How to be a Midlife Digital Nomad with Guest Jennie Eriksen

Are you sick of one-daying? Yearning for not just a change of scene, but dreaming of breaking free from those overly familiar four walls?

Midlife brings with it a myriad of changes, so many of which are beyond our control.

But there's one change that more and more of us are finding increasingly appealing.  So I thought it was time to find out more, and I'm delighted to be joined by my guest Jennie Eriksen, co-founder of Eventraptor, to talk about what it's actually like to be living the digital dream years.

And tune in for details of Eventraptor's The Midlife Reinvention Summit running from 27th February and 1st March - I'm delighted to be one of the speakers! You can register via this link https://go.eventraptor.com/.../the-midlife.../kateporter 

Connect with Jennie

https://eventraptor.com 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeneriksen/

https://www.instagram.com/digitaldreamyears/

https://www/tiktok.com/@digitaldreamyears 

https://www/tiktok.com/@jenjapi

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to Midlife Unlimited, the podcast for women who want more. I'm your host, Kate Porter, the Midlife Metamorphosis coach, and I know what it's like to feel stuck navigating the midlife maze. I've looked in the mirror and thought, who is that woman? So Midlife Unlimited is here to let you know you are not alone. You don't have to put on a brave face and put up with it. You don't have to play it safe. Midlife Unlimited is all about ripping off that mask and telling it like it really is. Nothing is off limits, because together there's no limit to what we can achieve. So welcome to today's episode. Now, are you sick of one daying? Yearning for not just a change of scene, but dreaming of breaking free from those overly familiar four walls. Midlife brings with it a myriad of changes, so many of which are beyond our control. But there's one change that more and more of us are finding increasingly appealing. So I thought it was time to find out more. And I'm delighted to be joined by my guest today, Jen Erickson, co-founder at EventRaptor at eventraptor.com and speaker connections and creator of the Midlife Reinvention Summit to talk about how to be a midlife digital nomad. So welcome, Jen. It's fabulous to have you here. Thank you so much for having me. Digital nomad is one of those phrases that we're hearing again and again. And I think with it, and I'm all about smashing stereotypes, and that's what we're about to do, because I think with it, it kind of brings ideas of graduates who've worked for a couple of years and then think actually, no, we're gonna go off traveling but combine that with our online careers. So you are really shaking things up, and you're I'd like to call it a new movement, really, of us midlifers who are thinking there's a different way, and I'm gonna start exploring it.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Yeah, yeah, absolutely for sure. So it was something that we had decided to do actually back in 2020. Um, both of our, you know, when you um you you want your children to uh you know to see the world and stuff, and you know, we we sort of took our kids here, they're and everywhere when they were little, um, and then they decided both to live abroad. So they both live overseas. So at the time, I know, right? You know, at the time we had one in Dubai, and our daughter um had recently uh moved to Australia to to study. So we were literally a hair's breadth away from actually booking tickets to to travel because we wanted to we wanted to do virtual events, we wanted to to coach, and it it didn't actually matter where we were going to be. And then, of course, a bit of a global interrupt happened. So um we uh we had to park the idea, of course. And then you know, we were literally emptiness parents, and then we were boomerang parents, you know, they went, you know, that they came back. Um, so really and truly, you know, as things have settled down and you know, we can run our business from wherever, we thought we would like to revisit the idea. And so, you know, you can go on forever not putting a stake in the ground and thinking you're gonna do it then. So we thought, well, I'm gonna do it. I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

And later on, you're gonna be sharing your top tips and advice for anyone listening. And there's gonna be quite a few listening chaps as well, I think. So, what it was that actually enabled you to go, right? We're not gonna talk about one day anymore, we're gonna make it now. But also, and drum roll, please, listeners, we're gonna be talking more about the midlife reinvention summit that's coming up on the 27th of February to 1st of March, and I'm taking part, I'm so excited. So, we'll be sharing details all about that and your other events as well later on. But firstly, yeah, so I'd like to go back a bit to your metamorphosis journey, as you said, you talked about it, and it's Steve, your other half, isn't it? So you're like we're gonna do this, and then like got in the way, and then suddenly it's like does that mean the the delay? Did it make you even more organized, or are you very spontaneous? Did you have a plan? Talk me through it. How how do you start? Do you have to sell everything?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Well, I I always say to my my daughter, who's actually she's 27 this month, um, um, when I grow up, I want to be like you because I'm kind of like I am the although I'm the oldest in the family, you know, Steve is actually uh my toy boy of four years, but uh um we had an outline of what we wanted to do, and I think that um because we were actually just renting as opposed to living in that, we didn't have a home to sell, and we're not as time has gone on, we've become much more minimalist. I don't hold things dear, I hold experiences dear, and most of all I hold people dear. So there was no compelling something that that kept us. No, not a garden that we tended for 20 years, that we there were there wasn't anything. And our children, as I say, had gone off again. Now, so now our daughter, for example, is in Copenhagen, our son is back in Dubai. There was nothing really keeping us. Um, and you know, at this age, you know, I'm I'm 62 this month. My mum was already terminally ill. My mum had you know waited and waited to do things, and kudos to her. She learned to drive when she I think she was 55 when she learned to drive, and she learned to swim when she was about 58, but she'd never been abroad, she'd never done anything, and literally within months, she was um, she wasn't well, she was diagnosed and she was terminally ill. So by the time I hit 62, my mum only a couple of months afterwards had already passed away. And that kind of you try not to dwell on it, but it does it somewhere along the line, it kind of taps at you thinking, you know, there is a life here to be lived, and there's a life here that your mum didn't didn't get to live. And I think you can wait until you have all your proverbial ducks in a row, or you can go, we can do it because it, you know, we've already done things where we run events we you know all over the place. So it it doesn't matter because we're in the digital world, it doesn't when you know, location doesn't make any difference at all, as long as we have great internet. That's the that's the criteria.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

