Hello Digital Nomad Life: Belize

I was 13 at the time in a 15 passenger van with a bunch of teenagers (and a couple adults) and we drove from Michigan to Wyoming for a hiking trip. Our destination was the Teton Mountains and we were spending the next few weeks hiking to the peak of one of the Teton’s. We all piled out of our van to setup camp for the night with the mountain range in the distance. THAT was the mountain!! I couldn’t believe it. The beauty took my breath away and I could feel the magic to my core. Starting the next morning we were hiking to it, climbing it, and then hiking back to this point. I hadn’t seen any pictures of the mountain we were going to climb I didn’t know there would be a beautiful stretch of wildflower fields that were bloomed on the hike to get to the mountain or all the beautiful streams and rivers we would cross from the snow melt or that there would even be snow on the peaks. I was already obsessed with nature or I wouldn’t have been on this trip but I didn’t know how much nature impacted me until the magic of Wyoming.

Throughout my life I’ve thought about why Wyoming impacted me so much and recently I was able to figure it out. I didn’t have the internet, social media, brochures, or anything else showing me what to expect.

My soul wanted those magical feelings again, the pure awe that you can’t stop staring at like when I was 13 on that hiking trip. The feeling that you get inside watching a sunset change 17 times before it falls. The pure bliss you feel inside watching a river flow when the sun is perfect, birds chirping along with a perfect breeze. Not only did I know my soul wanted it but my soul needed it for my healing journey and where I am in life. I needed to feel magic inside and I know one place in my life where that’s been constant – Nature.

I have committed to becoming a digital nomad, I stay within a certain budget I set and explore the world working while I’m traveling. I am capable of working from anywhere around the world on Wi-Fi as long as I work within US hours. When I decided to become a Digital Nomad I committed to spending 2 months at each of my destinations. This gives me the ability to leave knowing the locals and feeling like one, time to explore and truly enjoy, and time to have a routine and live there. When I discovered the discount Airbnb’s had after 30 nights stay, it was on and I was IN!

It was decided: BELIZE was my first destination as a Digital Nomad. A friend mentioned this great place she found for herself someday and it was available, I booked it on Airbnb. It was perfection from the pictures/listing lots of beach to myself to walk on for hours – I needed this time at the ocean. All of the info I knew for the trip was from the posting and I stopped my research there. I knew nothing else about Belize besides hearing how dangerous it is (it’s not, have common sense and you’re good), beautiful beaches, and I’d be living on an island with a golf cart. I called my parents and told them my crazy journey I’m starting as a Digital Nomad and my Dad asked what language they spoke – Shit, I should check that! It was English, heck yea!

It was time to start my travels to Belize. Dad and I hit the road with a stop at my favorite restaurant and then off to Chicago for a 3 am wake up the next morning. Thanks again for the ride, Dad! It was a great day of travel, smooth and happy to be on the journey. I cried happy and relieved tears that it was finally here, I was ready for the next part of my life to begin. It’s been a long 2024 and now to start a new adventure and I am excited for this change.

Having no idea what to expect was fun for me. I had zero nerves, I had zero fear, I had zero expectations besides to embrace and make the best of it. I knew I overpacked because of my lack research. I packed very well prepared for about any situation and learned a lot, more on that another time.

I took a lot of time the first week without any electronics, no music, no book, just myself and in the moment when I was away from my casita aka not working. It was tough at times but overall I needed this. I was looking forward to the calm and peace. My foot was still under the weather during the first week and the beaches were gross from a seaweed season. I spent a lot of time on the golf cart instead of being able to explore on foot. I checked out my local bar, grocery stores closest to me, and a resort nearby for dinner and their pool.

My first evening I spent sometime on the beach taking it in that I’m going to live here for the next 2 months and the freedom my future holds. I will never forget that evening and how I felt on the beach with genuine joy for my future. It’s been a long road to get here and that was a pivotal evening.

I had fun unpacking and organizing my casita. I setup my workspace which turned out pretty good for being a first time full office on the road. I got settled right in the first night.

After the first week it was time for my best friend Mystique to arrive. I was excited to share all of this beautiful and interesting place with her. We had a great week with a new adventure each day. It was perfect timing for her to visit, gave me space to be by myself for a bit but enough time for me to know my way around and take her to the cool stuff.

We went snorkeling and got some awesome video with nurse sharks, sting rays, and the reef. It was so much fun. Thank you Nancy and Heather for giving me the ability to have a full vacation day to spend with Mystique, we appreciate it so much. We spent a day traveling up to Margaritaville, that was a great day driving on the beach road.

I’m so glad she came to spend time here. It was a vacation and experience of a lifetime. She was a trooper in the crazy heat and pot hole ridden roads. It’s been hard being away from her but she’ll join me when she’s able! Love you Mystique!

I think it was 2 days after Mystique left and the beaches cleared up and became real beaches for the first time. No more gross seaweed and you could walk on the beach. The first 2 weeks I was thankful I had no expectations because the beaches were not that usable for a sand area but I accepted it. Then one day a big storm came through and bam! Hellllo beautiful beaches! Good timing because my foot is finally healed enough for walking/running. It amazes me how much the beach changes daily. Sometimes just morning to night and it’s a total different beach. There’s still seaweed that comes in but it’s not covering all of the sand like before. There’s a lot of trash on the East coast coming in from other islands, someone told me Haiti if I remember right. If someone doesn’t maintain their property daily/regularly, the trash piles up – it’s so much. I’m more aware of my plastic use since being here.

You can walk for miles on the beach, literally MILES. It’s amazing. In some of my pictures if you look hard you can see waves on the horizon line. The 2nd largest Barrier reef is here. The waves on the shore are so calm because the reef is breaking up the big waves out at sea. During storms that come to land the waves at the reef can get massive and you can hear the roar of it from shore.

I feel like a storm chaser lately (Not really Mom and Dad, it’s OK – I’m safe). I have fully enjoyed watching the storms out at sea and watching them roll in. I’ve timed a lot of rains well and other times not so great and get stuck in the rain. The storms during the day are typically only a few minutes but they dump so much water in those few minutes. My first week my host was concerned with water usage/water conservation in effect because the house plumbing is all from rainwater and it was a really dry season for them. Thankfully rain started coming in week 2 and now everything is blooming pretty flowers and we have full grey water tanks because of rain season. There’s been some great storms at night, those ones seem to last a lot longer from what I’ve experienced so far.

I found the magic feeling and I have it several times a day. Nature is amazing. Belize is amazing. As you can see in all of the pictures it’s breathtaking here. There’s some ugly stuff but the nature aspect is stunning. I don’t use a filter or auto coloring on any of my pictures, what you see is how it’s taken and seen. I wish the camera would pickup the teal out at sea more because you can see more of the teal in person, it’s simply amazing.

This has been a fun way to share my adventures with family and friends. I get to share with you all much sooner this way and this helps capture memories for myself, win/win.

That was my first 30 days in Belize, crazy to think 1 month is over. Next post will cover the adventure of having to evacuate for a hurricane. <— best cliffhanger ever

To my family and friends: Love you all! I am having the BEST time I could imagine and I am safe. Of course there’s ups and downs still that happen here and there but life is good. I’m 100% happy I made this decision, it has changed my life and I’m loving all of my growing and learning each day.

Peace and love.