Blog.
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Traveling.
13. 09. 2018 • Reading time ~ 1 minutesTraveling is amazing. And if it is not only for holidays but rather for being a nomad, a lot of traveling will accumulate. In July 2016 my husband and I started traveling. Since then we’ve been in 14 different countries and counting. Everything started a few years earlier without 2-month camping tour through New Zealand. That’s when we realized how fantastic traveling is and how much the world has to offer.
Do you really want to be happy?
18. 05. 2018 • Reading time ~ 2 minutesDo you really want to be happy? That sounds like a weird question, I know. Because, who doesn’t want to be happy? Who would decide to choose anything else but happiness? Who would want to be unhappy? You feel the way you feel at the moment because you choose to do so. That sounds unfair to some and provocative to others. We’ve learned, that living itself is about hustling and suffering and fighting and always looking for the right thing, the thing that makes you happy.
Follow the small things
29. 03. 2018 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesEver wonder when the next big idea will hit you like a lightning strike? The big idea for a bestselling book, a new product idea, a new career part, anything that will bring you a new and better and sparkling future? Maybe this big idea will never come. Maybe I am just not made to be hit by something as dangerous and exciting as that. That means I can either keep waiting or give up.
The dog in my head
16. 03. 2018 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesSometimes, my brain behaves like a dog. A sweet little dog. But a dog that needs a lot of attention. Maybe something like an Australien Shepard. When I pay attention, keep him occupied, and train him well he is a blast to be around. We have a lot of fun together, get compliments and enjoy our evenings cuddling on the couch. But if I don’t pay attention, when I am distracted or forget to occupy this sweet little dog, it goes south.
Of to new adventures.
26. 09. 2017 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesSometimes you think your life is great. You love what you are doing, you enjoy it, and you feel excellent. No need to change anything. Just keep on going. At least, that’s what you are hoping for. But most times it won’t stay like that forever. Something is going to happen, something is going to change. No matter what, it will come. And at first, it sucks. If you like where you are at with your life and feel like it finally is the life you are meant to live you aren’t very eager to see it getting taken away from you.
Where did all that stuff come from?
19. 09. 2017 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesAs a digital nomad, you are kind of forced to own not a lot of things, because you have to carry around what you possess. At least in my case. Of course, some nomads still have a home-base where they can have a lot of stuff, but we aren’t talking about them here, so that doesn’t matter. So, back to me. When I started traveling, I sold everything I wasn’t going to take with me, gave a box of winter-clothes to my mum to store and of I went.
Don't blame the refrigerator.
14. 07. 2017 • Reading time ~ 2 minutesWhen we spent the first night at a new place-being it in a hotel for a vacation, a new apartment or, in my case a routine change of place due to the lifestyle of a digital nomad-we hear everything. We hear the cars driving by on the street, the wind rushing through the trees in front of the window, the upstairs neighbor walking around, the refrigerator humming as it cools down.
Imperfect.
01. 06. 2017 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesSometimes everything feels overwhelming. These are the moments I have no idea what to do and where to start. No matter what I do, everything feels wrong. Recently, I was redoing my website. Maybe you know that I work as a designer. So as a designer you have different standards about just everything. This might sound tacky, but unfortunately, it is. Everything has to be just right. Good is not enough; you are always seeking for something better.
Just decide. It doesn't matter.
23. 05. 2017 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesNobody really knows how many decisions each and every one of us makes every day. And about most of these decisions, we don’t think twice. We just do it. We eat, we drink, we breath. We just do it. But there are some decisions we can’t stop thinking about. We talk them over with other people and think about them over and over again. We make lists of pros and cons, research everything there is to know about the topic, ask experts and friends, and still, we can’t decide what to do.
If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.
11. 04. 2017 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesMaybe you heard this saying somewhere before. Maybe that’s the first time. Maybe it resonates with you, maybe not. But it’s still worth saying it “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.” And it’s worth repeating it in a loud voice: “If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.” But what does it mean? Sure, it sounds good. It sounds even better when you scream it from the top of your lungs (or in your head) with a big fat smile on your face and your arms raised towards the sky.
