I Quit My Highest Paying Job to be a Digital Nomad

I Quit My Highest Paying Job to be a Digital Nomad

Teacher Bae is retired 😢

Let's start from the beginning in 2019... Shall we?

I finished my mechanical engineering degree in December of 2018, a semester early, and decided to go abroad with my free months before graduation. I found a program and booked my flight. Italy wasn't my dream destination or anything like that, but the program fit my timeline and I was eager to experience life in another country.

So, I moved to Turin, Italy to be a volunteer English teacher for three months.

Read more about my time living and teaching in Italy

Living and teaching in Turin, Italy (2019)

I lived with an Italian family, took public transportation, and worked at a local language high school. I was eating pasta on a daily and drinking wine twice a day. Basically, I was living the dream.

Three months in Italy flew by and I felt like I was just getting settled when it was time to leave. I cried on my last day of work and at the airport saying goodbye to my host family. I was completely immersed into life in Italy and three months just felt too short. I had fallen in love with living abroad and didn't want it to be over yet. So, I made sure it wasn't.

While in undergrad, I attended an informational session about a volunteer teaching opportunity in Dakar, Senegal. I applied, but never heard back so I decided to reach out again to get an update on my application. To my surprise, they thought I was already planning to come. Say less.

I got home from Italy and immediately began preparing to move to the continent.

A couple months later, I was living in Senegal as a volunteer English teacher and continuing my journey of living abroad.

My semester abroad was slowly turning into a lifestyle.

Get my Guide to Teaching Abroad here

Living and teaching in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (2021)

After that, I spent a year teaching in South Korea and then got another position at an international school in Haiti. And that's where the story takes a turn...

In 2021 I made the decision to go completely remote. Throughout the year I had a total of 9 different jobs at some point in time and a lot of them were all online. I did web design, online teaching, social media management, graphic design, virtual assistant work and a bunch of other things to ease my way into being completely remote. Your girl was WORKING.

I used my resources, networked, researched and did what needed to be done to make this transition possible. Being location independent and in control of my time was always the goal so now it was time to make it happen.

So, I decided to quit my teaching job and dive into being a freelancer full time.

Teaching had provided a life for me for years and I was giving it up for uncertainty. Freelancing can be really good and it can also be really inconsistent. From constantly looking for new clients to chasing down unpaid invoices, it was definitely going to be an adjustment compared to the steady paychecks as a teacher.

I knew it was a risk, but I also knew the reward would be amazing. Being able to travel more freely and not be tied to a physical location was a different level of freedom.

Those 3 years as a teacher literally changed my life. Teaching abroad opened my eyes to the world and the lifestyle I wanted to have. Through all the ups and downs I wouldn’t trade my time as an international teacher for a thing. I got to live in four different countries on four different continents. I met so many amazing people and made connections that are going to last forever. From host families to friends to coworkers, countless people made my time as an international teacher unforgettable.

Living and working remotely in Costa Rica (2022)

Deciding to leave teaching wasn't an easy decision, but it was the right one. I took a chance on myself and it paid off.

Fast forward to 2022 and I was a full time digital nomad traveling through México and Costa while working from my computer.

I’m living an “unconventional” life, but I was the poster child for following the steps when I was growing up. I went to school, played sports, graduated 4th in my high school class and went on to college. In college, I busted my ass and graduated summa cum laude with my mechanical engineering degree from thee Tuskegee University. I looked for regular 9-5 jobs in my field just like everyone else. That's what you're supposed to do, right?

It took companies telling me that they wouldn’t let me work in their overseas offices straight outta college for me to take a step back. I knew the lifestyle I wanted and decided to make it a reality.

I started teaching abroad in 2019 and it showed me that what I wanted was possible. Then, I trusted my intuition and took another leap of faith. I left behind my highest paid job and entered into a new chapter.

But that's not where the story ends...

Read about my transition from freelancing to full-time remote work here

Would you leave stability behind to pursue the lifestyle of your dreams? Let me know in the comments!