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112) Saying YES to Life, Even When It Looks Irresponsible · Digital Nomad Life Podcast

• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there and welcome to the Digital Nomad Life Podcast.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Krista, also known as Christopella Travels, on social media.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I always say my handle at the beginning of every episode because I really want to encourage you to send me a DM if you have any questions at all about how you can possibly change your life.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when I say change your life, I don't just mean living out of a suitcase.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: I don't just mean traveling full time.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: If that is what you want, if you typed in digital nomad and that's how you found this podcast, like on some Spotify or Apple podcast platform, because that's really what you want.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: You want to travel, amazing.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: I love that for you.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: I loved that for me when I did it too for four years.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: I literally traveled to like 60 countries without having any home base at all.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that was an amazing part of my life.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: But do you know what?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: That was a while ago now, and now I'm still a digital nomad, but I live a really different kind of lifestyle.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: I uh I have a home in Bali, Indonesia, for a three-bedroom house, and I have a dog and a routine and a schedule and commitments and all this stuff that kind of keeps me a little bit more grounded.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm still a digital nomad because I still have freedom.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And in this episode today, I think I just want to talk about the concept of freedom and the different ways that that has shown up in my life over the past month and a half that I've uh totally ghosted this platform.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you are a frequent listener, first of all, I just want to say thank you so much for being here.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for tuning into this episode, um, especially because the title of this episode isn't super practical.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, for the most part, when I make podcast episodes, it's like I just want to share what I know.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I know so much, and I have so much to say.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: I have so many lessons that I can teach, um education that I can give.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: But I also just have a philosophy on life that I feel like I really want to share with you today because my life philosophy, again, has shown up in some really beautiful ways over the past few weeks.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just sitting here in my room looking at the palm trees and the coconuts outside and the birds chirping and the volcano in the distance and the blue sky and thinking, wow, I'm so grateful that my life is the way that it is.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because I've just been saying yes, and I've been rolling with the punches, and I've been, yeah, going through some roller coasters and you know, I'm not saying that everything's been so easy and amazing.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it hasn't been.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: There, there's been some challenges over the past couple months.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but ultimately, again, I sit here with a whole lot of gratitude and optimism and hope for the future, for my future, for the future of the planet, for the future of you, for you to go on and change your life and make it magical as hell.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, I just wanted to, I guess, give you a little bit of an update.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I'll treat this episode kind of like a phone conversation.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: We can just imagine, I'm just gonna imagine you on the other, on the other end of the line and share with you what's been going on and all of my lessons learned.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I just something about me and the way that I make content.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's really important to me that I'm not out here just like being self-indulgent and sharing with you about me because I want you to care about me.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I I care about you, and I care about you getting something out of this episode.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, as I go about telling you just of some updates of my life, then I'm gonna be taking each little piece and update and sharing with you my lessons learned.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, um, yeah, let's start off with where I was in November, which is when I last published this podcast.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: So actually, let's just talk about the fact that I last published an episode in November.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's now mid-January, and um, I've been I've been kind of going through a bit of like uh, am I feeling bad about this that I haven't published anything in a few weeks slash in a month and a half?
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, am I feeling bad about that or am I feeling liberated about it?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And what is it that I would want to share with my clients in response to this?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because yeah, like I, as a business owner, um I share, people learn about my business very naturally through my podcast.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: So when I make more episodes and when I'm consistent with my episodes, then more people learn about my business and then I ultimately make more money.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the more people that are aware of me, the more people ultimately will be able to pay me.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just how business and marketing work.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: If nobody knows about your business, you don't really have much of a business and you definitely don't have any marketing.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, bit of a background about me.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: I am a business coach, I'm a business and a career coach.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: I help people, specifically people who have been working in a nine-to-five and feel like they're kind of stuck in their specific role and they want to go on to do something fully remote because they want more freedom, they want more autonomy, they want to be location independent, they want to work online.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: I help people like that figure out what's the best and most aligned career path for them.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then I show them how to build that business.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what I do.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's where I'm coming from.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: And as a business owner and especially as a business coach, I know that I quote should be showing up regularly on my on my podcasts.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like this is actually my main marketing channel.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And when I don't show up to my main marketing channel, my business does suffer.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: So something that I've been thinking about a lot there is again, like, do I feel shame around this?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Do I feel like I'm not good enough now because of this?
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think an earlier version of myself definitely would get caught up in a um a shame spiral where I would be saying, Oh my gosh, like I suck.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not cut out for this.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how dare I take so much time off?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: If I do this, who do I think I am?
