Here's how I turned my
Lifelong Dream
into my New Reality...
"Share your story with someone. You never know how one sentence of your life story could inspire someone to rewrite their own."
— Demi Lovato —
There's a fine line between bravery, uncertainty and fear.
In 2014, I said goodbye to my family, quit my job, sold my stuff, and bought a one-way ticket from Germany to Cape Town.
Brave as it may seem, I cried at Frankfurt Airport due to the fear of uncertainty.
It took me 10 years to take this step, 10 years trying to fit in. Building a career. Living a "normal" and responsible life.
But it never felt right.
I've always wanted to travel the world. Forever.
People told me I have to be realistic, and that you can't just do that. Leaving my entire comfortable life behind, scared me to a level I did not expect.
As scary as it was, I still got on that plane, and my never-ending sabbatical began.
I flew all the way to Thailand, ‘the Land of Smiles.’ I landed in Bangkok and traveled to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Bali for several months.
Afterwards I arrived “last minute” on a working holiday visa in Australia - just short of my 31st birthday.
I spent six months traveling Western Australia and the East Coast, having volunteer arrangements in exchange for accommodation and food in Cairns, Tully, Byron Bay, and Brisbane. I also volunteered at a luxury resort on the Whitsundays, and I had a feeling that this would be more of my own travel taste.
All this meant that my accomodation was for free and I was able to stretch my money a lot further! - I didn’t have a business yet. There is MORE than one way to create a freedom lifestyle.
Okay now, time for a reality check!
I was running out of money by the time I made it to Sydney and needed to start applying for jobs.
And as a manifestation queen, I landed my new job on Day 3 and met Andy, my now life and travel partner, on the first day of the job. (He was the trainer!) Isn’t it miraculous?
I am the manifestation queen, after all 😉
After one week in my new job I decided: Ok - I want to get sponsored and live in Australia. I risked my health working night shifts, but I was adamant about getting the sponsorship visa, as it was the only way I could stay longer in Australia, legally.
Six months later, that sponsorship was MINE.
I spent three years in this international job, loved the Sydney lifestyle and the better work-life balance and was promoted to become a team leader in no time. What I loved the most about the job? Coaching and mentoring!
Although the job was great, I knew that at the end of the day, I really was meant to be my own boss.
One year later, the job lost its sparky magic, and the sponsorship visa turned into a trap for a free-spirited person like me. I was frustrated. I moved in with Andy and decided to apply for an Australian partner visa. It cost me $8,000, and it was the scariest investment I've ever made in my life up till that point. It was a lot of money for backpacking Susi.
Visa or no visa, I still wanted to become location independent as fast as possible.
In September 2016, I started my coaching business, called it "Dreamlife Deluxe." I spent all of my post-office time in developing my business, and literally ignored everything else for a couple of months. I was unwavering in my resolve to develop a location-independent coaching business, get paid for doing what I love, and to be able to travel whenever I want, wherever I want.
As building my business became my drive, motivation, and mission, the job became the side hustle that I couldn’t quit, as I was still on my sponsorship visa. In January 2017, just eight months after my application, thankfully my partner visa was approved.
It was time to say YES to my lifelong desires. I asked Andy, “Do you want to quit the job and travel the world with me?”
HE SAID YES!
It was not a marriage proposal: it was the proposal of the biggest adventure of our lives, together.
Precisely as I visualized, we walked into HR together to quit. I was finally ‘free.’
We immediately bought a one-way ticket to Bali.
May 2017, my second round the world tour begins, this time with my laptop business “Dreamife Deluxe” and Andy. We traveled to Bali, Europe and Las Vegas, before entering Canada on a 1-year visa.
There was a multi-speaker event in Vancouver (featuring none other than Tony Robbins) that I felt my business pivot for the first time. I decided act less like a employee and more like a CEO.
I applied for a house-sit on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia for a mansion. Using Pet-sitting and House-Sitting, we traveled to St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, Antigua, Guadeloupe, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Vincent & The Grenadines.
Staying in 5 star hotels and apartments helped me to step into a lifestyle that's always been a dream until then. I decided that this is how I want to live. Not only a Dreamlife, but also the DELUXE aspect.
In November 2017, my business exploded into a consistent 5-figure per month company, and Andy started working for me full-time.
We traveled to England, Vietnam, Bali and Australia, Singapore, Sydney, Bali, Perth, Qatar, Dubai, Switzerland, France, Germany, and Hungary, and yes, we lived on an Alpaca farm for three months.
I’m living proof that it’s possible to manifest incredible experiences that most people wouldn’t think possible.
It was investing in high-level 1:1 coaching that taught me how to juggle all these travel investments and grow my business on MY terms (from any time zone I wanted!)
The right processes, coaches and team members helped me to scale my business, and I’m now proud to be in my 3rd 6-figure year. I’ve been honored to work with women from more than 25 countries online and in person, and to pay it forward has been the greatest joy.
Not in my wildest dreams could I have pictured the last seven years.
Today, I have designed a life that I genuinely love.
A life that everyone told me isn't "realistic."
People thought it's just a phase or an adventurous year before I have to settle down. Little did they know that Susi of 2020 is not and probably will never be done with this!
I changed my life. You can change yours too!
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