From Cruise Ships to Camper Vans, Nomadic Stories With Casey Iola | TNE052

We’re joined by Casey Iola. Casey’s traveled to over 40 countries, between working on cruise ships to building her own camper, She’s got a ton of amazing stories to share with us today as well as gives us tips in transitioning to online coaching while navigating this post pandemic digital landscape. 

Show Notes (6 Time Stamps):

15:47 Getting caught up in the numbers when it's just simple engagement

17:00 You don't need a million followers to build a big business

20:33 Invite to clubhouse 

45:04 Why staying at a hostel is better for travelers

49:23 Hostel culture

55:23 Ways to help you get over loneliness

Omar's (Host) Social Media:
Instagram - @nomadables
TikTok - @nomadables
Facebook Group - NOMADABLES - Accountability & Growth Community for Remote Workers- Perfect to meet fellow online entrepreneurs, remote workers, and digital nomads.
YouTube - Omar Mo
LinkedIn - Omar Mo Nomads Cast
Twitter - @nomadables
Pintrest - @nomadables
Clubhouse - @pods
WEBSITE: https://www.nomadables.com/

Transcript

Episode 52- From Cruise Ships to Camper Vans, Nomadic Stories With Casey Iola

Intro-

Have you ever been on a cruise ship? I haven't. And it's one of those things I wished I had done before the pandemic. I'm sure everyone's got some of those. It's weird how the virus changed the entire landscape of travel. And for those listeners that have done extensive travel in the past, you're probably thinking to yourselves, would it ever go back to normal? The hostels, the communities, the being in airplanes without a mask even, will it ever go back to the way it was?

I think about this myself quite often, but to distract us today from an uncertain future, we're joined by Casey Iola. Casey's traveled to over 40 countries between working on cruise ships to building her own camper van. She's got a ton of amazing stories to share with us today, as well as give us tips in transitioning to online coaching while navigating this post pandemic digital landscape.

Now, before we get started here, please hit that subscribe button and leave a review. We're here to give you your weekly dose of online business advice and travel stories. So if that interests you, hit that subscribe button, remember your reviews, help make sure this podcast reaches the ears of people, just like you.

So with that being said, here we go. My name's Omar Mo, and this is the Nomadic Executive.

You're listening to the nomadic executive posted by Omar from nomadables.com. Join Omar as he sits down and speaks with leading online entrepreneurs, remote workers, and digital nomads about everything from business strategy to travel and lifestyle design together.

We're here to help you achieve a life of happiness, health, and freedom. And now here's your host, Omar Mo.

Omar:

All right, Casey. Welcome to the nomadic executive. Thanks for coming on.

Casey:

Hey, glad to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

Omar:

Absolutely. So why don't we dive right in. Go ahead, tell me a little bit about yourself.

I know the Vegas question to start with, but go ahead.

Casey:

Okay, well a bit of a background on who I am. So I was born and raised in South Africa. At the age of 16, in 2010, my family immigrated over to Australia. I had a really, really tough time adjusting to Australia. So at like 16, I was getting like working a job and getting flights back to South Africa, every single school holidays.

So that's what kind of started my solo travel journey was, I was flying back and forth to South Africa all by myself. Once I finished school, I kind of wandered around Australia for a little while, moving from city to city, trying to find my feet. I got into a couple of full-time careers that kind of locked me down, but sucked my soul. And I always knew that I wanted to, to travel and go on adventures. And I always said, I will eventually, I will eventually I will eventually, and I put it off and I put it off and I put it off and I was like, I'll wait for someone to travel with me.

And eventually got to the point where I went through relationships and heartbreaks and everything, and eventually, said, stop it, I'm going by myself. So 2016, I said to my mom, come, let's just go do a cruise or something. I needed a vacation. And we went on a cruise ship and I realized, this is my absolute calling. I need to be doing this. So I got off the cruise ship. I applied for a job, quit my job went and traveled around Asia for a couple of months while I waited for my placement.

I then went to America and I worked on cruise ships force on and off for three years. Between contracts, I would travel Europe. I came back to Australia, went back to Asia. I lived in Canada for six months until it started snowing and I realized I missed the Caribbean. So I went back to, went back to the Caribbean, went back to ships.

And I was on a ship until the pandemic hit right up until the end of April. I was, I was still stuck on board, flew home to Australia and then, yeah, just kind of pivoted and grown a business here. And right now building a van, always wanted to do a van. So I'm building a van and I'm going to be traveling all around Australia in a van.

So yeah, that's kind of a little bit of everything about me.

Omar:

Very very nice. Very well-spoken. I'm surprised there's so many segments to that story, but it was like a small summary of every little bit of it. I love it.

Casey:

Yeah. Just a little summary.

Omar:

You really have been all around then, haven't you? How many countries have you hit at this point?

Casey:

Oh, I was trying to count the other day. I think it's it's over 40, but because I've been to so many islands in the Caribbean and The Bahamas, like I've been to like every Island, it's kind of hard to count whether that counts as an entire country or if it's, you know, an Island part of another country.

So I've got like all the apps where I've like marked everywhere that I've been. And it just says, Oh, you've been to 40 plus countries. And I was like, cool.

Omar:

Awesome. So there was a moment then where there was a shift, right? You stayed on the cruise ships for a while, and that is sick by the way. I've always wondered what it would be like to work on a cruise ship.

And it's been a massive dream of mine to own my own boat one day. But I won't talk about that right now, but that's awesome. So you pivoted, during the pandemic. So right after leaving the cruise ships, you decided to do the whole digital nomad thing and you thought it was a perfect timing to start that simply because we're so locked down because of the pandemic.

Am I right? So you have ambitions to travel again?

Casey:

Oh, a hundred percent. Yes. So the moment. So like the cruise ship story was actually really funny, but when the pandemic hit, because we all thought it was going to be 30 days and we'll be back at work, like no one expected this to go on, as long as it did.

And when it's only started to becoming a bit more realistic that like, Hey, this is going to go on for a little bit longer. I was looking at other options, like going back to Canada and everything, but because the whole world was shutting down, I was like, no, let's just go back to Australia. Then when I was in Australia, I was like, okay, this is going to go on for a while. I'm going to be at home. I'm going to be stuck in Australia for who knows how long. And I was sitting because we had to do two weeks quarantine coming back into Australia. So I had two weeks to get over jet lag and contemplate my life. And I basically said I can not go back to a nine to five soul sucking job.

I said there is no way there is absolutely no way. I was jumping online to see, you know, going back into the job search websites. And I didn't save as much money as I'd hoped because I thought I was going to be on the ship for, you know, another eight, nine months. And I had more time to save money. So I came home like very, very broke and I was like, I'm going to have to do something.

And I was like, everything was like not nine to five this, nine to five that, this desk job this. And I was like, no, like, no. And I said, I even got, I got my vision board right there, which I made, as soon as I came back, I was like, I came back in April. I was like, everything will be sorted by August. And I was even looking at flights to Dubai.