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or oh my God, I'm stressed about money now and I need to make sure that I make more episodes.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, the worst is gonna happen.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go bankrupt and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like all these scary, depressive thoughts could very well have shown up over the past month and a half.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing, and I think this is why I say that like I like to share my philosophy because I do feel that it's pretty different than the rest of the world and even other entrepreneurs, right?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: I love having a business, I love making money, um, I love entrepreneurship, I love success, like I I love all of these things.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: And and and I am a huge hippie in my heart.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: I really am.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I believe that there is so much more to life than just working.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: I also have this perspective that life is short and sweet, and presence is the only thing that's real.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like this moment right here, right now, is the only thing that is actually real.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: So when things come up in my present that take me a bit away from my business, sometimes I lean into that, even though my business does suffer.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a conscious choice that I've made over the past month and a half.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, would I have felt better about myself if I had been able to lean into the present moment and continued to publish all these podcast episodes?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: I wish that I had been better about that.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: I wish that I had been more consistent.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: I wish I had showed up because if I did, I would have more money in my bank account right now, probably, because that's how my business works.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Again, the more people that know about my business, the more people are able to pay me.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I would have had more money um had I shown up more.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I didn't.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't for a few reasons.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so one, one of the reasons why, is because I went to a festival in Thailand in December.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I feel like over the past couple of years, um, well, over the past six years that I've lived in Bali, I've had some really, really close girlfriends.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I feel so blessed and lucky for my close friendships.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: But over the past couple of years, they slowly started to maybe spend more time outside of Bali and like they're getting married and stuff.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, I just started to feel like I really wanted to set the intention to make new friends.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, surface level just like doesn't freaking do it.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: I love a lot of people.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm such a people person.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but for me, I feel like I can go really, really deep with people.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: And those are the kind like the people that are capable of going super, super deep with me, those are the people that I want to invest my time and energy into and becoming friends with.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: But those people are not just abundant everywhere, and you kind of need to get to know them over time in order to know if they're capable of going that deep.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: So basically the point is in 2025, actually since 2024, I had a major intention of finding girlfriends that could meet me at the level that I like to operate in.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted friends who, yeah, not just could like have deep conversations with me, but also could talk business and think about the future and abundance and possibility, that also love dancing and fitness and um, yeah, like travel and can do all this stuff with me.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm kind of like asking for a lot in terms of the friends that I was looking for.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I knew that.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: I knew that I would have to like be patient and wait and hope that the universal algorithm brought my girlies to me.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah, over the past year, I was developing some friendships with some other girls here.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: They wanted to go to this festival in Thailand.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: So did I, because I love festivals and I love dancing.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, you know what?
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Even though I feel like my business could really use my attention right now, I this is also a huge priority for me.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna go.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go to Thailand and I'm gonna make it relevant to my business.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: I started off my whole journey abroad in Thailand and I kind of had all these ideas of how I was gonna take the Thailand trip and turn it into content.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: But the thing is, I haven't been super diligent about my content either.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, over the past maybe like year or so, I've struggled a little bit with making short form content because I felt like my identity was a little bit disconnected from the business.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: I built my business in 2020 when I was obsessed with traveling.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Traveling was like the only thing I cared about.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: It was like my be all end all.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: It was my personality.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: I like made my personality a traveler.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: I made my my Instagram handle, Cristabella Travels, my business, the digital Noma Life Academy.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Everything was all about traveling.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: But um, over the past few years, like I've developed different values and I've become more mature and more grounded and stable.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: And um yeah, like now I have a home, I have a dog, I have routines.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: As you just heard me say, I really value friendships, like deep friendships.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm also looking for a life partner.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: So like I wanted to be a bit more stable too for that reason.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I just the point is my priorities have changed.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: So um I was, I guess I was kind of in this muscle memory of creating content about travel.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: But one thing that I've learned, and maybe this is something that you can take with you too, whoever you are listening to this, and this is why I preach alignment so much, is that if you like creativity comes very naturally when you are on a mission, when you're like, that's what I want to do, and you get to channel all of your energy into that mission and you're excited about that mission.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Naturally, creative ideas will come to you.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: And when the creative ideas are just coming to you, it's so much easier for you to take those creative ideas and put them out.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not someone who's scared of being on camera anymore.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I used to be way back in the day, like before I started my business, I was so afraid to show my face on social media.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: I thought that it would make me look like a narcissist.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: I thought that like people would judge me unfairly.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I just, I was scared.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't, I didn't know what the bullies from high school were gonna say.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I just was scared, right?
