How Did I Become A Digital Nomad?

From being an expat to traveling the world.

After living in the Middle East for eight years, I’ve finally packed my life and become a digital nomad. Was it an impulsive decision?

Yes and no.

For the longest time, I’ve dreamed of having the freedom to live the life I want — a combination of purpose and joyful pursuits. The only way I knew was if I could work remotely and do what I wanted in my free time.

Thinking about those yearnings a few years ago, I’m now a believer in the law of attraction. Whether you believe in God or yourself, what you think and desire constantly — what fills your mind and what you manifest — is possible.

I believe in a loving God who knows every part of me. When He promised an abundant life, I claimed and waited for things to turn around for me. I had my own plans, but even if they didn't happen, I knew His ways were better than mine. Gratitude fills my heart as I move forward in life.

Guess what? Faith really does move mountains.

A job opportunity opened up — a remote work for an NGO focusing on environmental conservation. It has been a dream of mine to be a part of a meaningful work — one that gives back or helps a good cause.

Apart from this, I’ve been juggling between my full-time office job and freelance work for the last 3 years. Obviously, my full-time job was my bread and butter. But with this new job and the other freelance work combined, I knew I could get by.

I took that as a sign to not renew my contract.

Holding on to faith, I booked a flight home, and together with my dog Tali, we said goodbye to friends and hello to the Philippines.

The Transition Period

What my family didn’t know, I cried the whole week since arriving home. I was missing the comfort, my own space, and privacy. I lived independently for 8 years. And I now live with my family, and even my dog was having a hard time with the new environment.

We had a comfortable life back in Oman.

But you know what?

It’s always the beginning that’s difficult.

This applies to anything we do in life — a career, a breakup, a new project, even climbing a mountain! It’s all just the start.. and then our body develops endurance and gets used to the new normal.

After two months of working remotely while staying home, which involved redoing an entire bedroom for my convenience, I left my dog under my family’s care, packed a 40L backpack, and started traveling across Southeast Asia for four months.

Little did I know, this experience would drastically change me — surely for the better. When I started living off my backpack, I began to see things from a different lens. I embraced immersive experiences over materialism. And thankfully, I had the chance to meet people from different walks of life who helped me confront many aspects of my being and understand my trauma.

This was also a key moment where I started being confident with my own brown skin. I’m more compassionate to myself — thanks to all the books I’ve read!

The most interesting part of traveling

Every little encounter feels like God’s own way of communicating with me. My faith is growing stronger, and so does my confidence. Perfect peace over anything else.

Traveling gives me the best form of education, one I’ve never learned from the four corners of my classrooms. It’s liberating, grounding, and way more fun!

Let me tell you the less interesting part of this — work.

When I was just home doing my work, it was easier. But when I started traveling, I struggled so much… for months! It was hard when my mind was constantly experiencing new things and then I have to sit all alone by myself, and do “work”.

This may sound ridiculous, but that was my reality. I was always anxious and there were times when I couldn’t put myself into work mode at all.

But like I said, it’s always the beginning that’s difficult.

Eight months gone by since my trip to Southeast Asia, I’m more confident and I can manage my time more efficiently. I’ve also been blessed with amazing bosses who understand my lifestyle and do not put so much pressure on me.

It’s mostly and always just me who put pressure on me.

Unnecessary worries. And I still do, but I’ve come to understand that worrying is part of life. What’s important is knowing what to do about it. From what I’ve only learned in the last few months, what helps is to acknowledge, and be gentle to self — like how we would be to our dear friend.

Do I love being a digital nomad?

Everything comes with a package. For majority of the time, I’m immensely grateful for the opportunities that life is bestowing me. But sometimes I think about the stability of working in one place, having a permanent job with benefits, and being surrounded by people in a working environment.

It gets lonely sometimes, you know.

But one thing is for sure, I’m growing and learning!

I’m living the life I once dreamed of. A life filled with adventure because a monotonous life would be so boring, right? So here I am embracing life’s ups and downs and making lemonade every chance I get.