How Ryan Went From 14-Hour Work Days to Working Remotely and Living in Paradise From the Perspective of a Serial Entrepreneur | EP 2

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Ever wondered how someone breaks free from 14-hour workdays to build a life of freedom, travel, and success?

Ryan shares his incredible journey from maintenance manager and warehouse worker to successful digital nomad entrepreneur. If you're feeling stuck in your current situation or dreaming of a location-independent lifestyle, this is your blueprint for change.

Discover practical, actionable strategies for transitioning from traditional employment to remote work - even if you have zero experience. Ryan breaks down the exact steps he took to build multiple income streams. You'll learn how to test the waters of digital nomad life without risking everything, and understand the key factors to consider before making the leap.

Chapters:
08:17 - The unexpected benefits of solo travel
17:51 - Lessons from Ryan’s solo trip to Costa Rica
20:54 - The transition to becoming a digital nomad
35:10 - How to test if the remote work lifestyle is for you
47:08 - Future of Digital Nomad Nation podcast

From choosing the right destinations based on time zones and cost of living, to maintaining a work-life balance while abroad, Ryan shares battle-tested advice from seven years of digital nomad experience.

Whether you're dreaming of working from tropical beaches in Bali or mountain cafes in Peru, this conversation provides a realistic look at both the challenges and rewards of the digital nomad lifestyle.

Listen and learn how you can create a life of freedom, adventure, and financial success - no matter where you're starting from.

Get Your Free Guide: 7 Ways to Become a Digital Nomad
https://www.thedigitalnomadcoach.com/freeguide

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DISCLAIMER:
Listening to stories of beachside zoom calls, mountainside work views, and island-hopping entrepreneurs may cause severe wanderlust and an irresistible urge to turn your laptop into a passport to freedom. Side effects include daydreaming about tropical coworking spaces, working with Ryan to learn how you can start working and traveling and buying a one-way ticket to Bali. Get ready to start living your dream life today!

Chapters

• 8:17 The unexpected benefits of solo travel
• 17:51 Lessons from Ryan’s solo trip to Costa Rica
• 20:54 The transition to becoming a digital nomad
• 35:10 How to test if the remote work lifestyle is for you
• 47:08 Future of Digital Nomad Nation podcast

Transcript

Ryan Mellon: [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Ryan Mellon and welcome to Digital Nomad Nation. Seven years ago, I was trapped in two dead end jobs. Now I'm a digital nomad and serial entrepreneur who has achieved financial freedom. So now it's your turn. I will bring you real unfiltered stories from people just like you. We've broken free from the nine to five to create extraordinary lives.

You'll hear about the thrill of waking up to sunrises in Medellin, to watching sunsets in Bali, and the challenges of building a business or working remotely from the road. We'll explore the joy of forming connections across cultures and the occasional pitfalls of constant travel. Get ready for stories that will ignite your imagination and practical tips to fuel your own adventure.

The life you've always dreamed of is just one bold decision away. Your path to a life less ordinary starts [00:01:00] now.

All right. Hey guys, welcome to digital nomad nation. And today I will be the one answering all the questions. So we have Marvin Athey here. He's my podcast manager and he's going to be asking some of the questions today. Welcome to the show, Marvin.

Marvin Athey: Thank you, Ryan. I'm super excited. ~I've been preparing all week for these questions.~

Ryan Mellon: Awesome. I'm looking forward to it.

Marvin Athey: Yeah, I think your audience will find a lot of value. So let's get started. So first off, how long have you been living the digital nomad lifestyle?

Ryan Mellon: So I was just calculating it today in this month. It's seven years. ~Um, ~and I can't believe it's been seven years. It's flown by so quickly. Sure.

Marvin Athey: And, ~uh, ~you know, I get this question a lot. Cause I'm a digital nomad. I always have trouble with this question. But in seven years, can you give us maybe a favorite destination or maybe even just your top three?

Ryan Mellon: I would say my top [00:02:00] three, you know, there's very few places that I would say that I, I get that, that I could describe as magical.

And when I, when I think of that word, what comes to mind is Bali,~ um,~ Vietnam and Peru for me. ~Um, ~Bali is probably my top,~ um,~ in Indonesia in general. I've been to about 10 of the 17, 000 islands they have out there.

I have a little more work to do, but,~ uh,~ heading to Bali and we'll be living in Bali all winter for six months this year, so Bali is probably number one for me right now.

Marvin Athey: Okay. And you, you mentioned Bali and Vietnam, both in Southeast Asia, and then you have Peru and South America. ~Is there something I want to dig a little bit deeper and to,~ is there something similar in these three or are they all three uniquely different?

Ryan Mellon: I think that there is some similarity in, in the nature of, of, of each of the places. ~Um, ~I'm like Peru and Vietnam both have some spectacular mountains. ~Um, ~You don't [00:03:00] see it, you know, as much of that in Bali. ~Um, ~they have, but they have some beautiful beaches and, and they do have some volcanoes. ~Um, ~but, um, in all three of them, the people are, are also really just amazing, amazingly hospitable and friendly and kind and outgoing and happy that you're there.

So, ~um, ~I think that plays a big role.

Marvin Athey: Okay. Okay. So it sounds like nature is really important to you and how the locals, is it the locals when you say people?

Ryan Mellon: Yes, yes, to be more specific. Yes. So the locals,~ uh,~ are, you know, just welcoming and generally,~ uh,~ easy to,~ um,~ make friends with and, and,~ uh,~ to be around and, and, enjoy learning from them and exploring their cultures.

Marvin Athey: Fantastic. And, and when we're talking about Bali, Vietnam and Peru, Bali is an Island of Indonesia, when you say Vietnam, where in Vietnam are you talking about specifically? 

Ryan Mellon: [00:04:00] far as the mountains go, that would be the North, like the Hai Giang loop area, North of,~ uh,~ Hanoi. Um, I had spent six weeks in Vietnam. So. I started down in the south and worked my way all the way up to the top, did the Haisheng loop up near the Chinese border,~ um,~ and then left out of Hanoi. So I got to see quite a bit of the different places, some of the big cities, the beach city of Da Nang and,~ uh,~ and then also the mountains in the north.

Marvin Athey: Okay. And then when it comes to Peru, what city in Peru was it?

Ryan Mellon: So the, the city that I spent the most time in in Peru was Cusco and that's very high altitude. It's about 11, 000 feet. ~Um, ~it's a mountainous town and it's, it's very, it's one of the best places to get to Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountain from there.

Marvin Athey: ~Did you, I I've, ~I haven't been, I want to go. ~Uh,~ did you experience any of the elevation effects when you were up there?