So many of the women that I I speak to, I have one as guests, I coach. It is that thought of I'm not ready, and that applies to so many things. But when you're thinking about upping sticks and going, you you are it really is a perfect example of you're never going to be ready and you're never going to know exactly what's going to happen because you're bringing so many unknowns into the equation. And I love when we were having our little pre-chat, people say things like, What do you miss most? And people talking about you know beds and things, but you said it it's a shift in mindset about embracing your new locale on a regular basis of changing it. I love that idea.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Yeah, it it exactly. It is it is the people. So I miss our children, but you know, we are technol technologically, can't say the word, technologically blessed because you know, back in 2020, you know, when everybody realized that the only way we could communicate was to use technology to use Zoom and FaceTime and all that kind of thing, we're never very far away from being able to connect with people. So, in a way, you know, sometimes somebody can live down the road and you don't get to see them, or they can live in another country. We can press a button and we can be talking just like you and I are. I mean, that's a huge, huge privilege. And as you know, having children who are busy with uh studying and with working and everything, we can work out times to be together when it it suits everybody, not just you know, descending on them when it's not a good time or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

That is so true because you can live as well next door to each other, you can live almost in each other's pockets, but still never actually make the time due to life getting in the way, to actually sit down with a coffee and have a chat. Where it's the wonders, as you say, of technology, it doesn't really matter where you are in the world, but you can make that time to actually have a decent catch-up and actually intentionally say, right, mum, right, son, we're gonna have a bit of time now. And yes, we're not gonna be physically able to hug each other or whatever, but when you do see each other, I bet the hugs are absolutely fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

They well, they are, and of course, everybody in the Ericsson family, apart from me, is exceptionally tall, so you know, I do get sort of squidged in a hug. But no, actually, to what you were saying the other the other evening, actually on Saturday night, we had a good old chat with our daughter, and then she and Steve, my husband, watched Stargate together. They watched two episodes, they're both nerds, and were literally watching it in real time together, and then I would hear Steve sort of saying, Oh, you know, that character, this or whatever. So, yeah, I mean, they were they were able to be together and and spend that way. I absolutely love that.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

We did a very similar thing with my dad and my son at the weekend because um my son's now living in London and I was with dad, and Finney was going about his morning stuff, but we were chatting away, and dad was relaying a story about goodness knows what he was talking about, but he he was chatting away about a dream or a program, and it is, isn't it? It is amazing how you can feel like you're in the same rather than overthinking it, rather than thinking, oh, they're miles away, I miss them, I miss them. It's actually finding a way to be together in the moment.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Yeah, it it is. So sometimes our our daughter, because she lives in she lives in Copenhagen, so she cycles a lot and she walks a lot, she'll ping me and she'll say, I'm walking, I'm walking for 20 minutes, want to hop on a court and we we chat, so I'm not necessarily walking with her, but we're together, just you know, throwing ideas around and catching up and all that that stuff, and I hold that very dear.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Well, this is gonna be the moment that I've not been dreading, but I know I'm gonna sit here to I'm wearing a green cardigan, what a surprise. But the rest of me is gonna start, I'm gonna start looking like the Grinch in a minute because I'm gonna get very, very envious, and there's no reason why I can't start planning as well to do these things. Talk me through where was your first stop? Was it something you planned? Did you have is it like planning a round-the-world trip or because I know is it house sitting has become part of the structure?

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Yeah, that that came in later. We have to think always about time zones because we're always running events, so there are going to be times when we are really uh you know staying up to the wee small hours. In actual fact, you know, you're still up when you know people are actually getting up. Uh we started off with Thailand. Thailand's always been a favorite of ours, actually. For our 30th wedding anniversary, our son um treated us to a trip to Thailand and we fell madly in love with it. So we started with Thailand because it was a good time of year, not too, too hot, the rainy season had finished. So you're always looking at those certain elements of you know, what is the time zone? What are you doing? What is the temperature? Is there anything happening in that country? I mean, you know, I can certainly tell you of a few uh curveboards that we've we've certainly had along the way. Um, but um, you know, Thailand was absolutely great, you know, the the weather was great, and of course, saying to people, we're not going out much as much as we would wish to explore. We're looking for steady internet, we're looking for the opportunity to you know to walk, to go and grab some food, to have uh, you know, a good backdrop for a meeting or a summit that we're running. And then when we left Thailand, we went to Sri Lanka. And the idea was we were going to go from Sri Lanka on to the Philippines, where we we have some people we wanted to connect with. And Sri Lanka had a cyclone, and completely out of left field. You know, the the world at the moment is very much topsy-turvy when it comes to weather, and we we were not expecting that, but before we'd actually made our plans to go to the Philippines, they also had had a natural weather disaster, so we stayed on in Sri Lanka because we wanted to sort of try and fill build in some time to for the Philippines to be able, you know, the airport working and all that kind of thing. Then, of course, the cyclone happened in Sri Lanka and we couldn't go anywhere. So literally, we just the best laid plans, and because we can be flexible, it didn't actually matter. The the bed and breakfast where we were staying at Sri Lanka, we said, could we stay on longer? And yes, absolutely you can. So we didn't go to the Philippines, it didn't work out. But what happened was by coming here to Portugal, which is where we are now, we were able to take in Turkey. So we we went to Turkey, and that was just impromptu. That wasn't the plan, but we were able to spend five days, it was just wonderful, and of course, here in Portugal, literally, as we are speaking, they've had uh huge storms here, trees over. It's been devastating weather. So I don't know whether we're bringing it with us or not, but you know, we you have to factor that in. That that you you can't, not everything can necessarily be set in stone. You have to have that degree of flexibility to um, you know, if an airport is closed, you can't go anywhere. You might be able to check in, but you can't go anywhere, and you can't be upset about it. You know, when you think of a country is dealing with natural disasters, you in an airport going, I can't go to where I want to go, seems very um it must it must be a matter of like, right, plan being becomes an instinct almost.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

