AT HOME!
Inspiration Shot October 2022
The past month has been a chaos of movements. From Amsterdam to Italy, via friends in Portugal to Miami, and with various stops back to Italy, where I am still staying in an Airbnb because my house is not ready yet. It makes me feel restless, but I know that peace will soon come; when I can finally move to my Tiny House and start decorating it. The end is in sight.
In the meantime, I have daily WhatsApp contact with a friend in Hawaii who is temporarily homeless. There is a housing crisis since corona because many Americans have moved from the mainland to the islands, making both purchasing or renting a place impossible or unaffordable. My friend lives in her car and is completely in survival mode, with no hope of things getting better.
Several coaching clients are about to give up their homes to travel in a motorhome and become entrepreneurs. Although that is a conscious choice for them, it also causes stress.
All this makes you think. What does (at) home mean? Is home a physical place? Is it ‘where the heart is’? Is it where your laptop automatically recognizes the WiFi? 😜
A few reflections for this month, so that you can determine what (at) home means to you.
Home is not an address, but a feeling
In this interview at the Virtual Entrepreneur Summit, I share my experiences as a digital nomad; about entrepreneurship, travel, freedom and mindset.
‘Home’ in the sky
Of course, I don’t want to promote flying too much, but IF you have to make a long trip – for example, to visit your dad in Miami – then I have a great tip for you. I always have trouble sleeping in a seated position. So the night flight back to Europe means a sleepless night + time difference = mega jet lag.
I prefer to fly Business Class, with a real bed, but that is usually not affordable. Recently I discovered that with AirEuropa you can combine different classes in one ticket. For example, flying economy on the outbound flight and returning on business class. If your dates and departure locations are flexible (AirEuropa is Spanish but they fly from all over Europe), you can sometimes find a return ticket to Miami for €800 (of which one flight in Business Class!)
I recently departed from Lisbon, which also gave me the chance to visit an old friend: my art teacher from high school Niek te Wierik and his wife. They live in a beautiful place in the center of Portugal. The way return flight from Miami in Business Class was pure joy. Have fun and comfort on your next trip!
Do something nice
I regularly receive sweet emails from people letting me know how I’ve inspired them to take an important step in their lives. That’s real wealth, folks! Not to get more customers or more sales or more assets, but the feeling that what you do really has a positive impact on others. 🙏
So my tip: focus on making someone else feel good, make them feel at home. Here are 50 things you can do to feel ‘rich’ and share your ‘wealth’: 50 ways to be ridiculously generous – and feel ridiculously good
Workshop alert
One of my most popular workshops is coming up again: ‘How do you become a Digital Nomad?’
- Which rules & regulations do you have to take into account?
- Where do you set up your company?
- What about registration, taxes, and insurance?
My ‘tax guru’ Ronald Oenema is there for all your questions! Will you be there too?
And how do you earn your income?
In the workshop ‘How to turn anything into a business’ on November 16th, I will help you turn your passion into your business.
Inspiration bites
DOCUMENTARY
Kiss the ground
The earth is our home. We have to take good care of it. I watched this movie to save my olive trees, but I learned so much more. The problem is huge, but the solution can be so simple.
MOVIE
Force Majeure
An avalanche threatens a young Swedish family on a ski holiday in the French Alps. Instead of protecting his family, the father runs. A dark, funny, and very real psychological masterwork.
BOOK
Holland
A light and positive book about the experiences of a refugee caught in the absurd system in The Netherlands. Funny detail: the bureaucrat who won’t let the main character ‘step out of the system’ is called ‘Esther Jacobs’!
CONGRATULATIONS! 🍾 🥂
Catharina Ooijens
When she retired, Catherine’s employer asked her to write a book. During my writing retreat in the French Alps she wrote Her Voice; 12 stories of women who experienced a complex pregnancy. Less than a year later her book is out!
Did you know...?
… that I have a capsule wardrobe? …ehhhh… actually had one?
A capsule wardrobe is the dream of every digital nomad: all my clothes fit in one suitcase, everything is coordinated, perfect to combine. It took me 2 years to ‘build’ it, after advice from Sascha Bertus (the mood board of our first session is attached).
When KLM recently lost my suitcase for two weeks, I thought I had lost all my clothes and realized how difficult it would be to reconstruct what I had. Luckily my suitcase came back and I had my wardrobe complete again.
Unfortunately, it turned out that a plastic bag containing ALL my pants had disappeared from my temporary storage. I’m afraid some cleaner thought it was garbage. So now I only have t-shirts, blouses, and sweaters that could combine perfectly with the pants that I no longer have, and that can not be ordered anymore. In short: now I have to start all over again to rebuild my ‘capsule wardrobe’ 😢
Where is Esther?
It was nice to spend some time with my dad again. In the meantime, I’ve been living out of my carry-on luggage for more than a month, which was only meant for that week in Miami. All my other stuff is stored until I can move into my Trullo.
In my Airbnb, in the village of Ceglie Messapica, I feel more and more like a local. The barista greets me by name and makes my ‘espresso macchiato deca’ as soon as I walk in.
I supervise the two construction projects with two different teams. I’m trying to finish the Townhouse in the village in time for the Puglia Inspiration Trip. It is almost a day job to solve all problems (especially slow delivery of materials). It is the best way to get to know each other (and the language and culture!).
On the day you receive this Inspiration Shot, I will sleep in my Tiny House for the first time! It turned out soooo beautiful! Unfortunately, I’m already leaving the next morning for the writing retreat in the French Alps, but as soon as I’m back I’m going to enjoy my tiny house. Follow me on @tinytrullo (FB or Insta) for photos and videos.
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