Realizing Your Dreams as a Freelancer

I think that 99% of people who become location independent do so for a specific reason. After all, it rarely happens by chance that you decide to give up stability and perceived safety for something unknown. Some may do it to be able to stay home with their kids. Many nowadays want it to be able to travel. Others just ‘want more freedom’. For me, it was something more specific.

It started 5 years ago when I dated a guy from Barcelona. The love for the guy faded, but the love for the city only grew stronger and ever since I’ve been saying, ‘One day, I will live there.’ As it goes, life got in the way for a while – local job opportunities, local love – and 2 years ago, I heard myself claim ‘I will move to Barcelona before I turn 30.’ I had two years to go.

‘But the job market there is SO bad!’
‘You speak hardly any Spanish!’
‘How will you survive?’

Fair points raised by concerned friends & family, so my solution was ‘I need to have my work online, so I can just take my laptop with me.’ Mind you, at that point, I had never heard of the term ‘digital nomad’ and it hadn’t occurred to me yet that this way, not only could I move to Spain, but I could travel anywhere!

For 1,5 year, life got in the way yet again. Now it was local love combined with lots of ‘digital nomad trips’. However, last month I found myself in the position where absolutely nothing was holding me back anymore. So I did it.

I canceled my lease.
I’m moving to Barcelona mid-October.
I will be living in Spain before I turn 30 this December.
I’m realizing my 5-year long dream.

And it’s all possible because I became location independent.