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so, like years ago, I overcame this big challenge of being comfortable to show up online with my face and my voice and everything.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I knew that over the past however many months, my challenge wasn't that I was afraid to show up on social media.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: It was more that I just like didn't know what to say or I didn't know how to say it.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I had the intention of going to Thailand and making a bunch of content there, and I ended up again, still just like not really being able to make that content.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: So the Thailand trip um got me what I really wanted, which was a lot of quality time with girlfriends who I was like on the brink of developing a deeper relationship with.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: And now I feel like, you know, when you travel with people, when you have peak experiences with people, you just get to make these memories that really seal the deal with that relationship, you know?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm so happy that I went to Thailand.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so happy that I went to the festival.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: I also had this moment too where I was like, you know what?
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in my 30s, I'm financially secure, I have time, I have energy, I want to have fun.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that there are all these other people my age that are like at home with their kids right now and they're just doing more serious, lifey life things.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like I owe it to them to just go have the time of my life, right?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: Am I right?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: Am I right?
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: That was my also philosophy, and this is what I've decided.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, as long as I'm still single and energetic and healthy, like, why wouldn't I keep pursuing all the things that are the most fun when I don't really have so many other responsibilities?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: On that note, I feel like I'm also ready to have responsibility.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that was something that was really reflected to me too over the past like month or so.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, after I went to Thailand, one of my best friends from home, uh, Molly, shout out to Molly if you were listening to this, who's been living in Australia for the past like 10 years with the guy that I introduced her to.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, what, what?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I played Cupid.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: And uh they just had a baby and they brought their baby to Bali.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so I got to spend time with their six-month-olds.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: And oh my god, just like spending time with this baby and seeing my friend be so just connected to her daughter and like really attuned to her.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, yes, I feel like I'm ready for that.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: And whenever that time comes, I'm gonna keep having fun until then.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna put my life on pause or like try to force something to happen.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: But um, that was just like like just being in that energy.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh yeah, I can totally see myself doing this.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: And and I'm so grateful that I have an online business because when I meet someone and then I want to have a baby, I won't have to go through so much of a transition in order to welcome that baby into the world and still allow myself to operate my life in the way that I want to.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know, I really, I really feel for mothers who go on maternity leave and want to stay with their babies, but then have to go back to work because their work is tied to a location that their baby cannot come to.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: I just that idea breaks my heart.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I I know that like being a digital nomad is the thing that will enable me to never have to be in that situation.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm whenever I'm a mom, I will be a stay-at-home mom because where else would I be other than home?
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, where else would I be staying?
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to an office.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna get to run my business and optimize my systems while still having a baby on my lap in the comfort of my own home.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: And if I wanna take a trip with my baby and go back and visit my mom and introduce my baby to my mom for like three months, I can.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: If I want my baby to have uh like a multiple passports, I can do that too.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like, do people think about these things?
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do normal people think about these things?
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Serious question.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: You, whoever you are listening to this, whether you have a child or you're childless or whatever, have you ever thought about the fact that you could give your baby so much more privilege by giving them an extra passport by having the baby in another country?
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's a whole strategy, by the way.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know how people can optimize their taxes by going to different countries, setting up their businesses in different places.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like, there's you can also do that with with your new human.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that just got me thinking too, and again, just feeling so grateful that my life is just completely and utterly free.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: And because my life is completely and utterly free, that means that not only do I get to benefit from that, but my future children will as well.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna get a mom who's available to them all the time.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: And they're also gonna get the ability for me to, yeah, like have the birthing experience that I really desire and giving them the passport that can optimize their life the most.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, that was so nice, like just being able to spend time with my friend and her baby and just you know having all these thoughts about what's what's possible for my future.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: January is such a beautiful time to be thinking about the future, to be harnessing the energy of the new year.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know about you, but I was like so ready for 2025 to end, and I'm feeling so grateful and alive in 2026.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: I had the best New Year's ever.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: I had so much fun.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: I got to do New Year's on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, so I went to two super, super different kinds of parties and events.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I can tell you a little bit about them.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is maybe a bit more of an indulgent share, but whatever.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I went to an evening party at a super glamorous beach hotel and uh was there with my brother and a bunch of my good friends and some new friends that I met at that festival that I connected with at the festival and just danced the night away, counted down at midnight, and just ultimately had so much fun.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: New Year's is for real my favorite holiday, and I love it for so many reasons because and I feel like whenever I share this, people are like, oh my god, I never thought about it that way.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: But the way that I think about New Year's, first of all, it's the only day that anyone in the world can celebrate without having any kind of, you know, background or culture or whatever.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yes, there's a Chinese New Year, and maybe people in China don't always honor January 1st as the start of the New Year.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: But if they wanted to, they could.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I guarantee you that in China you're still gonna be able to see fireworks in the sky, um, even if you are honoring the Chinese calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like the whole world.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's a secular holiday that everybody gets to celebrate.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I just think that's so cool that like that collective energy is really high vibe and excited on this day.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_00: And people are thinking about the future, they're honoring the past, they're looking forward into change, they see that change is inevitable, they see that forward motion is inevitable, they're calling in their desires, they're seeking a kiss at midnight, they're focused on love and joy, they're dressing up or they're being with their loved ones.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's just, and and you get and you get to make New Year's whatever you want it to be.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you want it to be a family holiday, it can be.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you want it to be a big party with your friends, it can be.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you want it to be an excuse to travel, if you want it to be an excuse to cuddle at home, like it just gets to be, it gets to be your dream.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: I love that about New Year's, that everybody just gets to make their dream.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: I know a lot of people are like, New Year's is so overrated, but I'm like, yeah, but why is celebrating the turning of the earth of humanity getting one year older?
