Beginnings are hard.
Hi there! Thanks for being here. My name is Jennifer, and I've been eager to write my first newsletter here on Substack for months now. I'm really excited to start this adventure and see what will come out of it! I've already had some wonderful interactions with people who made me feel so welcomed and appreciated. For someone who is changing countries and making some crazy life decisions (aka me), that means a lot. So, thank you!
To give you some context, I lived in Austin, Texas for the past 6 years. I moved there at 28, and now I'm 34. I was born in the US but raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by my grandma, aunts, and uncle. My parents are from Argentina and Colombia; they emigrated to the US in the '80s (and had me). My mom passed away when I was a baby, and my dad was pretty unavailable. He stayed in the US while I was sent to Argentina to live with my grandma. I might delve deeper into my parents in a later post, but definitely not in my FIRST post; that's just too much, haha.
For me, going to the US while growing up was always a family adventure, an opportunity to travel while I visited and met my mom and dad's sides of the family. My mom's side of the family has an insane number of members, and they're all spread around the US. My dad's wife is from Peru, and she also has several brothers and sisters who have always been welcoming to me. So, I guess I was somewhat used to traveling long distances and visiting new places and people before transitioning to this remote/digital nomad life.
I don't consider myself a fully-fledged "nomad" since I'm not spending short periods of time here and there, traveling and meeting new places while working remotely. In my case, I came back to my hometown after living abroad for 6 years. The real reason is still unknown to me (but I want to find it out). I just felt like I wanted to be here. Has anything somewhat similar ever happened to you?
With that said, the title of this post might be misleading. This is not going to be a “how to be a digital nomad” type of content. I most likely won't travel while working. My job involves having a big monitor, and I like having a steady place I can call home (even if it’s just for a year).
Living outside the US while maintaining a remote job has one notable perk: you can certainly save money! The cost of living (at least here in Argentina) is ridiculously affordable.
Returning to my hometown brings another perk of having long-term friendships that feel like family. Before taking this leap, I talked to one of my best friends who lives by herself (I also used to live by myself in Austin) and asked her if she would be okay with me and my cat staying at her place for at least 2 months until I get settled and find a cute apartment to rent. She gladly accepted, and before reaching that 2-month mark, she said I can stay here for as long as I want. I enjoy living with her, and it looks like she also enjoys living with me. So, we’re still roommates 🙂
After 4 months of moving, I'm starting to miss Austin and my life there. I miss the close friendships I was able to make there. The places I would like to go to wind down, parks, coffee places. My apartment. Streets and the city itself. It was my home for 6 years and I still have lots of love for that place.
To sort of conclude this first post, I must say I’m incredibly happy to actually finish writing it. It’s been a process and it took it’s time, but it was always in the back of my head. If you got this far, thank you! Now you know something important about me, and by doing so, you’re kind of helping me go through it not so alone 😊
I'm excited to start writing my second post. This is a completely new world for me, and although it took me quite some time to write this first one, I'm eager to continue. Please subscribe if you want to follow along! Everything I’m writing is 100% free
I’m at the point in life where I quite content to be an analog nomad.