This is the first day in my new co-working space in Barcelona, where I’ll be living for the month of May. Then I’ll move to Prague, then Berlin, Split, Belgrade…then on to various cities in Southeast Asia, Australia, and South America. This is the beginning of my journey with We Roam, a travel program for people who can work remotely.
I started this blog in January, before I knew that We Roam (or similar programs like Remote Year, The Remote Experience, etc.) existed. I wanted a side project, an outlet apart from work, and I envisioned Girl Flies Solo as essentially branding (gah, I know, that word is becoming terrible) what I already do: travel a lot, often alone, date, have random solo adventures.
Then in mid-February, I clicked on an article in AFAR: Working Remotely Is Now Easier Than Ever, and it felt like I’d opened a portal to a new world. I fell down the internet rabbit hole, reading blogs and Reddit threads, trying to learn more. By the end of the month, I’d decided I wanted to sign up for one of these programs, and by early March, I’d committed to join We Roam in May.
I knew after I visited Anguilla that I wanted to travel more this year. After four years in New York, I’ve grown a little weary–fighting with the crowds on the sidewalks, going back and forth with my friends’ Google calendars to schedule drinks, seeing the same guys pop up on all the dating apps. This program is more than I could have imagined or hoped for when I contemplated “traveling more.”
I don’t believe in fate or god or any forces that are guiding the universe; I think our experiences are random. But sometimes, if you’re lucky, the random bits of the universe collide to give you exactly what you need.
So I’m off on an adventure! I’m lucky enough to have a job that’s perfectly suited for this kind of controlled madness and a boss who recognized immediately what a fantastic opportunity it is. We Roam sets up housing and co-working spaces in each city and moves us from place to place, so all I have to do is get my work done and enjoy every new experience.
Before I left, friends and family tossed out their hypotheses: I’ll never come home. I’ll be traveled out and exhausted after six months. I’ll fall in love with a man. I’ll fall in love with a city.
I don’t know what the year will bring–what I’ll see, everywhere I’ll go, or whom I’ll be by the end. But I’m excited to find out.
