I am Iris van Driel. Until 2019, I lived permanently in the Netherlands, where I studied to become an engineer. But life ran just a little differently than expected. I now work remote as a freelancer for Dutch clients as well as a guide, spending most of my time abroad.
In recent years, I have lived in Mexico for extended periods and worked and lived for shorter periods in the US, Argentina, Chile, Greece, Iceland and South Africa. As a result, my life is a succession of new places, cultures and adventures. Still, I usually return to the Netherlands about one month a year, to see friends and family and pick up my packages.
Starting all kinds of remote jobs
During the pandemic, I actually kind of rolled into this lifestyle. I went backpacking in the summer of 2019, and when the lockdowns started, I didn’t want to go back to the Netherlands. Traveling was no longer possible, so I started looking for ways to continue working and living abroad. I then first started turning my hobby into my job: horseback riding. Then I started looking like crazy for remote work. I did all kinds of small jobs, such as translations, content writing and website building.
That was not necessarily super fun work and it paid moderately, but I had to start somewhere. You can’t be too critical in such cases, or you’ll never get a job.
With those smaller jobs, I had time to learn what it’s like to be a freelancer: making invoices, doing quarterly returns, things like that. Later, I found clients for which I could work as a researcher, something more suited to me and my education and more fun and challenging. I still do that work, usually one or two days a week on a project basis. That means that sometimes I’m a bit busier with it and there are also months in the year when everything is on hiatus and I have more time for other things. Going to the Netherlands, for example, or traveling!
The rest of the time I’m a guide on horseback or training horses for competitions. That’s really what I prefer to do anyway, but I do find that I enjoy staying busy with research. I can really get into collecting and visualizing data; that’s what I specialize in, usually around the topic of water. For example, I worked as a technical illustrator for a project that turned academic research output on water purification in remote areas of Africa into handy manuals. That was so much fun because you’re always making a tangible product and also working for a good cause.
Remote working in large projects
I am currently working in a large consortium in which we are looking for ways to future-proof the rivers in the Netherlands. A huge project, where I sometimes get buried in data and results come about a lot slower. The nice thing about this is that I get to meet a lot of new people from this collaboration (yes, remote!) and things can be done in a big way.
I am very grateful to have these fine clients right now, but I also realize that being a freelancer is an uncertain existence. If I need to, I’ll just build a few websites again, you know. You have to have that flexibility. Your dream job is not always only in the type of work you do; where you do it and what you can do next to your work is just as important. I’ve never worked forty hours a week in an office for a boss, so I don’t know what that’s like from personal experience. Still, I don’t think I need that experience to know that what I’m doing now suits me better. I have learned that I am independent and disciplined, which, by the way, does not mean that I can never spend a few weeks lazing on a beach 😉
The right balance between work and travel
Over the past few years, I’ve discovered that my favorite way to travel, backpacking, and working remotely are each better when I don’t combine them. I have tried to combine both, but then the traveling is no longer as spontaneous as I would like and everything around work gets messy. For example, I can no longer spontaneously join a hike on that beautiful sunny day with nice people I just met, and I often find myself stressed anyway, looking for a place where I have internet that is good enough for an online meeting and where everyone isn’t yelling in the background. I’m sure this won’t sound unfamiliar to the digital nomads among us.
Combining remote work with working abroad as a guide, on the other hand, often goes really well together. Besides guiding, I actually always have some time to open my laptop and do remote work. Then I can just work nicely from the same place, or in a coffee shop nearby, knowing that I have good internet, can attend meetings and have a good seat. Fortunately, both jobs are quite flexible and I can always plan a week, a month or even six months in between if I want to take another trip, without worrying about work.
Taking freedom and responsibility
The most obvious advantage is the enormous amount of freedom this way of working brings, but that is also the challenge at the same time. Yes, you can work wherever and whenever you want, but you have to organize everything yourself: clients, a laptop with the right software and licenses, a workplace, Internet (I have another anecdote or twenty about this), working hours, vacation, keeping track of hours, sending invoices, quarterly tax returns, you name it.
But also consider what happens if you are sick, or if you make a big mistake in your work. You have to have a good amount of independence, discipline and responsibility to work this way. The biggest challenge I find is finding jobs. It really is a jungle on the Internet, with endless freelance websites and, if you ask me, a pretty limited supply. Many of these platforms also charge money to respond, and the huge competition often brutally drives hourly rates down.
Time after time, it seems that finding clients through-via is the best way after all. And if you want people to recommend you, you have to do it yourself. You need a network in which you actively participate and maintain contacts. Once you have such a network around you, you’ll suddenly get another message saying: “Are you available?” – The phrase that makes you very happy as a freelancer.
Networking and finding clients
As you can read above, the right contacts are hugely important in finding assignments. It depends on the type of work you want to do, of course, but having a network to fall back on for advice and recommendations is always valuable. Be assertive, step up to people and send messages around yourself. Spread the word: let everyone know you’re a freelancer!
Choose a strategic time to start, because becoming a freelancer doesn’t happen automatically. For example, start during your vacation or alongside your new part-time job, or dedicate a half-day every free weekend to this. Start with a small, short job to see how you do. Don’t expect mountains of gold in the beginning.
Think about how you want to shape your life. I don’t work remote full-time, and that has never been my plan, because I work as a guide in addition. Sometimes I even work full-time as a guide and flip open my laptop on my day off. This is not a lifestyle with a 40-hour work week and carefree weekends. You have to put in the effort!
My upcoming adventures
Right now I am sitting at my laptop in South Africa. Pretty little is happening around the holidays as far as my clients are concerned, so I have all the time I need to write this blog and plan my next steps. Early next year I will be leaving for Chile, because surely Latin America is where I feel most at home.
My destinations depend mostly on the horse work I do; for my remote work, I don’t follow time zones or set schedules. In fact, I often find time differences actually convenient, as I have little or no overlap with work. Speaking of which: Australia and New Zealand are also still high on my list. I would also like to live in the same place again for a few years, like I did in Mexico, but I have too many ideas for that at the moment!
Want to follow me? Check out my Instagram: @horsebacknomad @iris_van_driel @irsvndrl & check out my website www.irisvandriel.com
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