Freelance Running Shoes

So, Ben shares his passion about freelance and UFC / wrestling. I have also decided to share my story. So maybe some of you would like to make a big step and escape the office and start doing freelance and fully enjoy your passion.

My life is running :-D  I am a big fun of any outdoor activities. Wherever we travel I always take my running shoes. At school I was part of sports club, I represented my school in running races. I was a really dedicated runner until I went to university. You know when you’re at uni it is “party time” not “running time” lol.

I came back to running in 2009, and since then I am unstoppable. I just love to go out and run. It helps me to relax after a hard day at work.

Running includes lots of time for training. Now I am living in Asia timing can be a bit difficult. You can only run here in the morning or in the evening due to the heat.

I am grateful that I am doing freelance, because I can run whenever I want to and I can join as many races as I want to. Some races happen on Saturday so I must go on Friday, to be able to pick up my bib number.

In the last year I have joined many races in Thailand. I finished my first 100km race – The NorthFace Thailand. I took Friday and Monday off, so I could join the race and recover after. Well, one 100km wasn’t enough for me so I signed up for another 100km but in Hong Kong this time. Boom, freelance is awesome, because I packed my trail running shoes and laptop and off I went :-D . I finished 14^th female overall. Not a bad result.

Before I sign up for any races, I know I need to do lots of running to be prepared and avoid injury. My running schedule is very busy. I run 6 days per week. In Thailand I joined Bangkok Runners group, where I met amazing runners. This is another good tip for you, if you are a travelling freelancer then there is a good website called http://www.meetup.com/ Check it out, maybe you will find there new friends which share the same hobbies as you  :-D 

Occasionally, I run on Wednesday mornings in Pattaya (trail run) so I start my work late in the afternoon. Mainly I run in the morning so I set up all my meetings in the afternoon. I just work when I am not running ha ha.

This is why I am so happy I am doing freelance now, so I can run and swim whenever I want to  :-D 

Happy running!

Get in touch if you'd like to know more about how freelancing can support your hobbies.

Freelancing, Me and UFC Makes Three

I talk often here about how freelancing enables us to travel and do lots of exciting activities but there's another benefit that I haven't mentioned. I can mostly arrange my schedule any time I want. This means that I can follow my interests at a time that suits me.

I am a big fan of the UFC and an even bigger fan of pro wrestling. I tend to keep the second one quiet because I am often obliged to defend it if I mention it! Quickly: yes, I know it's fake and no, I am not 12.

The problem with liking these things and not living in the States means that the shows are on at inconvenient times to watch live. Usually they are in the middle of the night on my timezone. When I worked full time I would have to work a full day between the show and my chance to watch it.

This made it difficult to avoid spoilers; there were multiple occasions when a casual mention in conversation, a text message or an accidental glance at a notification spoiled results. Basically, the longer you go between the broadcast and viewing increases the probability of spoilage.

This past week has been busy for my two hobbies:

• My favourite pro wrestler in the world, Shinsuke Nakamura, recently changed companies from New Japan Pro Wrestling to WWE and debuted at their NXT show on April 1st

• The biggest pro wrestling show in the world, WWE Wrestlemania was on April 3rd at AT&T Stadium in Dallas in front of 100,000 fans
• Exciting heavyweight prospect Ben Rothwell faced his biggest challenge to date in Junior Dos Santos on UFC Fight Night 86 on April 10th

Due to being a freelancer I was able to watch these shows as soon as I woke up the day after their broadcast. I can put off my work until later in the day and indulge myself. Guaranteed spoiler free!

Other similar benefits include - going to the Flow House in Bangkok during the day when it's quiet, going to see Batman vs Superman during the day when there are less annoying children and going to do Crossfit first thing in the morning before work because I hate exercising in the evening!

There are lots of good reasons to freelance. This is just a nice little advantage I have seen since I started freelancing. Get in touch if you'd like to know more about how freelancing can support your hobbies.

We've Worked in... Phuket

We are planning to leave Thailand in May so we decided to get out of Bangkok for our final weeks. We found a nice place in Phuket on AirBnB and decided to live the (sort of) island lifestyle for a while.  This is one of the things I love about having a non location specific job!

We've Worked in... Phuket

We came to Phuket with our friends Nick and Ging. Nick and I came to Phuket in 2011 and studied Muay Thai for a month. I had a fight at the end of our training as you can see here:

With a record of 1-0, I retired undefeated from Muay Thai. Not wanting to put that at risk and with absolutely no demand from fans to see me return to the ring I decided to try something new. Agi and I signed up for Crossfit at a new gym in Phuket called Unit 27.

Our new routine during our time in Phuket has been going to Morning Glory sessions, coming home and recovering then starting work. I have heard that doing a workout in the morning gives you energy for the rest of the day. That is not the case in my experience! I feel better for doing more exercise and I am happy to have done it but I generally feel knackered for the rest of the day.

During our time in Phuket we have had a revolving cast of guest stars. 3 different groups of friends came to catch up with us which has been amazing. Eating out and going to the beach has been a real treat. It makes it difficult to fit work in sometimes but it's totally worth it.