Ryan Mellon: I did. I [00:05:00] did. Being at 11, 000 feet for three weeks is a little bit of a challenge and especially if you go from the capital,~ um,~ Lima. Straight to Cusco by plane. You're going from about 50 feet above sea level, 11, 000 feet in about an hour. So a lot of people suggest taking the bus, which is quite a bit, a lot longer.

It's I think it's maybe like 16 hours to get to Cusco, but you, your body gets to slowly adjust, right? ~Um, ~I didn't have like dramatic effects getting off the plane. In fact, the effects that I had were. We're like week two or so. ~Um, ~I do wear an aura ring on my hand and it does test my SPO two levels. So usually I'm at like, which is oxygen in your blood levels.

~Um, ~and I have normally here at home or. Sea level 98 or 90 percent oxygen and by week two in Cusco, I was down to 89. So, ~um, ~but the good [00:06:00] thing about Cusco is, is they have,~ um, ~oxygen bars and,~ um, ~hyperbaric chambers. ~Um, ~quite a few of them in, in, In town, even the like all the high end hotels like have hyperbaric chambers like in the basement.

It's crazy. So I actually did one hyperbaric,~ um,~ treatment and that made a huge difference. ~Um, ~and then I also did go to an oxygen bar for,~ uh,~ treatment. To help just help get a little bit of a boost because once you get below 90%, you start to get into a place where you can have some medical issues.

Marvin Athey: okay. Well, that's really good to know. I've never heard that before. And so maybe I'll get an aura ring if I head over to Cusco.

Ryan Mellon: Absolutely.

Marvin Athey: So a quick follow up to these three places. This is the digital nomad nation podcast. ~Would you say all of them ~out of all three, would you say one is more conducive to nomad working, or could everybody just work at any of these locations?

Ryan Mellon: I would say Bali is more [00:07:00] conducive just because it's. You have a very large group of folks from all over the world that are digital nomads. It's, it's one of the top places in the world. So you have way more co working spaces. You have a lot of,~ um,~ people that are working in cafes and co working spaces, co living spaces.

~Um, ~even a lot of the hostels have, will have office space or co working spaces. Co working spaces built in. So you have a little bit more of that work life culture in Bali than I would say in Peru and Vietnam. 

Marvin Athey: In our conversations, it sounds like you're a strong advocate of solo travel. Is that the case? And why

Ryan Mellon: I am,~ uh,~ I've traveled with partners, I've traveled with friends and family. Anytime I'm on a trip, even when I'm solo, I tell, tell all my friends and family, Hey, if you got a week off and you just want to fly out wherever I am in the world, come on. I've had lots of friends and family do that. And that's awesome because it gives you a break, [00:08:00] from your,~ uh,~ your, your solo travel and now you have friends and family to hang out with.

But,~ um,~ I do love solo travel in the fact that you have to put yourself outside of your comfort zone. ~Um, ~I am a introvert, so it's, it is a challenge. ~Uh, ~It's a lot easier than when I first started, but, ~When you put yourself out ~when you're solo traveling and you put yourself out of your comfort zone and you're staying and especially if you're Staying in hostels and and you're working in co working spaces It really is super easy to meet people and make friends instantly and and just be meeting someone You know at lunch or or something that you know At the co working space or at the hostel and by evening and you're out for drinks and then the next day you're off on some Adventure ziplining or climbing a volcano or off to the beach together because there's just so many other solo travelers out there So you're never really alone.

Marvin Athey: gotcha? ~Yeah, I've experienced that too,~ but with solo traveling,~ um,~ let's talk a little [00:09:00] bit of strategy because there's safe places, there's dangerous places. ~Some men, ~I think. Generally speaking, I think it's easier for men to travel solo compared to women. Is there any places that you would recommend more than others for people to start traveling solo?

Ryan Mellon: ~Uh, well, I think ~sure I would say, um, like my very first trip ever was costa rica solo Costa Rica in general is a fairly,~ uh,~ safe place,~ uh,~ for solo travelers. ~Um, ~of course, anytime you're a woman, you solo traveling, you need to be just a little bit of more aware and, and, and, and cautious and in certain places, but,~ uh,~ yeah, I would say,~ um,~ Costa Rica,~ um,~ Even in Mexico, I've spent a lot of time in Mexico, and I rarely feel unsafe,~ um,~ sticking to,~ uh,~ the touristy areas and stuff like that,~ um,~ and all of Southeast Asia has felt safe to me.

I've been all to a lot of countries in Southeast Asia. ~Um, ~I hate to just generalize,~ um,~ any, [00:10:00] any places just being safe. ~Uh, ~anything can happen anywhere. But,~ um,~ there are places that are just. Much, much,~ um,~ less safe than others. And so just doing a little research before you pick a destination, especially if your first solo trip is always good idea,

Marvin Athey: Gotcha. And probably just messaging you as well.

Ryan Mellon: right?

Marvin Athey: yeah, ~so yeah, I, I kind of, I, I think~ my experience has been relatively consistent with yours in terms of safety and things like that. ~Um, Do you,~ in addition to the solo travel, when we talk about strategy and we talk about meet, you know, being able to meet people, is there places that are easier, you know, would you say Bali is easier than Cusco?

~Would you say, you know, when you, when you're thinking about it?~

Ryan Mellon: Honestly, no. I would say if you stay in hostels, that's a very good place to meet people. Let's say you're staying in a hotel, but you're, or an Airbnb and you're solo. A lot of people like that. prefer that. I do that as well. You can still go to like a hostel that has a restaurant or a bar in it. They often have mixers and you can meet solo [00:11:00] travelers like that.

~Um, ~you can meet solo travelers on,~ um, ~Couchsurfing. ~Um, ~couchsurfing has an option called hangouts. And so you can actually buy your location, find other travelers that are couchsurfing without you actually couchsurfing. So meeting up with travelers like that, you can join. Let's say you're going to be in,~ um, Um, ~Costa Rica,~ uh,~ for example, and so join Costa Rica backpackers Facebook group and you can find people in whatever city you're in in Costa Rica.

Almost anywhere. Very easily off that. ~Um, ~so, and, and going to co co working spaces is a good place to meet people as well, and,~ uh,~ just booking group tours, even though it's just you, you know, you're, there's going to be, if there's a group of 10 of you, there's going to be at least one or two other solar travelers in that group.

So it's easy to gravitate towards them and make friends with them as well.

Marvin Athey: [00:12:00] Gotcha. Yeah, that's great advice. And for the bougier travelers, would you suggest, uh,~ uh, uh, ~do you have a, do you have an opinion about co livings?