My girlfriend was going to Dubai. I was looking at flights to Dubai, going back to the the UK back to the the US and Canada. So I was already looking at flights. I was like, Oh, I'll just be in Australia for a little while. So I didn't want a job that I could commit to. So I was like, no, I need to. I mean, I'm, I've done businesses online before.

I'm just going to make a business that I can make online so that I can have the freedom to go everywhere in the world, which is so possible.

Omar:

At that point, did you have your personal brand built at that point where you decided, Hey, I'm going to decide to make a business or was this after you actually decided to make a business?

Casey:

No, no, no. So this was before, like I hadn't read it. I had already had in my mind that I'm going back to traveling before I had my brand, before I had my business before I had anything. So I started just doing research, starting talking to people online, talking to people on Instagram. And then someone said to me, why don't you look at.coaching or building an online course or something like that. Something to create a digital product that you can sell and market along the way. And I was like, okay, that's a good idea. So I just put out to my network and I was like, Hey guys, for, you know, everybody that knows me, all of you guys that know me.

If there's one thing that you could teach me, one thing that you could learn from me, what would that be? Like, what would, what do you feel value I could give you? And 99% of people came back with confidence and I was like, Oh, Really, I didn't see myself as a, as a confident person, but I guess I did because, you know, I worked on stage and I, I, we did entertainment and I hosted shows in front of 5,000 people on, on cruise ships.

And that's where I thrive. Like, I love that. And then also I have the confidence to just pack a bag and go by myself. Like I did it over, like a random trip to Bali. I woke up one morning and I was like, I feel like going to Bali. And I packed my bags, went out to like mom and dad. I was back from vacation between contracts.

And I had like credits, like points. And I was like, Hey mom, and dad, guess what? I'm going to Bali. And they're like, what, when are you going? And I was like, Oh, I fly out this evening. So can someone drive me to the train station? And I just went to Bali for 10 days. So people are always like, how, like, I wish I could do what you do.

And I was like, but you can, like, you really can. So that's kind of how the brand was built like started and built, and I started learning a bit more about, you know, confidence and how to coach people. And yeah, it's just kind of growing from there.

Omar:

And it built on top of itself. Right?

Casey:

Pretty much, yeah.

Omar:

When did you start documenting all of it?

So I know you've got a certain number of followers on Instagram. I mean, for a coach, that's, that's good numbers and not in terms of vanity metrics or anything, but you're getting some traffic on Instagram that are probably looking at you and saying, Hey, I like to get coached by Casey. So when you started, obviously, that took some documentation. And I've seen you do some things where you have a camera in front of you and you talk on the mic and whatnot. When did all that start? All the content creation and did that just come organically naturally, like, Hey, I'm in Bali, I'm going to post what I want to post.

And I'm just going to start posting an Instagram consistently and try to build a brand that way. Or was it something that you kinda had to make time for and just like kind of force it in a way.

Casey:

To be honest with my Instagram. I like all my travel photos. Like if you scroll back to my travel photos, when I was posting all of that, it kinda was never my idea to grow a brand on Instagram, it was more that I was in these exotic countries, in these exotic places and I wanted to share what I was doing, how I was doing it. So I was genuinely just posting and giving my advice and, and just being genuine. But I was never consistent with it because obviously working on cruise ships, you don't have the time.

You don't have the wifi, you know, reach, you don't have all the time. Like you were so busy on a cruise ship. Like if anybody can build a brand while working on a cruise ship, they are, they're  superhuman. There's just no time, no time to do anything else other than my work on a cruise ship. And party. But yeah, I kinda just put stuff out there just to share my story and share where I was going.

I pivoted to like actually trying to actively grow with no experience, no idea what I was doing to actively try to grow my Instagram. Probably when I got home and I try to, you know, start my brand, like stepping up left, right, and center, like no idea what I was doing. I was trying to copy too many people and do this and do that and try to be like these, you know, these professionals.

And I was like, you know what, that's just not me. And I spoke to, you know, a mentor and some coaches and I've invested so much in digital courses myself and learning tools. And I just learned, you know what, I need to play to my strengths and my strengths are speaking and video. So I was like, okay, let me, let me do that.

And then during my journey of building my brand and learning everything, I got obsessed with mindset and performance and daily performance and routines because suddenly I came home and I didn't have, I haven't lived on land for three years. So I needed to figure out how to get back to learn how to study again, learn how to, you know, wake up and have a daily routine.

You know, if you don't have a job to go to, you have to have some sort of routine to, you know, keep yourself moving forward. So I got obsessed with that and started learning a bunch of that. And that's kind of how Yeah, my business is kind of just spiraled and intertwined and I've just kinda been, you know what, I'm going to be authentic into whatever I'm learning.

I'm just going to share and speak about and just try and help as many people along my journey.

Omar:

I know that feeling of like coming back from well for you, it wasn't land from you as a different country. Just coming back from that and having to actually adjust into real life and creating routines and starting something from scratch the way that you did.

So I totally relate to that feeling and especially in the middle of a pandemic. So it's good that you were able to put together that mindset and put together that motivation to get something off the ground and turn it into something that's, it's become now. And now you're a confidence coach, which is pretty cool.

Could you give my audience just a little snippet of how you first got those initial clients for your coach, for your confidence coaching.

Casey:

Speaking to people, just literally speaking to people. So I started with a, I did a course that teaches you how to do online courses. And basically all I did was just started putting out a bunch of content, started speaking to people. Again, had no idea what I was doing. Just started speaking to people. And for my first launch of my online course, I had seven ladies that I built it up over like three months and marketed it for three months, not very good at marketing. But I found that when I actually just engaged with people one-on-one instead of worrying about the advertising and the fancy posts and all those things, like when I...

The seven ladies that I got into my online course, my first course with the people that I actually reached out to, reached out to me on social media and we just had a conversation and I said, I can really help you. So I think that's where I got stuck for a long time, was worrying about the perfect marketing, the perfect ad structure, the perfect post boosting posts, getting traffic, getting email leads, get, you know, I got too caught up with those metrics.

Yeah, rather than just actually speaking, finding the people that need my help and listening to what they have to say and then saying, Hey, listen, I can help you. So I did that. I had a digital course  that launched in August this year. And it was a six week course. We ran that and ladies were phenomenal and they so set incredible results and I'm just so excited for them.

Their lives are just like skyrocketed and it gave me so much light. Yes, I can actually  be a coach. Yeah. I was like, I can actually do this. I can help people. I can be a coach. So I got really excited about it. But then I I wanted to scale obviously, and I realized I had no idea what I was doing. So I hired a mentor.

Like I found a coach. And basically so many coaches approached me. Like, I'm sure you've gotten it a bunch of times, like so many different people approaching. They, want to be a coach. They want you to go into their program. And I just didn't find, feel right about any of them until I met one guy and I looked at exactly what he was doing, and I said, you are who I want to be in five years time.

