Going Local — Part One: Why I Quit Freelancing

Another day, another kitchen table for writing these blogs. The last time you heard from me, I was going global. Likely in Shetland. Or Scotland. Or maybe Canada (hello, January snow and a crisp -14°C.) Today, I’m not in any of those places. I am, in fact, back home in New Zealand.

A few months of the digital nomad life were enough

It’s not that I didn’t love my Hobbit-like adventure, leaving the safety of home to see the wide world. I did love it, for the most part. I fell in love with the silent peace of snow-covered fields in Ontario. With the clarity and depth of light in Shetland. With England’s easy passenger rail network and Tesco’s cheap groceries. Some days, I was elated, bright-eyed, loving every minute of this new journey, but other days, quite frankly, I felt lost, broke, and lonely.

It was never supposed to be a permanent change. Full-time travel is exhausting. Full-time travel as a solo woman is doubly so. I had taken the leap, made the plunge, and given the new lifestyle a solid trial. Now, months later and hopefully wiser, home was calling.

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“I didn’t want to not go and then spend the rest of my life wondering if that was it and I’d missed it,” I said to a friend.

“And was it?” she asked. “Was that it?”

I thought for a minute. “Yes. It wasn’t anything like what I thought it would be — but that was it.”

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I haven’t just given up the overseas travel and that #digitalnomadlife. I’ve quit freelancing entirely.*

*Caveat: Not 100%, as evidenced by these continuing blogs. But definitely 98.5%. Or thereabouts. More or less.

But Rachel! Freelance writing is *sparkle-fingers* The Dream!™

What about the flexibility to go for two-hour lunch breaks and never work a Friday ever again? What about the freedom to set your own rates and turn down any projects you don’t like? What about working from home, or cafes, or from the kitchen table in Georgia/Ontario/South Canterbury?

Yes, yes, all very good points. I’m not upgrading from a Bad Thing to a Good Thing here. It’s not about slamming freelancing. Freelancing has a lot going for it. For starters, it let me travel the world for months without once dipping into my emergency fund. It’s how I’ve been making a living for the last few years. I learned a lot about myself and how to advocate for my work, and I’ve worked with a ton of cool people that I never would have met otherwise.

All I’m doing with this move is swapping out one Great Thing for another Great Thing

They’re different, and that’s okay

Freelancing has its pros and cons. So does regular PAYE work. I’m in the rare, fortunate position where I can say I’ve tried both. And not just in passing. Neither of them were token side gigs or weekend hustles. I took a running jump, dove in headfirst… and found myself afloat. It’s a good feeling.

So, having hopped from the office drudgery of PAYE (Pay As You Earn) to the ultimate in creative, flexible BYWAYF (Build Your Wings As You Fall), why am I jumping the fence again and going back to a regular salaried job?

Good question. I’m glad you asked.

The short answer is: I was offered a job that hit the quadruple-gold of role, location, salary, and team.

The longer answer is: When I sat back and took a good, hard look at it, there were too many things about being an employee that I missed.

• The people. I missed being part of a team. I had regular clients, and they were great, but it’s not the same thing.
• The regular paycheque. Freelancing, by its nature, is feast or famine, sometimes in very quick succession. I missed being able to forecast my income for the next few years without worrying about the endless what-ifs of losing a client or the two-month Christmas closedown.
• The routine. By the end of two years, decision fatigue was hitting hard. I was exhausted from waking up and having to decide what to do with every minute of my day — every. single. day. I was sick of being my own manager, my own marketing department, my accounting department, tech support, and more. I missed the automatic routine of get up, go to work, come home. I missed the structure of workdays and weekends. I even missed dreading Monday mornings and knocking off early on Fridays.

And that’s not counting the million smaller things like paid sick leave and annual leave, employer KiwiSaver match, workmate banter and watercooler chats, a walk/bike commute, professional mentorship, career development, an office dog… the list goes on.

I was ready for it. I’d had my big OE, I’d done the digital nomad thing, I’d gotten the itchy feet out of my system for a while. I’d stuffed years of experiences into months overseas and a few years freelancing.

When it came down to it, I was just plain ready for a change

So, I quit freelancing. I sold out. I interviewed for a job, and accepted a job, and went back to working for The Man (or The Woman, in this case. My manager is one epically supportive lady.)

Everybody, at some point in their lives, changes jobs from one employer to another. I did the same thing. The employer I was moving away from just happened to be myself.

A couple of years ago, I was selling up and getting ready to set off on my epic overseas adventure. I was all set to Go Global. Now, I’m doing the opposite. I’m settling down, settling in, and Going Local. See you there.

Rachel E. Wilson is an author and freelance writer based in New Zealand. She has been, variously, administrator at an ESOL non-profit, transcriber for a historian, and technical document controller at a french fry factory. She has a keen interest in financial literacy and design, and a growing collection of houseplants (pun intended).