An Honest Day in the Life of a Digital Nomad: House Sitting, Teaching English Online, & More

So I never ever thought I’d make it to this point? Like being a ‘digital nomad’ has always been a kind of crazy dream of mine, but here we are (#living and #thriving, bby) and only having about one mental breakdown per day!!!!

Lol just kidding, although not gonna lie, anytime you go against the grain I think mental breakdowns are inevitable. Actually, I also had them when I was working a normal 9-5…so maybe that’s just #life?

But ANYWAYS. Curious about what being a traveling house sitter/online english teacher/rainbow unicorn is all about? Here’s what I do to keep busy every day (and FYI, it’s not sitting at the beach drinking margaritas all day and pretending to work! And while I am actually near the beach right now, it’s in England so it’s far from the tropical destination you’re probably picturing…)

Every day is different obviously (that’s kinda why I chose this life? I get bored real quick) but here’s a kind of typical hodgepodge type day:

6:30AM: Woken up by cat scratching on the door. Open door and go back to sleep. 10 minutes later woken up again by a cat massaging my face. Then biting my neck. Not sure if cat is actually Dracula. Plan to never leave my door open at night.

6:45AM: Finally get out of bed to feed cats because otherwise I will continue to get unwarranted facial massages (which I don’t think my facialist back home would approve of). Have to lock cats in separate rooms because otherwise they will eat each other’s food. There are 4 of them. So that’s 4 rooms. It’s a whole routine.

7:00AM: Get ready for the day which means crying because I’m tired and making my morning smoothie, aka salad and frozen bananas. (It’s actually really good tho and you can’t taste the lettuce leaves. Plus I get all millennial and put things like chia seeds and brazil nuts and pumpkin seed butter in it.) Then I brush my teeth and wash my face because I have cat paw dirt all over it (my face, not my teeth).

7:30AM: Teaching! I teach English online for VIP Kid, which I’m really enjoying (and is one of the great digital nomad jobs!). At this point I have a mix of regular and new students – I’d say it’s about 35% regular and 65% new (and yes I got those numbers from a very mathematical procedure called guesstimating). I sing, make faces, laugh, and hope that the students enjoy my classes (and that they learn something, of course).

10:30AM: Break time. I feed the cats, because apparently they’ll die if I don’t even though they just ate 3 hours ago. I love them, though, and I try to pet them when they let me. I totally have a favorite and she has permanent cat flu and her purrs sound like a clogged motor boat. It is super cute.

10:40AM: Eat a snack, because I will also die if I don’t even though I also ate 3 hours ago.

10:50AM: Finish class feedback (you have to leave the parents a short note about each lesson – I try and do this in the 5 min break between classes but sometimes don’t have time if I take longer with a student).

11:00AM: Clean the house, aka taking out the trash, emptying the cat litter, getting the mail, etc. Check my emails and see if there’s anything important. Comb through the house sits for the day (I get an email each day with a long list of new sits, and see if anything strikes my fancy). Send out emails to potential house sits.

11:45AM: Prep for my next set of classes (which involves going through the slides quickly – VIP Kid prepares all the curriculum for you, you just have to teach it – and gathering props. I also like to read notes I left last time I taught the student if they’re returning, or notes other teachers have left if they’re new).

12:00PM: Teaching again!

2:00PM: I stuff my face because I’m usually starving at this point. Then feed cats.

2:30PM: Take the bus to town to a cafe. The buses here are terrifying – the drivers drift around tiny hairpin turns and are constantly coming to a screeching halt. I very much admire their abilities. Reflect on the fact that I could never ever be a bus driver. We’d all be doomed.

2:45PM: I usually finish class feedback that I haven’t gotten to yet, work on my blog, edit photos, scroll through Facebook and Instagram (although I’m trying to be more mindful of this lol), and just generally figure out my damn life (which is a LOT of work in itself, let me tell you). I would stay longer but this is the smallest town ever and everything closes between 4 and 5.

5:00PM: Walk on the beach. It’s nice but it’s also England so even though it’s July it’s 65 degrees (18 degrees for all you Celsius people) and probably windy. But it’s still really pretty. Remember, ~there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad outfit choices~ which is what people that have shitty weather tell themselves to feel better. Because there totally is such a thing as bad weather. And that’s 60 degrees and raining in July.

6:00PM: I walk back from the beach and take the bus back to my current place of residence.

6:30PM: I force myself to work out!!!! This usually involves going for a run or doing yoga. And maybe like 10 minutes of arm/core exercises lol.

7:30PM: Shower, eat dinner and most likely dessert, maybe talk on the phone with someone from home, get ready for bed. Probably work on my blog or Instagram a little more if I’m feeling crazy. Cuddle with motor boat cat. Try to cuddle with the others but they aren’t interested.

9:00PM: Feed cats again. I try to feed them later so they don’t wake me up so early – it doesn’t work.

9:15PM: Prep for classes the next day.

9:45PM: Do more random shit like read and journal. Promise myself that today I’m GOING TO BED EARLY but inevitably fail.

12:00AM(ish): Finally time to sleeeeep. I probably pee because I have the smallest bladder known to anyone. Slap my sleeping mask on. Close my door because Catula.

An alternate version of this day would be one where I go and explore, and that would mean I either stop teaching early – like around 10:00AM – orrrrr not at all. This version of my day is probably much more exciting and what you all ~THINK~ being a digital nomad entails. But honestly this sort of day doesn’t happen as often as you would think!

OR it’s me tossing off my hermit shell and putting on my extrovert hat and actually going out and socializing…But that doesn’t happen as often either LOL.

Some days can be frustrating (I mean duh, this is life we’re talking about), and can be full of computer problems or having to find a doctor if you’re sick in a place that doesn’t speak your language. And digital nomad life in general can have its downfalls – not having a permanent address can cause some problems sometimes!

And there are just a LOT of frustrating things that traveling in general can bring up. The bane of my existence will always be planning my next move, because I can be super indecisive haha.

And just last week I had a complete and utter breakdown and had to call my friend crying because I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING WITH MY LIFE AND WAS BECOMING A DIGITAL NOMAD A GOOD IDEA AND OMG I’M OUT HERE ALONE WHAT HAVE I DONE???!!!!!!

But like, 90% of the time it’s super awesome and I love it. These are all small complaints to the huge benefits that being location independent brings me! I like creating my own schedule and I really like teaching and blogging and house sitting. I’d also like to create more of a real life community in the future, but for now, online via Instagram and phone calls shall do.

So this is where I’m at right now – what do you think? Is it what you expected? Is being a digital nomad as ~exciting~ and ~exotic~ as you thought????

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