Life as a Digital Nomad in 2015: My Year in Review

I know we are into the new year for a few days already.. And while my first ever New Years Eve in Sydney was really awesome, I actually spent the first day of the year lounging on the couch and the second with a big 30km bike ride around North Sydney. When I really should've taken the time to sit down and reflect on this past year. It's been a huge one in many ways!

January

My sister came to visit me in Thailand just after Christmas 2014 and we spend New Years Eve in Bangkok with my lovely Brazilian friends before heading off to beautiful Krabi and Koh Lanta in the south to relax in hammocks and watch the most beautiful sunsets.

I then returned to Chiang Mai  for a couple of weeks to sit myself down and get some work done. After all, this was my 3rd month of figuring out digital nomad life and how to stay focused and productive. I remember many nights with little sleep as I was working on my blog, portfolio and hustling for client work. I learned so much in those first months, I am surprised my brain could fit it all. I was working hard but maybe I was also a bit lucky that I was already making some income to at least cover my rent (super cheap anyways in Chiang Mai!) and feed myself with green curry and Pad Thai, yay!

Anyone who ever attempted something they thought would never work out will understand: the power of this moment you actually did it! For me this was having my first client and making my first dime without going into an office but by working online.

February

At the end of January I flew to Myanmar with my lovely blogger friend Camille and we spent almost a month traveling through the south of the country around Mawlamyine and Hpa-An and all the way up to the north to Inle Lake, Bagan and Mandalay.

Our plans got tossed a few times because of food poisoning (apparently everyone gets it once on their trip around Myanmar) and we didn't end up traveling to the beaches around Ngwesaung as we had originally planned. Instead we stayed in Yangon for a while longer which proofed to have quite some nice places to stay and explore. After all we both had some online work to do and Internet was really slow (or non-existing) in many places which was challenging. Looking back, traveling around Myanmar was mind-blowing, adventurous and I cannot even count the times I felt taken back in time. Not to forget the generosity and friendliness of all the locals met along the way. Wow!

On the 19th of February it was back to Bangkok to celebrate Chinese New Year. Yes, I was a little bit relieved especially to eat food I knew I could largely trust again after I went completely vegetarian in Myanmar. It was good to have a stable, reliable Internet connection again too!

March

I traveled towards the south of Thailand and spend a month living on the island of Koh Phangan. Whatever people say, Koh Phangan is not only Full Moon, Half Moon or Jungle parties, the island is actually really pretty with some incredible white sandy beaches without a soul in sight. I lived in a lovely bungalow surrounded by a beautiful garden in the Thong Sala area and spent much of my time working from the veranda overlooking the amazing pool. Or well, lounging in or around the pool.

After a few days on the island I caught a nasty eye infection and I needed to see a doctor. The weeks following I literally worked with one eye. I had a bigger website redesign for a client lined up and had one of those moments where I realised how much self-employed people cannot just pull a sickie but need to be healthy in order to work. I pushed through and finished the project which was rewarding in any way and I had really learned so much.

April

I decided to explore the island of Koh Samui for one month and found a very nice place to live near Fisherman's village on the northern part of the island. I did a lot of driving around exploring the different areas and beaches and just loved every minute of it. Compared to Koh Phangan the island is a little more cosmopolitan but also more touristy but still laid back enough.

I found some cool cafés with wifi where I continued to get work done, but unfortunately not all cafés have air con there. It was the hot season on the island with very dry, sunny days after all and air con was badly needed! I can recount a few heavy thunderstorms too. There were three blackouts in the month I lived on the island, two very short ones which lasted only minutes. And one blackout that lasted half a day and of all things I had of course a client call lined up for the mid-morning which I had to reschedule. Luckily, the telephone network and therefore 3G was still working.

I spent Easter Sunday with a huge brunch and lounging by the pool enjoying the cool vibes and DJ music at the infamous Nikki Beach Club. Not to forget the amazing sunsets you see from the western side of the island where the club is located.

It was so really worth it! The buffet is huge and possibly offers the best brunch on the island serving anything from seafood, veggies, crepe, sushi, including an omelette and carving station as well as pasta and thai specialities, not to speak about the huge desert buffet. Food with a view!

May

I rather spontaneously booked a flight to head to Europe at the end of April where I attended TBEX Costa Brava, the world's largest gathering of travel bloggers, writers, new media content creators and social media savvy travel industry professionals. There was tons of stuff happening around TBEX: from networking to day trips to parties and multiple day trips around the Costa Brava after the conference. I stayed in some fantastic places, ate some amazing food and got to fly in the wind tunnel – sort of like indoor skydiving!