So you're the person, I actually reached out to him. And I was like, you're the person I want to coach me. And, and that was it. And I invested in his coaching and he was the one that convinced me to do one-on-one coaching. He helped me really focus in on my brand and really like helped me with how to talk to people more. So how to share my message in, you know, a more authentic way.

Omar:

That's really interesting. Something that you said that really stood out there was the whole engagement aspect. Right? I think people get too caught up in the technical parts of every single little thing trying to optimize this, post that, do this sort of conversion, that call to action. But really it's just simple engagement.

I mean, people seem to forget, we're not just numbers, we're actually human beings on the other side. And once you started engaging with people and really showing what you're capable of to help those people. I mean, that's where my that's where the money comes in. Right. And it's not even about the money, it's about you creating impact and that's what leads to actually getting money from what you're doing.

Right. And then, well, go ahead. Sorry, go ahead. First. Where are you going to say.

Casey:

No, I was just going to say exactly on that. Piggyback on that. Like, I got caught up too long with worrying about like my numbers and, and followings. And I was like, well, I can't make. I can't have six-figure business until I have at least 10,000 followers, you know, it doesn't work like that, you know?

So I wasn't so conscious of, of growing that. And I did, you know, all the silly strategies on growing followings and then you realize it's not the people that you want to talk to. Like you, there's an amazing article. I don't know if you've read it. And my coach gave it to me and it's called a thousand true fans.

Fantastic article, but it's saying you've heard it. Yeah. You don't need millions of followers to grow yourself a big business. And that's where everything changed for me was when I just started focusing on the people that were in my network, speaking to them and anybody that did come in, giving them a warm welcome and just offering help and engaging, starting conversations with people.

Omar:

It's as simple as that, you know, it's not about minding the metrics. It's about engaging the human being on the other side. And then it's just, once you're able to get that down, then it's just all about scaling that on a giant level, which is why I like clubhouse. You know, I think you're able to take what we're already doing, that engagement side of things and scale it in a way where you're talking to 500, 1000, 1,500 people at once.

So it's interesting. And I think what your business is in the way that you coach, I think it's very easy to scale on clubhouse for you. Typically, because you'll have a stage to talk about what you're already good at talking about. Yeah. So be interesting to see how you scale along there.

Casey:

Oh my gosh, I'm loving clubhouse.

Like I, the moment I heard about it before I even got an invite, I realized the value in it because even, I've been listening to Gary Vaynerchuk, you know, for years and he said years ago that the next big, you know, when YouTube was blowing up, he said, okay, video is King right now, but audio will be King.

That'll be the next King. Like he called podcasting. Podcasting has been around for many, many years, and it's been big for many, many years, but it hasn't been as big as right now, you know, this is the biggest like podcasting has been and he called it. So the moment I heard that there was an audio platform where there's no posting, there's, there's no, none of that.

You've got to show up and actually give value. I was like, I have to get onto this platform. And I grinded so hard to work out, like how to get an invite onto this platform. And I've been on it for three days now. And the connections, the connections. Exactly. We've met through there. People like the, the value that I've learned from this.

And I'm like, Oh my gosh, these coaches and these millionaires and billionaires are taking seven, eight, nine, 10 hours out of their day, every single day to just give, answer questions and give value. Like there's nothing else that has allowed, you know, that brought that world as close to, to this, you know, as right now, like we're big fans of podcasts is, I don't know if you know Lewis House, he's got an amazing podcast.

He was in a group. Yeah. He was in a room the other day. And I got, I got to ask him a question and I was like, what?

Omar:

Blows your mind, doesn't it? You're out there in the stage with these kinds of people. That's great.

Casey:

So yeah. So sorry. I'm knocking my camera around. And so, yeah, I'm very excited for Clubhouse. And especially being in the confidence section.

So many people have so much value to give, but they don't like photos of themselves. They don't like getting on camera. They don't like videos. So this platform is going to be amazing because. I wake up, bed head, you know, still in my pajamas and I can get in and start talking to people and give value. I don't have to worry about doing my makeup, being dressed, the right lighting you know, all the stuff that kind of holds us back so long for so much.

That's why this platform is amazing. So yeah. Any of your listeners, if you can wiggle your way onto clubhouse, get yourself on there now and start soaking up some amazing value.

Omar:

Absolutely. So just for my listeners here, if you don't have a clubhouse invite, it's actually quite easy to kind of sneak your way in. From what I've heard, you can go on Facebook groups or Reddit or any other place and just buy an invite.

It seems like everyone's trying to suck each other off for an invite these days, but it's really not that hard. It's just look for it a little bit and you'll find it.

Casey:

Just careful with that, because I'd have heard stories of clubhouse kicking people off. And the people that they invite, if they find out that invites are being sold.

My, when I was hustling for one year, a lady asked me a thousand dollars for the invite and I was like, hell no.

Omar:

That is so funny. I'm going to tell my audience this right now, I've got three invites to give as of today. If you email me at omarmodigital@gmail.com, that email only not any of my other ones.

And you ask for a clubhouse invite, I'll give it to you. First three listeners. Boom.

Casey:

Oh my gosh. You are very nice. I don't have, I don't have any, unfortunately. I need to, I need to be working a little bit harder to try and get them, but they eventually will. They eventually will open it up to everyone, like once they've got the infrastructure.

And then I think it's, yeah, people just need to spend time on the platform and just soak up, hopefully all these huge names and all these people giving value, stay around and, and give more value. So, yeah. So good. It's addicting.

Omar:

It is. And it's good. It's valuable addicting. It's not like TikToK addicting where you're mindlessly scrolling for hours and not really getting anything out of it, you know?

All right. So I want to pivot here now. I would definitely want to talk a lot about your travels. It seems like you've lived a hell of a story, and I want to preface this with one story of my own that I met somebody. And then I'd love for you to dive in starting off with your cruise ship, cruise ship job, and what you did and what you saw there.

So there was a time when I was in Australia and I was in Australia for a year. And I remember being in Melbourne, it was the first three months that I was in Oz and right along there's a, the Bay, St. Kilda Bay. There used to be this drum circle that happened every Wednesday. I think it was on, it was every Wednesday night during the summer.

And I just remember being there maybe the second month, it was a serene night, calm waves, and lots of people about it as a drum circle going on. And I remember coming to sit on the beach and just, you know, casually sitting with some friends and I met this person, a girl. Awesome girl. Right. I don't even remember what her name was.

But we had a conversation for about an hour and a half, and she told me she had been on a sailboat for three years, just like working with like the captain. And it was a crew of six or seven people. And it sailed between countries for anywhere from a week to a month at a time. She'd work on the sailboat cleaning and helping with food and all that.

And that's how she gave back. She lived on a soba for three years and she gave me the YouTube channel of the sailboat. And it was this. YouTube channel called SV Delos, which is apparently now, like a massive YouTube channel for boats. It has like 500,000 to a million subscribers to the YouTube channel.

And I watched some of those episodes and man, they live the sickest life. They just live on a sailboat, go scuba diving, go explore uncharted islands that are like on maps, but no one ever really checks them out. They still between countries and have so much culture. And I dunno, just thought it was such an amazing life.