Ryan Mellon: So I haven't experienced co livings myself, but,~ um,~ from my research and from talking to people that have, it is a very good place to have a little bit more privacy, consistency and meeting. ~Um, ~generally I feel like it's a little bit of ~both. Uh, older crowd and oftentimes, uh,~ more established entrepreneurs and, and, and folks like that,~ um,~ that are working and,~ um,~ want a little bit more consistency in the place that they're staying and, and privacy.

So that's another good, good option as well.

Marvin Athey: Gotcha. I appreciate that. All right. Moving on to the next topic. I know you love solo travel and the other thing you do love, it sounds like, is minimalism. Can you elaborate more on minimalism as a digital nomad?

Ryan Mellon: Well, I [00:13:00] think, especially,~ um,~ if you're, you're backpacking a place,~ um,~ and you are taking just carry ons,~ um,~ and you're working out with a laptop, you, you, after a little bit of travel, you learn to, Learn how little you actually need on a daily basis to get through. I mean, I've traveled 22 countries with just carry on.

It's just one, one, either, you know, 40 liter backpack,~ uh,~ and a small regular backpack, and that's it now. Obviously I travel warmer countries. It's easier to do as a guy as well. Clothing wise, you know, shorts, t shirts, flip flops. It's, it's really easy, but,~ um,~ I would say that when you do a lot of solo travel, you learn how little you need.

And so bring that back home. Let's say if you're someone like me, who. Comes home for six months out of each year just because that's that's what I enjoy. I enjoy being home in the summertime when [00:14:00] it's nice, you know, having,~ um,~ not too much,~ um, ~both in costs and in your housing and stuff like that. So that when you, when you leave, it's easy to do,~ um,~ keeping your costs low.

So for example, I live on my sailboat and,~ um,~ my cost of living compared to rent. You know, it's a one bedroom apartment on the water. If I were to rent a one bedroom apartment ~on the water ~in my state,~ um,~ it would probably be about 2, 000 a month, but because I bought a sailboat and it was relatively inexpensive,~ um,~ my rent for,~ uh,~ at the Marina, including, rent insurance and my power bill is no more than 500 a month.

So that helps me keep. Saved up for travels. And when I'm gone, it's actually less than that. Cause I'm not using any power and it's not a big burden on me,~ um,~ to either rent. I don't feel like I have to rent it out. Like I don't have a big mortgage. I don't have to leave, you know, sublease [00:15:00] my. So I think just in general,~ um,~ prioritizing travel, not buying a lot of things, not having a lot of bills just helps you,~ um,~ jump into this,~ uh,~ nomadic lifestyle a lot easier.

He's here.

Marvin Athey: ~Gotcha. Gotcha.~ So if somebody is listening here and they're well ingrained at their, you know, apartment, what do you suggest? They get rid of like a, should they start getting rid of stuff?

Ryan Mellon: It does. If, if you're thinking about going nomadic, the less stuff you have, absolutely. ~Um, ~anything that you, I mean, a lot of the biggest test that a lot of minimalists say is anything that doesn't bring you joy. ~Um, ~you, you don't need it, you know? And there's, um,~ um, ~You don't want to leave your apartment and have to move a ton of furniture into storage and now you're paying storage, right?

So, ~um, ~if you have an apartment, you could always try and sublease on Airbnb, keep it and you want it as [00:16:00] minimally as possible. Furnished and not a lot of personal stuff left behind as well. So just not having a lot of things just makes it so much easier for you to pick up and hit the road.

Marvin Athey: Gotcha. Yeah. I've, there's a great film on minimalism on Netflix and it was,~ uh,~ I remember they talked about like having a packing party, so pack everything and anything you don't unpack in like six weeks, then you have to give away or, or,~ uh,~ donate or sell or something

Ryan Mellon: That's a good idea. Cause you know, we don't,~ uh,~ uh, when we move is when we really find out how much stuff we actually have, and it's usually this huge arduous process and you end up throwing and donating a lot of stuff away. So just act like you're going to move, even if you're, you know, Not ready to hit the road tomorrow and yeah, like box up, box up some things.

Like you said, I think that's a really good, good, uh,~ uh,~

Marvin Athey: Gotcha. Thank you so much. All right. Now we're moving into, let's, let's segue into your journey, Ryan. So. ~know, ~[00:17:00] can you walk us through, ~uh, ~it's two questions, but I'll follow up with the second one. It's just basically, can you walk us through your journey and really the turning point that made you think you wanted to flip it, where you went from, you know, being in the States full time to saying, let's, let's live a different life.

Ryan Mellon: sure. So, ~um, ~I was working two jobs, 14 hours a day, six days a week. I was working in the restaurant business during the day. And I was working at UPS in the warehouse in the evening. So very long days off or very long days on. Only one day a week off on Sundays. And in fact,~ um,~ I was the maintenance manager at the restaurant.

So a lot of times we were closed on Sundays. And so I would still be in there working on Sundays, fixing stuff. So didn't even always get my,~ uh,~ one day off. So, ~um, ~I was reading a lot of bloggers, nomadic Matt reading for our work week. I read vagabonding by Rolf Potts and all these things. ~Um, ~Inspired me to just get curious about solo [00:18:00] travel.

So I was able to get two weeks off from both of my jobs at the same time, which was pretty hard to do. I didn't think that was going to be possible, but I did it. Flew to Costa Rica by myself,~ um,~ with no plan other than a hostel booked in San Jose for the first night. And. ~Um, ~I didn't speak any Spanish at the time and my plan was just loose.

Like I didn't have any plans. ~Um, ~the reason I booked that hostel for the first night in San Jose was I wanted to talk to some of the, other travelers that were, you know, traveling. they're at the hospital to see where they have been because it was close to the airport. Half of the people had just shown up, but the other half of the people were about to fly out because they've already done Costa Rica.

So I was able to get a good sense of the top five things that everyone. Had been doing while they were on their trip. And then I just hopped around from there. I did both Costa Rica,~ um,~ zip lining through the jungles, climbing volcanoes, swimming in the cre crater lake of the [00:19:00] volcano, and making friends and, um, hanging out on the beaches.

~Uh, ~and I, I met a lot of people during that trip that were traveling for. Months and years at a time. And it never occurred to me that that was even a thing or a possibility. And that was very intriguing for me. I met a lot of people from all over the world, just different cultures. And it was really, Awesome.

~Um, ~I came back to my jobs, not like, you know, refresh from my vacation and ready to go back to work. But I really came back like, wow, I really need to make changes. Like I really hate this six day a week, 14 hours a day thing. This is killing me. So I told my jobs, I was going to leave in a year, both of them, just like both my bosses.

And they're like, okay, Ryan, like whatever they, they didn't believe me at all, but. I would say about six months later, I was having,~ um,~ some drinks with friends and my buddy and his wife, they said, when we were tired, we want to do a one year road [00:20:00] trip of the States in an RV, just do the whole U S it would be awesome.