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: How could that ever be overrated?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, is your birthday overrated?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because yes, you get to celebrate the day that marks your lap around the sun, but what about the world?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: What about humanity?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyway, that's like just the underlying reason why I think New Year's is so special and the literal best reason to celebrate ever.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I always make sure that I do something fun, especially because I remember like always having this perspective for New Year's when I was a teenager, but feeling really like, oh, we're really just hanging out in my friend's basement again.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like I saw in all the magazines of girls being dressed up and wearing sparkles, and I wanted that.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: And now it's like every New Year's, I remember how frustrated I was by not being able to celebrate back in the day.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: That now that I do get to celebrate, it's just like I'm living my dream every New Year.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: So, that being said, I always make it a point to go do something fun and glam where I know I'm gonna have good music and good friends around on New Year's Eve.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: This year, on New Year's Day, I went to this super cool event in a city in Bali called Ubud, um, which is more of like a like a city in the jungle, basically.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of just nature around.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, this uh festival is called Allegria.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it was kind of like I guess you could call it hippie festival.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Literally, nobody was wearing shoes the whole time.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're like walking around barefoot through the jungle.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: They had put sawdust all over the ground, so the ground was like really soft on your feet.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like you didn't want to wear shoes.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there were all these beautiful natural pools that you could bathe in, like really clean, fresh water, um, all these hanging chairs that were hanging over the river, and then all these DJs that were in different places.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like there was one DJ that was set up by this sacred tree, another DJ that was in a little um, like a little hut on a river, and then all everybody in the audience, we were standing on rocks through the rushing river, just like dancing on the rocks.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you would have to cross this big, like rickety bamboo bridge to get across the river if you wanted to go to the next stage.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: And oh my gosh, it just was so cool and magical and the lighting and everything.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: And this was a sober festival as well, by the way.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that is something that I think is so cool about being in Bali is that there's just all these people here that have a similar philosophy to me, which is let's just love life, let's just live life.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: We don't need to numb ourselves with drugs and alcohol.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: We can just actually look around us at the plants and the sky and the beautiful people and listen to the beautiful music and have deep conversations with one another and let that be the way that we celebrate.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that you can't drink and do drugs here if you really want to, but it's just like there's such a big community of people that choose to live life soberly and enjoy it soberly.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: And to me, that creates such a rich environment to have so much fun drawing in like-minded people.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah, that was an amazing part of my New Year's.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: But if I'm honest, maybe the reason why I had so much more fun on New Year's was because I also met a super cute guy while I was there at the party.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um, he's not around anymore.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, sometimes I feel like when you meet someone and you have a connection and it's like not possible for it to last for so long, you just want to say yes to the experience in the moment.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: And um basically this guy that I met was like, hey, I'm traveling all next week, but I'm going to Noosa Lembangan and Noosa Panita.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: And these are two islands off of Bali.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: I had literally just gotten back from Noosa Lembangan because that's where I went with my friend who had the baby.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but he was like, we're gonna go scuba diving and we're gonna go see all the sites and do whatever.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, you know what?
