The One About How I Became a Digital Nomad

It started in March of 2018. I was going through a period of my life where I was determined to grow. I had consciously and subconsciously surrounded myself with people that inspired me. I was partaking in a range of networking events, connecting with like-minded individuals and managing a full-time job, a part-time business, a long-term relationship and a vibrant social life.

One evening I was invited to an acquaintance's home to play a game. Not any game - the Wish game, an “energy game that's helping thousands of people around the world to manifest their greatest wishes”. On March 20th, I walked up to the white picket fence of a seaside home in Sydney’s northern suburbs, along with seven other women.

It’s worth noting that before I arrived on that starry evening, I didn’t know what the Wish game was. I was invited to the event by a close friend and thought it might be an opportunity to connect with some inspiring women, and so I RSVP’d ‘Yes’ to the event.

Karen, our host, was welcoming. We trickled in one by one, a mix of new and familiar faces greeted me. Before long we took our seats at the round table that was neatly decorated with a centrepiece of lilies, that had been pushed aside to make room of the game board.

We started with introductions. Who we were, what brought us here on this Tuesday evening. I spoke about my desire to connect; my longing to surround myself with women I can be inspired by. I wasn’t aligned at this point in my life. I could feel a disruption in my natural flow, like a log banking up a river’s current. I was searching.

The other women had different, yet similar stories. A longing for something more, something slightly out of reach; but there, visible.

The aim of the game was to discover that “something more”, unravel it, know it, and then figure out what it will take to grasp or achieve it. It was a collective inner journey, and we would each provide guidance to one another so that we could all leave the room that evening, with more clarity and determination to get what it is that would make us feel like we are aligned with our truth.

We start with our wish. The aim of the game is that you come up with a detailed wish, something tangible and specific. The room grew silent as pens hit paper and we started to write our wishes. You could almost hear the cognitive wheels turning, and for a short moment we were focused on what it was we truly desired; what it was that would truly make us happy.

I love self-reflection like this. It’s like New Year's Eve, a time to check in and see you’re on the path you want to be on. I started to think about my life. What made me happy? What were my values? What was something that I truly wanted, no limitations?

“I am being paid, within the next 9 months, to share my message through published mediums. I wish my message could divinely inspire others to lead more compassionate lives. I wish I could help others connect and make positive impacts in their own lives and in the lives of others”

Basically, my wish entailed the ability to free myself from the shackles of the daily grind and pursue a life that was true to my values This was all I really wanted.

Once everyone had written down their wish, we exchanged them and helped one another tweak them so they were more specific and achievable. It’s important when wishing for something, that you are specific in what it is that you want. Considerations like when and how and who make up the perfect wish. Don’t be vague, be detailed.

We then picked our crystals (aka game pieces like the iron in Monopoly). I picked the Gold Tiger’s Eye, which coincidentally read -

“Rest easy in the knowledge that you are in good hands, and concentrate on the wish itself. Don’t distract yourself with unnecessary thoughts or actions.”

The game had begun. Teresa rolled the dice. Three. Pick a card. Abundance. “You are never given more than you can handle.”

The game works like this. You roll the dice, choose a card. There are rules. You can take steps back and take steps forward. The aim is that you eventually reach the end while picking up pearls of wisdom along the way and using these to relate to your wish. It’s basically a fun, subconscious counselling session. In the end, you leave with clarity, happiness and direction.

I left the house that evening with those exact 3 things. I was feeling a whole lot of determination and exhilaration. I returned home that night with boosted energy, explaining to my partner how wonderfully strange it felt to be there with those women, supporting each other and sharing our deepest thoughts.

I had tucked my wish, that was written on a small piece of paper, between my phone and my phone case and, that night, I fell soundly asleep knowing that somehow I had created something magical.

The next morning I woke to my usual 7 a.m. alarm. I got up, got dressed for work, kissed my partner goodbye and walked the 30-minute route to my normal 9-5 office job. That routine went on every day for four more months. And every day after, that wish felt more and more like a distant memory.

Little did I know that something in me had shifted. And one day in mid-July I started to develop crazy thoughts. What if I left my job to work remotely? What if I became a digital nomad? No, that’s not possible. My boss wouldn’t agree. I might get fired. What about my apartment? What about my partner? What about my life in Sydney? I had devised every single “What about” that could have possibly existed, and despite all that, a voice inside me knew that I no longer wanted to be living this life.

I thought back to that wish, four long months ago. All those things that I had written down came from somewhere. A deep desire for something more. It was now up to me to grasp it - and it was achievable. But sadly, it meant a lot of sacrifice.

The hardest part wasn’t figuring out what I really wanted. It was realising what I’d be willing to give up in order to achieve it. Here I was, once again, one foot a realist and one foot a dreamer. But I know this story. It’s played out a thousand times before. And the dreamer always wins.

Those few months were hard. I left a man I loved dearly. I left a home. I left a narrative of who I had once been. I found courage. I faced fear. I found my truth.

And here we are, almost exactly one year on. I write this full of emotion; grieving the life I once had, proud of the life I created and damn excited about life for the future.

I pinch myself from time to time. I sit in meditation with immense gratitude. I also sit in difficult times where I miss love and I miss the arms of someone. I ponder when filling out the address field on forms because I essentially have no address. Home is where I am.

But this year has given me everything I could have ever imagined. And I can’t believe I bloody made it work. I actually did the nomad thing. I work remotely, for a company that pays me well, and funds the work I do with The Altruistic Traveller. I (hopefully) divinely inspire others to lead more compassionate lives and help them connect with one another.

Could it have been the wish game that created all this? Or was it just me? I guess I’ll never know. So now, that I have created the life that I always wanted, I wonder if it’s time for another wish…..