Early 2017
I didn’t like my job.
Monotony. Not much room to stand out. A long road to maybe getting into a position to make a meaningful impact.
I dreaded Mondays and got (relatively) excited on Fridays.
Was paying $1,375 a month for my share of a tiny 2 bedroom apartment in NYC.
With 15 days of paid time off (PTO) per year, my travel options were limited.
My only relief?
Going out drinking ~1 time per week.
I felt like life was slowly being sucked out of me.
Time for a change
I got chewed out by my boss for arriving late to work one day in February 2017.
I emailed him the night before, there was no urgent work, and this was not the norm for me.
Didn’t matter.
Is this my life?
By April 2017, I needed a change. I could start looking for another financial analyst job. Maybe that would help.
No, that wouldn’t do it. I needed something paradigm shifting.
I had an idea.
I could quit my job in June and actually enjoy the summer in New York.
And then…
I could take a 3 month trip to Southeast Asia (SEA) to close the year.
A nice summer
The summer was relaxing.
During the weeks, I had a lot of alone time, as my friends still had normal jobs. But that was perfectly fine with me.
On weekends, I hung out with my friends.
Barbecues, the beach, and nights out in NYC.
I started feeling excited about life. Really excited.
College was supposed to be the best years of my life.
Supposed to.
Hmm
A trip to the other side of the world
As September approached, I prepared for my big trip. Not going to lie, I was a little nervous. I had barely traveled in my life. Had never left North America. And here I was traveling to the other side of the world.
I booked my first flight – a one-way ticket from New York to Bangkok. Total flight time – 19 hours.
While I planned to return to New York before Christmas, I flew into Asia with nothing booked past that first flight and four days in a Bangkok hostel.
I would wing it from there.
Over the next three months, I spent time in Bangkok, Koh Tao, Chiang Mai, and Ho Chi Minh City.
Most of my time was spent in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City – yeah, the beaches and mountains were nice, but the cities had special energy.
I met some amazing people, and started considering the possibilities.
Life on my own terms.
Hmm
Time to come home…
A few weeks before Christmas, I flew back to New York. I wanted to spend Christmas in New York and thought maybe the dream had to end.
But I couldn’t think of a 9-to-5 that excited me.
I wanted to build a location-independent income that would cover my expenses, but didn’t know how.
A leap of faith
I decided to go back to SEA.
I would live off my savings and spend my time traveling and networking with successful expats. I hoped to come up with business ideas that could be pursued anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
I had enough money to live in Southeast Asia for a few years. More than enough time to figure things out.
…I hoped.
A new beginning
I traveled through SEA over the next year, building a network, exploring business models, and enjoying life 🙂
I started to get addicted to the freedom, and never wanted it to end.
But my savings were running out. And I was ready to do something.
One business model really stood out: writing.
I was already a good writer, and had a lot of untapped potential.
In SEA, it seemed like every westerner was doing something different from what they studied.
Sure, billionaire tech founders didn’t have to worry about limitations based on what they studied – or if they graduated.
But us mere mortals? We were supposed to have a specialized formal education if we wanted a job within that specialization.
Supposed to.
But it was clear this wasn’t always the case: I had met guys making good money – in ways unrelated to their college educations.
I considered the ways businesses are promoted with the written word. There were blog posts, sales letters, white papers, case studies, newsletters, and much more. After doing some research, I realized it was possible for me to make a nice living as a writer.
So, I read some books on commercial writing.
And tried to get some freelance writing work.
It was tough in the early days.
I made around $4k in my first year writing. Total.
But I kept at it. Exceeded my income from my financial analyst job in late 2021.
I was excited about work because a) the work itself was more interesting and b) it was easier to increase my income fast.
The wins were mine and the losses were mine.
Just how I wanted it.
In early 2022, I took the next step and launched a digital marketing agency. There have been highs and lows, but I’m grateful for all of it.
And I have no plans to stop.
