While I was still studying I always thought I should start to work right after, find a job in a big company, make career and move in with someone. The closer my studies came to an end, the more I realized that this didn’t feel right. I didn’t wanna settle down at all. All I had was this feeling though, there was no plan and not even the slightest idea what I’m gonna do.

By total coincidence I found a small IT company to write my Master thesis with. I neither considered myself working in IT nor did I know that there are companies without offices. How does that even work? Frankly speaking, I was very close cancelling the job interview as I was scared of the unknown. Luckily I didn’t cancel. Never try never know, is what I thought, when I took the job.

And this is, how totally unexpected, my moving home came (in)to (my) life.

If someone told me two years ago that I would be moving around with my laptop and having a proper fulltime job with lots of responsibility, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. I’ve never planned or even thought of living a life like that.

Read more about my Coliving adventures so far!

Work life balance at its finest

The first country I worked from was Thailand in February 2020. I usually worked from where I was staying – mostly hostels. Maybe it was due to COVID or I was just lucky, but there weren’t many people around so I either worked from dorms or common areas. The work feeling itself wasn’t very different from working at home. Except for all the other perks that came with being in Thailand: Yoga before work, beach after, good food and company in between. Summing up: A work life balance at its finest. In the end I stayed in Thailand for five months. Four of them on the beautiful island of Koh Tao. Read more about my life on an island or check out my video.

As we all know, travelling in 2020 wasn’t as easy as expected. But when the whole pandemic situation relaxed a bit during summer I decided to spend a week in Paris. This time I got myself an AirBnb. What can I say… going to see the Eiffel tower, the Louvre, eating crêpes and sitting by the Seine after work was just too good to be true.

In September I spent 1.5 weeks in London – a city I fell in love with in 2013. I went back there in November and at this very moment I’m calling it my current home.

This is how I spent the first months of the pandemic.

There is no perfect

It has always been a big dream of mine to live in different places for a while and to experience new lifestyles and cultures. My moving home – but especially my employer – made all this possible, which I’m really grateful for. So far my laptop and I have been to great places and met awesome people along the way.

There are a few things very important for me to mention. Don’t get the image that this is a perfect (work) life, because it isn’t. There are indeed great advantages that come with it, but also some burdens. I have to be very active for example to have a social life and meet people during my stays. And I don’t get the pleasure of having lunch or even a coffee with a colleague. Also I don’t get to see my friends and family on a regular basis. Continuity is something that is not really part of this lifestyle.

Most importantly, it’s not that I just got offered to travel around. I had many talks with my employer and also worked hard to get this privilege. There’s so much more behind something that seems so perfect on social media – please never forget that.

Where to next?

For me – right now – being a ‘nomad’ feels right. I love packing my bags and going to new places. I love coming back to my home home. I love the changes and adapting to them. And as long as this feels right, I want to keep doing this. Because who knows, one day I might settle down somewhere and it will feel right.

I don’t have a plan yet, where or when my moving home and I are going next. Also in regard to the pandemic and lockdown it’s best to not move around too much. So I guess we’ll move around when the time is right, and it will happen soon.