And ever since then, I wanted to get my own boat and do the same thing. So it's awesome that you, yourself, have been on cruise ships for multiple years. So, first of all, I know you said in the beginning, you said that you just kind of ended up on one because you knew right away that you wanted to do that.

How was the process of applying for a job onto a cruise ship? And how'd you, how'd you land that?

Casey:

Yeah. I know exactly what you're talking about with the yachts. I've got a lot of friends that do work in yachts as well. They have a very different kind of lifestyle to ice in terms of like the travel aspect. They get.to see a lot cooler places. They get a lot more of a variety. Whereas once you're set on a cruise ship, that cruise ship tends to have a seven day, five day, 12 day itinerary where you go back to the same islands every single time and maybe it'll change up. So yeah, people working on yachts, they work hella hard as well.

It's not an easy job, but it's an amazing opportunity to travel and see the world. Yeah. So on the cruise ships I got on. I actually did not even want to go on this cruise. Let me tell you. And it's one of my first episodes on my podcast. Actually, I think it's the second one that's coming out tomorrow.

I talk about this story as well. I just wanted to go on a girls' trip. I'd been working a sales fucking job, and I just wanted, I said to my mom, I was like, let's just go somewhere. Like, let's go to Greece, let's go to Bali. Let's go a trip on me. I'm taking us away. Let's go somewhere. And she was like, I want to go on a cruise.

And I was like, Oh, Well, all the people, I don't want to go on a cruise. Anyway, she twisted my arm and I was like, well, whatever, I'll be able to relax and just read a book with something for 10 days. And as soon as I got onto the ship, I've literally got goosebumps right now. Like I still remember the feeling like I was getting onto the ship and I was like, what is going on?

It was a carnival ship and there was just entertainment and stuff happening. Everywhere. And there was these, there was the cruise director, so they stood on stage and basically their job was to be the fun, energetic entertainer, like running hosts, running games, speaking to people like just acting like a goofball on stage.

And I was looking at that and I was like that. That. It wasn't even just the ship thing. It was like that. I was like, I need to be on stage being the cruise director I need. And I, so I went to, I was like, okay, how do I get there? How do I do that? Now under the cruise director, there's a team of entertainers.

And on carnival, they're called the fun squad. And basically the fun squad are the same thing to entertain everybody, to run the parties, to run the trivias and to do the bingo or to do like crowd control to do like all sorts of different things. So I got into contact with all of them and I was like, how do I get onto this ship?

Like, how do I, how do I do what you do? And basically everybody just said apply online. That was it. That was as simple as it was, like apply online. And I'm a big believer in like law of attraction and fate and how everything's supposed to happen. So the moment I got off the ship, I was like, I don't know how, I don't know how this is going to work if I get this job because I've got everything set up here.

I have, you know, a great full-time job. I have a car. I had a boyfriend at the time. But that was like on the edge anyway. I had a department. I was like, I don't know how it's going to work, but if it's meant to be, it'll be. So I applied for the job and three or four days later, a guy from the casting company that you applied through the entertainment company said, Hey, we've just seen your resume.

We've yet to do a video like audition. Hey, we've just seen your video audition and everything. We're actually, we only come to Australia to do auditions twice a year, and we're going to be in Sydney this Friday. I think it was like Wednesday.

Omar:

Where were you? Were you in Sydney?

Casey:

No, no no. I live four hours North of Sydney.

Omar:

Where's that?

Casey:

Port Macquarie.

Omar:

I've been there before.

Casey:

Yeah. Yeah. It's a gorgeous little town. It's very small, but yeah, gorgeous little town. So I was here and I was like, I will be there. I will be there. So I went to the audition and it was nothing like I'd ever, like the interview, it was nothing like it ever, we literally played games the entire time. Like he just had everybody in the group, like playing games, you've got up on, you know, on the stage, he did a little intro of who you were, where you're from, if you've cruised before, why you wanted to be there. And then at the end they did like one-on-one and they said, Oh, look yeah, we really like you. We want to offer you a position. Like let's do it. And I was like, Okay. But then it's not as like the process then to go through that. You have to go get, so then you gotta wait for your job offer and your job letter. You've then got to go and get like an extensive medical done, which takes forever because you're going to have, like, to be a crew member and to be like approved as a Seafarer, you have to have like a Seafarer's medical certificate. So proving, cause you also go on their insurance premium that you never had, don't have any preexisting conditions. You have to be in good health all sorts of different things. So you have to have all your vaccines. So I had to go and get all of that done, which the process took a little bit longer.

Then once I submitted that they were like, yep, cool. All accepted. We're just waiting for a job posting for you. And then once that was all accepted and my medical was approved, that's when I just said I'm done. Like see you guys, I'm out.

Omar:

What was that feeling, you know, like leave everything behind you were established so much.

Like how was that feeling? How was that process for you?

Casey:

Oh, it was, it was so scary, but it came at such the right time. Cause then like, while I was going through that whole process, I went through a really bad breakup. So it was kind of like, no, this is a sign from the universe that I just need change. Like something needs to change.

Yeah. So that that relationship ended. I gave notice to my job. Like I helped them train up someone new and I just packed up my bags and I took off to Asia and I was like, well, I'm going to hang out in Asia because they said it could be anywhere from a month to two months, three months, four months before I could get a job posting.

And I was on a rooftop in Thailand and I've actually got a video on my social media. I was on a rooftop in Thailand sipping cocktails with some friends and I got an email, the email came through telling me my job posting. And it was for like two weeks later and they'd given me, they were like, here's your job, your, the ship that you're going to, you're going to be sailing out of Baltimore.

You leave in two weeks, here's your flight details. And I was like, I gotta get back to Australia and like pack up the rest of my stuff and get ready.

Omar:

You must have been so excited at that moment.

Casey:

Oh, yeah, it was, yeah, there's a, there's a video on my social media. I keep meaning to reshare it. I need to reshare it when I, when I post the, this episode. And you can see me, like on the rooftop in Thailand, like so excited talking about where I'm going.

So, yeah. So that was the journey to get onto ships.

Omar:

That's amazing. For your job posting, did you end up getting the director job or was this something different?

Casey:

No, no, no. So to, to get to cruise director, you need to work your way up through the company. So you go in as fun squad. So his team, so I went in, I was supposed to go to, so the ship that I originally got posted two days before it was due to fly out, they changed it on me.

They were like, Nope, we're actually gonna move you to a different ship. And you're sailing out of Miami now. And then  (inaudible)  flight details, everything. So I was like, okay, cool. But no, you go on as what's called the fun squad. So that's where you do all the, you know, the entertainment, the bingos, the, you know, all the hosting, the trivia, the deck parties, everything, your contracts are only supposed to be between five and six months.

I ended up extending mine and my first contract went for nine months, but that's nine months of seven days a week work, no days off, zero days off. And you're working between 12 and 16 hours a day. Like it's, it's. Sometimes I was getting one to four hours sleep a night. If you want to.