You're like, you've always got that kind of if this, you know, if this doesn't go exactly as we want, yes, let's be adaptable, let's think, okay, we have other options and explore them.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Yeah, it it yeah, exactly. And you know, countries have all the things you need, they have things like washing machines and stuff, so you know, you might end up wearing the same old, same old for a bit. But you know, in the great scheme of things, it it doesn't actually matter. But you know, time zone-wise, we were working towards it. So Portugal is, for example, on UK time. Next year we're looking to go to Argentina, looking to go to Mexico. That'll be on pretty much all you know, Eastern time, which is the that's kind of the hours that we work anyway, because the majority of our clients are in the US and Canada. But um, for us it doesn't matter because what matters is we look at what's happening in the in the schedule and we plan accordingly. So when people say, Oh my goodness, you didn't go to bed till five o'clock in the morning, you know, what do you what do you well? I'm not gonna get up at eight o'clock if I go to bed at five. That's not gonna happen. So we have to change our schedule accordingly. That we might, I might not get up till say 10 and the day might start differently. So you have to factor all of that that in for sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Now you did allude to some curveballs. So uh what what are some stories where you just couldn't have foreseen what was going to happen?

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Well, I mean, certainly the weather we we we definitely couldn't have foreseen that for sure. And um, as I say, you you can look at uh the the weather for a certain time of year. We all do. If we go on vacation, we think, oh, you know, I want to go to Greece, when is it warm? But you we just don't know. We just don't know. So literally, this area in Portugal, we met somebody recently just said it was in the 40s in the summertime, it was in the 40, 40 degrees, people were melting. At the moment, it is it's not that it's cold, it's just wet, you know, completely wet. So this lovely idea of where we are at the moment, we're we're pet sitting at the moment, of sort of strolling around, you know, in the you know, up in the hills, it's just you know, it hasn't happened because literally it's sheet rain coming down the whole time. I mean, you only have to stand on the front step and you're drenched. Um, certainly, certainly the weather has has played, you know, a um a part in you know the curveballs. But other than that, really, just you know, I think anything that has come along, we've managed to sort of iron out really. Um, you know, it hasn't, I think if you go into this with an open mind and you're not devastated by the fact that something isn't going to work, and we you know, Steve and I are quite chill. So what actually upsets a lot of other people just doesn't even appear on our radar. And um, you know, I'm not prepared to, you know, go through the sort of the highs and lows, you know. So yeah, it's nothing to speak of that's been hugely life challenging yet, you know, hospital visits or anything, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

I suppose the big thing is the the misconception that it's a holiday, because it's not a holiday, is it? You you're not traveling the globe just for the heck of it on a jolly, you're working, but you're just your desk is a movable feast. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Yeah, it and it's it's about factoring in time to do something. So, for example, at the weekend we'll do something. So, here, for example, in Portugal, we've looked at things like markets. I love things like markets and we love food. So we've looked at where could where we could go. Um, and it's something to look forward to as well. So, but it's a good opportunity to sort of get an idea of somewhere so that when you can perhaps take it as a vacation, you know where you would wish to go. But yes, I mean there is that real misconception. People go, Oh, well, you're seeing lots of places. No, no, not really, but we are enjoying the food, we're enjoying the people, we're enjoying the culture, we're enjoying the kindness, we're enjoying all those wonderful things, the hospitality of wonderful people, that's priceless.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

I'm not a techie, I'm not a techophobe, if that's the right word, but I'm not a techie. But obviously, your business, digital nomad, the clues in the title, what you do, you arrange. Well, I'll get into talk through exactly what you do in a minute, but it's it's all about online events, uh, chats, etc. So, how the blinking heck do you go about sorting? I know internet connection can vary, but the actual internet contracts, do you have like a contract that you carry around with you from country to country, or do you have to set up a complete new contract depending where you are? If that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