The plan afterwards was to have no plan. And so I ended up searching for a place to stay in Barcelona for a few weeks.

June

What I didn't know about Barcelona before I arrived was that this city had an incredibly amount of coworking spaces, let alone a huge crowd of entrepreneurs, freelancers and other digitally working professionals. I was lucky enough to strike up some partnerships with some of the coworking spaces. I worked my way around the city and met some really cool people. I also made my first ever appearance in a newspaper in Catalonia.

I took on one of my bigger clients of the year doing social media management and therefore had to sneak in a short trip to Switzerland to have some face to face conversations.

Finally, my best friend came to visit me for a few days and we took some really fantastic trips in and around Barcelona.

July

A few weeks turned into three months of living in Barcelona. With the exception of a small trip to Morocco. I extensively explored the old city of Fez with one of the world's largest car-free urban areas and spent some relaxing days by the beach in Asilah. It was an interesting time to visit as it was Ramadan at the time and none of the locals were eating or drinking throughout the day. I got invited to join several festive Ramadan dinners and celebrated with locals and travelers alike after sunset.

After returning to Spain, I experienced some very hot weeks in Barcelona with over 35 degrees in the day and hardly any cooling off at night and there was no air con in the apartment which left me working in front of the fan powering through all day. Luckily, the Internet speed was the best I had seen in months.

August

I flew to Berlin to attend the first ever DNX Global to get some new inspiration, see a few old friends and network with a new crowd of people. I stayed in a beautiful Airbnb in Berlin Neukölln and afterwards caught a ride 6 hours traveling down towards the south of Germany.

It was time to see my family and catch up with friends. I set up my office in my mums garden, then worked from my best friends apartment in Cologne, took a small trip to the Netherlands and another one to Switzerland.

September

More time spent with my family before taking off to Thailand again in mid-September. I knew I would come back to Chiang Mai and it felt so familiar and comfortable being back and exactly knowing where to go. There were some things I hadn't explored previously so I ended up spending more time around the Old City and took a few day trips outside the city.

I also focused a lot on work and tried to exercise more as the summer months in Europe had been quite lazy in terms of fitness.

October

Just before my birthday I was off to Bangkok. Yet again, I was attending TBEX conference but I was a bit tired of networking this time around. I got the most out of listening to Sharon talking about SEO and catching up with friends in the blog space. I also enjoyed seeing some familiar faces, going out on Khao San Road and visiting an amazing spa oasis. After all it was my birthday which was celebrated with a lot of wine on one of the many rooftop bars.

Throughout the year I wrote an article about Australia, some of you might have read. I sort of celebrated 9 years since my first steps over the Australian border, where all the travel and wanderlust began for me.

One day I wanted to go back for a while, unaware that I would actually return a few months later. I had signed up on Trusted Housesitters because friends had recommended me to check it out as a way of traveling without having to pay for accommodation. In mid-October I left for a house sitting gig to tropical Darwin.

November

The internet connection in Darwin was great and since it was very hot outside throughout the day there was enough time to think about some new projects. It was a great time walking the dogs, playing with the cats, driving around Darwin visiting the wonderful markets, beaches and one of my favourite highlights, visiting the beautiful Litchfield National Park.

After an extended debate about where to travel to next, the decision fell for Sydney.

December

Living in Sydney is so cool! The weather has been a bit ordinary for summer as I was hoping for some more beach time but I got a bike and ride it (almost) everywhere if it doesn't rain. I have to thank Jayne who I met at TBEX Bangkok to invite me to her InstaWalk here in Sydney and thus introducing me to a cool crowd of people and brands. And Raf who invited me to some epic events. Thank you!

Last but not least, one of the biggest things yet: I got featured on Forbes!! Say what?!!

Pushing your dreams is hard work, there is no one recipe fits all but the people who have been there and had success can give us motivation and strength to fight and move forward. I ended 2015 watching the fireworks over the Sydney Opera House and I feel even more overwhelmed now looking back at this year as I have written it all down reflecting on it.

While various parts might sound to you like I took a big vacation, you should know that you are mistaken. Sometimes it's overpowering to have this much freedom and work from anywhere in the world. I think it's only possible to sustain this kind of lifestyle if you remain determined and disciplined.

And for sure there is hard work involved and challenges to overcome. Like unstable internet, heat, blackouts, sickness, loneliness… Things you most likely know how to handle perfectly in your own home but in a another country with a different language you don't speak?

At the end of 2014 I started into the unknown, I had moved out of my sweet apartment in Frankfurt, sold most of my stuff, I had no job and didn't know what was going to happen in the next 12 months. But now I know.

Thank you to everyone who's been a part of my journey so far and I look forward to what 2016 will bring!