Omar:

How are you not exhausted?

Casey:

Yeah, it's always, it's just exhausting, but you run on so much adrenaline, like when you're really loving it.

If you're not having a good time, it's the hottest job in the world, but because I loved it, I moved up through the ranks really, really quickly. So I ended up becoming a senior fun squad, which usually takes you two or three contracts almost within my first contract. And I was running the comedy club.

Like we have a comedy club on board. So I got to work with like international, like comedians. We had like these famous comedians coming on board every single week and I got to work with them and intro them into the comedy club and everything. So yeah, I was, I was just on fire. I loved it.

Omar:

That's really cool.

It sounds like something similar that I did in Australia. I worked at Luna park for like three or four months and they made us, they made us, the interview process is really similar. They made us play all these games and stuff and like bounce around and just act like idiots. And then they hire you. If you're energetic and fun. So I got hired, but I realized real quick, it wasn't for me, like you just have to be, it was very ecstatic mood all the time with around people. And I was just like, God, none of that, a kid on a slide, that's going to fall off. You know? So it just, I realized like two, three months, and it wasn't for me, but it was a good little part-time job.

And it was definitely an experience because you get free tickets and you can bring friends, but yeah, it was.

Casey:

Yeah, I can imagine that, like, I love Disney. Like I went to Disney world for the first time last year. And I'm obsessed with Disney world, but yeah, I wouldn't want to work there. Like, it's just, it doesn't seem as fun to work there as, you know, being the outside.

So yeah, some jobs aren't as fun to work in.

Omar:

Exactly. It's much. It's one of those places that's much better to actually go to than work at. Cause I love Disney world too. I do. It's just an adventure. Every single time you go, you know, but yeah, no, no way in hell would I ever want to work there.

So let's move on with your timeline here then. So you got the job, you moved up in rank. How long did you actually end up working on cruise ships for the duration?

Casey:

Yep. So I did, my first contract was nine months. And then they kind of force you to go home. Now, one of the reasons why I extended my contract so long was I ended up getting into a very serious relationship on board.

So to try and marry up our schedules, like our time on board schedules. I had to extend, so he does, and it would never have worked in the long run because his contracts are three months on three months off. He was an officer on the ship. So they do three months on three months off, whereas mine are six, seven months on two months off. Like that's, that's how I was. I was work. But I ended up extending so that we could marry up our vacation time. So I went nine months. He ended up coming over to Australia and we did, he's an Italian, he was an Italian guy. He ended up coming over to Australia and we did a big trip around like the East coast of Australia.

I showed him a bunch around there. And then I went back to Asia. That was when I did the random trip to Bali was in that break. And then I think I was all for a month and a half, two months. And then I went back to the same ship. Cause that's where he was posted as well. So I went back to that same ship, although the itinerary changed, which was really cool.

So they, they had moved from Miami down to new Orleans and we did like what was called journey cruises as well, where they do one random cruise where they do like 10 different islands or, or everything like that. So I was on that, that ship for five or six months and I ended up leaving that ship, that relationship then ended.

Omar:

Right then and there.  (inaudible)

Casey:

Yeah, while it's a while I was onboard, that relationship ended, it wasn't mutual. It wasn't mutual. I had already resigned. It's a very sad story, but I'm very grateful for it now, obviously, but. I had resigned from my position on board because he was an Italian guy. The plan was for me to move to Italy.

And I don't know if anybody is married to Italian guys or know Italian guys. Like there's no discussion like it once they decide what they want, like that's it. So the fan was like, I needed to be off ships. Yeah, I need to be off ships and I needed to start learning Italian. And I was going to, we were going to move to it's, like I was going to move to Italy in that next vacation.

And it's a long story, but basically the week before I was due to sign off and fly out to Italy, he ended the relationship. He ended it. So I was then now stuck with no job. But because I had to resign, I had tickets to Italy that I was like, what am I going to do with? I was supposed to go straight to Italy.

I ended up changing the ticket to Australia. And coming back to Australia now, heartbroken, no job. What the hell am I going to do? No boyfriends.

Omar:

And this was right when the pandemic hit?

Casey:

No, no, no. This was in 2018, 2019. I think, I dunno, my, my last few years are a bit blurry. No way before the pandemic, year before the pandemic.

And I came home and I was like, what am I going to do? I literally sat around here for maybe a week and a half. And I was like, nah, that's it I'm out. I wanted to go to Italy. I was so excited to go to Italy, to live there. And I was like, well, why don't I just go travel? So I booked a, I didn't have any job or anything to do.

So I booked a one-way ticket to Rome and I said, I'll figure it out from there. And I kinda got to Rome and I waited, I got myself into a hostel, a backpackers in Rome and just met a couple of people. And I was like, I've no idea what I'm doing. All I knew was I had to be in the UK at a certain time. Cause then I was going to meet other friends and travel through the UK and Ireland. And I was in, I was in Rome and I was in a hostel that Contiki. I don't know if you know what Contiki is.

Omar:

I do. It's like a program that.

Casey:

Yeah, they organized like scheduled group things.

Omar:

Actually, explain it to my audience a little bit just so they have an idea as well.

Casey:

Yeah. So Contiki is basically, I'm not sure what country, it's Australian and New Zealand. I think they've got it in America as well, but basically it's just an organized group tour for like young travelers. I think you have to be between like 18 and 35, like super young. You move fast, you move through different countries, you stay in hostels. Like it's cheap. It's basically just a big party. You meet a whole bunch of people, you're on a bus and you bus from place to place to place. And you just kind of have a bowl. They have like, they have like sail boat ones. They have them all around Europe. They have them around the US so it's just an organized group tour for, you know, young travelers to, if you don't want to do any of the organization yourself, like a guided group tour.

And so I was in this hostel that the Contiki stops in like every day. And I got to chatting to like the Contiki guide. And I was like, Oh my God, that sounds like a great thing. I like, how do I get onto it? And they're like, well, you can't get onto mine because we leave tomorrow. But let me see if I can get you onto the one that comes in tomorrow. And you can join there one and continue up there going from Rome up to the UK.

That's where it ends. And I was like, sweet. Well, there's my way to the UK.  I'm just going to go with it. So the next day, so she managed to get me into that like book me in and I paid for it and everything. And the next day that Contiki rolled through and I was like, yep, I'm joining here.

It was actually halfway through. They started in the UK they've already done like a week and a half. Or two weeks down to Rome and then it was like a turnaround days. So some people could change there, some people joined down at Rome, some people continue along the whole way. So I just joined onto the last leg.

And we did. We did two days in Rome. So I did two days in Rome with them where we did like the Vatican and all of that. We then drove up to Florence and we did two days at Florence. We then went to Piza for the day and got the whole like cool photo with the leaning tower of Piza. Yeah. Then we went for, yeah, we went through to Switzerland and we stayed in like an amazing town called Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland.

