How did I get here?
Back in 2009, my career was on life support.
I had just spent six years pursuing society’s definition of success. A nice car. A house. A stable career as an ergonomist (an ergo-WHAT? Don’t worry about it, I’ll explain later…)
There was just one problem – I didn’t want any of it.
Choosing a Life Path at 21 is Beyond Stupid
The heat was on. After five years, college graduation was dead ahead – and I had no clue what I wanted to do.
With my parents bankrolling much of my schooling, I wanted to show them an ROI. In my senior year, I had taken courses on ergonomics – and unlike most of my science courses, I actually got good grades in these classes.
Sooo… what the heck is ergonomics? And what exactly do ergonomists do?
Ergonomics is the study of work and workplaces. And the ergonomist aims to make them healthier, safer, and more efficient.
And… to college student me – they made lots of money.
But that DIDN’T mean the profession was interesting.
It wasn’t.
But I had gotten my Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology, because $$$$.
So ergonomics it was.
Stuck in a Rut with My Tires Spinning – for Six LONG Years
For the next six years, I tried to establish myself. But I was met with nothing but frustration.
I got a plum internship – but eight months later, I was the odd man out.
I moved to Alberta in search of better fishing, but ran into a git-r-dun culture that couldn’t pronounce the word ergonomics, let alone appreciate it.
I worked with an inventor on a boob-shaped anti-fatigue platform (my housemates called it the “grey tit”).
But with his plans moving at a snail’s pace, I would be old and grey before anything came of it.
I’ll be withering in my self-criticism.
Back then, I was an immature 20-something. With the right attitude, I could have achieved much better results.
But even that approach would have been doomed to failure.
Because underneath it all, I just didn’t care.
It was always this way – deep inside, I had a writer’s soul. In high school and college, my science grades were mediocre at best.
When I did well, it was my arts electives saving the day.
To be Reborn, You Gotta Die
POV: It’s February 2009. It’s 8:30 am, and you’re starting another soul-crushing shift at the paper recycling warehouse.
Probably not a career choice most of us would make. But as the stock market crashed, I figured any job was better than none.
Six months prior, I had quit my previous day job in a steel mill. It was the most stable, best-paying job I had post-college.
But working as a trades apprentice, despite being the first step to a “stable” career, was slowly suffocating my muse.
By the summer of 2008, I couldn’t take it any longer. So I quit.
Unbeknownst to me, it was the beginning of a long, strange journey. A spirit quest, if you will.
And then… the stock market collapsed.
This snapped me back to “reality.” With the arrival of the Great Recession, jobs were scarce. So I took what I could get.
Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire
The path from failure to success is rarely ever a straight line. Sometimes, it starts by taking a steep plunge into the abyss.
Imagine: months after leaving the safe harbour of the steel plant, I was in a dirty warehouse sifting through paper and cardboard.
At best, I was sorting through office documents.
But usually, the job involved separating trash. One bag that came in from Walmart contained human vomit – yeah, it got nasty.
And our boss? I’ll just say this: one day, a client came in and called him Hitler (for being such a hard-ass, he wasn’t a racist).
Mike just laughed. And that’s all I’ll say about that.
This place wasn’t tolerable mediocrity – it was pure hell. And pure hell forces action.
I was miserable. I had to get out.
But how? One day, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Why not do the “irresponsible” thing and chase my passions?
From Warehouse Worker to Boat Captain: How’s That for a Twist?
Within weeks, I had exchanged my warehouse hell for a job in Jasper National Park.
That’s right: as I was closing on 30, I opted to “run away from my problems” by getting a job in a tourist town.
But I didn’t just get any job – I had gotten a position as a tour guide.
However, that was only half my job title. As a fresh recruit for Maligne Tours, I was also expected to drive a 41-foot tour boat.
That spring was one of intense learning, bonding, and triumph.
Would I make tourism my new career path? Perhaps – but it was just one of many possible futures. For the first time since graduation, my life was once again open-ended.
Embracing the Free-Spirited Life
Are you tired of life? Move to a mountain town – when you’re surround yourself with people under the age of 25, you can’t help but get infected by their youthful energy.
Here, even the “olds” act far younger than their age. Like Portland, Jasper, Alberta is a place where young people go to retire.
But I wasn’t checking out of society – I just needed to escape a crappy situation.
And it worked – after a few short months, Jasper had rejuvenated my soul. I went from a cynical adult to a kid again – at 29.
As fall approached, I didn’t leave. Instead, I applied for a job at Marmot Basin, the local ski hill.