And I, I was like, I don't understand why we would have to wait till we retire to do this. Like, let's do this now while we're still young. And, you know, we didn't have kids. Neither of us had kids. ~Um, ~we did have houses, we had cars, so we had to figure that out, but we, We, we decided that we would save up enough money to do a one year road trip and not have to work that whole year.

And it's so crazy how quickly we were able to just cut out all unnecessary expenses. We set a date and we saved up enough money to make that trip for the year. We got our houses rented out. ~Um, ~dropped off cars with family members and, and stuff like that. And, uh,~ uh,~ we hit the road. We did 23 States over that one year us road trip.

And,~ um, ~halfway through that road trip, I started realizing that this thing was coming to an end pretty quickly. And I realized that. I was going to have to come back and like go back to one of [00:21:00] my two jobs or both or something. So I had gotten my real estate license previously and I had done just one or two deals as an agent before,~ um,~ like while working my two jobs.

So I dabbled in real estate just a tiny bit, but my license was still active. So I called up a good friend who was,~ uh,~ who's a big investor in Virginia and she And asked her, is there any way I can help you find some deals? Cause she was doing lots of flips, buying rental properties, doing big volume. And she was like, absolutely.

So I started helping her find properties to buy while traveling the last six months of the U S and we did about 25 deals in those six months. ~Um, ~and it just blew me away cause I was like making a lot of more money than I was when I was Doing my two jobs and I just kind of fell into this digital nomad lifestyle.

Like I realized one day, like, oh wow, I. You know, [00:22:00] when this road trips over, because,~ um,~ you know, it does have to end eventually,~ um, ~we had an RV that we, we were able, we kind of like rented from my buddy's uncle, uh, we got to get this thing back to him, you know, I, I could maybe go international now, you know, I guess I'm a digital nomad now.

That was before that was even really a term. So, ~um, ~I came home and I. Started buying some rental properties. I saw how the passive income was working for my friend, Lori, and that was inspiring. So I bought,~ um,~ a couple of rental properties, started renovating, fixing them up, getting a little bit of passive income.

And then I went international. ~Um, ~I, Flew out to New Zealand and I did, I think like seven countries in six months,~ um,~ ended up on a cruise to Cuba with a bunch of real estate investors was my last stop back in the state.~ Um, ~and, ~um, ~from there, I just realized,~ um,~ you know, this, this could be the new thing [00:23:00] for me.

So ever since then, that was, you know, I guess six years it's been internationally. I've been to 22 countries. I've been to a lot of places, you know, three, four times. I've been to Mexico probably about 15 times. So I've gone to back to a lot of places. And so every winter when it's cold, I go somewhere warm.

And when it's summer, I'm home, I'm renovating properties, I'm flipping, I'm wholesaling, I'm managing my rentals, I'm managing any turnovers of my rentals. ~Um, ~and then when winter hits, I am,~ um,~ in management mode of the rentals and,~ uh,~ I wholesale properties and I also do personal coaching, helping other people become digital nomads.

Yeah,

Marvin Athey: ~an incredible story. I have a couple, I, I ~I, I would first say that's, it's an incredible story. And in that, it sounds like the turning point was that road trip.

Ryan Mellon: I would say for sure, because, you know, when I coach people,~ um, ~I, I don't tell them to just quit their jobs and hit the road and then [00:24:00] figure out how to make money, but that's how I did it. But yeah, it did it halfway through just knowing that I might have to go back to my. You know, 14 hour days. I quickly figured out I had to do something different.

So 

Marvin Athey: So let's get into some details. This, this turning point, do you, and it's been a while. So let's start with what year was the trip to Costa Rica?

Ryan Mellon: That was 2016. I

Marvin Athey: All right. And then. From there, and do you, and I don't remember hostel names, but do you remember the hostel name?

Ryan Mellon: think it was Pura Vida backpackers in San Jose.

Marvin Athey: and, and just for people who haven't experienced this,

Ryan Mellon: ~Uh huh.~

Marvin Athey: ~um, ~oftentimes when I started traveling, when I'd say I'm staying at a hostel, people think of that scary movie from 20 years ago, but can, can [00:25:00] you,~ um,~ Can you define it for some people who may have never stayed in a hostel

Ryan Mellon: sure.

Yeah. I've never actually seen the movie and I won't watch it. So I've heard bad enough things about it, but I've stayed in over a hundred hostels over, over the years and, and I don't as much anymore, but,~ um,~ When I was younger and when I was first getting started, it's, it's a place where it's very budget friendly.

So it's like a hotel, but they also have shared rooms. There are some big hostels out there. So you have your own private,~ uh,~ bed for you to sleep in. And it's a space for you to keep your stuff in like a locker.

~Um, ~but generally you're only in the room when you sleep. There's a big, each hostel generally has a big communal area. Lots of, like a pool, a place to hang out, outside, inside, there's usually a bar or restaurant. So there's a lot of places for you to mix with the other folks that you're staying with, which [00:26:00] Yes, hotels have bars and restaurants, but oftentimes you're staying in a hotel or you're in a lobby.

You're not talking to anyone. You don't say hi, especially here in the States. You know, you don't make friends in the hotel lobby, but in hostels, they are designed for you to mix and and and to. To be able to meet other travelers. You have a lot of solo travelers and couples traveling, um, not as much families and it's generally a younger crowd as well, and it's very affordable.

~So to give you, for example, um, I have paid as low as in Vietnam for a hostel bed, the cheapest hostel bed I've ever stayed in that came with a free breakfast and free draft beer. Beer from five to seven every day with a bed in the mountains and a pool was three dollars a night.~

Marvin Athey: ~Oh, wow.~

Ryan Mellon: ~It can get very cheap or very inexpensive and then there's, you know, uh, ~I would say an average dorm room bed, depending on the type of hostel that you're staying in now, depending on what country it all varies, but maybe 20 to 35 a night.

~Um, ~it can be very much. ~Uh, ~more affordable than a hotel.

Marvin Athey: And when you're posting these prices,~ uh, where, where are these prices? ~Where do these prices exist?

Ryan Mellon: So if you wanted to go and just say, Hey, I want to go to,~ um,~ Panama next month. And I want to [00:27:00] stay in a hostel. I think hostel world is the, the number one place that I would go to and just type in,~ um,~ You know, Panama City and look at hostels or Boca, Boca del Toro, which is a very popular place that has hostels as well.

