I still remember the first time I worked at a café in my first nomad destination: Madeira.
It wasn’t glamorous. My Wi-Fi was dodgy, my coffee was very bitter, and the guy next to me was watching TikToks at full volume. But still... something clicked.
I was working... and free!
That’s the moment remote work stopped being this abstract perk on job listings and became real.
And it changed everything.
In this train of thought of a post, I want to walk you through how remote work completely flipped my career, lifestyle, and even how I think about time, ambition, and happiness.
No fluff, no fake beach photos. Just what actually changed (and what didn’t).
Pre-remote life: the office hamster wheel
Before remote work, I was on the same track as a lot of people in tech.
Wake up early. Commute. Pretend to look busy in an open-plan hell in London.
Eating a sad desk lunch. Sitting in meetings that could’ve been Slack messages. Commute again. Crash on the couch. Repeat.
Don’t get me wrong, my job wasn’t even bad. I was well-paid in a well-known British corporation many Brits would dream of working for, my team was decent, and the projects were okay.
But something always felt... off.
I didn’t hate my job. I hated the rigidity. The “9-to-5 or else” culture. The silent expectation that your best work happens in fluorescent lighting under the watchful eye of your managers.
I wanted more flexibility, but flexibility wasn’t a thing yet. This was pre-2020. Remote work was something freelancers or startup founders did, not regular folks like me.
So I stayed. I clocked in. I kept the illusion alive while I was watching everytime videos of digital nomads traveling the world on YouTube and asking myself how the heck they could leave that lifestyle.
The shift: accidentally going remote
Then the pandemic hit. And overnight, the illusion cracked.
Suddenly, everyone was remote. The entire company. The entire world. And despite the chaos of those first months, something incredible happened:
Work still got done.
Even better? I started to feel human again.
No commute. No awkward office banter. No pretending to be busy. I started to reclaim little moments of my day: breakfasts that didn’t feel rushed, 20-minute walks at lunch, deep focus sessions without constant interruptions.
I was working more efficiently, but I was also living more. It felt... weirdly easy. And that scared me. Because if remote work made life this much better, why were we ever going to an office at all?
What changed: everything
Let’s talk about the biggest things remote work changed for me, mentally, physically, and professionally.
🧠 My mindset
This was the biggest shift.
Before, work was this thing I fit my life around. Now? It’s the other way around.
I started thinking in energy instead of hours. I stopped feeling guilty for taking breaks in the middle of the day if I was going to do my best work later in the evening. I realized that being available 9 to 5 didn’t make me productive. It just made me available.
Remote work gave me agency. And once you taste agency, it’s very hard to go back.
🌍 My location
After a few months of working from home, I had this epiphany:
“Wait. If I don’t need to go to the office… do I actually need to be in this city?”
Spoiler: I didn’t.
I packed a small suitcase, booked a one-way ticket, and started working from Madeira. Then the Canary Islands. Then Bansko. Then Chiang Mai. And more than 13 countries that same year.
I wasn’t on vacation. I was actually... working. But somewhere waaaaaay nicer.
This wasn’t “digital nomad life” with infinity pools and drone shots.
It was renting month-to-month apartments, working in cafés, adjusting to time zones, and occasionally getting food poisoning from questionable street food in Thailand.
But it felt alive. And real. And mine.
⏰ My time
"Pre-remote me" used to measure time in hours.
Now I measure time in output and intentions.
Remote work forced me to become more aware of how I actually work best. I learned that I’m useless after 4 PM, that my brain hits flow state after lunch, and that I do my best work early morning and then hit the beach or go somewhere nice before coming back to work.
This kind of personal rhythm doesn’t fit neatly into office culture. But remotely? It thrives.
💼 My career
This one surprised me the most.
I assumed remote work would limit my career options. Turns out, it expanded them.
Suddenly I wasn’t limited to companies in my city, or even my country. I could freelance anywhere and for any company worldwide. And the best part? Companies were competing for remote talent.
I went from feeling stuck in one job to feeling like I had the whole world as my job market. I started saying no more. I started negotiating more. I stopped tolerating toxic teams or “back to office” pressure as a freelancer.
Remote work didn’t just give me options. It gave me leverage.
So much that at some point I decided to even leave freelancing and start my own business. Which now became more than one.
And that's priceless to me. I became a generalist in a hyperspecialised world.
🧘♂️ My well-being
Okay, this is where things get a little personal.
Before remote work, I had regular panic attacks. I’d wake up at 3 AM thinking I was dying. I thought even about seeing doctors and going to therapy. I cut caffeine. I went vegan for a while.
Nothing helped for long.
Then I went remote. And within three months, the attacks stopped.
I’m not saying remote work cured me. But I am saying that removing the daily stressors (commuting, social pressure, lack of control and all that jazz) created space for healing.
I had more time to cook real meals. To meditate. To sleep. To breathe.
And that changed everything.
What didn’t change
Okay, so remote work changed my life, but let’s not romanticize it.
Here’s what didn’t magically improve:
- Discipline: If you procrastinate in the office, you’ll procrastinate remotely too.
- Loneliness: Working alone can get real isolating, real fast, that's why I love cafés where you can meet plenty of cool people (and locals).
- Time Wasters: They’re still a thing. Sometimes even more of a thing, even if I don't do meetings anymore.
- Burnout: Just because you can work from anywhere doesn’t mean you should work everywhere, all the time.
Remote work isn’t a silver bullet. It’s a tool. You still have to build the structure around it.
What I wish I knew earlier
If I could go back and tell pre-remote-me a few things, here’s what I’d say:
- You’re not lazy. You’re just trapped in a system that doesn’t match your rhythm.
- Working from home doesn’t mean working less. It means working smarter.
- You don’t need permission to optimize your life. You just need to start.
- Remote work isn’t an escape—it’s a design choice.
So… should everyone go remote?
Honestly? No.
Some people thrive in offices. Some roles really do benefit from in-person collaboration. Some other people need that daily structure and social energy.
But here’s what I believe:
Everyone deserves the option to work remotely.
Not as a perk. As a baseline.
And if you’re someone like me, someone who values freedom, focus, and flexibility more than office snacks and team lunches, then remote work isn’t just a preference. It’s a lifestyle unlock.
Remote work changed my life, not because I suddenly became more productive or successful, but because I got to design my days.
I wake up slower. I move my body more. I work in cafes, airports, coworking spaces, hammocks, and sometimes just from bed.
I choose how I spend my time.
I choose where I live.
I choose how I show up.
And in a world where we’re told to follow the script—get the job, get the commute, get the cubicle—remote work was my way of flipping the script entirely.
It didn’t just change my job.
It gave me my life back.