Sorry I'm late.
24. 03. 2017 • Reading time ~ 4 minutesI usually post on Tuesdays. And so far this worked. Until now. As you might notice, it’s not Tuesday; it’s Friday. So what happened? What was different this time? You might have read in one of my previous posts that I talked about showing up. I said that showing up is a key element to getting things done. In this instance, I didn’t know what to write about but sat in front of the screen and begun to write.
Why do you think so?
14. 03. 2017 • Reading time ~ 5 minutesEvery person has his or her own worldview. Depending on and influenced by everything around us we form an individual picture about the world that surrounds us. Most of the time we don’t even realize that we are projecting our view, our opinion, our truth onto the world and make the world we experience our own, subjectively place. Because it highly depends on our own adventures through life, everyone experiences the world in a slightly different way.
How do you know that it’s the right decision?
07. 03. 2017 • Reading time ~ 4 minutesIn life, there are a lot of big and small decisions to make. We make small decisions consistently. When to stand up? Press the snooze button one more time? What to eat? What to wear? Which movie to watch? Call a friend? Stay home because it’s raining? Always something to decide. Most small decisions are automated. Mostly we eat the same things for breakfast, we get our coffee from the same coffee place, we meet with the same people, we have our routines.
Nobody cares about you. Why that's a good thing.
28. 02. 2017 • Reading time ~ 4 minutesHow many times did you not do something or enjoy something because you were wondering what other people might think of you? How many ideas and opportunities did you discard or miss because others might not like them? How often did you change your clothes to wear something appropriate instead of the comfy clothes you would feel good in? How often didn’t you go somewhere because there was a pimple on your nose or you had a bad hair day, or you weren’t thin enough to show yourself in your swimsuit?
Fear.
21. 02. 2017 • Reading time ~ 4 minutesHow many people do you know that have something they want to change but just don’t do it? Instead, they are moaning about it all the time. I hate my job. I want to live healthier. I want to travel more. I want to stop smoking. All the things they want to do but don’t do it. All these sentences are followed by a big, fat but. I hate my job, but I wouldn’t get another one.
The thing about goals.
14. 02. 2017 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesHow many goals do you have at the moment? Want to write the book you are thinking about since month? Want to get a new job? Want to do X and Y and all the other letters in the alphabet? We all have goals we want to achieve because there is a magical land waiting on the other side. As soon as we reach this particular goal we are going to be the person we want to be.
Doing nothing. Nothing at all.
07. 02. 2017 • Reading time ~ 4 minutesWhen was the last time that you’ve done nothing? I mean really nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. When people say that they’ve done nothing the whole day or the whole weekend, they mean that they haven’t done anything productive. But they have certainly done something. Watched tv, read a book, browsed Facebook. Doing nothing usually means doing things you can’t do without feeling lazy. Not too long ago you would have been forced to do nothing while you were waiting at a bus station or standing in line at the grocery store.
Is it the end already?
31. 01. 2017 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesThe usual way life works is something like birth, school, some training for a job, working in this learned occupation, get married, have kids, retire, die. Maybe there are some ups and downs somewhere between birth and death, but otherwise, this still seems to be the way people think they have to live. I know a lot of people which wouldn’t want it any different. They enjoy their life just the way it is.
Know your limits. And push them.
24. 01. 2017 • Reading time ~ 5 minutesI am sick. Since I am back to Germany to visit family, I have a cold. There was a lot to do here, and I wanted to meet a lot of people I haven’t seen since I left. So there wasn’t any time to relax and get healthy again. Maybe you know these phases too. The times when you are feeling sick, maybe your throat hurts, or your nose is runny, or your whole body just feels tired.
Working hard, in a different way.
17. 01. 2017 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesAre you like me and are spending most of your time in front of a screen? Laptop? Tablet? Smartphone? Or whatever new, fancy gadget you own? If you do so and if you aren’t only doing it for fun but also for work you might know, that you can be exhausted after this kind of work. And that’s justified, for sure. The brain, which has to do the most work, in this case, needs a lot of energy to function on a high level.