The islands in Panama you'll be able to quickly see what your options are. And they also a lot of hostels have private rooms as well. So, ~um, ~you know, After COVID, I kind of started staying more in private rooms,~ um,~ as my income grew,~ uh,~ if I do stay in a hostel at this point, you know, I'll stay in a, in a private room with a, with my, with a private bathroom, but still have that atmosphere of being around other solo travelers.

Marvin Athey: Gotcha. ~Gotcha.~ And then circling back to your one year road trip, what year was that?

Ryan Mellon: So that was October, 2017 is when we left. So seven years this month,

Marvin Athey: what was the time difference between when you came back to Costa Rica and when you went on this one

Ryan Mellon: I think it was about 18 [00:28:00] months.

Marvin Athey: 18 months. Okay.

Ryan Mellon: Yeah. That we, we ~Um, ~that I quit my job. I think I told my bosses I'd be gone in a year and I was gone in like a year and a half. So,

Marvin Athey: year and a half. And for anybody who's interested in doing that, I think that's a phenomenal,~ uh,~ experience. I've, I've heard people do that before. Would you, do you have a budget projection, whether your budget or just a general range, they should expect that they want to do a one year road trip and you might have to adjust for inflation because it's 2024 now, but what do you think?

Ryan Mellon: So I would say,~ uh,~ comfortably, and it all depends on where you travel, but,~ um, ~I would say about a hundred dollars a day is a comfortable number these days. And it really does vary where, where you travel. And it. If you're curious, I would say my top tip about like a country is just go to chat GPT and literally just literally [00:29:00] ask it, you know, what is the cost of living for this country?

~Um, ~and it will break down, you know, accommodations,~ um,~ fuel, food, everything. And it'll give you a sense of It'll give you three,~ um, uh, ~brackets. So like budget,~ um,~ comfortable and luxury to travel this country. It's all going to give you this in 30 seconds. And then you're going to have an idea. All right.

Well, this is how much money I'm going to need to do this.

Marvin Athey: Okay, and and what was your travel style during this one year? Was it was it comfort or luxury?

Ryan Mellon: during the road trip.

Marvin Athey: Yeah, road trip.

Ryan Mellon: We were, we were in an RV, so I would say that was comfortable, right? So it was,~ uh,~ it was, it was a 2005, I think class C, like 30 foot class C camper RV, and then we were towing a vehicle, so we had to get around vehicle. So it wasn't, ~um. ~It wasn't budget and it wasn't luxury.

I think it was right in the [00:30:00] middle.

Marvin Athey: that sounds. Yeah, that sounds really a great opportunity there. So fantastic. ~Um, I know. Uh, since then there's, you know, van Life has, I think exploded. So everybody has these luxury vans and I think, ~I think Planet Fitness has gotten more people taking showers at them across the world or something across the states.

Ryan Mellon: Planet Fitness is making lots of, lots of money on showers. Like every, every van lifer I know, that's their shower hack. If they don't have a, you know, like a, A lot of them have like outdoor showers, but there's only a, you know, a few places that you can really do an outdoor shower without getting in trouble.

~So,~

Marvin Athey: Gotcha, ~gotcha. And, um, I, oh, I had one more question about this ex Oh yeah.~ So. even get granular and you might, this might be harder to remember. The turning point was when you realized you were going to have to go back. So you had to figure something out. You're like, I don't want to go back to my 14 hour job. What, where were you? Like, what's, do you remember the state, the city at all you were at?

Ryan Mellon: Oh, I do. Yeah, no, it's not. ~Um, ~we were in the mountains of Northern California,~ um,~ and it's a little [00:31:00] town, Ooh, I'm trying to remember the name of it. It's a, it's just this tiny little country town along a river. I could probably look, look it up,

Marvin Athey: Okay.

Ryan Mellon: but I do remember it because we were at this cool RV park. That's by the, the, uh, river. And, ~um, ~I just remember having conversations constantly between like, uh, some agents at home that were helping me out. And, and my friend who needed property, I'm going to say it might've been like, Kellysville, ~um, ~let me see.

Yeah. Kernville.

Marvin Athey: ~Kernville.~

Ryan Mellon: ~Kernville. I'll pull it up on the map too. Just so I can give a good, uh,~

~Kernville, California. So~

~internet is super slow now that I need it. All right.~ So Kernville is It's in the mountains just north of LA and below San Francisco and San Jose

Marvin Athey: ~Okay.~

Ryan Mellon: and, uh, very natural place. We had this really cool,~ um,~ campground right by the river. You would see,~ uh,~ whitewater rafters like Rafting down it like every day and they had, there was like [00:32:00] one bar in town where all the locals hung out and we, we ended up being there like every night hanging out, hanging out with the locals and just having a good time.

But it was a great place. ~Uh, ~good fishing, just very laid back, like old country town.

Marvin Athey: Amazing. Thanks for sharing that. I, I do notice,~ uh,~ oftentimes digital nomads have that moment where they're like, you know, this is, you know, this is it for me. So thanks for sharing yours.

Ryan Mellon: Yeah, absolutely.

Marvin Athey: All right. Thanks. Next question is what were some of the biggest challenges you faced when you first started out as a digital man?

Ryan Mellon: Well, like I said, I kind of did things backwards. I just quit my job. And got out there and then figured out the, the, the work part later, which I would definitely not suggest for people. I would say get that kind of lined up before you go. I did have a buffer of one year saved up. [00:33:00] So that did help me. ~Um, ~but once I got out internationally, I think, well, we'll take you back.

So I think even for the road trip, the biggest thing was, I think that just having the courage to leave my house that I bought my very first house and that I've been living in and renting it out. And knowing that I just rented it out for one year and I can't come back. ~Um, ~so if I were to end the trip early or something happened, I'd be coming back and finding either finding a short term rental or living with family or friends or something.

So I think that was one of the biggest challenges was just having the courage. Just go ahead, ~rent,~ get out of my house, rent it out. ~And, uh,~ And just make it happen so that I didn't have to pay that mortgage. That holds the whole time I was gone.

Marvin Athey: Okay. Gotcha. Yeah, that, that is,~ uh,~ definitely the, I, you know, the, the, the mental aspect of it is, is, [00:34:00] is really important to, to be able to let go. I remember, I remember,~ um,~ just as a short, sorry, just a short aside. I remember. When I went to go sell my car, I went to CarMax and, and I was leaving in like two, two days or something.

And I hadn't realized that I needed a ride home.

Ryan Mellon: Oh

Marvin Athey: I had to call my dad and say, Hey,~ uh,~ I know you're at work, but I'm selling my car at Carmex right now. Can you, can you, can you come get me? And then, you know, the two days before I left, I was like, wow, this is sucks. Like, I don't have a, I don't have a car.

Ryan Mellon: I'm just stuck. Yeah,

Marvin Athey: just sucks.

