Across the Miles, My Different Lifestyles: Introduction Edition

A friend asked if I could blog about how since I travel constantly and spend my time in a few different states/cities regularly, what my lifestyle is like. Is it different from one place to another? YES, it absolutely is!

My home is officially Houston, TX, but when I’m not there, I can usually be found around the Bay Area, CA, Las Vegas, NV, or Los Angeles, CA.  That is if I’m not travelling somewhere for work (only a few times a year) or elsewhere just because!

But before I even blog about these locations and how I live differently in each, I’d like to introduce my back story first to explain what brought me to live this uncommon lifestyle.

For those who don’t know, my job is 100% remote meaning as long as I have internet access and a phone, work U.S. hours and get my job done well it doesn’t really matter where I’m actually working from. I am blessed with a manager who knows I’m a hard worker, doesn’t mind my regularly changing location (aside from me staying within the U.S.), understands and allows me to entertain my wanderlust and who is secure in the knowledge that I will do my job without compromise from wherever I happen to be. Granted I have worked with my manager many years, proven my dedicated work ethic and gained her trust to not take advantage of the situation that would cause negative ramifications to my team or my company.

I’ve had a remote job for many years but only within the last few years have I changed my lifestyle to take advantage of my work flexibility to bring more to my personal life.

My brother was a huge influence in this change as I had envied his well traveled business life while I stayed home – a true workaholic who barely left my desk to eat lunch much less use the restroom for an average of 12 hours a day. Work was my life and I put it ahead of most other things for over a decade. I didn’t really go out, usually too tired to do anything else and gave everything I had to my job. I had probably a few conversations with my brother about changing my life from 100% work to enjoying life and pursuing my dream of traveling while still getting my job done. It took me too long to realize the error of my ways, but at least I wasn’t too late.

I slowly started to take trips here and there, to test the waters so to speak. Including my first solo trip to another country (Japan). They say taking an international trip changes you. IT DOES and I highly recommend everyone do it once in their life! I began spending time with friends, meeting up with people I hadn’t seen in the decade of my life where I sequestered myself, doing things that I normally wouldn’t have before (saying yes when my inner voice was screaming no) and as a result, became hooked to the living-out-of-a-suitcase-lifestyle. I was watching myself and my life change first hand. How could I have wasted so many years?! I was finally experiencing true happiness.

Then my brother suddenly died and my life was thrown into a tailspin. It’s indescribable the way your perspective of life changes when the person you consider the rock of your life is no longer there. The fear of literally dropping dead at any moment haunts me and probably will until the day it actually happens. Oh, the regrets I would have had if I passed away at the tender age of 35 as he did. If I was so set in changing my lifestyle before, this traumatic event made me dead set on making the change (morbid pun completely intended). I started living my life in fear I could leave this earth at any moment and I ran from that fear by flying and driving from destination to destination desperately in search of happy moments, joy in the little things, wonder and amazement from the big things. It was through my almost crazy perseverance of seeking more out of my life by going city to city that I coped with the grief and started to heal. I knew he was looking down at me and smiling that I was finally getting out in the world, even if only around the U.S. and once a year internationally as I had always dreamed of doing when he was alive. I was making one hell of an effort that he could be proud of because I can embarrassingly admit I didn’t even try before.

Now that you have a brief insight into why I live and travel the way I do, stay tuned over the next several weeks as I dive into each of the cities I call home, but isn’t really home all at the same time.