WHere?! Nomad Local Blog

“The hardest part is taking the first step and being patience,” I often heard from entrepreneurs when starting their businesses. And embarking on a Cultural Travel can be just as hard as that. So an experience like this one can create great things but not easy to bring up.

Nowadays, the internet is flooded with the idea that to travel, you need to be a Digital Nomad. Otherwise you have to own a business, to work online, or be a travel influencer. The idea isn’t wrong; you can do all that, but it’s not always the case.

Actually, you can create your own path on the way, the answer secret is simply: start and keep going. Although, something seems great, realizing that it’s harder or isn’t what you expected can origin one of the greatest frustrations. Can be even paralyzing. And making your Cultural Travel sustainable can create one of these situations. Why?

Enduring Patience While Traveling

We experience frustration when our expectations are far from reality. For example, traveling to Europe might seem like an amazing idea. Then the week you went, it rained, and you barely did anything. The perfect plan you had was ruined, and on top of that, you paid a lot for it.

Not accepting reality can lead to traveling with negative feelings. On a Cultural Travel, where every day is important, we are more vulnerable to making mistakes and facing unexpected situations. Having a plan becomes as unstable as not having one. Unexpected things will happen all the time, and you need to know how to deal with them.

In my case, it happened when I arrived in Slovakia looking for a work opportunity. However, I realized that as a foreigner, I had less priority for jobs (which was fair since locals should be prioritized). So the easiest thing was to apply for jobs no one wanted. That meant doing things I had never done before.

I searched everywhere for a place where I could do something. Most of the options were in factories or schools. The idea of working in a factory wasn’t very appealing, but that’s what was available. That’s when the plan falls apart, and it’s time to accept reality. I started applying for those jobs, and still, I wasn’t accepted.

Also in WHere?!: Why did hosting travelers change my life? What to do before being a nomad

In the meantime, I searched in schools, but it was the same story: no space or my profile didn’t match. And that was a problem, because this could led to frustration, as nothing was going according to plan.

Nevertheless, patience and flexibility were key. After visiting several schools, one told me there might be a vacant. I just had to come back in three months to see if the position became available. This meant I had to leave the Schengen area for 90 days and return in July. At the end of the school year.

“The flexibility to change my plans and the faith paid off.”

Accepting that my plans were far from reality and still trusting that there was an opportunity made me decide to leave and return. Spiritual growth also played a key role here (which I’ve discussed in other articles). So with faith, I trusted this path.

The flexibility to change my plans and the faith paid off. After traveling for those three months (Turkey, Macedonia and London), I returned, and they told me the position was open. I began the process to be hired as a Spanish teacher.

Taking Action While Traveling as a Nomad and Backpacker

I’ve mentioned before that you don’t need a lot of savings or an online job to travel. That doesn’t mean you should do nothing during the travel—quite the opposite. When I decided to leave Schengen to come back and search for work again, I had to find a way to earn money.

During my first month traveling to Turkey, I thought meeting people from many countries may help build connections. Several were interested in learning Spanish, and I thought I could teach them. I just needed patience to find students, and they appeared gradually.

“Reality won’t always match our expectations, but that shouldn’t stop us from taking action.”

It was also during this time that I thought about starting this blog so that someday I can work only from it. And as I said earlier, the hardest part is not coming up with an idea, but it’s really just starting. Reality won’t always match our expectations, but that shouldn’t stop us from taking action.

We just have to wait for the right time that everything happens. That’s why I started writing and recording here.

Perhaps I didn’t have many resources to travel, but teaching Spanish online helped me gradually fund my travels. Maybe I had to improvise a three-month trip outside Schengen, but in the end, I found a job. We don’t know if any of our projects will help us achieve the Cultural Travel we dream of until we start.

Everything starts as an idea. But with decision many things can be achieved. Just remember: patience and action are key, things won’t always turn out the way we want, they’ll be better. You just have to step up and wait for it to happen.