Interview with Rob from Stop having a boring life9 min read

Interview with Rob from Stop having a boring life9 min read

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Hi Rob, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your lifestyle?

My lifestyle these days is rather laid back and my days are filled doing whatever I want. That was alawys the goal. When I was doing travel blogging at a professional level it was full on and I loved it.

In September, I‘ll have been living this lifestyle 11 years so now I‘m a little more settled after doing all sorts of travel jobs in the past. I‘ve seen most of what I cared to see and lots more that I didn‘t even know existed. I‘m sure there are more adventures but these days, I‘m busy living my life in beautiful places with great friends, food and sunsets.

What is your current destination?

I‘m currently in Canggu, Bali. Bali is that island everyone knows about and part of Indonesisa. I was here in 2009, then in 2013 and now it‘s become home. I arrived in April 2019 and I‘ve just stayed since.

If you‘re living the digital nomad lifestyle at any stage – it has something for you. So many interesting and creative people call Canggu home. Before that, I spent years with the Corn Islands as my base.

I‘ve still got my main residence on Little Corn Island and that place is very dear to my heart. Thing is, when I stopped doing travel blogging full-time I started getting back to my inner geek. So these days I‘m doing lots with search marketing and absolutely loving it.

Little Corn Island is still one of the most paradise like places I‘ve ever been. As you can imagine with that type of vibe the power can go out for a week and it won‘t matter. It never did but now I think Canggu is the perfect mix of beach and chill lifestyle while still having blazing internet and all the amenities a man / woman and most certainly a digital nomad could want.

Can you tell us a bit about the projects you are currently working on? Are you currently looking for some new projects and clients?

I‘m always open for new clients and looking forward. These days I specialize in link building and have clients in a variety of niches. I also run lots of my own websites which are doing fantastic. I was into this type of stuff when I left Canada in 2009.

The plan was to go to Bangkok and work on affiliate websites. One thing lead to another and Stop Having a Boring Life became a leading travel blog in the world for a while. If anyone with a serious business needs some cutting edge link building, let me know. I‘m all about it.

Other than that, I‘m just keeping fit, eating well and enjoying the laid back Bali lifestyle.

What do you like the most about being a Digital Nomad?

I like what I think most people like the most – it‘s freedom. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. If I want to work, I do. If I don‘t, I don‘t. I can wake up whenever I want, sleep whenever I want. I‘m totally free and that‘s big in today‘s world.

Having a portable income, absolutely no financial liabilities an a marketable skill is gift. If you‘re looking to better your skills and you‘re starting out or been out on the trail a while – move to where other digital nomads are. It will get you sorted, centered and on the right path.

And what are the downsides of it (in case there are any)?

Downside is you‘re away from your family a lot. I‘m close with my family but physically I‘m never there. Flip side is there are people who are physically close but mentally distant. What‘s the best? I think the former beats the latter but I‘m biased so who knows…

What is a place/country you liked the most while travelling and why? What’s on your to-travel-list?

I love Nicaragua, Indonesia and the Azores which belong to Portugal. I‘d like to revist some spots in South East Asia again and probably will at some point. Other than that I love the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. It‘s natural beauty is next level and the wildlife out of this world.

How often do you use coworking spaces? Is there one that you’d like to recommend to other nomads?

When it comes to co-working in Bali, go to Dojo when you first arrive. Coworking doesn‘t work for me as I have serious concentration issues. When I finally get into flow, I‘m a machine but I just can‘t do it at a coworking spot.

That said, all or most of my good friends here I met at Dojo or through Dojo. I don‘t think it has the best venue to get work done (I prefer Tropical Nomad) BUT the community aspect is second to none.

So you‘re new here? Go the smallest membership you can at Dojo, then do the same at Tropical Nomad. Go between the two and hit up all the Dojo social events like the Friday Night drinks and the BBQ‘s and you‘ll meet your tribe. That‘s a fact.

Rob, I can see that you can call Bali, Azores and Corn islands your home, can you tell us a bit more about this?

I love all of them they‘re just so different. Right now, I‘m loving Bali because it gives me the most and it‘s the most fertile soil to continue growing my skills and such.

Bali – Best all around. Amazing weather, vibe, people, food, insanely affordable and the local people are very nice and sincere. It‘s tough to beat and the digital nomad mecca of the world right now.

The amount of forward thinking people who are ambitious, smart and determine is nuts. You can‘t help but better yourself being surrounded by so many people leveling up. It‘s also got world class beaches, night life and some of the best food options anywhere.

Littl Corn Island – The ultimate escape and when you get 80%+ of the panga ride to Little Corn Island you‘re in another world. The vibe is different, the weight of the world falls off your shoulders and you‘re right here as they often say there, nowhere else matters.

It‘s just missing the amenities a digital nomad needs to thrive. The internet isn‘t that consistent or even good when it is working. There are frequent power outages and on a good day, power only comes on from 1pm – 6am. If you had a garage full of cars it‘s that crazy sports car which is amazing for what it is but totally unpractical for an average person‘s day to day life.

Azores – Another paradise, the scenery is sublime and it has everything I need. Well almost, there is no community of digital nomads there – basically none. It‘s the only place where after an extended stay I started feeling lonely. It‘s becoming a retirement hotspot and for good reason – it‘s amazing. Just for person my age – it lacked community and that‘s incredibly important.
The food is great, all the perks of Portugese culture and the beef is out of this world. There are about as many cows as there are people on the islands. Let‘s no get starte on the seafood, it‘s as tasty as you‘d imagine.

Hiking is a dream as there are no snakes or predatory animals on the island. I go to play golf. I love the two courses they have there and will return sooner than later. I‘ve got a lot of stuff in storage there just after I got to Bali – I never wanted to leave so I didn‘t.

Can you tell us what is your biggest dream?

At this point, just get to another level of freedom. Become a better version of myself than I was yesterday and be open to all the opportunities that come through me on this journey. To continue doing what I love doing and be thankful that I get to do what I love.

In case you have a motto, could you share it with us?

It‘s definitely – you‘ll never know unless you go.

Recently, I‘ve added – don‘t overthink it and don‘t overdo it.

Could you share with us the names of two inspiring digital nomads that you are following?

Sure, The Blond Abroad is doing some incredible stuff. I met her in South Africa and she‘s the real deal. She‘s incredibly smart, driven and organised. She was also very open about how she went about things and it‘s just a whole other level than most.

Another person I find inspiring is The Broke Backpacker. The way he scaled his blog and juggles all the other projects he has going on is something else. I enjoy reading his occasional life updates on his blog – if you need some inpiration go check those out.

Is there something that you would like to add?

Sure, if you‘re thinking of becoming a digital nomad – go for it. It‘s a bumpy ride at times but the views you‘ll get to see and if you make it stick – the freedom you‘ll get is out of this world. I can‘t imagine my life if I had never taken the leap of faith in 2009.

Written by: Kristina Lukacova, a DN that enjoys good food, good wine and good vibes. If you would like to know more about Rob, you can have a look at his blog where he describes one of his favourite places on Earth – Corn Islands. In case you are an aspiring DN that is looking for a travel job, Rob has some tips for you :).

Kika

Kristina Lukacova, a DN that enjoys good food, good wine and good vibes.

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