Like the most, like it was. Oh, it's picturesque. So the Jr token who wrote the Lord of the rings, he took his inspiration for like some of the scenes in Lord of the rings from Lauder Verna. And that's how beautiful this place is.

Omar:

A little dorky, you know how I know that place? This is a little dorky thing to say, but once in a while, just because I've always wanted to go to Switzerland so bad, just for a little motivation, I go on YouTube and I'll put it up on my TV and I put Switzerland in 4k and there'll be a drone shot that goes through right through that town with the picturesque mountain and the river that cuts right through it.

And I'll see that every single time. And I'll be like, damn, I'm going to be there one day. So that's how I know that small town and I've always wanted to make it out there one day.

Casey:

Let me tell you, you know, how like photos can make places look like spectacular, like photos do not do this place justice.

Like when you're standing there and these mountains are just like massive around you. And it's so green and we were there in summer, but we went up to Jungfrau, which is like the big mountain there, like 3,700 feet in the air or something like that. Like huge. And there was snow on top of the mountain.

That was the first time I've ever seen Snow as well. That was the first time I'd ever seen snow, but it, it didn't really count because I was still in my t-shirt. I was, you know, it wasn't cold, but there was snow on the ground.

Omar:

You felt it but you weren't in it, were you?

Casey:

What was that?

Omar:

The snow you weren't in the snow, right? You just saw it from far away.

Casey:

No, no, no. We went in, like, if you look on my Instagram, yeah. We were like playing in the snow and, but the sun was out, it was hot and there's a photo. We did me and some of the girls from the Contiki, we did the photo where you like, take your top off. Like, yeah, we've got that classic photo, which was funny as hell to do.

But that, yeah, that was the first time, but it wasn't actually like, it was chilly, but it wasn't like how you would expect with how much snow was around. So then we went Switzerland from Switzerland. We then went up to Paris and spent two days in Paris. And we're actually in Paris the day the tour de France ended.

So the city was just like on fire. It was really cool. And then from Paris to London, so that's kind of just like, you know, going with the flow. And then I was in London three days early London three days early before my other friends were getting there for us to go travel. And I ended up actually funny how everything loops around. The friends that I met in Thailand, that I was sitting on the rooftop with, when I got the announcement for the ship, one of the guys was living in London. So I ended up saying, Hey, I'm living in London. And I hadn't seen him since that day. So we ended up catching up in London and he's in Australia now. We're actually pretty good friends now. But I ended up just going with my trip, on my trip around the UK.

Still, no idea what I'm going to do afterwards. Like, what the hell am I going to do? And the friends that I was traveling with to the UK, they live in Canada and they were like, well, why don't you come live in Canada? And I was like, Yeah, why not? So while we were traveling, I applied for my visa, my visa got approved.

And I went over to Canada and then to Canada for a little bit.

Omar:

Banff? Whistler?

Casey:

No, just Toronto.

Omar:

Toronto. Interesting. I figured a lot of like hostile backpacker travelers always end up in Whistler or Banff or somewhere around there. Why Toronto?

Casey:

That's what everybody said, but because the people I was traveling with, those people that I was with, cause I met them through ships.

We were traveling through the UK. They were like, well, why don't you just come over to Canada? And you can stay with us while you figure out your next move. And I was like, yeah. Okay, cool. And they, like, they had a barge all about, I was like, yeah, I work in the bar and you know, working in a bar in Canada is like, Bank money. Like it's ridiculous money working in like a nightclub.

Omar:

It's similar. It's similar to what you can do in America. Same thing.

Casey:

Yeah. Ridiculous. Not what you can do in Australia. Like Australia, you don't get a shit ton of money working in a bar. Yeah.

Omar:

You guys make an hourly, I think in Australia, right?

Casey:

Yeah and we don't tip.

Omar:

Yeah. If I remember correctly. So that's the one industry, in my opinion, that's kind of screwed in Australia because in terms of marrying age, or if you're someone with no experience, go into Australia to go work a job or you can work in construction or something and make a ton of money compared to the U S but everything else. But in terms of nightlife work, America and Canada are much better.

Casey:

A hundred percent. Nightlife in general over there is much better.

That is very very true. Although I did love Sydney. Don't get me wrong. Sydney is one of my favorite  places on Earth, both the nightlife and the beaches of the city, everything. Like, I just love Sydney. And I know you're looking at me like that right now, but here's the thing, right? Whenever you're born, wherever you are in the world, that place will always be less appealing to you than where you can actually go.

Yeah. Right. So that's why I think that's such an incredible, it's like I sit in fucking Kings Cross and I still had an amazing time. Like I had the most amazing time there, you know? I mean, not Kings, it wasn't even just Kings cross that I really enjoyed. It was like the entirety of Sydney, like Bondai and Manley and all those places.

But yeah, for those people who don't know, tell them about King's Crisis. King's crisis is like the nightlife, it's a nightlife center of Sydney. It's the dodgy, the dodgy grungy strip club.

Omar:

You'll see people walking around with like meth needles in their hands and stuff like just sitting on park benches, just shooting up, you know, no one cares.

Casey:

Yeah. But they do have some of the best bars there. They, they I'm. I do. I have to admit that.

Omar:

There was this place I remember it was like this Irish pub was called O'Malley's and it was just down the street from where we were, where I sit at my hostel. And it was like the little backpacker central bar, like that's, it was 99% backpackers that went there, karaoke at like two in the morning.

It was just like the small quaint place. And I had some of the best memories at that place. You know, you just get to meet people from all over, all over the world. And it's like quaint Irish bar in the middle of grungy Sydney. And it was interesting. So it was, it was.

Casey:

That's a great point you make there. And it's not, it's not always where you are. It's a lot of the time who you with. And that's why people say to me that like, why, if you can afford to stay in hotels, why do you stay in $10 hostels? It's because of the people.

Omar:

Much better in my opinion. Exactly. Like that. Yeah. Like what the hell are you going to do in like a $200 a night hotel? Go chill at the pool bar drinking fucking mimosas till two in the morning? No, like it's, you know, the culture.

Casey:

Yeah. I mean, you kind of in a hotel you can, just go sit down at the restaurant in Oz to, join a table. Whereas the hostel, you can walk down to the bar, like it's literally the only, like there's nowhere else in the world that you can go to a bar and just and just be like, Hey guys, I'm new. Can I join your table? And everyone's like, how are ya? Where are you from? Where have you been, what are you doing? Like it's the most welcoming. And, and that's, that's one of the reasons why I wish I went and traveled sooner. And I wish because I was always just scared of traveling by myself that I was going to be lonely or I was going to, you know, and that was the one thing, like once I realized hostels and I was like, where have I been this entire time?

Like, why have I not been doing this ?

Omar:

Don't you just feel like you belong when you get there? Even though like you don't know each other, I know that feeling all too well, you know, it's weird. Like, and this is going to be a, kind of a deep question. It's gonna connect back to your confidence coaching and the confidence and the exuberance that you give off whenever you talk, do you feel like from the travels that you've had in hostels alone, or just being around, do you feel like that's kind of built and add onto your personality?

