The Digital Nomad Life: 9-5 Jive

It doesn’t. Luckily, the third try is the charm, and I jump out of bed and race through my morning routine. Over the past two years the process of getting ready for work had become something I could do in my sleep; in most cases half alseep. I run to my car, fasten my seat belt and let out a deep breathe in order to relax into what will be a two hour drive in an obscene amount of traffic to get to work. Just a typical morning morning in the life of Liz.

After braving relentless traffic with my fellow 9-5 workers and what seems like an army of parents accompaning their kids to school, I make it to the office at exactly 8:30am without a second to spare. As I step through the glass doors of my office, the countdown to my lunch begins. The day is a blur of meetings, phone calls, and emails. My lunch break flys by in an instant and I find myself shutting my computer down at the end of the work day. As I exit the same glass doors I had entered 8 hours ago I reflect on my five day work week and whisper “One down, four more to go.”

Fast Forward six months…

I’m not going to lie. I landed my dream job when I became Accounts Director for Digital Nomads Asia (DNA). Every day I “go to work” I pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. Like many people I had a 9-5 steady job at XYZ Corporation where I was employee number 1234. Day after day I would wake up, commute to work, slave away for 8 hours, go home and prepare to do the same thing the following day. I lived for the weekends and my 30 minute lunch break. In the US I was lucky to have a job that paid well and had health care benefits. Lucky, but not happy. At DNA we work hard, but we do it our own way. I don’t go to work. I work where ever I go. Being mobile and having a flexible schedule has helped me better balance work and life. Not having to put my career on hold to travel and enjoy life as been amazing.