We have friends with a young kid so going out partying wasn't an option with them. What's the next best thing after raving? Dinosaur themed mini golf!

I wish we had done more of this sort of thing during our time in Thailand but I'm not complaining. We had a great time in Bangkok but I sometimes forgot that there are other places to go. Today we are leaving for a 4 day liveaboard diving trip in the Similan islands. After that we are going up north to Pai to spend our last few weeks in the mountains. Agi has been begging for mountains for months. Life is good.

Another great trip enabled by freelancing. Get in touch if you'd like to know more.

We've Worked in... Hong Kong

As has been documented on this blog here and here, Agi loves to run. This time she signed up for a 100km ultra marathon across Lantau island in Hong Kong. We weren't alone as the other members of Agi's running club the Bangkok Runners came too. We decided to fit in some sightseeing either side of the race... and of course, it wouldn't be a no9to5 holiday without doing some work!

We've Worked in... Hong Kong

The first day was very quiet as Agi did not want to walk or move much to save energy for the race. We were staying with one of Agi's friends who had recently and conveniently moved from Bangkok to Hong Kong. It's nice having friends around the world! We did some work from his apartment on the 47th floor with an incredible view of Hong Kong bay. I've worked from worse places.

In the evening we took the ferry across to Lantau island. We met up with Agi's friends there and I left them to start their race at 11:30pm! I took the ferry back to Hong Kong and walked from the pier to our apartment. Hong Kong is a beautiful and lively city at night. Lights shine from every building and the streets are full of people. I was tired after my 3km walk but Agi had just started her 100km.

On Saturday I got up and did some work. I had the day to kill so I had found the Hong Kong Tabletop Gaming Group on Meetup. I met them in a nice cafe and we spent a few fun hours playing a role playing game. Agi runs amazing races and I play nerdy games. Afterwards, I went out and roamed the city. Hong Kong is a nice city to walk around as there is so much to see; British shops next to Chinese markets, street art, people practicing Tai Chi in parks. It's a good work out too as there are endless stairs and hills.

Agi finished her 100km trail run in 22h37m. An amazing accomplishment. She spent the night on Lantau island and we met up on Sunday morning for a well deserved (by her) brunch with the Bangkok Runners. Afterwards we went for a walk around the city and took the tram back to our apartment.

Monday was mostly work, again from our office in the clouds! I have worked in some dingy offices in my time and our 47th floor office beat them all hands down. In the evening we walked to the waterfront where there is a music and lights show every night. Spotlights and lasers shine in time to music played over loudspeakers. It's great and totally worth seeing if you visit. We also checked out Comix Home Base, an art gallery / event venue dedicated to comic art. It's free and quite interesting.

Hong Kong was a lovely break from Bangkok if only because it was cold! It was a nice change to wear long trousers without sweating. Another great trip enabled by freelancing. Get in touch if you'd like to know more.

Enforced Minimalism

Agi and I are planning our next adventure. We are leaving Thailand and heading to Eastern Europe for a while. There are a few reasons for this but mainly we want to be a bit closer to our families. Not too close mind you, but closer! As a result, we are clearing out our apartment and that got me thinking about material possessions as a digital nomad.

In March 2014 Agi and I left the UK with nothing but our backpacks. This took a fair amount of effort: we had both been living in the UK for years and accumulated a hell of a lot of stuff. When we decided to leave there was a couple of months of selling things on eBay, giving things to charity, and storing things in parents' attics.

We discovered things in cupboards and drawers that we had no idea were there. We found things that we swore we had never seen before. We created theories to explain how cufflink sets could spontaneously form if a drawer full of stuff is left untouched in the correct conditions for just the right length of time. Long story short; we had a lot of stuff.

We arrived in Thailand with our laptops, a backpack full of clothes and a few mementos. Fast forward 2 years and we are having to sell things on Facebook groups, give things to charity and send packages bound for parents' attics. I cannot understand how we have accumulated so much stuff... again! I'm not saying we have as much stuff as we did when we left the UK but the amount we do have still shocks me. We purposefully avoided buying a lot of things because we knew Thailand was a temporary thing and yet, here we are.

Now, Agi and I have not been digital nomads in the true sense of the term... if there is one. We have been based in Bangkok full time for the last year and a half rather than constantly moving. We have taken opportunities to visit other places in the vicinity but we have had an apartment to come back to. I guess that if you are always on the move then you never have the chance to accumulate things.

However, I have to recommend moving country. It really forces you to recognise how many things you have allowed to accrete around you. I don't really like having a lot of possessions, it makes me feel heavy. Fight Club is one of my favourite movies of all time and I love its message of minimalism and self sufficiency.

The process we have been going through feels cathartic. Like a snake shedding its skin I feel refreshed and ready for our new adventure in Eastern Europe. I also wonder if I will look back on this post in another 2 years, look at the new pile of stuff I've gathered and die a little inside. Fingers crossed I've learned something.

If you would like to talk about the process of moving country and disposing of junk get in touch!