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I’ve always known that I didn’t want to settle permanently in the UK and yet at the age of 28, there I was with 2 mortgages, a fledgling business and all the trappings of a settled existence in my home town of Nottingham.

After a couple of years of major upheaval – which included watching my Mum die of cancer, quitting the rat race, getting married, moving house twice and starting up my own business – it felt pretty nice to be settled. But there was always that nagging feeling that it wasn’t “home”…

And so off we flew to Panama with the hopes and dreams of finding that place we could call home. That’s part of the reason we became location independent and live a nomadic lifestyle…we’re searching for the 1, or more likely the 2 or 3 places in the world that we want to call home but after 3+ years of searching we’re actually no closer to the goal than when we left.

Ok perhaps that’s not quite true – we’ve crossed quite a few places off the list (Panama, Buenos Aires, Grenada, Thailand, South Africa, Italy & Dubai) but we haven’t really got much closer to deciding where exactly we do want to make a base. And that’s frustrating.

In fact we’re about to try a completely different strategy for a few months (I’ll be writing more about that in The Odyssey – if you’re interested, sign up on the right – I share more personal updates & stuff there as well as exclusive articles for subscribers) – especially since it’s becoming more of an issue, the older our daughter gets and the more we want to start figuring out some of our personal longer term plans.

There is one thing that we’re slowly starting to realise however, about becoming and being location independent and it’s this…

Whatever you’re looking for, you can find right where you are already.

Of course one of the important things about this, is that you need to know what it is you’re searching for in the first place…something we didn’t really think about until about a year after we started travelling.

We had a vague idea about what we were looking for in a place – and we learn something new in each place we try, but we’re becoming clearer and clearer about what it is that will make somewhere feel like a home for us and, truth be told, we could find much of that in the UK!

There are a few misconceptions about living a location independent lifestyle that people just don’t think of when all they can see is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The cold, harsh truth is this:

Being location independent is not a permanent holiday; it’s a lifestyle. Which means that whatever you typically do on a daily basis, you’ll probably fall back into wherever you are in the world (even if that changes drastically when you first arrive somewhere new & exciting).

We experience that all the time. The anticipation is high, we’re usually slightly nervous but super excited whenever we arrive somewhere new – hoping that maybe this place will be “the one”.

Sometimes this lasts for a few days, maybe a few weeks. But we soon fall back into our usually daily routines and that freshness, that newness dissipates and we’re left with…daily life.

That’s not a bad thing, it’s just reality. And it’s a reality we’re coming to terms with as we get closer and closer to what it is, that will make a place “the one” for us. Actually, I’m starting to think that there are many “ones” for us – and we just need to commit to somewhere that ticks most of the boxes.

But you’ll experience this too. You might think that if only you re-located to the South of France or Chiang Mai or Buenos Aires, perhaps you’ll be happier, get more business, feel more settled. But you won’t. These are feelings & emotions, and as any life coach will tell you, you control how you feel not the external environment.

• If you’re looking for more excitement in life, you can find it right where you are now.
• If you’re looking for more friends & a better social life, you can find it right where you are now.
• If you’re looking for more business & customers, you can find them right where you are now.
• If you’re looking for more relaxation & less stress, you can find it right where you are now.

Of course there are a few practical aspects about certain locations which may make a huge difference to you – we love to be near water and mountains rather than in a big city – but when it comes to narrowing it down to a specific town, there are plenty which tick those boxes.

If you don’t know what it is that you’re seeking, that’s the first place to start – because if you can’t find it where you are now, you probably won’t find it halfway round the world.

So it’s over to you…why do you want to become location independent and how could you find what you’re looking for where you are right now?