A few days ago I shared some thoughts over my Instagram Stories @adamfrancisco about how to become a digital nomad and it got a lot of positive feedback through DMs and private messages on Facebook so I wanted to make it available here. I didn’t think I would end up using the videos after the 24 hours expired so the content is very raw and somewhat disorganized (I mean, look at my hair) but I think the message can inspire some people. If you don’t love your job, you should watch this.
Key Highlights
“Your future is not guaranteed. You might never be 60 or 70 so don’t keep thinking that you’re gonna make it that far”
“If you’re one of those people that makes over six figures and you don’t really love your job, you could probably make $15,000 a year remotely.”
“As long as you have a boss, you’re not really gonna be in control of your own life, of your own time, of your own freedom”
“Freedom is the most powerful currency.”
“Besides freedom, the other most important currency is health. Without health, all the money in the world doesn’t really mean much. Ask any billionaire who has a terminal disease if they would trade all their money for health and the answer is gonna be yes. So really, health, time & freedom…I think those are the top 3 currencies.”
“I think that advertising is to blame in a big way because our job as advertisers is to convince people to buy things that they don’t need or to tell them what they want.”
The Subtitles (Because I’m a New Yorker and I talk fast)
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All right guys so to recap …
The weather here’s beautiful, especially if you go the beaches where you get a nice breeze, it’s a lot cooler, less humidity. Everything’s cheap. So my personal recommendation to all of you…
My recommendation is get a taste for it now while you’re young. Your future is not guaranteed. You might never be 60 or 70 so don’t keep thinking that you’re gonna make it that far. Get a taste for it today. And here’s how you do it.
So many of you are going to retire one day and you’re probably going to want to retire at the beach. I mean that’s just a fact. Look at Florida. Look at all of our grandparents. They all go to Florida or they move somewhere warm. So you’re gonna want to retire at the beach. My recommendation is…
Try to save up $10-$15,000 dollars instead of spending it on stupid shit like brand name clothes, or things you don’t really need. Save that money, take a gap year. A life gap year. Just leave your life for a year.
Get rid of your rent. Get rid of your car payments Get rid of your … whatever you don’t need. Even your phone bill. Get rid of that too. Live rent-free. It’s so cheap out here. And you can just travel for a whole year on like, 15,000 bucks. You can travel for an entire year in Southeast Asian and the beautiful part about traveling is not only is it good for your Instagram, but it also expands your mind and shows you new culture and meet new people. It’s great.
Now look. If you are one of the 1% of people out there that really loves their job, then you know what, good for you. You hit the lottery. For most people, they don’t like their jobs or their job is a headache or a nuisance. You deserve a year off.
Here’s another thing. I’m 35 now. I know a lot of my friends make over six figures now so if you’re one of those people that makes over six figures and you don’t really love your job, you could probably make $15,000 a year remotely. Think about that. You probably could do that if you really tried.
Now companies are trying to be progressive now with these remote work cultures and “unlimited vacation days” but as long as you have a boss, you’re not really gonna be in control of your own life, of your own time, of your own freedom so just think about how you can become more free.
If LA (Los Angeles) taught me anything, freedom is the most powerful currency. Having actual unlimited vacation days…oh here’s my breakfast. Hey girl, what’s up?
And yes, Asia may not be for you. You might not like Asia or Southeast Asia. Whatever. You can really do this anywhere you want. You can go to Eastern Europe, South America, Central America, Africa. There’s so many other places.
One quick footnote: besides freedom, the other most important currency is health. Without health, all the money in the world doesn’t really mean much. Ask any billionaire who has a terminal disease if they would trade all their money for health and the answer is gonna be yes. So really, health, time & freedom…I think those are the top 3 currencies. Somehow, our society messed up along the way and we made money the most important factor in the world. And there’s a lot of people that have enough money to be very happy and they just keep chasing and chasing like it’s an endless video game. Like an endless runner. And I love this meme.
Honestly I think that advertising is to blame in a big way because our job as advertisers is to convince people to buy things that they don’t need or to tell them what they want. And therefore, they need more money.
I used to live in New York City and I had an apartment for $4,000 dollars a month but I also had a job. I was drinking 5 nights a week with clients and I had very little time to myself. Very little time. So now that I’m out here in Thailand. Or even when I was in LA, I drank once a month. Twice a month maybe. And I had so much personal free time. It was awesome.
And so while I loved LA, I had to leave because you need to work hard to make money to sustain that lifestyle in LA or New York, even though LA is cheaper than New York. I had to move here to stop the financial hemorrhaging and bleeding and I’m stabilized now.
So anyway, if you are upset with your job, if you hate the routine, the monotony, if you hate having to rush your vacation days, and rush your gym time and personal time, DM me and let’s brainstorm how we can make you a little bit freer. I’m happy to help.
If you’re already married, I’m sorry for your loss. But if you’re not married and you’re single, I recommend taking a gap year and traveling the world meeting people from all around the world. Just living this free life. I’ll tell you this much guys, the single best part of traveling single is you get to meet local people of the opposite sex and they get to show you their country in the most authentic way. It’s incredible.
That’s not an innuendo. I literally mean they take you to the best local restaurants, the coolest places.
I was in Laos (it’s pronounced Lao not Laos by the way) 2 years ago and I met up with a local Laotion. She invites me to this park which was an hour outside of town and I never would have gone or heard about it because it was so far out of town that tourists don’t really go there. But she was a local so we went out there. It was awesome. We had a great time at the park. We took a lot of great photos. I’ll put some in this feed. She then invited me to a wedding that night. How cool is that? I went to a traditional Laos wedding. It was so cool.
Of course I had no dress clothes with me so she said let’s go the mall and let’ buy an outfit so I’m thinking the malls that we’re used to seeing in America. In Laos, they don’t really have a mall. It’s just street vendors and that was their mall so I bought an entire wedding outfit for like $15 bucks.
That’s my rant for the day. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I hope you guys watched the whole thing. If not, that’s cool too. I’m gonna go get a foot massage, maybe 2 hours. You know why? Cause I deserve it.”
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If you have any questions about becoming a digital nomad or want someone to bounce ideas off of, I’m here! You can e-mail me adam@befreemysheeple.com. And of course message me on Instagram, @adamfrancisco & @befreemysheeple.
Be Free My Sheeple.
