KAY, the graphic designer + digital nomad
4/5 committed to her flexlife ⠀ 8/10 feels confident she’s living the lifestyle she wants everyday ⠀ 3 years and running⠀ Main interests 100% pay the bills ⠀ Follow along ⠀ Kay is a freelance graphic designer who has been working remotely for the past few years while nomading across SE Asia and Australia. ⠀ Kay fell into freelancing after she left her last full-time job. It was a case of work needed to get done in agencies but they weren't hiring full time. She knew she was heading out to travel but she had planned to have all her work finished by then. But, you know, clients and such so she just continued on with the projects with her trusty BF, the MacBook Pro and she realized it was much easier to work this way.
She says:
“I was in the future in terms of timezones too! I worked when I needed to so that means I could utilise my time way more and not be tied to a desk all day.”
Some projects require Kay to work for a week solid, but then she might take the rest of the month off. Or other weeks she may just work 8 hours a week. ⠀ Kay is a pro at prioritising her time and she likes to keep her day varied. She makes time to read, listen to podcasts, meditate, do yoga, draw, socialise, eat and work. She says, “Today was a full drawing day but I've cleared my work load. Last week I was with friends and we did some sightseeing then I worked in the evening on my new website.” She has plenty of time for passion projects - she works as an illustrator, does work for charities, makes things, like crochet at the moment and she’s been doing murals too. Plus she’s able to travel, see new places, experience new things and meet a hell of a load of people from everywhere!⠀ At this point, Kay is back in Scotland spending some quality time with family. She was dreaming about her mum’s cooking as she approached her trip back home and she is working on setting up a product line of her illustrations and creating a new app. She’s not worried about getting stuck back home or out traveling since she knows nothing has to be forever!⠀ ⠀ Kay says people think she’s “living the dream.” But she tells them it isn't a dream, it is an easily achievable goal for someone in her field and situation.
MASTER TIP: Keep your organisation skills sharp; you have to be an account executive, traffic controller and in charge of production. Be flexible with clients and refine your knowledge to make yourself a valuable asset as a freelancer. The more you can do, the better your workload will be. If you want to travel on top of that, try to live somewhere cheaper than your country to start. Get retainer clients to keep a steady income, which means you can spend less time touting for work and more time exploring.