Yeah, we always have um data available. So in the worst case scenario, we can fall back on data. And because Steve is the tech person, he's always making sure that we have everything we need. So in the worst case scenario, we would always have data, a data package, for example. But uh, we're always looking at locations that have good internet, and unfortunately, what people perceive as good internet is not necessarily good enough for us. So, for example, there was one place that we went to in Sri Lanka. We literally had to turn around and leave again because their perception of good was great for scrolling TikTok, looking at YouTube or whatever. But when you're running a meeting with 80, 100 plus people in it and stuff, it's got to. So the first thing Steve does literally is get out the phone and does a speed test, looking at the speed test to see the speed of something. Um, that's really our main criteria because obviously we need that continuity of being online. Um, and you know, we have had when we lived in Norway, we have actually had a there was a huge storm once, and we we were midway running a summit, and we actually had to, we literally evacuated the building. We there was a um uh somebody had just started speaking and they were they were speaking for 40 minutes and we legged it to our car and we ran to the first town that had lights on. We found the first coffee shop we could, and it was attached to a petrol station, and it had like you know, they did burgers and fries and all that, and we sat in the corner and ran the event there. So, I mean, even in a country that has super fast, speedy internet, the best laid plans and all that.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

I did say you're going to be sharing your top tips for embracing the digital nomad lifestyle, and I still will be pinning you down for those, but it does make sense then now we we've alluded to this rather exciting event that's coming out this month, which is one of many. It's it's not just the event, you've got so many things going on. But can you talk me through how it's come about? Is this typical the midlife summit of what Event Raptor's all about? How people can listen. Um, obviously, we're going to be having all your details, all your connections are in the show notes and on your guest um profile. I couldn't think of the word, I'm too excited. But talk our listeners through drum roll, please, because I'm midlife maverick, it's what I'm all about, and I'm so excited about this.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Well, bit of a backstory before we started Event Raptor, and Event Raptor was actually born out of my husband's frustration. So I'll I'll take you back. Back in 2020, as we were speaking about before, we were very much working with the midlife demographic in terms of coaching, in terms of helping people who wanted, you know, a lot of people they don't want corporate wherever they are in the world to be the thing. They they are things that they want to explore, and and sometimes people have ideas but they don't know how to execute them, they don't have a plan to execute them. So we were very much working with the midlife demographic. And then obviously, you know, global interrupt happened, and uh we wanted to run our own events, and so we started to do that. And when you run an event, there are lots of moving parts. I call it herding kittens because I think it's a great analogy. There's there's a video on YouTube of a man trying to photograph eight kittens, and so there are speaker bios and landing pages, and what Time is Kate speaking, and did that email go out? And did that thing? Did all that? And my husband is a tech guy and he's an automations guy. And if he can automate something, he will. So what he did was created something for us to use to run our own summits. And people were saying, Well, it's really easy to be part of your events because you just fill in. It's how do you do that? And that's how Event Raptor came to be. We still had our son at home, we still had a global interrupt, and nobody was going anywhere. And we thought, do we? There's that word coming up that we haven't used in ages, but it was everywhere, pivot. Do we pivot? Um, so we pivoted, and that's how Event Raptor came. So we kind of parked midlife because we were obviously you know knee deep in in Event Raptor, but it's something that has always weighed on me because I you know that there are so many when you think about our our expectations for how long we can potentially live, and so many people in the evening in the late 30s and thought, well, this is it for me. You know, go and save yourself, Janice. You know, it's too late for me. And it's not, it's not too late, you know. And and I I really wanted to bring people together um to to say, hey, it's not too late, because at 58 I lost my job and I'm doing this. We have, for example, people in our community in their 80s who come to speaker connections. We have a lady called Joyce, she's been to 180 countries, she's 88. You know, I I like to think I'm my husband's favorite person, but actually Joyce comes at close, because whenever Joyce turns up, he's kind of like Joyce, where have you been? Um, we have wonderful people who are just getting on with life, who are not being um you know, they're not being restricted by by certain things, they're embracing opportunities. And sometimes we have to, or we do embrace opportunities because our backs against the wall and things have you know gone not as we imagined. And so we have had to change things, but also, you know, because of our expect, you know, our life expectancy now, I don't want to be sitting in my, you know, my version of God's waiting room in my late 50s. What next? When you know there is a life out there to be embraced, and if we can inspire people to think I could do that or I could go there, or that's something I could do, or a hobby I could try, or something I could do to make my health better. You know, if I can play a small part, or we can play a small part in being, you know, being that vehicle, then great.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

It is a shift, and I'm so excited that we're part of it. Whereas it was that whole idea of it's settling, it's behaving, we follow the signposts, and now we've run out of signposts. We think, is this it? Is this it? Is this all there is now? Whereas we think absolutely no. And one of my most passionate held beliefs is the idea that if we don't like something when we try it, we can actually turn around and say to ourselves, not everyone else, actually, this isn't for me. I'm gonna try something else. Rather than feeling, we've got to pigeonhole ourselves because we stuck our head above the parapet and said, I'm gonna try this now. And everyone went, Oh my goodness, you're so daring, you're so brave. And then we tried it and it didn't work, or we didn't like it. Because we can reinvent ourselves, we can reimagine ourselves. I mean, that's a word that's banded around everywhere, then, but it's true. I mean, as you said, the word pivot, sadly, it's like but it is it reflects what we're doing. We are literally taking our fabulousness, our experience, and thinking, right, what can I do with this now?