Enjoy the ride, the end might suck.
10. 01. 2017 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesSo, making new year resolutions is fun, isn’t it? Thinking about the upcoming year and what it could hold for you. How great and exciting it could become. How much more you are going to become the person you want to be. All the small and big changes you want to make to improve your life. And with all these thoughts and plans you can start all optimistic and excited and powerful into the new year.
What are you waiting for?
27. 12. 2016 • Reading time ~ 4 minutesHow many things are there that you would like to do, to learn or to change? And how often didn’t you start doing, learning or changing these things because you were waiting for something? Some reason to do it, some sign to start, some person to help, some weather to change, some magical future day to arrive? There are dozens of things every one of us wants to do. Or skills we want to learn.
Average Joe.
20. 12. 2016 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesMaybe you remember two weeks ago when I wrote about showing up to get stuff done. And in this case, it worked. I showed up and managed to write a blog post in time. Yay me. Since then I was thinking more about how we get things done. When you think about the people you admire for what they have accomplished or are still accomplishing, how did they get there? How are they managing to accomplish so much more than most other people?
Please don’t answer.
13. 12. 2016 • Reading time ~ 4 minutes“Hi, how are you?” That’s how most conversations start. No matter if you know the person or it’s the first meeting, “How are you” is one of the nicer ways to greet someone. And the answer? “Fine, thanks. How are you?” Or something like that. And off you go with the rest of your life. You get asked this questions by the cashier at the supermarket, by the waiter at the restaurant, by colleges, friends and family members.
Show up.
06. 12. 2016 • Reading time ~ 4 minutesI decided to publish a blog post every Tuesday. Why every Tuesday? Because the first time I published here happened to be on a Tuesday. There you have it. The reason behind it is pure coincidence. So now I am sitting here on another Tuesday, and there is no post. In recent weeks the post was finished long before Tuesday. I just found a topic or had an idea, started writing, edited and improved it and was done with it.
All that stuff.
29. 11. 2016 • Reading time ~ 4 minutesWhen you travel, you put everything you need for the time in your suitcase or backpack. Depending on where you are going and what you think you need, the luggage varies from a small bag to an overweight suitcase you can’t handle on your own. Most of the time you don’t have to carefully consider different things, you just pack all your pretty stuff for your 2-week all-inclusive trip. But if you decide to become a digital nomad, you get another perspective.
I don’t like it but: haters gonna hate.
22. 11. 2016 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesEver been to a party or other gathering you didn’t know a lot of people? As a digital nomad that’s a pretty common thing. Maybe you get to know some people, and they tell you about a party they are attending. You don’t have any other plans, so you decide to join them. So you arrive there, maybe a little late, so your arrival doesn’t stand out. You just wander around and see if you know anyone.
Some days just suck.
15. 11. 2016 • Reading time ~ 3 minutesCorrect me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that everyone had one of these days. One of these days where you just know that it’s not going to be your day. One of these days you just knew that it would be best if you would stay in bed. Just one of these days. There is no reason to feel this way. Nothing in particular happened. There was no news worse than at all the other days.
If we go out there.
08. 11. 2016 • Reading time ~ 4 minutesPeople are social animals. We need other people. Whether we want it or not, we can’t be utterly happy without some kind of human interaction. But how to get this needed contact when you travel the world on your own? Being on your own, even lonely sometimes, is one of the biggest problems for digital nomads. You change your location frequently, and most of the time you don’t know a single soul at this new, gorgeous place.
The 30 second dance party.
01. 11. 2016 • Reading time ~ 2 minutesDo you feel stuck sometimes? Can you watch your mood go down? Your power draining out of you like a waterfall? Getting more and more exhausted by the minute? It’s time to move. Literally. Move. I don’t mean to change what you are doing; I literally mean moving your body. One of the best ways to do so is a 30-second dance party. Maybe you remember this from the tv show “Grey’s Anatomy”.