“I’d like to have your life, too.” I hear from one of my participants. He is not the only one. I hear this phrase at least once a week. My work as a (walking) guide opens people’s eyes and often shows them that more is possible than a 9 to 5 job at the office.
My name is Kim de Leeuw, guide, remote worker and traveler. I’m in my late twenties and live wherever my work takes me: from the snow of Lapland to the silence of the Jordanian desert and currently a Japanese ski village. What began as studying and looking for a suitable job grew into a life in which travel and work are strongly connected. I do not have a fixed home; my life moves with the seasons and the places I get to work and discover.
My adventure as a guide
With two college degrees under my belt, I didn’t find the job I was looking for after graduation (in corona time). Until one of Travelbase’s partners told me they were still looking for guides for that summer. I just didn’t have time at that point. I was going to work one last time in France, after five summers as an animator. Not much later, I applied for a job at Winterwoods, a yurt glamping of Travelbase, and started my adventure there as a ranger & (hiking) guide.
Meanwhile, my fifth year has started, I have gradually switched to self-employment and regularly carry final responsibility on location. What makes the profession most wonderful for me? The opportunity to share all the beauty of this world with my guests and to be able to contribute a little bit to the travel and hiking bug. Destinations like Jordan, Lapland and Cappadocia have a place in my heart forever.
Working for Fair Tourism
Since 2020, I have also been working for Fair Tourism. This is a foundation dedicated to empowering indigenous communities through community-based tourism. This form of tourism allows communities to decide how their culture is represented and where they are in control. With this mission in mind, we were already part of TourLink, an EU project, and worked for Travelife. We are also now working on three projects of our own in Thailand, Indonesia and Kenya.
I started working for the foundation from home in corona time, but soon after turned into remote work. My laptop has already been in Sweden, Finland and Turkey, among other places. For me, this is the biggest advantage of working remotely. In your free time you can discover the most beautiful places, while from your temporary office you often have a beautiful view as well.
The balance between guides and remote work
The combination of guiding and working remotely is certainly not always easy. As a guide, you basically work 24/7 until your group leaves again. It can sometimes be quite difficult to get that work done that was on your to-do list. Frustrating I might even call it. It requires flexibility from you, but also from your employer. I fortunately get that at Fair Tourism. In busier periods, I prefer to do projects a bit more in the background where I don’t penalize other people if I miss my deadline by one day.
The key word really does remain just planning. Look carefully in advance where your quieter moments in the week lie and make sure you make the most of them. Based on that, you can also see how many hours you can devote to which work. For me, this means that I currently spend about eight hours a week working on Fair Tourism. Spread over several times that can vary from week to week. This allows me to combine my work in the travel industry with Fair Tourism and exploring the area where I am at the time.
Sharing stories through the blog
Since I get to work in so many beautiful places, nothing seemed more fun than sharing the stories about them with others as well. Visiting a country off the beaten path often brings so many more beautiful connections and experiences. My niece feels the same way and we decided to combine our passions for travel and photography and start our own blog. It is still in its infancy, but there are already great stories coming through regularly.
As soon as I’ve made a cool trip, itch to work it out right away. Guidelines for this are often the things I would have liked to know myself beforehand. Sometimes it takes me a while to find time to write, but it always makes me happy when I see another new post on the blog.
Working abroad yourself
Nowadays, there are numerous options for working abroad. In the travel industry, you can work as a tour guide to accompany a group for a longer period of time, but on the contrary, you can also work as a guide of activities. In destinations like Lapland, they are always looking for people who want to work as guides during the winter season. Also, during the high season you can often work as a receptionist or cleaner in a hotel, or just as a waiter in the service. The important thing is to cross that threshold and just go do it. Sometimes it really is that easy. And then? Consider:
1. In which destination you would like to work.
2. Find out what their peak season is and what kind of jobs tend to be available then.
3. Actively approach the companies you are interested in, even if they do not yet have job openings.
One of my friends has been shouting for years that I really should go and work in Japan. After three winters in Lapland, I decided it was time for a change and Japan became my new dream destination. In the summer I like to keep guiding and so I looked for a job there for the winter. In terms of timing, this is perfect because our winters run concurrently and so there are jobs aplenty in Japan’s many ski resorts. I wanted to work in a role where I would have customer contact, but also a lot of responsibility and freedom to manage my own time. That friend of mine forwarded my resume, I also approached some companies on my own and eventually I chose a position as a Lodge Manager.
Wintering in Japan
While Japan is now a popular destination among the Dutch, it is still fairly unknown that you can ski fantastically in Japan. That while Japan is often said to have the best powder snow in the world. One thing I have learned is that there is a lot of snow in Japan. In the last 24 hours there has even been 130 cm of snow. That means a lot of snow shoveling and then enjoying the slopes.
Other tasks within my job include welcoming guests, offering shuttles, maintaining the mailbox and planning for the cleaning team. A diverse job where I am obviously present in the accommodation during check-in and check-outs, but where in addition I can schedule my own time. In the village I enjoy skiing, yoga and visiting an onsen (a traditional Japanese hot water bath) immensely, but I also have a trip to Tokyo planned for next month.
Curious to see what my time in Japan looks like next? You can follow me on @mudonourshoes on Instagram and www.mudonourshoes.com.