SPEAKER_00 25:41

Exactly. Sometimes though, I think you know that there are things that get in the way, and often it's it's people, and our people are you're too old to do that. It's like when people lose weight. Remember, you know, you you see people lose weight, and you'll get people going, oh, that's wonderful, you know, you've achieved what you're oh, you're not the same anymore. Oh, yeah. You're not as fun as you used to be. Oh, I liked it better when because it upsets other people, and you know, often um it upsets other people because there is a perhaps a degree of envy. Oh, well, I wish I could do that. You know, it's it's it's it's brave to make change, and it but it's it's important to celebrate the small stuff that sometimes it's only a small change, but even a small change, you know, can gain momentum and and take you somewhere where you didn't imagine you might be. Um, and we all have challenges, you know, because as I mentioned, we live longer. We're often now a sandwich generation. There's often plenty of people who have children still in college or university or still at home because you know they're trying to save up for their first home and caring for elderly parents at the other end. So when is it you when is it your turn? You know, you it's it's our lives and life is precious. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Things can change in the blink of an eye. So you can hang on and hang on and then realize I hung on too long.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

It doesn't have to be a massive dream. And if if we make it too big, this thing, whatever our thing is, if we make it too big, that can lead to overwhelm over overwhelm. I I put the wrong emphasis on the word then, I'll but you know, procrastination. But when we break it down into those little steps and those little wins, they build up towards something that it may not necessarily be what we thought it was going to be. Because that things shifting and being flexible and malleable and going like not with the flow necessarily, but going with our own shifting desires and wants, and to keep asking ourselves, is this what I want still? Rather than being afraid to like, like I was saying earlier, you know, I've said this is what I want. Um if I change my mind now, everyone's gonna say, Oh, Bloody told you so. Bloody told you she wasn't gonna do that. No, yeah, and we do, don't we? We carry on with like, oh, I'm hating this, but I'm not gonna give up, I'm not gonna stop because what will they say?

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Whoever they are. Exactly. Whoever, exactly whoever they are. And I think if we see that as a step on the journey, because life and business, it's not linear, you know. We we don't go, you know, so we just if we look at it as a step towards finding what we want to do. I think if we reframe it as opposed to, well, it's a you know, it's a um I've failed at this, it's not okay, this didn't work out, so on to on to something else. I I don't want to dine out on things that I don't do, you know. Life is too precious. I don't want to, you know, oh I'm back in you know 20, whatever I did this thing. It you know, shit happens. It didn't work out.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Let's try something else. What's done is done. No, absolutely, absolutely. So looking ahead then to 27th of February, this kicks off this summit, doesn't it? So, what what's going on? What's going on?

SPEAKER_00 28:57

Well, we we've brought together, we decided that we'll run the midlife reinvention summit, we'll run it four times a year. Uh we, you know, we this is the first time we're running it, so we're still thinking on how to do it. But we wanted to have people, you know, people who could speak about their experiences, but also speak about things that are really important to the midlife and the midlife beyond demographic, because I am beyond the midlife demographic, you know, the age I am, you know, I'm I'm gonna be living into my hundred and something, but that's okay because I truly believe I am, you know, unless anything happens. But uh absolutely let's embrace every minute. So we you know we looked at those things that are important, well, that are important to anybody, but they're certainly important to midlife demographic, you know, how to deal with health challenges, how to you know uh change your career, how to oh you know, love, love and relationships, health and beauty, if you like, if if beauty is important to you, careers, all those different things. So we wanted to bring together a real sort of mix of people that covered as many different topics as as possible to give people a flavour of of what is possible. Um, and that's really so the first time we're doing this, we'll see how it goes. And then I'm there there's always lessons learned whenever you run any event, you think, oh, we could have done that differently, or gosh, should let that, you know, that person could have done something differently or put them in a different place in the uh in the schedule, whatever. But you know, again, we can either sit and think, oh, well, you know, let's wait until this is all perfect or go, let's just bring a bunch of wonderful people together. And I have to say, the amount of topics that that um speakers have submitted, I mean, it's just I would if it wasn't my event, I would be going to it because I think we're going to cover a real huge range of topics. So we've got live speakers, one of which is you, of course, which is fabulous. And we've also got pre-recorded speakers. So those people who want to submit something pre-recorded. So, for example, we've got somebody pre-recorded that's talking about uh what they're doing in terms of um their carbon footprint, you know, how to live not a frugal life, but a sustainable life, things that you can do, you know, looking after our planet. So there's there's a real smogersboard as you know, as the Scandinavians say, but it's something for everybody. And I'm I'm excited by that.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Well, absolutely, and I'm so delighted you just said about you could have waited, you could have thought, oh no, let's no, but let's just do it. Let's do it, embrace it, celebrate it. We're all in it together, we're all got the same passion. I'm gonna be promoting this so hard, no one's gonna be able to miss it. So I say we'll be giving all the connection details and the contact details for you and for the summit later on. But before we go into your three questions, because you're not gonna escape those. I'd love to pick your brains, your main takeaways for anyone listening that's thinking digital nomad. Yeah, but I quite fancy that. As we say, it's it's not a holiday, you're not going on a round-the-world trip. That's different. If you want to go on a round-the-world holiday or a round-the-world cruise, I've got a different episode coming up for that. This is literally embracing the idea of taking your work and moving it around the globe to different locations, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 32:15

