It's so strange to be on the other end of your dreams...

I started embracing the digital nomad lifestyle fully when I left the Netherlands in 2020. I sold everything I had - the car, the couch, the cutlery, the TV, the Playstation, eeeeverything - and bought a one-way ticket to unknown adventures ahead!

I only had my laptop, smartphone, photo camera, and a bunch of clothes. And my wife haha! ;)

But... now almost 5 years later and hundreds of epic experiences later, and a bazillion photos later, I'm at a strange point in my life. I'm on the other end of the dreams I had in 2018/2019. They have all become beautiful memories. I wanted to become a world traveler, photographer and digital nomad, and I succeeded in that!

But it is the weirdest feeling...

Flashback
I remember somewhere in the 90s I collected cards from the Street Fighter movie. And when I collected the final card, I was so excited! But a second later I felt somewhat shocked that the journey was over. There was nothing to collect anymore...

I kind of feel the same with the whole digital nomad experience. I visited (and lived for many months) all the cool places recommended on NomadList, like Canggu, Mexico City, Kuala Lumpur, Da Nang, Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Tokyo, Osaka, and many many more.

The other side of your dreams
I had the most funky feeling when I visited Japan for 3 months straight where I crossed off so many bucket list items, but felt very conflicted after it was all over. I realized I actually did it. I was on the other side of my big dream.

It's just a strange feeling to see a big dream that is always in the far distance, become a set of photos on your photo roll and dozens of beautiful memories and cool stories.

Let me know what you think about this!

p.s. of course, it's a BIG world and there are endless things to see and do, and I will for sure travel and photograph the world for the rest of my life, but it was just a surreal feeling to be on the other end of my digital nomad/world traveler/photographer dream...