Ryan Mellon: no, that's funny. Yeah. It's the things you just don't think about, like that you, you got to get lined up and then, yeah, once your car's gone or your house is gone, um,~ um, ~you got to figure it out until it's time to get on the plane or, or hit that road trip.

Marvin Athey: Gotcha. All right. So let's head into practical advice. So for someone considering the [00:35:00] digital nomad lifestyle, do you recommend jumping in full force and going for a year, or do you suggest maybe a test run? And if so, what would that look like?

Ryan Mellon: Sure. So if you're already working remotely,~ um,~ It's a lot easier to kind of do a test run, right? So let's say you're working remotely from home right now. ~Um, ~I always encourage people to, when they get their one week paid time off and they're going to go on a regular vacation, go book that.~ Uh, ~hotel or that resort or that Airbnb for instead of one week that you have off two weeks.

So you would take your regular week off. Don't work. Don't do anything. Just enjoy that time off. Maybe just check in,~ um,~ with your,~ uh,~ logins. What that first week, make sure there's no issues logging into the job. And then that second week, just go ahead and work from that location. ~Um, ~You know, you don't, it's up to you if you, if you want to get [00:36:00] permission or give your boss a heads up.

I tell people that that's something they need to decide to do. Some people might just say like, Hey, you know, I, you know, I'm going on vacation, but I might end up staying a couple extra days. It's okay. If I want to. you know, log in and, and just work for those extra couple of days. Oftentimes, if you're a good worker and you have a good relationship with your boss, that's not going to be a problem.

~Um, ~if you feel like that may be a problem,~ um,~ you can absolutely,~ um,~ just,~ uh,~ try using a VPN and logging in and seeing how it goes. And worst case scenario, it. Just doesn't work out well. Get on the plane as quickly as you can and get back and blame it on a travel delay from your vacation and,~ uh,~ you know, no harm, no foul.

So,

Marvin Athey: Gotcha. All right. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah. I,~ I, I, I, I, ~during my trips, I, I would often say the plane was overbooked. If you need a, if you need a, if you need a excuse,

Ryan Mellon: yeah, absolutely. I mean, planes get [00:37:00] delayed and canceled all the time.

Marvin Athey: So you talked about doing a test run if you have a remote job, but for those who do not have a remote job, what are the, some of the most popular entry level remote jobs?

Ryan Mellon: sure. So right now, virtual assistance,~ um,~ customer service, ~um, ~data entry, social media marketing and content writers are probably the easiest,~ uh,~ to get into,~ um,~ without too much experience. ~Um, ~and there, that can all be done remotely.

Marvin Athey: Okay. So if you're interested, you should use a start, start that now, basically, or

Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Yeah. Start as soon as you can, you know, keep your day job, start working this on the weekends or the evenings and see how it goes. Build that,~ um, ~you know, build those skills and,~ uh,~ see that you enjoy the work. I think it's still important that you enjoy the work that you're doing, even if you're going to use it [00:38:00] to travel.

~Um, ~and that way. Once you're comfortable enough, you can make that transition. ~Um, ~and, and before you quit your job,~ um,~ you can also. ~Um, ~take vacations from your in person job and, you know, take a week and then, you know, maybe work a couple of days of the, of the new job that you started working remotely and just see how you do with,~ um,~ working during the day and then spending your um, out exploring.

Marvin Athey: ~gotcha. Gotcha. Thanks for sharing that.~ And. During your, your journey, you talked about your experience with buying houses and, and, and setting up yourself with passive income. ~Um, ~is that something that people should be thinking about now when they're just starting their journey?

Ryan Mellon: So I think real estate is not for everyone, right? But,~ um, uh, ~it does build quite a bit of wealth and it also provides passive income. So for me, I've been able to build up a portfolio of properties that covers [00:39:00] my basic monthly income where I don't need to work if I don't have to, other than ~um, ~Managing the properties.

~Um, ~I do self manage all my properties and there is work that is involved with that for sure. But when everyone is in there and they're paying rent and things are going well, you know, I'm mainly just,~ um,~ doing accounting and,~ um,~ fielding maintenance requests. ~Um, ~I, I, I've set it up so that my tenants don't leave during the winter time, which is when I generally travel.

We've just, Don't allow leases to expire,~ uh,~ at that point, which makes it a lot easier so that when I am home, I do have the turnovers. ~Um, ~I think it's an incredible place to. Build passive income and wealth over the years. And if someone is interested in real estate and they feel like they would enjoy it, I think it's definitely worth checking out.

Marvin Athey: All right.~ I think, I think you've already answered this, but I'm going to, I'm going to ask you this question. ~How do you recommend people choose which country to visit or live in as a digital nomad?

Ryan Mellon: I think [00:40:00] there is four things to that, right? So for me, it's weather. Do you want a cold place? Warm place? ~Um, ~the view, do you want the mountains or the beach? ~Um, ~the cost of living, is it less than where I live now? Is it more than where, where I live now? And fourth, this is a big one, especially when you're working remotely is time zone.

So let's say you. Have a lot of in person meetings where you need to be on zoom and you need to be on zoom You know monday through friday 9 eastern standard time. Well if you're in bali ~Um ~13 hours ahead that means you're working night shift. It's doable But your quality of life is probably not what you're looking for.

So if you want something tropical and you're, and you need to stay in that time zone,~ um,~ maybe Costa Rica or Panama,~ uh,~ Columbia, that's where you should [00:41:00] be looking if you know, you like your work, you need to stay in, in. Eastern or central time zone. Let's say you're working in the States, for example. So, ~um, ~those are the, the top four things that I think of when I, when I, uh, pick a spot to go,

Marvin Athey: Okay. That definitely makes sense. Definitely makes sense. Yes. I've been on those three AM calls to, to New York

and I'm like, why am I, why am I doing this?

Ryan Mellon: It's never fun. It's never fun.

Marvin Athey: ~it's never a FUD.~ All right. The other part is. ~And I love everybody's, uh, how,~ I love the different answers I get from this question is, how do you balance work and exploration?

Ryan Mellon: Sure. So for me, I like to work,~ um,~ basically Monday through Friday, like 10 to five or six each day. ~Um, ~and so I generally keep that,~ um,~ schedule,~ uh,~ when and I use the evenings and the weekends to explore. ~Um, ~you really need to To be motivated enough to to keep that keep some kind of [00:42:00] structure because,~ um, ~without it.

If you are just going to want to go to the beach every day and you're not getting work done and you're not getting paid, it's just not going to work out. So you just have to know that you're not on vacation. You're living in another part of the world and you're working and you're exploring when you're off.

So I think that's the biggest thing is it's not a vacation. It's living somewhere else.

