My name is Nancy Fielmich and I call myself a remote entrepreneur. In short, it means that I generate all my income location-independently. This gives me the freedom to go wherever I want: in our cottage in Spain, driving around in our self-built campervan, on group work in Cape Verde with Working Remotely, or back on Dutch soil to be with friends and family.
Has my life always looked like this? Certainly not! Until September 2022, I worked as a salaried civil servant and had a 9-to-5 job. As an HR consultant, I worked for several municipalities and the National Police. I always really enjoyed working for the government, but when I decided to live remotely, I knew that a government employer would no longer suit me. I would like to take you through how I completely changed course, step by step, over the past few years.
My sabbatical was the beginning of a different life
After years of taking short trips with a backpack to Asia, my boyfriend and I were ready for a bigger adventure. We decided to take a sabbatical in 2017 and traveled through Central and South America for almost 8 months. In Chile and Argentina we rented an SUV with rooftop tent, traveling with your own transportation and overnight accommodations gave us an even greater sense of freedom. The dream of building our own campervan was soon born. This trip we also had a special meeting with a South African couple who had been traveling around for 5 years through their income from real estate, a second seed to a freer life had been planted.
Back to the 9 to 5 life
After this amazing trip, we both felt we were far from finished traveling. But by now our bank account was empty and we had bought a newly built house, where all our attention ánd money went. Soon we were back in our old 9-to-5 life, and even though it was all going fine, the travel jitters remained. As soon as the house was finished, we started saving like crazy to buy a campervan.
Meanwhile, we delved into the possibilities of generating a passive income. By 2021, we had saved enough and bought a Mercedes Sprinter van that, with the help of professionals, we converted into a beautiful campervan. In the meantime, our house skyrocketed in value, and we were able to withdraw some of our excess value to invest in our first investment property, and thus our first passive income was also a reality.
Our house on wheels
While building our campervan, the idea of living in the campervan arose. At that time, I had been working from home for a long time and thought, why couldn’t this be done from the campervan as well? It could greatly accelerate our desire to travel again for longer periods of time. When our neighbor’s house went away for the top price, we packed up and called the same real estate agent. Within a week we had sold our house!
Location-independent working as a remote self-employed person
To set my own terms, I decided to start as an independent HR Professional. I started sharing my story and soon an assignment followed that I could start working remotely. I focus mainly on small companies that do not employ an HR professional or consultant, but need work in this area for a few hours a week. I can do this work remotely just fine.
Turning the helm to a remote life!
Now that the house was sold, our house on wheels ready and the first remote assignment was in, we could move on to the next step. Our salaried jobs were terminated. September 1, 2022 was the day, our working life in salaried employment was over and with our campervan we drove to the notary to also officially transfer our house to the new residents. After the transfer, we left for the sunny south.
We bought a house in Spain
The sale of our house left us with a nice amount of excess value in our account. We thought it would be nice to buy a small house in Spain from that money that we would use to create a basic place for when we wanted some solid ground under our feet and to rent out when we weren’t using it ourselves.
Back in November 2022, we ran across an idyllic cottage in Canillas de Aceituno (province of Málaga) and before we knew it we were at the notary in Spain. The campervan went into storage in Spain, and in 5 months we made our cottage suitable for rental. In May 2023 Casa Corazón opened its doors, and by now we can call ourselves superhost on Airbnb and have only 5-star reviews. We completely outsource management so we can remain location independent.
A free life as a remote entrepreneur
With the income from renting out our property in the Netherlands and our vacation home in Spain, we have a basic income. When we are not using our campervan ourselves, we also rent it out . Door deze extra inkomstenbronnen is het voor ons voldoende als ik gemiddeld 10 uur per week werk voor opdrachtgevers. Daarnaast genereer ik ook nog inkomen door het geven van inspiratiesessies over volledig remote leven en ondernemen. Ook geef ik als ervaringsdeskundige 1-op-1 sessies aan mensen die ook graag een vrijer leven willen creëren zoals ik dat heb gedaan. Ik heb de 9-tot-5-baan nog geen dag gemist.
Were you inspired by my story and would like to know more? Through my Instagram page I give an insight into my daily life as a remote entrepreneur.
Curious about more experiences of others who work remotely? Then read more inspiring blogs here.
