This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Francis Coultier, 39, who is originally from Canada but now lives in Bangkok. It's been edited for length and clarity.
The first time I learned about about digital nomadism, I was around 29 and living in Canada.
I remember seeing people on the internet working remotely or starting businesses in places like Chiang Mai, Thailand. I started following some of them online and knew I wanted to find a way to do it, too.
At that time, I was working in corporate sales and ended up starting my own furniture business in Toronto. I hoped to scale it enough to manage remotely, but because it was a physical business, I had to be on-site.
I eventually sold my share to my business partner and got a job at a marketing software startup based in Toronto instead.
The company was fully remote and didn't have an office, so that's when I started traveling.
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I didn't inform anyone at my company. A few months later, after a strong performance review, I finally told my boss that I'd been working from Peru.
He went, "Oh, OK, cool." And we never really talked about it after. I just kept working remotely and became a full-time nomad, traveling mostly through South America the next several years, visiting places like Argentina and Colombia.
Thailand had been on my radar since the beginning, but back then, I worried that if I hated it and wanted to come back, I'd be so far from home.
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Then, about a year and a half ago, a friend living in Bangkok invited me over for a visit.
I'd worked evenings while traveling in Europe before, and figured I could handle working nights in Thailand for a few months.
I ended up falling in love with Bangkok. It was my first time in Asia, and about a month in, I knew I wanted to spend more time here.
Source: Read the original article on www.businessinsider.com