Marvin Athey: yeah, exactly. Are you,~ uh,~ are you able to not, you know, like the moment you step off the plane, ~let's say you, you land in, um, ~ let's say you land in Lisbon. ~Um, ~Do you immediately start that, that 10 to five schedule, or do you give yourself a little bit of space right as you arrive?

Ryan Mellon: I would suggest if possible to give yourself some time just from, you know, everyone gets tired from and jet lag and time zone changes. It does take a toll on you. And it is nice to to have a couple of [00:43:00] days to explore kind of get that out of your system. ~Um, ~that you're able to go back into work a little bit easier.

~Um, ~and then you've just done a couple days of exploration and now, you know, where you want to go back to and spend more time maybe in the evenings or on the weekends.

Marvin Athey: ~Gotcha. Gotcha. ~Good advice. All right. You're a digital nomad coach. If you could give one piece of advice to someone listening right now, ~as I was 10 years ago to podcasts at the gym, ~what piece of advice would you give them in this moment when they're They're on the fence.

Ryan Mellon: I would say,~ um,~ just have the courage and. have the mindset that you can do it. ~Um, ~the lifestyle is worth it. If you, if you enjoy travel, you, you are gonna love being a digital nomad. ~Um, ~it's just making that decision and having the courage to do what it needs to get To get out the door and do it because there's, there's going to be a lot of things that you're going to need to do before you're able to get out the door.

[00:44:00] But I think just making the decision that you are going to do it and you're going to go down the path. ~Um, ~To becoming a digital nomad is the most important thing,~ uh,~ followed by, you know, educating yourself,~ um,~ on what it, what it's like to be a digital nomad. ~Um, ~

Marvin Athey: Gotcha. And when someone, if somebody potentially works with you, is there an accountability aspect to it?

Ryan Mellon: yeah. So with my one on one coaching, it's definitely some accountability. So we're going to first figure out,~ uh,~ if the digital nomad life is right for you, depends on what your job is, what your work is, what your goals are, figuring out where you want to,~ uh,~ where your top destinations are. And then we come up with a solid game plan with dates and deadlines.

And I'm, I'm here to help and hold accountable, hold you accountable to get you to where you want to go as quickly as possible. If you want to be working on a beach in Thailand, six months from [00:45:00] now, We can come up with the game plan and we're going to meet meeting every seven to 10 days until that last call where you're on the beach in Thailand.

Marvin Athey: Oh, wow. Makes me, everybody I know is in Thailand right now. So that

Ryan Mellon: I love Thailand. The islands in Thailand are pretty cool and just the vibes there are so laid back. It's, it's such a good time.

Marvin Athey: Which beach?

Ryan Mellon: I would say,~ um,~ I really like. Koh Lipe, the island of Koh Lipe. It's a very small one right next to Malaysia. And it was the very first place that I ever,~ um,~ stepped foot in Thailand.

I took the boat from Langkawi. to Kolipe. ~Um, ~and that was my very first entry to Thailand ever. And it was also Songkran festival. And so Songkran festival, which is the,~ uh,~ big water gun fight in the streets all day, every day. ~Uh, ~if, if you're in Chiang Mai, it's like three days, but the rest of the [00:46:00] country, it's just one day.

So Kolipe, you're out in the streets, all out war with ~Um, ~anywhere from rogue packs of eight year olds with water guns to other tourists to grandmothers shooting a shooting a water hose at you from from their front yard to people dumping buckets of water out on you. ~Um, ~as you're walking down the street from second floor window.

So I just had an amazing time in Koh Lipe. ~Um, ~and I'll never forget that.

Marvin Athey: Gotcha. Yeah. How, how, how convenient is this timing? Cause I think it's, I think it's actually six from six months from now, around that time from now. So

Ryan Mellon: April, yeah.

Marvin Athey: yeah, so we're recording this in October, just to let you guys know, October, 2024. 

So,

Ryan Mellon: it on the calendar. Put it on the calendar. Go to Songkran Festival in Thailand. It's absolutely epic. It's, it's awesome.

Marvin Athey: ~yeah, it looks awesome. I've, I've been to Thailand, but I haven't been during that. I think this Colipa, is that the one that has the big coworking space? Is that co hub or~

Ryan Mellon: ~So, in May, now, this was, On my very first trip to Southeast Asia, and that was really before a whole lot of co working space was before COVID and before where there was a whole lot of co working spaces. So I don't remember any co working spaces that then, but I'm not sure about now. I would love to go back.~

Marvin Athey: So next question here, we're moving. We're almost wrapping up. [00:47:00] So it's been a very informative session. I think,~ um, ~big question. We're talking about the future in here. So why start a podcast now?

Ryan Mellon: Yeah. So, ~um, ~because I'm doing coaching,~ um,~ I think interviewing digital nomads and hearing their story and inspiring others to live this lifestyle is what drives me. ~Um, ~you know, I, I, I've done plenty in the real estate side of things and I needed to transition into something where I'm kind of, you know, ~uh, ~giving back and helping other people live the dream that I'm living.

So, ~um, ~the podcast is going to be interviewing digital nomads, hearing their story, hearing about the cool travels that they've done, and then hearing about. What type of work they do, because everybody does something so completely different and just so that the listeners can understand and see themselves in at least one of my guests, like, oh, all [00:48:00] right, what they do for work is very similar to mine, or it's the same thing that I do and they're doing it.

From, you know, Europe. So why can't I do it? So that's why I wanted to start.

Marvin Athey: Great. And I'm excited that you did cause I love podcasts

Ryan Mellon: And I appreciate your help. Yeah. You've been very helpful. ~Um, ~especially since,~ uh,~ I'm new to this, a new podcaster. There's so much to learn, to put on a good,~ uh,~ podcast and have good quality stuff for folks.

Marvin Athey: Oh, thank you so much. ~Um, ~you know, when you were talking about the DigiNomad stories and I'm, I happen to be back in the States at the moment, one of the things I noticed and I wanted, I was curious if you felt that way too, was that when I come back, I can't, I don't really talk about being abroad because because they can't relate to it and it almost seems like you're just bragging about like, Oh, I was in Rome last week or I

Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Yeah.

Marvin Athey: [00:49:00] Do you, do you ever sense that we're like, you're drawn to other digital meds because at least they, they can feel what you're feeling.

Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Once you become a digital nomad, you don't relate to a lot of people at home anymore. It's the dynamic does change. ~Um, ~and I do have a lots of friends and family that are very interested in my travels and they want to hear about it. And I do talk about it then, but overall, I don't spend a lot of time talking about my travels without being prompted because I do feel that you do, you do sometimes feel like.