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: I literally am so behind in my podcast.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: I am behind on work in general.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, I I went to the festival in Thailand and it kind of took it out of me.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then I was, you know, just spending a lot of quality time with my friend, which was a total non-negotiable.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: I never was gonna work um or like get, I always take my coaching calls, but there's other work that I have to do in my business besides just showing up as a coach.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: So the point is, like my to-do list had been getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger throughout the month of December that I wasn't super dialed into work.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then when this guy invited me to come on uh a trip to the island, I had to make a decision.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I could either be really practical and say no, or I could say, you know what?
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: I am here alive and living in this moment, and in this moment, this is what I want to do.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is what feels like a hell yes in my body.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I said hell yeah, and then I went.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: And oh my gosh, this trip I feel like brought me back to life in a way that I just haven't felt alive like that in a while.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so I kind of mentioned to you about this sort of, I don't know, I was calling it an identity crisis just to be dramatic, basically, earlier this year.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, where yeah, I was like, oh, I don't want to be talking about travel anymore.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because I also know that I don't want to be traveling full-time because I'm ready for a new chapter of my life.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like ready to welcome in a part of my life that's more even more grounded than I have been.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I wanted my public presence to reflect that.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: But then I went on this trip and I was back in the energy of me being a full-time traveler because the guy, he's a full-time traveler.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that was just the energy that he was in.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't have to open up his laptop for any reason.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so me finding time to actually do that was for real a little bit challenging.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, just a tip: if you're gonna be a digital nomad, try to travel with other people who are digital nomads because then together you can be like, okay, when are we gonna work?
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, let we have five hours on Tuesday.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, let's do that.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we have three hours on Thursday.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: When are we gonna get in another six hours?
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, what if we split it up between Saturday and Monday?
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you you kind of get to work with your travel buddies if they're also digital nomads, and you all get to get work done while balancing the travel part of your life.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, with this guy, to be fair, I really didn't get any work done again at all.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: I just showed up to the coaching calls, which is my non-negotiable, of course.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, that to-do list just kept getting even bigger.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I didn't publish another podcast again.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: But now I'm here on the other side of the trip, we already parted ways, and I am just feeling so grateful that I said yes to that experience because like when I'm 80, when when I'm when I'm 40, when I'm 50, when I'm 60, when I'm 70, like when I think back to times in my life when I was living, I'll probably remember that week.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'll probably remember this week where I felt really free spirited, where I felt energized.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've I was just having fun.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: I was so present.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm just I I will remember that week.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I think I I'm just really grateful that I got to have that experience because I think I've been leaning more into a serious side of me over the past year or so.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's all about balance, right?
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like now I'm I'm back, and this week I'm looking at my calendar and I'm like, right, okay, so where can I find four hours a time, four hours a day to work on my business?
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: I want to do at least 20 hours this week and then maybe ramp up next week to 30 hours and then maybe even get to 40 hours in two weeks from now.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but also like, hmm, how can I bring back more of that excited energy into my life?
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm feeling inspired to just um do more to take advantage of my freedom this year.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know where I will go or what I will do this year.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: I actually don't have a ton of plans on my calendar, but I love that too.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I love not having a ton of things on my agenda because it really leaves room for so much magic.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of magic, you know what?
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: That is literally what this lifestyle is all about to me personally.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that if you are listening to this podcast, you probably resonate with that message in some way too.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: You might not know what kind of online business you want to create, but if you're hearing my stories and you're just wishing that you could say yes to life in that way, then you also want that magic.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: And the good news is that it's not that complicated in order for you to create this lifestyle.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: The key here is that you have to have a burning desire to create the lifestyle.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't have a burning desire to invite magic into your life because you don't actually believe that that kind of magic is possible, you're probably not going to take the necessary action that you need to take in order to make this happen.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: You already heard me say earlier in this episode that I faced a lot of fears and challenges when I was creating this life.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like one, for example, was that I was afraid to show up on social media.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't want to look like a narcissist.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: That is something that even though that could have stopped me in my tracks, my burning desire for a magical life overrode my fear of looking like a narcissist.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_00: And someday when I am a mom, the mom of my dreams, right?
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like I might have moments when I feel so tired and I just don't want to do whatever.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: But like I, if I if I feel like I need to be making money, I'm just going to do what I need to do so that I can make money from my laptop instead of having to go get a job.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because getting a job would not be aligned with my quote wild dreams of being a stay-at-home mom, a mom that can show my kid that anything is possible.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's the kind of mom that I want to be.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I have that desire, and therefore I'm going to take the steps necessary in order to get there.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of that, I don't want you to take this episode to be full permission to go fuck off and do whatever the fuck you want.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: This episode is to just show you what's possible for your life when you have complete autonomy over saying yes to anything.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now, having complete autonomy to say yes to anything doesn't mean that you never work.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: Even though I know I just shared with you that I like kind of took the last six weeks off.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I was able to take the last six weeks off because before that, I was working a lot.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I knew that after the six weeks, I again would ramp up and do a lot of work.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_00: I trust myself to show up as this person.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: And my best advice for you if you want to create a magical life where you can say yes to anything and have complete autonomy is to have, you gotta have this balance, right?