Yeah, absolutely. So it's it's starting with the end in mind. So, for example, we're doing this for a two-year period because I um we were living previously in Norway, as you can hear, I'm British. So, you know, we have to make sure that we stay within the um, you know, the legalities of how long I can stay out of the country and and you know, that that kind of thing. So, starting with the end in mind, you know, how long do you think you might wish to be away? You might, for example, decide that you want a shorter period of time, and that's okay. Um, you know, do you have a house? Are you going to sell your house? Are you going to rent out your house? Um, what are the things that uh that need your commitment where you where you are? You know, a lot of us, you know, for example, because we we especially if you work online, you think that there are perhaps things that you need to do, but when you look at it actually, it's very easy to uh you know to manage without. So looking very much at that, looking to make sure that you have the appropriate health cover in place, you know, especially if there are things that you particularly need. So, for example, you know, my husband has a particular health challenge, we have to go back into Norway for him to touch base, it's important for our travel insurance and also for him to get a checkup and his meds and everything. So, looking at all of those things, obviously, if you've got a pet, it's somewhat challenging, but uh, you know, we don't have any have any pets, so that's uh you know, that that wasn't necessary for us. But thinking about what it is you you need, you know, do you need internet connectivity? Do you what what do you need? Do you need some peace and quiet? You've got to look at certain places to see what they offer at that particular time of year. You've got to have some kind of idea of an itinerary um of where you want to go, because otherwise, you know, you can be hitting places when it's not a good time to visit. You know, for example, we're here in Portugal, the weather's not brilliant at the moment, but we did have a little bit of time down on the Algarve. We had a week and it was nearly 20 degrees, and we would, and and so of course, you know, no none of the holiday makers are there, but it was we got you know, we were able to rent an Airbnb, had everything we needed, uh all you know, grocery stores, all that kind of thing. We could take some walks out, be right by the sea, fabulous, at a fraction of the price. And we're gonna get a suntan. Well, no, but did it matter? Well, no. So it's it it really is starting with the end in mind and thinking what you want to accomplish. And it I can't tell you that even though I think I packed conservatively, I haven't used, we haven't used half of the things that we thought we would use. Because literally, unless you're going somewhere that is really uh, you know, a long way out or whatever, there are things like you know, launderettes and washing machines. Invariably, if you're renting something like an Airbnb or booking.com, places come with you know all the things that you need, washing machines. So, you know, I'm always on camera top half, my bottom half, it doesn't actually matter very much. My trousers actually do match today, funnily enough, but um, it doesn't it doesn't really matter. So um you need less than you you think you need. Um, and and it's only when you take on this journey that you perhaps realize that more than anything. I I'm not possession oriented anyway, neither of us are. So it doesn't really matter to us. Our photographs exactly. So you know, our beloved photographs are in storage, you know. We've got a storage unit in Norway, they're all tucked away all carefully, all our treasured possessions uh uh uh are tucked away carefully. I don't have any kind of passion about a table or a chair or an anything, I'm not built that way. So the experiences are everything, you know that that's that's what's important to us. But if you are you know wanting to um you know to come back to your your home, you know, it's about uh you know uh renting out responsibly, you know, perhaps long term. Perhaps even if you're traveling for a while, you might want to get a pet sitter. I mean, that's something that we've now incorporated. So we're here in Portugal with three cats. Um they're rubbish, you know, at helping us, you know, gave one the filing the other day, he still hasn't done it, but you know, so that's something else you could do. So here, for example, we're staying in Portugal, it's costing us nothing because we are looking after the pets, and of course we take that responsibility on very seriously. We're actually with an agency, you know, where you're you're going to get reviews and everything. So we take that very, very seriously. But nevertheless, we are staying here, we have everything we need, we've we're looking after the cats responsibly, but it's not costing us anything to live to be here, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Coming up with new ideas, as you say, complete being open to different options. Yeah, yeah. So this this is gonna be a tough question, I would have thought. But uh, favourite places. I mean, you must have you said obviously about your precious photographs uh packed away in Norway, but you're when you must literally when you get some me time to be able to shut your eyes and you must have images that are just flashing up left, right, and centre of wonderful memories that you're creating.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

Yeah, we I have to say we we went to Sri Lanka because it seemed a good logical place to go in our journey, and I had not expected, I had not expected the level of friendliness and kindness that we received. Uh the people where we were staying, they were just amazing. A young couple with a young family with their, you know, starting their own little B and B and everything, their hospitality and their kindness was amazing. And you know, they they they actually said, because we had a beautiful breakfast for $26 a day. $26 a day, that's what it cost us. They prepared a beautiful breakfast. Every day it was far too much, but it was you know, they were there saying, Oh, I hope everything is great. Well, I don't want to offend them, but um, they actually said to my husband the day before his birthday, oh, it's your birthday tomorrow, isn't it? And he was, we're a pair of introverts, so he went, Yes, it is. Next day there was a you know music playing, they did a cake, and uh, it was just it was just lovely. Did not expect that, did not expect that we could hire our own tuk-tuk to drive around, which was hilarious. It was just the funniest thing ever, and of course, it's a fairly new thing in Sri Lanka. So you've got all the Sri Lankan people looking as we're as we're driving along. Do you want an air conditioned car or do you want to be in a tuk-tuk, you know, with you? I mean, you end up looking like you know, yeah, it was just brilliant. It was it was such good fun. And then uh there was there's a place um in the in the south where we went, where there is a beautiful lighthouse, a very historic lighthouse. And when we got there, it actually made me cry. It was so beautiful, it was like something out of a James Bond movie. It literally was the rolling waves and the swaying palm trees, and there was a beautiful white house on the mountain and little place that we found to eat that cost us like pennies to eat. The guy that was running the restaurant, he was in a hammock. He was just swaying backwards and forwards in a hammock, and we arrived, he got out of the hammock and he made some beautiful food for us, got back in his hammock, and we sat there. And I think I just it was one of those pinch me on dreaming moments. I had never physically seen something so exquisitely beautiful. And I know taking pictures that people go, Oh, she's photoshopped that, but it was just it literally made my heart flutter. It was just, and so we weren't expecting the stop gap that was Sri Lanka to be so dear to our hearts and so wonderful. And I think that's part of the wonderful journey. There's that there are going to be places you go and think, oh, perhaps it wasn't as I imagined, and other places where you get to go impromptu, like five days in Turkey that we had recently, it was like, oh my gosh, we've got to come back. This is just fabulous. So be open to be open to surprises, be open to that things mightn't work as you wish, but be open to the adventure. That's the main thing.

