Leaving the Office Job and Finding Myself in the Laptop Lifestyle

It’s been two years since I handed in my notice at my 9 to 5 office job. I didn’t realise that I had lost myself, and my soul, until I found it again living the laptop lifestyle from our van.

One thing has always stuck out to me when I look at other vanlifers, or travel influencers, online. The message always seems to be that they always knew this life was meant for them. I just can’t relate.

I was a high achiever at school, “gifted and talented” and all those lovely terms that made my parents very proud. It was inevitable that I’d end up at university, and I went, and I loved it. After that, however, I seemed to lose all sense of direction. I tried to do a masters degree, and I was capeable, but I felt no drive and flunked out. Life then took me through a series of retail jobs that I was always very good at, but saw no future in. I spent around 4 years having absolutely no idea what to do with my life. I just existed, going through the motions.

The Change

Ironically, this journey to finding myself started with taking an office job. It was the first job where I felt professional. I also had the pleasure of working for a CEO that pushed me, he saw some potential in me I think – and I’ve always been pretty good at the ‘fake it till you make it’ attitude – so I guess it seemed like I saw potential in myself too.

In taking this job, even though the title of this blog suggests that it’s the very thing I was trying to escape, I found my self-confidence and the belief that I was capeable of something greater than retail. I’m not trying to disrespect retail here, but what I mean is that I didn’t feel like an amateur anymore. I could tell people my job title and feel proud of it.

Realising I wanted more

The first thing I realised is that I wanted more money. I’d found out that the woman I had been training, and was “senior” to, was being paid more than me. I was hurt, felt a little betrayed, but I had found this new self-confidence and for the first time I knew my value.

I negotiated more money, but to be honest at this point I think the damage was done. I felt like the company had let me down and I had lost my motivation to graft for them. It was around this time that my partner and I started talking about what was possible.

Cam, my now fiance, had been living in a van for a couple of years. We spent all of our free time together and our happiest moments were on the road. So, when those conversations around moving in together started to happen, we knew we wanted vanlife. For this to happen, I’d need a remote job and I’d need a laptop lifestyle.

Remote Work

It took me a few months to find something remote. I’m now self-employed, which felt like a huge and crazy and scary step to take, but I still contract full time to a company, which felt safer.

I love what I do. I’ll go into this in more detail in future. But what I love even more is that there is so much unity between work and life now. I’ve seen people refer to this as a bad thing about remote work – that the lines blur and you have no separation from work and life. I think I see this differently.

I don’t believe that work and life should feel like two separate, and often conflicting, parts of us. My work is fulfilling, and the blend between work and life allows me to live exactly the life I want to live. I love it.

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the Laptop Lifestyle

I am now totally committed to making the laptop lifestyle something I can sustain forever. This blog is kind of my love letter to this life.

Over the last few years I have learned so much about making money remotely, content creation and building a personal brand; so as well as being my online diary, sheisremote is becoming my resource to help you achieve this too. This blog, as it grows, will help you develop your mindset, live a life that fuels your soul, and feel the most yourself than you have ever felt before.

The laptop lifestyle is possible for all of us.