Uh, you don't want to be like, Oh, I'm just like the globetrotter. And you know, like the dynamic is a little different. So I generally allow people, other people in my life at home to drive that conversation about my travels.

Marvin Athey: ~Gotcha. It, that, when, yeah, when you were talking about it, I was like, yeah, it's like, you can't really talk to, you can't, you know, you can't talk to other people at home about it. They, there's, they can't grasp, there's something about being in Coalanta and being in, in, you know, Da Nang that you can never really fully explain.~

~So,~

Ryan Mellon: ~And, and it's, that's, it's hard to do. It's hard to put in words. Yeah.~

Marvin Athey: Absolutely. So what are, what's one goal you have for yourself as a digital nomad that you haven't achieved yet?

Ryan Mellon: [00:50:00] So right now I'm working on a course,~ um,~ that people can take. So that's going to be a little bit much more affordable. I would say that my one on one coaching,~ um,~ and it's going to be like, it's going to be so that,~ uh,~ folks can go through it and help become digital nomads on their own at a low,~ um, Uh, ~easier price point.

~Um, ~and go through the course and figure out if,~ um,~ they feel like they can do it. And if they feel like after the course, they want some one on one assistance from me. ~Um, ~I'm there for that as well. So, ~um, ~launching this course is really my next big thing as well as a community. ~Um, ~I want a community of people.

folks where we,~ uh,~ meet,~ uh,~ weekly and discuss digital nomad life. And I'm able to field questions and help people,~ um, ~figure out. the game plan as well. ~Um, ~also at a lower price point, then, then the one on one coaching that you're going to get, which is going to be custom tailored to you. ~Um, ~so those are the two big things that I'm working on now that I'm excited about.

In [00:51:00] addition to this podcast, that's about to,~ uh, ~be out there very soon. So lots of. Good things coming.

Marvin Athey: It does. Yeah. I'm excited for you. This is news to me. I, I talked to Ryan, but I don't talk about business all the time. So that's exciting to know. And, and on the subject of the coaching,~ um, just to have a little bit of a Pitch about it. You know, this is, this, this podcast is not going to be, you know, all about pitching his services, but, um, ~what, what can they expect from working with you?

Like what's the, what's the outcome.

Ryan Mellon: the outcome is, is deciding if digital nomad life is right for you, but it's also figuring out getting from sitting on your couch today to on that beach in Thailand, which means we're going to help. I'm going to help you figure out where to travel, what the budget looks like,~ um,~ how to navigate visas. ~Um, ~Figuring out the working situation.

If you're not working remotely now,~ um,~ we, there, we need to have conversations about taxes, what to do with your house or your apartment, your car, your, are you traveling with [00:52:00] pets? Are you traveling with kids? ~Uh, ~what does that look like? How do you school them? How do you travel the world with kids? ~Um, ~so there's a lot of things that You need to think about and with me having the experience and,~ um,~ the past,~ uh,~ the record of helping other people become digital nomads, I can make the process a lot more smoother for you.

And with the one on one coaching, you're going to get something that's custom tailored just to you. ~Um, ~and you're going to have someone kind of helping guide you every step along the way until you make that,~ uh,~ leap to becoming a digital nomad.

Marvin Athey: Okay. That, that definitely sounds exciting. I,~ um,~ I can't remember what we call it in the digital med space, but it's like, We call it like the travel tax or like the idiot tax, because when we land somewhere, like I've, I can, I can, I can admit that I have landed in places and not realized a visa was needed.

~I have, I have, you know, you go somewhere and you're like, how much is a taxi? That sounds about right. And then you're like, somebody is like you paid what for that.~

Ryan Mellon: Yeah,

Marvin Athey: there's definitely those, uh, those, ~those,~ [00:53:00] those speed bumps when, when you go out to travel. So, and we talked about your, your coaching and what's next for you.

You mentioned you're headed to Bali. When is that?

Ryan Mellon: So yeah, 30 days from today to be exact, uh, you know, November 18th, I'll be leaving for Bali and I'm applying for the, uh, E 33 G digital nomad visa there, which is a one year visa,~ um,~ which allows people to pay a fee and work remotely. And,~ uh,~ be in Bali for up to one year, which is nice. You don't have to do border runs to reset your tourist visa.

You have a little bit more stability,~ um,~ of staying in one place longer. So yeah, I'll be,~ uh, ~renting a apartment or a little villa somewhere, hopefully with a pool,~ um,~ and. hitting the streets with on a scooter or motorcycle every day all winter and in the beach while,~ um,~ you know, working my real estate and,~ uh,~ continuing to help people,~ um, uh, ~become digital nomads [00:54:00] through the coaching.

Marvin Athey: Oh, that sounds really exciting. You know, the, this digital nomad visa I've heard of it. It's relatively new. So,~ um,~ I can't wait for you to get it. And then make it an episode on the podcast. Cause I think a lot of people would probably be really interested in, you know, what you can do. ~I have a friend that just visited Vegas that lives in Vegas, or excuse me, lives in Bali.~

~And she had mentioned, ~you know, you're not supposed to work there. And it. For the last 10 years, it's been kind of a gray zone, but I would say in the last starting in COVID, they were, they've been getting really, really, really tight with chasing people down that have, you know, photography or any kind of arts and stuff like that.

They're like looking at your Instagram and making sure that you're, you can legally work there. So I think that's going to be a very powerful episode and maybe,~ um,~ people,~ uh,~ you'll have somebody,~ uh,~ better looking than me. Interviewing you in Bali about the digital Nomad visa.

Ryan Mellon: Yeah, I'd love to talk about it. ~Um, especially once I have more experience. ~I mean, the process of applying and just paying them has been quite a challenge. So I may make a video just on that, the [00:55:00] actual digital side of getting everything submitted and, and cause it's been quite a bear. So, ~uh, ~yeah. But 

Marvin Athey: why you guys need to 

subscribe to the podcast. Somebody to look forward to. All right. We are wrapped up. Do you want to say any closing words before we finish today?

Ryan Mellon: ~Um, ~well, I would just say that if, if there is any interest in becoming a digital nomad,~ um,~ you can go to my site, www. thedigitalnomadcoach. com. ~Uh, ~and I have a free e guide there, 35 pages on seven ways to become a digital nomad, and it explains a little bit about backpacking, van life, sailing,~ um,~ co living,~ um,~ A bunch of different ways that you can be a digital nomad.

Cause there's so many different ones and maybe one will pop out to you and stick out to you and, and if that helps you in your journey,~ um,~ that's awesome. That's what I'm here for.

Marvin Athey: Fantastic. All right. I guess we'll see you next time.

Ryan Mellon: [00:56:00] All right. Thanks so much. I appreciate you. ~Uh, ~and, uh, we'll talk soon.