Back in Australia, Jason studied civil engineering and law at the same time and started working as an engineer at a construction site. ”It was not for me. Too much of a rigid career path, too constrained to a certain place as well”. His entrepreneurial spirit made him quit. Jason is unafraid, proactive, and ambitious. “My dream was to be financially independent at 30,” he explains, “but now at 35, I just want to live a simple life. Enjoy, work some, help out where I can. Financial independence might come one day, it’s not my primary goal anymore.”
I like this guy. Not because of his intelligence or entrepreneurial skills, but because he wouldn’t want me to call them impressive. He’s humble. He smiles at the simplest things. He can watch the whales all day. He relativates as the best.
Jason started up his first business together with a friend, selling electricity. “That’s where I got into marketing. The real eye-opener came when I started scaling this thing up to an online business. I learned marketing skills, and with these, I started working for agencies, and later also freelancing. At the moment I’m mainly involved with one Australian start-up and occasionally write for a watch website.”
The digital nomad thing, he got into a bit by accident. “At a certain point, my contract was over, so I started doing whatever I did remotely.” From his student travels he remembered a delicious soup in Chiang Mai, so that’s where he headed to first, now 4 years ago. “Chiang Mai is also useful for learning -I learned a new programming language there-, and some communities are nice. But I also get sick of it easily. Too many people are faking it, and there’s an annoying boys club mentality as well.”
Since then, Jason has been sustainably slow-travelling. “Staying three to six months in a place allows me to settle and enjoy, build some community, and concentrate on my work. It’s a good balance, though the community part will always be challenging. Mainly because of that, I see myself settling down in the next few years.” Jason travelled to Europe, Canada, and Africa. But most of all, he likes Latin America. “So far I’ve loved Medellin and Ecuador. The authenticity, the Spanish language and the atmosphere appeal to me. People seem to try at least to get the balance right between having fun, family life, and work. Who knows, I might settle down around here”.
While Jason is helping us out with the SEO strategy for Punta La Barca, my three-year-old keeps singing about pipi-kaka. He smiles and concludes. “The kid is right.. In the end, that’s simply the purpose of life”.
Jason was very helpful in extending our digital nomad guide to Ecuador. Have a look and tell us what you need to know more!