SPEAKER_01 40:21

Live into it, whatever happens, go, yes. We're gonna, oh, I want to do it. I want to have a word with Scott when I finish recording. Well, as I say, we're gonna be sharing your contact details in a minute, but before we do, I'm interested to see your three questions and how if if they've evolved during your time, but it's not really a way because you are home from home now, it's just home is a different place or office is a different place. So, your first question What is your midlife anthem, the song or piece of music that when you hear it you think, Yep, today's gonna be a good day?

SPEAKER_00 40:58

Well, it's it's it's quite interesting actually, because um so many people have usually have anthems where people are singing, especially women, you know, Gloria Gainer, I will survive and everything. I'm probably I'm not diagnosed, I'm probably one of these people that is uh would be late diagnosed ADHD because my brain works at warp speed all the time. So I um my daughter and I, especially my daughter, both of our kids, we often share tracks between us that we that we love, and we both love Daft Punk a lot. And um I've got a list on on Spotify called Calm the Feck Down, Jen, which basically is my when my brain is is like oh it's my list, it's my go-to list. Um, and Voyager by Daft Punk is there because I I love anything, any music that has a very strong bassline because it seems to really settle my brain and it really seems to sape me, but it also seems to get me not just settle me down, but also starts to make me feel more creative. So, for example, that list, if I'm not gonna write something, I'm gonna put that down. But Voyager, there is I can literally listen to that same track 20 times, it just it just calms me down. And when Spotify do that end of year, this is what you listened to. Um, you know, that track is kind of like, oh my goodness, you know, Jen, you know, you should have just joined Darth Park. I mean, you listen to it that man. But you know, and I I think there's a lot to do the it when you look at the NLP aspect, it's it's anchoring, isn't it? There are certain things we hear. So, you know, when we run speaker connections, you know, our networking event, there are songs I listen to because they get me music's super important to me because it gets me in the zone of where I want to be. So I can be, you know, I I couldn't listen to something, you know, soft and gentle before speaker connections because it's a two-hour investment of our time making sure everybody else has a good time, so I would listen to something different. But you know, I digress. It's it's Voyager by Darth Punk. I I just love it so much.

SPEAKER_01 43:02

Love it, love it, and it's the first time it's on the list because I am gonna put together a list for this. So make it available. I'm not quite sure. I mean, it's a work in progress, but while I while I ponder what that we go on to question two, what is your midlife mantra? The phrase that you live your midlife by.

SPEAKER_00 43:22

My midlife mantra has always been you're not done yet, you're just getting started. Because you know, any of us can change course, do something different, and you know, we're only done when we're done, aren't we? There's nothing to stop us changing things. So um if you you know, if you're saying goodbye to one thing and you're starting another, you're just getting started on something new, and that's exciting. So that's that's that's pretty much all well. I mean, midlife for a long time, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 43:52

But I think that's so true though, because we said earlier about settling and about regrets and things like that. And I think the minute we stop having new things. Are sparking us and making us think, ooh, that's when we start settling in, isn't it? That's when it's like, oh, this is it, then.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

Yeah, exactly. So if you're always open to you're just getting started, whatever that might be, you know, just getting started on your new chapter. Maybe it's a new marriage, maybe it's uh as a grandparent, maybe it's you know, working for yourself, whatever may be.

SPEAKER_01 44:24

It's well, you just mentioned new chapters, which leads us, I do like a segue, into the final question, which is what is the title of your autobiography? And can I read it, please?

SPEAKER_00 44:36

Yeah, cool. You can read it. Yeah, I do know. I I I need to ask little Jen, aka my chat GPT, to make you know, to make this more cohesive because this is straight from Jen's head onto paper. So I came up with you're not done yet, confessions of a digital nomad of a certain age, an introvert's guide to living out loud and eating ice cream everywhere. You know, I just I need to, but uh that's pretty much you know, so you're not done yet. Confessions of a digital nomad, still a digital nomad, certain age, yes, I am. I'm an introvert, yes, I am. Living out loud, because as you can see, when I'm on, I'm on. Eating ice cream everywhere. Steve and I, over the 33 years together, you know, we perhaps a deal breaker where we go is is there's got to be some ice cream somewhere. So uh Nina, you'll you'll see if you join us at speaker connection. Have you ever got ice cream yet? Uh and whenever we finish, it depends. I mean, there's a super chocolate ice cream here in Portugal that we're actually loving, but uh no, just as long as it's a good old bowl of ice cream and you know you can apply a generous hand to it. But that's what we do, that you know, uh and end of speaker connections. We have speaker connections, we have what we call after hours, where we you know chat with people, tell us what they're they're up to, then we have a bowl of ice cream, and then we sit and stare at each other because we're all introverts, you know, being introverts, we're all we're spent, you know.