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like the ability to say yes and have that extreme privilege of autonomy.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: You also gotta balance it with the opposite, which is the ability to put your head down and get to fucking work when you have the time and bandwidth to do the work.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: That means when you look at your calendar every single week, you are yes, planning on when do you want to go scuba diving?
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: When do you want to hike that mountain?
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: When do you want to see the sunset?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: I actually mark my calendar for sunset every day because I don't want anybody to take my sunset time away.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: But because I always go to the beach for sunset, I also often take calls at 10 p.m.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just part of my personal balance that I know some people are like, oh my God, a call at 10 p.m.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: I could never.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, you know, I think you could if you if you were living your life saying yes to everything else that you wanted to do.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_00: You just you do need to make time for your business.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: But I think the takeaway from this episode is it doesn't have to look like like it does in your corporate lifestyle.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: In your corporate lifestyle, you the work-life balance is five days of work and two days of fun, which to me isn't very balanced, right?
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like something a little bit more 50-50 feels pretty good.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: But even if you did want to stick with the same ratio, like let's say you're you're really motivated to be making money right now, those quote, five days or whatever, the 75% that you are working, it doesn't have to be Monday through Friday, nine to five.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: It can be whenever you want.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I ask you, if you had full autonomy over your life, if you were able to say yes to any opportunity that you wanted to, because you had the time and the location independence and the financial stability to say yes to literally whatever it is, what would you be saying yes to?
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_00: And when would you allow yourself to work?
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_00: Would you do what I do and go in sprints, where maybe if you take six weeks off, you're gonna spend the next month just like doubling down saying no to a lot of other little things because you just had the time of your life?
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: Or would you be a bit more balanced on a day-to-day basis?
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: Would you be saying yes to the simple things like spending time with your child or your dog or to the sunset?
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: Or would you be saying yes to something much bigger, like maybe entering into a long distance or forgetting the long distance part, actually being with your long-distance lover, like changing your time zone so that you can have the relationship that you want.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: Anything is possible when you have a stable location-independent income.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: And not only is it possible, but it's so fun and nourishing when that location-independent income is coming from something you have full control over that you actually like doing.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a time for me to tell you that if you want that life, I can personally help you get that life.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: Just like I've helped hundreds of other people at this point.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think I've worked with 500 others.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_00: And these people are doing all different kinds of work because if you are catching my drift here, I don't put people into a box.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_00: I want them to create their rainbow room of their life.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: I want them to really feel into what is going to be the right business for them individually based on their specific personality and their goals and what they want to do for their work.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: Life balance.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then I teach them the fundamentals of business and marketing that can be applied to any business.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_00: But you're able to come to coaching calls multiple times per week so that we can customize the advice to you and your specific situation.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_00: Not to mention, you get to meet hundreds of other people that are in the program that are also building similar business models to you that also want to say yes to life in the same way that you want to say yes to life.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine if you were in a room of a hundred people who all have this mentality that they can have whatever life that they want and they are willing to put in the sweat equity to make it happen now so that they can go say yes to whatever it is the hell they want when they finally get that location independent income.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_00: This is possible for you.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: Applications for the Digital Nomad Life Academy are open.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_00: And the way that you would apply is you just send me a DM on Instagram that says the word apply.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then I will send you a series of questions.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to answer those questions, and then we'll take it from there.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: Either I send you a free training that will educate you more on what the business actually is and how it can help you, or I'll just invite you in if I think that you are a super great fit.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_00: Or I also have a call where you can talk to a member of my team to learn more.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_00: Really, like I only want people in the program who are a hell yes and really are super aligned.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we kind of take all the applications on a case-by-case basis and customize it based on where you're at, because pretty much everything's custom in the DNLA.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that is what I love about it so much.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's an authentic or an authenticity-based business.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just my dream.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm living my dream.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that you will be too soon.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: So go ahead, slide into my DMs at Cristabella Travels with the keyword apply.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_00: And let's talk about if you are ready to actually start building a yes kind of life.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to the Digital Mimed Life podcast.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to all of my stories, and I'll see you guys in the next episode.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.