Casey:

Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. A hundred percent.

Omar:

And a lot of people don't realize that. It makes you a better person.

Casey:

Yeah, definitely like. You have to, you have to build a sense of confidence. Like I was not confident traveling by myself the first time I did it. Like even when I went back to Bali, I'd been to Bali before, but when I went back by myself, you know, it's still your solo girl traveler, traveling in a country that's like a third world country or something like that. Definitely there's a, there's an air that you get where you get this, like solidness in you.

You learn how to walk tall, walk with confidence so that nobody messes with you. And then you have to win hostels, like. You know, if you go to a hostel and you sit in your room by yourself, you're not going to make friends, but you have to have the balls. And I've, I've been so nervous sometimes.

Like when you just arrived and you know, people have been to the hostel for a little while. You can see everybody's got their little vibe and their little relationship. Like you have to just swallow everything and just be like, Hey guys, can I join you? That's it. And then people, and so many people are afraid to do that.

I traveled with a girl where we did, she didn't have that as much confidence and I was like come and sit with these people and she's like, what? No, no. And I was like, what are you talking about? Let's go. let's go introduce ourselves.

Omar:

I remember when I actually first came back from traveling because I saw such a problem with that with people just sitting in corners and never really conversing with anybody. When I came back, I wanted to be like a sort of relationships slash like make friends while you travel coach. That didn't last too long because I realized like I just sit and enjoy teaching other people how to do it, you know, and just enjoyed it myself.

But I think there's such a need for that because I remember when I first landed in Sydney and all these different places, I landed in a place and Right around the six month mark, when I was traveling actually, I had this bout of depression because I started missing my family and I started missing my friends at home.

And I think it always comes late a bit like after six months or so. So I landed at a hostel and it was, it was in Sydney actually. And I was kind of just sitting there in the corner, staying in my room and I just didn't really feel like talking to anybody. And that caught me in a deeper depression. I just didn't want to make moves.

And I just remember one day, like Omar. Like come on. Let's just go downstairs and see what's up. So I remember sitting in the TV room, just kind of in the corner, just like kind of people watching and observing what's going on. And I said, hello to the person next to me. And we just struck up in a conversation and literally it escalated from that to like within a week, I'm going to bouncing around and talking to everybody, just having a good time. Cause everyone's so welcoming there. You know, they see you, they just want to know who you are. It doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter what you do. They're just curious about you because you're from a different country, different place, and it's, it's so much more welcoming than how you would feel back home in Port Macquarie. How I would feel back home in Houston with random people, you know, it's just a much more exuberant, welcoming, warm environment. That's simply based on the character of the person rather than their background, you know?

Casey:

Yes. Yeah, a hundred percent agree like, and I'm the confidence coach, and I don't have any problems walking up to people and going to start a conversation, but you'll never catch me dead in my town walking to like go into the local pub. And being like, Hey guys, can I join your table? People can be like, no. So then, yeah, that's what I do really miss. And it's funny because when I came back from, from everything, if I wasn't a confidence coach, I would have done something in trouble. Like that's. Oh, so like a, we're a huge, my heart lies in tribal and it's a huge passion of mine.

However, I was like, I don't know about the pandemic, starting a travel business during the pandemic, because I don't know what travel is going to be like post pandemic, you know, I don't know how. I don't have the answers for travel right now, unfortunately. But yeah, I hope it goes back to normal.

I hope hostels go back to normal in a little while.

Omar:

I would love for hostels to go back to normal. That would make me so sad if they don't go back to the way that they were, or they have to keep one person per room or something because the hostel community and just the way backpacking is, like hostels are my favorite part. You know, just because the way that you can meet people and stuff.

So I really, really hope. Now that we have this vaccine and stuff, then all that backpacking aspect becomes relatively normal again, because I know for damn sure most backpackers are not going to care at all. They're just going to be like, Oh, let's just go back to normal. I think it's going to be more about the administrative side of it and like the regulations and the laws and stuff.

And I think that's going to be dependent country to country as well. Right. So I expect Bali to be like completely back to normal. Cause they're not going to give a shit there, but places like Australia, maybe not. Places like New Zealand, maybe not. And that would be really sad in my opinion, and which makes me grateful.

Right. And I'm sure you too, that we were able to experience what we did before this pandemic hit. Yeah, but it's good though. Like, I, I want to turn that around and say like, future-going best case scenario, let's say hostels go back to normal and let's say travel returns relatively normal besides wearing maybe masks and yet in an airplane or something. With all that being done, where would you say your future plans are with the whole digital nomad thing?

Casey:

Wow, funny you asked that. So Australia is on a very tight lockdown right now. I mean, we're doing really, really well. I think we're doing one of the best, like us and New Zealand are doing the best in terms of our cases out of the entire world. But I cannot see Australia opening their international borders anytime soon, unfortunately.

Omar:

It's funny you say that though. I have an ex that just came back from Cocos, Keeling islands. You know where that is? She spent a whole year there. It's off, it's off the coast of Western Australia. Yeah, but it's apparently salon Australian Island.

She spent an entire year there and she was able to fly from there to Perth, back to Canada.

Casey:

Yeah. You can still fly out. You can, I can book, I can book a flight now I've got my visa. I've got a work permit to Canada. So if I really wanted to, I could get on a plane and, you know, apply, you know, Get over to Canada. It's not a problem. The problem is, if anything, because this is my home country. And if anything happens with my family, if there's any reason why I have to come home, you can't do that. That's the problem. That's one of the stipulations with, if you leave Australia, People are coming and going all the time because people are flying out for business and things like that.

So it's not like there's nothing going out, but you can't just, you know, if something happens with my family or I need to get back home, whereas before, you know, I could just book a flight in a day or two, I'll be back. It's not like that anymore. So that's the only reason why I'm going to ground my feet in Australia for a little while, just until the international travel borders open.

And then I'm out of here, but yeah, I'm not waiting to travel to not travel until that happens. So I have bought myself a van and we're busy converting the van. And I'm going to be living full time hopefully as of February in the van traveling around Australia. Yes. That's my travel plans.

Omar:

Anyone else too?

Casey:

Just me, solo travel girl.

Omar:

Crazy. It's funny that one reason that always stopped me. Like I did van life for seven months, but I don't think it could have done it alone simply because, and especially now during the pandemic, I would imagine that it would get lonely. You know, like meeting, trying to meet people, you won't be able to stay at hostels.

I dunno what the hostel situation right now is in Australia, but I would think of majority of them are closed or at least have some very strict measures. How are you going to fight loneliness in the van as a solo travel girl when you're going around?

Casey:

See, there's a few people have asked me this. I right now have, I'm not learning the, I very rarely leave my house right now, because there's not really much else where to go. I go to the gym, like I, I still run classes and stuff at the gym, cause I always have a passion for fitness. So I go to the gym. So I have some friends from there. I have some friends in town that are like longtime old friends that maybe once in a blue moon, we'll go for a beer at the bar or, you know, things like that.

