Love

The day I first realised I’d do this job for free was the day I realised I’d hit on something really important in life. To do something I love and get paid for it is the ideal I will always try to achieve through each career change in life. When you do what you love for a living, you never work a day in your life.

The ultimate goal for a travelling soul is of course to figure out how to make their chosen career as mobile and flexible as possible, or to even choose a career that requires travel. I don’t get paid to travel to exotic destinations, but some people have figured out how to do this which I have a huge admiration for. Working while travelling, or working to travel requires a lot of personal flexibility. For some people freelancing is already a challenge because there is no structure to the work day or a boss to keep you working, so bear in mind that you will need to be very self-disciplined to also keep moving on the job. This is something I am still trying to get right.

My advice to anyone considering a career-change into a field that makes a difference or going freelance or work-travelling is, don’t be afraid to screw up. You will probably screw up a few times but its really not a big deal. Even less of a big deal if you have a little bit of cash reserves, which I didn’t have, but it always helps. When you labour with love it will always come back to you. Follow your love, your passion with trust, and life will love you back. I have taken some seriously crazy risks towards my passions many times in life, and have never been let down.

These are a few of my favourite things…

Dreaming of living on a boat in the ocean, exploring abandoned buildings and retrieving treasures! Sleeping in a hammock, even better — snuggling in it with my love in a rainstorm. Waking up outside in the jungle to the sound of howler monkeys. People watching from coffee shops, hilarious people, incredible trees, the sound of a steel guitar, friends who pop round without warning, circumnavigating the globe (hopefully one day in a boat), solid friends who keep hanging in there even though I keep moving, long-distance walking adventures, living out of a backpack, treehouses and teeny tiny homes (especially those on wheels), swimming in the ocean, soaking in mineral springs until I get high, knitting, felting, sewing and making things by hand, baking stupidly malformed goods, spending time with wise women, baking and making potions with medicinal herbs, riding my bike, ridiculously SUPER positive people, crotchety old men, big noses, sexy kids who Parkour, breakdance, skateboard and BMX trick my days away, kayak-camping adventures, froofing punk-ass caterpillars into mohawks and moustaches, making friends with feral cats, waking up to a sunrise on the beach, inappropriate conversations at the dinner table, men who make great cocktails with extra cherries, playing pool (though I horribly, horribly suck at pool), getting high on sugar-loaded treats and going completely off my rocker, conversations that go off on crazy tangents, holding hands, tasting new foodstuffs, recycling old stuff into funky new stuff, music with a deep primal rhythm or lyrics that never leave my imagination, sleeping in on rainy days, imagining what it would be like to live in a penthouse suite in Japan, ottomans in front of fireplaces…