about me
A NOMADE is someone who lives by traveling from place to place.
The concept is related to a person that is on a constant journey or moving around a lot, always doing something.
That’s the way I can describe myself, someone, that has been traveling from Chile to different countries since 2013 when I left my job as a publicist.
In this journey I have met a lot of people like me, having that feeling of leaving everything and starts a new life; some of them are still thinking if they should take the risk or not, others have jumped already to unknown terrains, and each experience is different, but no doubt that is been worth it for everyone.
My life has changed completely since 2013, that year I traveled for 6 months around to different countries, In 2014 I started to work as an excursion guide in the Atacama Desert, in 2016 I moved to Finland to become a wilderness guide, I passed the most intense and amazing training to be one of them, and now I do for living what I love to do.
How did all begin? Here the story…
Common life
When I finished the secondary school I was completely sure what I wanted to study and in which field I wanted to work, at that moment was advertising, so I went to the university for 5 years, I graduated and I started to work as a publicist, I must say that for a long time it was great, there were 6 years of my life dedicated to the advertising, always working for yesterday, always busy, but exciting at the same time. Time passed by and I started to feel that it wasn’t the same anymore, I was enjoying, but I was having an empty feeling that I didn’t know what it was. You are in your mid-twenties and you are in that process of getting success, doing the things right and most of your friends are doing the same, so sometimes you don’t stop to think and ask yourself am I happy with my life? You just don’t have time for it, and you continue with your routine…
I was doing well, getting success for what I supposed to be happy, but I wasn’t, and that was a red flag, I started to ask myself: What’s wrong with me? Why I’m not happy with all I have? And there was just one thing in my mind: travel. That was what I needed, and I did it.
In the right path
Take the decision to leave your comfort zone to look for what makes you happy, is not easy, that I can tell, but is possible, is all about believe and take the risk…
In the beginning, it is scary, because in a way you are sure of the decision you are taking, but at the same time, when you quit for real and you realized that you are leaving everything that you have earned with a lot of work, you get scared. I remember after I resigned from my job, I was nearly regretting 5 minutes later, but lucky me that I continued with my plan, otherwise my story could be completely different.
I started my new adventure, I didn’t have big plans, just that I wanted to travel without thinking about what I must do for work the next day. I was excited about doing this, deep inside I knew that I would get something good out of it, I had no idea what it could be, but it felt right all the time. I visited many places, I stayed longer in a couple of them, it was all about what I was feeling at that moment, I never had a fancy trip, I needed to organize my money wisely if I wanted to go to different countries and since I wasn’t working, the only money that I had at that moment was my savings, so that was all I could count on it. I saw a lot, I got good anecdotes in each trip, getting in touch with nature and being by myself helped me to get in touch with my old me, the real me, feeling exciting with every experience that I was getting, and it was an amazing feeling to feel so happy with the simple things. Meeting new people and understand the way they live in each place that I visited, was incredible, I was having so much fun, but at some point, I needed money, because nothing is for free, so I started to look for a job, easy things, just to get some money and continue traveling, I was still in the process of finding out what I wanted to do with my life, and now thinking back then I’m just laughing to think how many different jobs I got, I never got back to advertising, the idea was just to get enough money to get on the road again.
I was so happy feeling free, I didn’t care about buying things, and I didn’t have my own stuff for a long time, because when I decided to leave the first time, I sold everything, so at the end the only things that really belonged to me, it was the ones I was having in my big backpack. At that time, it was when all the “nomade” started, because my friends were calling me “nomade” they knew that for me It was always about traveling somewhere, getting back home for a while, but leaving soon. The word nomade means nomad in English, but I decided to keep the word in Spanish on this website because it reminds me of my friends that now are far away from me, but that I always have in my heart.
Start again
After some time traveling, I was feeling awesome, I was learning so much, and thanks to travel I realized that tourism it could be a field that I would love to work on it, I was feeling passionate about that idea, I was so sure that I could do so many things, but I didn’t have clear what or how to start, but I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, and even if it sounds cliché, for me always have been like that, and this time it wasn’t the exception.
As I said before I didn’t know exactly what I could do, but I met the right people at the right moment, and they suggested to me that I should be an excursion guide because I was doing that with them and at that moment I didn't realize it. It was a weird feeling, because my first reaction was: “noooo, how I’ll be an excursion guide, I don’t know anything about it…” but inside of me, I felt like butterflies, and maybe something about that idea it wasn’t that crazy. These people were encouraging me telling that I have everything that you need to be a good guide, my passion for travel, the way I share the knowledge I have gotten from the places I have been, and the most important thing, the good connection that I get with people, besides million funny stories that I have from my trips because there is always something happening to me.
My big concern, in the beginning, it was that I didn’t know if maybe it was too late to start a new career, but I started to make some research, and there were a lot of possibilities, so I chose the best for me, and I did it, starting again, studying, learning as much as I could, and in a short time, there I was, in 2014, getting a job as excursion guide in the North of Chile, San Pedro de Atacama, the place that will always feel home in my heart. From there I was doing different excursions in the Altiplano of Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia as well.
Happy ending
There was a lot of happiness in my life at that time, I was working in something that I loved and I was living in a place that it was perfect for me, but my happiness wasn’t complete, because the love of my life was living in the other side of the world, he was in Finland and I was in Chile, from pole to pole, simple as that! I can tell that have a long-distance relationship is not easy (is not that cheap either) there was a lot of traveling between us, and at some point, you need to make decisions, not easy ones, but at the end, you have to, if you want to move forward. The story was simple, he couldn’t move to another country for his job, so the one that should move it should be me, I didn’t mind live in another country, since I have done it many times, but the only thing that I was clear about it, it was that couldn’t move if I wasn’t sure that I could continue working as a guide, because I had already found the passion of my life and I didn’t want to give it up, so then again, everything happens for a reason, and I found that amazing program in Finland to study to become a wilderness guide, it was all I need it to prepare myself to work as a guide in Finland, so I said to him: this is the deal, I’ll apply to this college, is not easy to get into this program, but if they pick me, I move to Finland and from there we’ll see what happens.
Long story short, I got into the college, I moved to Finland, I had intense training to become a wilderness guide, I graduated, I got married and now I have been living in Finland since 2016 working as a guide and happy with my marriage. I continue traveling as much as I can, but now I’m not traveling by myself, I have got the best partner ever, that loves to travel as much as me, and together we get into different adventures any time that we can.
Follow your heart can really change your life, and that’s why I decided to share my story, for anyone that maybe think is not possible to start again, I can tell that is possible, and in justbenomade, you can see how my experience was, what I have passed to get a new life just taking the risk of starting again, and look for what makes you happy.