But I've got. I've got so many connections online that I could go weeks without leaving this house and speak to thousands of people. So that's where being a digital nomad is so freaking cool. And especially this clubhouse thing now, I don't think you could ever be lonely and I'm not a lonely person in that.

I'm very, very, very comfortable with being in my own company. I'm very big into meditation, spirituality. I like being by myself. I've taken the van down to the beach and I can sit at the beach by myself. Like if I didn't have to come home to eat, it would be, I could sit there for days by myself. So I don't think I ever will

Omar:

You strike me as an extrovert. And as someone that's extroverted myself, I tend to get my energy from talking to people. So it, in terms of you being alone and not really, I know you said you have a digital network, so that makes sense, you know, but being alone long periods of time, not really talking to anybody, it strikes me like you would get bored out of your mind.

Casey:

Absolutely. Well, I'm an introverted extrovert. That's what I call. So I'm an introverted extrovert. Yes. When I talk to people or I'm on stage, you give me a microphone. I'm a complete extrovert. However, 90% of the time, the rest of the time, I'm actually an introvert. I'm actually very happy to sit at home. And do my own thing.

Obviously, when I'm traveling, it's very different because I force myself to be an extrovert a lot more because I want to meet people and I thrive on that. But then there's also been times where I could go two or three days by traveling. And I just want to be by myself, like, can I get a lot of, you know satisfaction from being by myself.

But also if I did ever get lonely, like I've got friends all around Australia, especially from ships as well. I don't, I honestly don't think I'll ever have a problem meeting people. That's not a, that's not an issue for me at all. Like the van that I've got as well. It's a huge van. Like I've got a big Mercedes sprinter.

It stands out like wherever I go. And even now I've. Just pulled it up to the beach and people stop and they want to have a look and they want to have a chat and, you know, same in Australia. Like there's.

Omar:

I'm thinking more along the lines of when you're between cities in between populous places, you know, like maybe you spend like a week along the coast by yourself, but there's not even an internet or phone service and you're just kind of around, and it's just you, the van and the sea.

I mean that when I did van life in New Zealand, we were in those situations quite often of just no internet. Yeah. Just in the middle of nowhere, no people, you know, so yeah.

Casey:

I like that, but I probably won't stay in those areas for very long, to be honest, like the trips that I'm looking at doing, like right now in Australia, van life and caravanning and everything.

It's massive because all the people that want to be, you know, Australians we're big travelers so we're all in the same position in that we can't go overseas. Everybody is building vans here. Everybody's doing it. So this year, I think the caravan parks, like if I need to see people and be around people, I'm going to go to a caravan park because that's where, that's where all the other van, and then you walk around, you go, Oh my gosh, I've got the same van.

Or, you know, it'll be the same community as a hostel. Except everyone will be on their own, be their own things. So yeah, the moment I get lonely and there's caravan parks galore in Australia. Like there's more caravan parks than there are hostels. So there's not going to, although I don't want to stay in them very often because I've got a fully self catered stuff looked after van. It will be if I get to those points where I either need power or I need to meet some people, then I'm going to. And I've also said like, although I don't need, if I do really get lonely. I might find a city that I really like or a town that I really like, I might get a bar job for a couple of weeks or a couple of months.

Like if I really liked the town, just not that I need the money, but just to meet people, or if you keep going to the local gym, like go to the gym, you're going to meet people at the gym and the people ask you, what do you do? Oh, I live in that van. See that van parked out there. I live in that.

Omar:

It sounds like you're gonna have a lot of fun.

Casey:

I'm so excited.

Omar:

What kind of van is that? Out of my own curiosity. What kind of van did you get out of my own curiosity here?

Casey:

I got the Mercedes sprinter, a long wheel base sprinter.

Omar:

That's a big one right there.

Casey:

Yeah the big one. Yeah. King size bed, got King size bed, got a full kitchen , wardrobe, and shower, toilet bathroom units.

So I'm like, and I've got enough solar panels and power that I could go off grid for like three days with no sun and still have enough water and power. So yeah, she's gonna. Yeah, she's going to take me far.

Omar:

Nice. So you're going to have a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing your journey documented on Instagram and wherever else you post it.

It's gonna be really cool. Definitely. Cool. So why don't we wrap this podcast off with a final question here, and this is something that I ask every person that comes on my show, and I think it's going to be really cool to hear your answer about it as well. So let's say you had a billboard. Right. And the billboard is in space for the entire earth to see.

And everyone from, from planet earth can see it. What piece of advice or few lines or sentences or whatever would you put on that billboard?

Casey:

Oooh.

Omar:

I used to phrase this question completely different but I love this now.

Casey:

I have so much.

Omar:

You gotta pick one.

Casey:

Okay, well, I'm going to go with my, my motto for right now, like my tagline for right now. And I'm actually looking at getting it tattooed on my arm. So my motto for right now is just don't stop. Like whatever you want to do in life, in everything, just don't stop. People give up on things too quickly, whether it be businesses, whether it be their health and fitness program, whether it be their dreams, like whatever it is, like consistency is key. And, and, you know, persistence. So my motto at the moment, if I had to, I've got so many, so I could have 10 million billboards, but right now my, my go-to thing is just don't stop.

Keep moving forward.

Omar:

That is incredible. Great piece of advice. Don't stop moving. Stagnancy is a plague of humanity. You can reword that in many different ways, but that is a great piece of advice. And I think persistence is key is another way you could say it too. Right? So don't just stop moving and moving forward in the general direction you want, but don't give up either.

You know, Be persistent, keep going. Cause you will get, and like you said, you believe in the law of attraction and manifestation and all that. I believe in subsects of those. But I generally believe if something is in your mind all the time, you will get it. You will achieve it. Just keep moving towards it. Fantastic.

Casey:

One Hundred percent.

Omar:

Thank you so much for coming on today, Casey.

Casey:

Thank you Omar. Thank you so much for having me. I'm having an absolute blast.

Omar:

Absolutely.

Outro-

You made it to the end of the episode, nomad fam. Remember to leave a rating or review your feedback helps take this podcast to the next level. It's funny how things are sometimes. Your review could start a butterfly effect and literally end up changing someone else's life for the better. So keep that in mind.

The guests are about to get crazy these upcoming months, including yes, Pat Flynn. I appreciate every single one of you, the nomad fam community. It's been a great ride so far, and we're only getting started. So make sure to hit that subscribe button and stay along for the ride.

One final thing. If you've made it this far, I want you to shoot me an email at omarmodigital@gmail.com. I would love to sit down and connect with you with a one-on-one. I want to know who you are, what you do, your story, everything about you, because if you've made it this far, you've probably been listening for a while.

So yeah, shoot me an email. Anyways, thanks for listening. Speak soon.

Thanks for tuning in to the nomadic executive. If you enjoyed this episode, take a moment to leave a rating or review. Your feedback helps us reach others who need a spark of inspiration. See you next time.