My job there was far less glamorous than at Maligne. I worked in the kitchen, and work days were hectic. But I didn’t care – my job came with a ski pass, and that was all I needed.
That season, I skied every day after work and on days off. By season’s end, I went from a marginal skier to being comfortable on most expert runs.
I’m not sharing these stories to brag. All these experiences were more than just “irresponsible” fun – they were driving personal growth.
As a tour guide, I gave tours to hundreds of tourists per day – speaking skills.
As their boat driver, I was responsible for their safety.
As my skiing improved, my confidence soared.
And as I hung out with the free-spirits of Jasper, we had more than good times. As time went on, their love of travel rubbed off on me.
It was time to hit the road.
The Great Unknown
At age 30, I was an international travel virgin. Before then, I had been to exactly two countries – Canada and the USA.
By November 2010, that had changed. On a dreary Vancouver morning, I boarded a plane bound for Asia.
The first destination? Thailand.
Over the next week, I had more WTF moments than in the previous decade combined.
But as enchanting as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam were, it was the people I met that made my wanderings memorable.
And some planted seeds that would later sprout.
I returned home that spring, but the genie was already out of the bottle. I had found one of my life’s great passions – world travel.
By the following winter, I was back at it. And this time around, I ran into a group of vacationing teachers.
I spent several days with them. And as I did, they talked about their adventures teaching English as a Second Language in South Korea. And more importantly, how it could fund a life of ongoing travel.
Seed planted.
Germination
But as compelling as that idea was, I wanted to give “normal life” another chance. Why? Societal pressures, I guess.
Anyway, in 2012, I moved to Calgary to be close to my sister’s family.
With funds limited, I got my hands on the first job I could find.
Any guesses?
Yeah… it was another warehouse job. If anything, my past is an embodiment of the saying, “Lessons are repeated until they are learned.”
However, it was just like all the other j-o-b-s… it paid the bills, but starved the soul.
A few months later, after a particularly back-breaking day at work, I began to plan another escape.
My first impulse? To email the blogger I had met in Thailand two years earlier. His site was growing, and I suspected he needed help.
This premonition proved correct.
He answered back within hours. He had a network of niche sites that needed maintaining, and asked if I was willing to assume responsibility over them.
I agreed, and in doing so, my seeds of my future digital nomad life began to grow.
The Last Job I Ever Had: Fleeing the Hagwon
I didn’t instantly land beside a pool, laptop by my side. That wouldn’t come true for another year – to get there, all I needed was a little push.
That push came from teaching, but not in the way I thought.
Remember the ESL teachers I met in Cambodia? After eight months of grinding my Calgary warehouse job, I was ready to quit – again.
So as I weighed my options, the thought of teaching English overseas bubbled to the surface of my mind.
With my 9-5 quickly falling out of favour, I decided to give it a go. I researched my options, and landed on South Korea.
Weeks later, I successfully interviewed for a job in a hagwon (a private ESL institute, not unlike Sylvan Learning Center).
But as it turned out, teaching ESL wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies – especially in the private sector.
In South Korea, there are two ways to teach ESL – public or private. Go public, and you make less, but you have more benefits, holidays, and support.
The private sector offers more money, but working conditions are harsher. In many firms, corruption is often a fact of life.
But at first, things went well. I got paid on time, and bonded well with my kids and Korean co-teachers.
However, as time went on, the school’s director started making unreasonable (and often contradictory) demands.
And on top of all this, my health coverage still hadn’t come through (this is required by Korean law), despite being four months into my contract.
Week by week, my job got more stressful. I wasn’t enjoying myself.
I’ll be clear – none of this was my student’s fault. Some kids liked me, others were indifferent, and there were a few class clowns. But I loved them – even towards the end, they brightened my day, when everything was going wrong.
One week after returning from summer vacation, things came to a head. I couldn’t continue any longer.
Within two days, I was on a plane headed for Thailand, with absolutely no plans for the future.
Sink or Swim: From $0 to $1,000 in Remote Income in Three Months
After a few days spent licking my wounds, reality set in.
What now?
With only a few thousand dollars in savings, I didn’t have much runway. If I was serious about becoming a digital nomad, I had to hustle – and fast.
Fortunately, my blogger friend threw me a lifeline. He offered me SEO writing work.
I hit it out of the park. Within a month, I made $500. And shortly after, he referred me to his network. By November 2013, I had my first $1,000 month.
That may not sound like much, but it’s a living in many countries around the world. And with that, my digital nomad life had begun.
And That’s Just My Origin Story…
I have tonnes of stories to tell. But I’m running SUPER long. So thanks for sticking around to the end.
Got any questions? Feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line on my contact page – cheers!