could do it during the day, so I wasn't already exhausted each time I sat down to start.

In November the same year, the real disaster hit (at least for me): my wife told me she wanted a divorce. I said, "Sure honey, whatever you say," as usual, and we signed a separation agreement. We put the house up for sale, and it was sold in a few weeks. I rented an apartment at English Bay in downtown Vancouver.

Since the office where I worked was still on lockdown, I was working remotely, which meant I didn't have to commute anywhere, so I let my now ex-wife have that until she no longer needed it. The apartment I was staying in was an urgent takeover, so I got a good deal, it was fully furnished, and I could move in right away. It was a no-pets building, so she took the dog. (Side note: "My Wife Left Me in the Middle of a Global Pandemic" would likely be a contender for Worst Country Song of All Time.)

But wait, there's more! After working remotely most days with occasional visits to the office or school, our head office informed us that they would be shutting down the admissions department. International students were our source of revenue, and a year of new ones not being able to enter the country isn't good for business, so to keep the school open and teachers paid they decided to let the half dozen or so of us other staff go. We had a month to find another job.

Okay, now let's summarize: within the first year of covid, I had lost my wife, my house, my job, my car and my dog. Oh, I had also lost my hair to boot. The pandemic essentially board-wiped my entire life. Turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me.

When we got the news of our office closure, I could have went and gotten another "normal" job. As a local Canadian who speaks Mandarin, it's quite easy for me to find employment. But I knew it would have been the same thing all over again: not enough pay to make ends meet, so I'd still have to work part-time on the side, minimal benefits, minimal vacation time, during which I could never afford to go anywhere anyway.

The first person I reached out to was my contact at a translation agency I had worked with for years. I told them I would soon be out of a job, and as it turned out they had a big subtitle translation project coming up, for a national broadcast-level TV series. They needed someone right away, and my skillset and experience were a good fit. I did a translation sample, it got approved, and they brought me on board right away.

So, on Friday I got laid off, and by the following Sunday I had not only found new employment but already started. I just happened to have the skills, experience and contacts for this gig, but I don't deny that the timing of this transition was extremely lucky.

For one month, I essentially worked two full-time jobs, but since I only had to go somewhere once a week for my "real" job, I was able to balance the two, and even completed a series of training videos for whoever would be taking over my duties.

Now the next challenge presented itself: getting paid. Freelance work, unlike the normal kind, doesn't pay out on a consistent schedule, and a delay of two months is quite common. So even if I were able to keep the translation work coming in, I would have to survive for two months, or even longer, with zero income. On the plus side, the project paid about $10,000, much more than two months' salary at my job, so as long as I got the payment I'd be fine for a while as I figured my life out.

I talked to my client, who said that they understood my situation, and since it was a special project with a high budget and short deadline, they were able to pay out upon completion, instead of two months later.

The wire transfer worked and I received the payment, marking my official transition to being a full-time freelancer.

I was now free from the rat race, and it was amazing. I could run whenever I wanted, and since running was one reason why I had chosen an apartment next to the Vancouver Sea Wall, on any given day when the sun was out, I could set aside my work and go for a run. While technically a distraction, it was an excellent way to take a break from work, and I always came back feeling refreshed and energized. I also got into kayaking, which is actually a pretty covid-friendly activity, since everyone is in their own boats, at least 2 m apart.

Going outside for fresh air was possible, but on a larger scale the world was still on lockdown. During this period of isolation, I had a lot of time to think about my life and what I wanted to do with the rest of it.

There was always a lurking sensation that this wouldn't work. My translation income would dry up, and I'd have to go back to being an office muffin.

This is why all that "bad" stuff that happened to me turned out to be great: Since I only had myself to worry about, I could take the risk of not having enough--or any--income for a month or two, and could figure out what to do from there. Without a mortgage, there was no reason for me to stay in one place, collecting a bunch of stuff, then not being able to leave that place because I had so much stuff. I could travel the world. Not having a car or dog also made this possibility more realistic.

The best part was that, by switching to freelance, I could potentially make more money, in less time. From anywhere in the world.

After taking a leap of faith that only single me would ever consider, it worked out, the money kept coming in, and I've never looked back.

As we now know, the coronavirus went on for way too long, and I ended up renting a place with family so we could pool our resources while I waited the pandemic out.

My freelance work has stabilized, and I was making twice as much as my previous job, in about four hours a day. It was consistent, but I could take on more work, if I could only get it.

I thought more and more about how awesome it would be to do my job while travelling the world, which I could totally do, if only I could go anywhere.

In fall 2021, when the world finally showed signs of opening up again, I wanted to give my mobile lifestyle a try. But I still couldn't leave the country without having to follow all kinds of restrictions, so I went to Newfoundland, the easternmost island of Canada. (Fortunately, Canada is huge, so from Vancouver to Newfoundland it's over 7,000 km, twice the distance of Newfoundland to Ireland.)

I spent six weeks exploring the east coast, staying at hostels, and working from cafés and libraries. It actually worked, and was a lot more fun than staying home and watching Netflix.

Convinced that I could live my (and most people's) dream of travelling the world, I returned to Vancouver and started getting ready...for more waiting. The months rolled by, I collected vaccines like they were the new Pokémon, but still the world wasn't ready to fully open up yet.

I started doing cross training, because getting in shape is always a good idea. I kept running, and soon enough I was doing a half-marathon every weekend. I decided I was ready to attempt my first full marathon (on my own, since there still weren't any organized ones--or events of any kind--at this time). After eight weeks of preparation and one very long morning, I made it through 42 km in one go. I was now thoroughly addicted to running, and added running marathons around the world to the list of things I wanted to do.

We're now in early 2022, and how is this pandemic still going on? Anyway, I booked my first overseas trip, to Vietnam, and shortly thereafter, to no one's surprise, the airline cancelled the flight, with no explanation.

But in April, after almost having to cancel my trip again due to difficulties in transferring at Tokyo Narita Airport, I finally managed to make it to Vietnam, and spent a whole month there, the best month I had had in a long time. I got to travel around, meet new people, eat delicious food and drink amazing coffee, all while still keeping up with work.

Back in Canada, I started formulating my first trip around the world. There were still lots of international travel restrictions in place, so in the meantime I did lots and lots of hiking, you know, to kill time.

When fall 2022 rolled around, after two and a half years of isolation (as a single, middle-aged man with no kids, to make it extra boring), numerous countries had lifted most or all of their travel restrictions. Just in time for the Canadian winter, which I had had enough of.

I started Trip Around the World #1 in October 2022, having only visited eight countries; aside from Canada and the US, the other six were all in Asia, and I still haven't visited any other continents, including Europe, but that will change soon.

By the end of this one-year trip I'll have more than doubled that number, adding one new continent, and I already have plans for my next World Trip, which is to include Australia and New Zealand by the end of the year. I made a Google Sheet to help others--and myself--keep up with where I am and where I'm going.

One of my new goals is now to visit as many countries as years that I've lived, and I won't say exactly how many that is, but let's just say I've got a lot of catching up to do. (Okay it's 41 minus a lot.)

Four countries in on my first trip, and so far one of the best parts is that, during my travels, I've actually been spending less than I would back in Canada. Part of that is because in Canada the cost of living is quite high, especially compared to Southeast Asia, which is where I've been for four months. But I've also found that, if you do it a certain way, travelling the world actually isn't as expensive as you might think.

As for how I do it, well, that's one of the main reasons why I write these articles, so that hopefully someone (maybe you?) can do it too. And hopefully without having to reset your entire life.