SPEAKER_01 45:58

Let's go into your how people can connect with you. I said obviously all your details are in the show notes for our episode, which is available wherever you listen to your podcast, but you know that because you're listening, um, and on the Midlife Unlimited podcast website. But let's start with speaker connections and then your other links as well. So, what we haven't actually said what speaker connections is.

SPEAKER_00 46:19

All right, so give you give you a quick flavor of uh there's the ice cream thing there, tying things in very nicely. Speaker Connections is actually our networking event. When we had an event oh, nearly four years ago, uh, one of the things we gave away as a gift was all the attendees could have the opportunity, uh, who bought the VIP upgrade that we had, we have a bit of a networking meeting, and that then morphed into speaker connections. So it's a networking meeting with a difference because it's basically if you're looking for more speaking or guest opportunities, come to speaker connections. And if you are an event host, so you're looking for more guests or speakers, you're a podcast or a summit host, you do a live stream, whatever, come. And in the spirit of community, because it very much is a community event, a global community event, uh, we want to help speakers find more speaking and guest opportunities and also event hosts, more guests and speakers for their platforms. And it's free to attend because we say to people, if you like your payment, if you like, is come very prepared with what it is you do, who it is you serve, what it is you're looking for, but also come with a heart to help people. So if you were just on Kate's Amazing Podcast, as I just was, and you know she's looking for more midlife people, yeah, a bit lucky me, then you, you know, you would just you you meet somebody and and and say, gosh, I was just on Kate's podcast. You, you know, you do things in the midlife demo, you know, in the midlife field. Kate's got her podcast, make the introduction. So that's what we want people to do is very much help and support each other. But specificity is also one of my well-used words. Um, you'll you'll you'll see as time goes on, people go, she hasn't said specificity yet. Specificity is important. So we're saying to people, come and be very, very specific. So if you're looking to have a you know speak at a live event in London in June, then tell us because you never know who knows who, and you never know who knows what, and unless you ask us, we won't know. And the amount of times people have said, I don't suppose anybody will know this, but whatever. Somebody, yeah, I do. Oh, I know, or I was just so that's really what the event is about. And you know, we very much come from a hand holding as opposed to ass-kicking place. If you want people to, you know, kick you up the bum, it's not really us. We're much more nurturing and much more wanting to help people make genuine connections for those all-important continued conversations. So that's really a flavor of speaker connections, and we we're very proud to say that we've had people book out um you know, a whole uh uh year's worth of podcasts, um, you know, chapters, various uh seasons of podcasts and things, people have filled their events, people who literally have have joined us, you know, you can see the whites in their eyes, I would like to speak, have then said, Oh, I was just on my first podcast, it was great. I'm on another next month, and it's been nice to feel that we're a small part of that. It's people going, you you just really are you're very normal people. We because we do meet people, and that's the privilege of traveling around. We've actually met people and they go, You're very, very normal, aren't you? It's kind of like great. I love that. That checks all the boxes for me that you're not something in one place, and then people meet you in real life, it's kind of like, oh, they're not as they seem one. Oh no, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 49:44

That's what attracted me to you in the first place. So, how speaker connections, what what's the how can we connect with that? And also websites, um, social links.

SPEAKER_00 49:54

Eventmaptor.com, you'll find uh all the links for things to register for um for speaker connections, and obviously you'll have them in your show notes. We've got a speaker directory, free to be in our speaker directory, whatever age you are, be in our speaker directory, because we have people that use it um to to find people for their events. So we've got a speaker directory too, we've got a Facebook group that supports a networking group, we've got you know masterclasses and summits and things that come up, all the good stuff. Um, and of course, you know, if you want to work with us, if you especially if you are somebody, and we do actually probably the majority of people we work with, we looked at the figures the other day. 83% of the people we work with are actually women, and probably most of the people we work with are actually midlife and beyond. So if you're stuck, you know, you know you've got great stuff that you want to say, you want to share your knowledge, your wisdom, but you know you haven't got that foundational stuff in place because somebody says, Oh, what's your lead magnet? Well, have you got a sales funnel thinking what that is? We do all that kind of thing, we help people with that kind of thing. So, eventraptor.com essentially, I'm always on LinkedIn, you can find me there.

SPEAKER_01 51:07

And I'm so excited. Watch this space as well. I will be promoting the Midlife Reinvention Summit as well, obviously, that I'm so excited to be taking part of. And listeners, I would love your feedback on today's episode. So it'd be fabulous if you could leave a review and you can email or text me via the link in the show notes. Um, you can come and join the Midlife Unlimited podcast Facebook group again. Link in the show notes, and you'll find the website link too with details of how to join more my award-winning all-in-one coaching programme. So thank you for joining me, Jen. It's been an absolute delight. I've learned so much. I've got itchy feet now. I've got itchy feet. I'm gonna have to check my internet connection. Uh, thank you for listening. I look forward to you tuning in next week because don't forget Midlife Unlimited has a new episode every Thursday available wherever you listen to your podcasts. So here's to being fabulous and flourishing together and living midlife unlimited. Thanks, Jenny. Being an absolute joy. Bye.