The mantra I’ve had in my head for the past year is “build a base first and then Go travel”, but now life seems to be telling me that it isn’t time for building that base.
Travel will be necessary in order to build the sturdy base that I want to make. The last few days I’ve forfeited the idea that I need to be totally independent in Japan and that everything needs to be running smoothly before I do the whole digital nomad thing.
The plain truth is, I thrive in uncertainty and even more so when I’m meeting new people and seeing new places. The issue with my current uncertainty is that I felt bound by Japan and all I have worked for for the past few years.
It feels as if I’m throwing it all away if I start having to rely on someone else for my visa or if I end up letting my visa expire or lose my private students. That really isn’t the case though.
I’ve come to understand Japan and my place in the world a whole lot better in the past few years. I’ve made new contacts. I’ve rediscovered how I interact with the place and the people and I’ve started to reach more people on social media.
The best time of my life was when I was living 3 months at a time, moving around without a solid destination. The only issue was that I had no income and so I was pushed into some pretty desperate corners. I slept on friends floors, dirty hostel rooms with no air conditioning and 15 people on bunk beds for 3 weeks at a time, in parks and on benches.
I did not want to work. I felt like a victim and had less discipline and focus. I didn’t actually believe that I could succeed.
Things have changed.
I don’t feel that way anymore. I’m happy to focus and happy to work, as long as it’s toward something that I can feel good about. I can put more energy into my music and writing and connecting and even my teaching.
I can see how the challenges are helping to carve me into a force of nature.
I plan to find the students necessary to live in places with a lower cost of living and do that 3-6 months a year and I’m going to do it by this time next year. I haven’t just imagined it, I’ve decided. I won’t go another 2 years in Japan without traveling overseas and doing meaningful things to connect with the world.
Here are some pictures from 2013-2015, when I was busking and backpacking and it was probably the time in my life when I felt the most peace and energy.
I only gave it up because I was tired of sleeping on floors and with fleas and not sure if I’d have enough money for dinner. Now I think I’d be able to keep working and earning money while living this life a few months a year.
I still have until February on this visa and so now that I’ve thrown out the idea of starting a company, I can focus on finding the online students to make this work or on finding a job for a year that will make this plan a certainty.
My new plan A is to try a visa which nobody knows exists where I become technically employed as a contractor by one of my clients just for the sake of a visa. It’s totally legal but no one does it so no one knows if it works. After I secure the new visa until Feb 2024 I will plan a month or two in Asia and see where things go from there.
I may end up losing some of my face-to-face students but I will likely have more chances to promote my music, my writing and the communities I’m building across borders.
This Plan already has me really excited and even the plan B and plan C feel good!
🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
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