In this post I want to go over my journey that essentially led me to figuring out what financial freedom means to me. I wrote and posted a photo as an Instagram entry to the Freedom Summit Contest #freedomsummitcontest, but realized this would be a great blog post as well.
Utilizing geographic arbitrage and building up passive income, I pretty much had that financial independence that people longed for. Since I didn’t like to spend much money, my passive income more than covered my expenses without me really doing much work. Did that mean I had hit some ultimate goal, to retire/not do anything? Read more about my story below.
My Journey
When I quit my job and traveled the world for 2 years as a digital nomad, financial freedom was the ultimate goal. I was going to build enough passive income to live a life of freedom so that I could see the world and do whatever I wanted.
After building up my online businesses, I started making a few thousand dollars in passive income per month, and found that I was saving a lot of money WHILE traveling. I tracked I spent $11,767 for 9 months of travel – which equaled to around $1,300/month, and my passive income well exceeded that figure.
I thought I had succeeded as I could live this way forever. I thought that would be IT.
BUT I was left with more questions.
I didn’t feel fulfilled from just making more cash flow. Ultimately, I realized I needed more purpose in life. I was making good cash flow from Etsy, Amazon, blogging, and more. But having achieved numeric goals just wasn’t enough. While in Chiang Mai, I saw many nomads just relaxing while covering their minimal expenses. That can be a great life for others, but I realized this wasn’t exactly the life I wanted.
I was still young, and I wanted to live life to my fullest potential.
I wanted to learn.
I wanted to create.
And I wanted to do something helpful to the world.
So I came back home to the Bay Area to be around loved ones, build skills, and create something impactful. And after my 2 year journey of seeing the world, talking to people of all walks of life, and building passive income, I finally realized what financial freedom meant for me.
What does Financial Freedom Mean to Me?
Financial freedom is never the ULTIMATE goal. Instead, it’s a means to an end.
Without purpose, that freedom is wasted.
Financial freedom is a freedom that allows you to pursue your dreams NOW, instead of waiting until retirement to attempt your business idea.
It’s a freedom that lets you take care of your health, rather than stress over paying your next rent check.
It’s a freedom that lets you think about how you can contribute to the world, rather than get caught up in worrying about your finances.
It’s a freedom that allows you time to spend with your loved ones, so that you aren’t stuck working late hours while your family longs for time with you.
Ultimately, financial freedom allows you to live a life that’s true to yourself.
