JOHN & JEANET ON ... BEING AMBITIOUS NOMADS Q: HOW HAS TRAVELING TOGETHER AFFECTED YOUR RELATIONSHIP? A: We’ve been a couple for 12.5 years now. We find that we don’t want to be without each other. It’s possible to do things on our own, but we don’t want to do too many. We’ve gotten to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses better. There are some things we still do separately. Because we have different rhythms we sleep in separate beds, and this works well for us. One weekend every 2 months we book 2 villas to get some peace and quiet separately. Then we’re together during the day, but we have space to ourselves in the evening. Q: WHAT KIND OF OBSTACLES HAVE YOU OVERCOME TOGETHER? A: One thing that was tough was when we were on a two-day trip to Bali at the end of 2016. We were living the dream, and John suddenly had a breakdown : “This is it! But do I want this? What am I doing here?” Fortunately, Jeanet’s also a coach, so she supported him with a three-hour coaching session. One technique that worked well for John involved looking in a mirror. Those feelings haven’t returned since. Q: WHAT DOES A DAY IN THE LIFE LOOK LIKE? A: You don’t need to worry about work-life balance as long as you’re intensely happy with what you’re doing. Some nomads want to travel a lot and work very little. We want to travel a lot and work a lot. We work 7 days a week, stay in luxurious housing and fly business class. Since John quit his job we haven’t taken any vacation because every day is vacation. On a normal day, we practice “structured freedom.” We’re disciplined. We know what we want to achieve over the next 5 years, one year, one week and one day. This way we can also plan free time – for snorkeling or swimming with elephants! Here’s our morning routine: ● Wake up between 4–6 a.m. ● Exercise ● Study/Learning ● Breakfast ● Check email ● Plan our work blocks for the day Our day is quite structured, also in terms of meals, but precisely because of these routines we get a lot done and stay relaxed. We really recommend this method, especially for new nomads who want to be able to take more vacation. After awhile, it’s not convenient to always be in vacation mode. You have to make sure you structure your work and your time. ● John & Jeanet ● From the Netherlands ● www.lsob.nl ● Coaches and e-commerce ● On the road since 2015 ● Currently in the Dominican Republic ✈ ✈ ✈ SPECIAL MOMENTS • Rock climbing and family visits in Mauritius • Riding a bicycle underwater • Marrying quietly in Hawaii ✈ ✈ ✈ MOTIVATIONAL TIP “Don’t make it a big deal. Make a plan and then do prototyping. We traveled to various locations for 2 to 3 weeks. This taught us about what we needed to work properly and efficiently. Take a test drive to get motivated. If you stay on the couch, nothing will change, so please live your best life now!” 18
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