72) My Why: the real reasons why I do what I do, live the way I live, am the way I am

Today’s episode isn’t about how I became a digital nomad, but why I became a digital nomad. At this point, I’ve traveled to 65 countries, I'm living on the other side of the planet, I have my own business, and I am doing the entrepreneurial thing and now have a house in Bali, but what's the real reason?  I think that some of my reasons might surprise you, and for you to become a digital nomad and attain ultimate freedom in your life you have to figure out your why.

Message me on Instagram: @christabellatravels
CODEWORD:  Why Podcast

Transcript

Christa Romano: [00:00:00] Hey there and welcome to the Digital Nomad Life podcast. I'm your host Christa, also known as @christabellatravels on social media. You can always feel free to slide into my DMs on Instagram at any time. Let me know if you were inspired by this episode, if you have any questions, or if you have any episode requests.

Christa Romano: I love to read them. Call upon different conversations that I've been having to inspire different episodes. So guaranteed if you do send me a thoughtful message, I will respond and you probably will help more people in the future because I'll make a podcast episode about it. So I want to talk about what inspired this episode that I'm making today, which is all about my personal why behind my business, like why I have created the Digital Nomad Life Academy and why I have been living my life in this kind of extreme.

Christa Romano: way, like, uh, traveling to 65 countries, living on the other side of the planet, having my own business, doing the entrepreneur thing, even though everybody thought that I was insane when I embarked on all these different adventures. [00:01:00] So what's my motivation? Like, what's my reason? What's the essence behind it?

Christa Romano: And I hope that me sharing my story and my real story. inspires you to think about what your why is and for you to understand why your why is so incredibly important when it comes to you having success in not just your career but in anything that you do in life. Like, what We want to have intention behind what it is that we're doing.

Christa Romano: We want to know why we are pursuing certain goals and to really have a clear vision on what it is that we actually want so that we have the drive to move forward towards our vision. If you have been a listener of this podcast, you might think that you know my story, but I'm pretty sure that you haven't heard some parts that I'm going to be sharing today.

Christa Romano: So, uh, for all my loyal listeners, I think that this episode will still be really interesting for [00:02:00] you, even though, uh, you may have heard some parts of my story before. I'm going to be telling it in a different way than I normally do. Um, and if you want to hear actually just like the how I became a digital nomad, that story, then that's episode one of this podcast.

Christa Romano: But today is not how I became a digital nomad. It's why. I became a digital nomad and, uh, I think that some of my reasons might surprise you.

Christa Romano: Because if I'm honest, when I got clear on what my why was, it surprised me too. But more on that later. Uh, for anybody who is new here, I just want to introduce myself quickly. As I said, my name is Krista and I have been a digital nomad since 2013. So at the time of this episode, I am pushing on my 11 year anniversary, which is actually just.

Christa Romano: Frickin insane. I cannot believe that I've been living this lifestyle for so long! I have had different chapters though. I started off, moving to Thailand after getting fired from my [00:03:00] corporate job in New York City that I had a few years after I graduated, Had a great job in Thailand. Ultimately felt like I wasn't having enough freedom and I wanted to go visit my family more. So I got a remote job and that remote job was amazing. I got to travel so much with that job. I went all around the world. In fact, at this point I've been to 65 countries and the majority of those I traveled to while I had a remote job.

Christa Romano: So I got to do amazing traveling While I had that remote job, I started sharing about my digital nomad lifestyle on Instagram. I grew a sizable audience during that time and I started noticing that I had people coming out of the woodwork being like, how are you doing this? How are you doing this? And that's what inspired my digital nomad coaching business that I'm now about five years into at this point.

Christa Romano: So my coaching business, if you don't know about it, it's called the Digital Nomad Life Academy and I help people who have no idea how to get started, get started and also be [00:04:00] thriving as digital nomads themselves. So just real quick, if you are new to this podcast and you want to become a digital nomad, I'll see you next week.

Christa Romano: Definitely slide into my DMs and just ask how I can possibly help you and I guarantee you that even if you don't know what kind of job that you would do or what kind of career that you would have as a digital nomad, that's actually my specialty and helping you figure it out. So, hopefully I hear from you.

Christa Romano: Um. Um. I have had the pleasure of meeting up with so many of my clients in real life. I actually, just this past weekend, I got to meet with five of them in LA and, uh, oh my gosh, it just, you're going to hear all about that in today's episode too, because it's really, really relevant to my why. When I get to meet my clients and hear their gratitude for what I have created, cheer them on for just the wins that they've.

Christa Romano: been having like closing their first clients and booking their first one way plane tickets. Oh my gosh, it just fills me with so much [00:05:00] joy. So as I'm recording this episode, I do have some notes up on my screen. And if I'm honest, uh, this episode is actually a little bit difficult for me to record at this time.

Christa Romano: Um, I plan on sharing with you some pretty vulnerable things. So, um, hope that you're I'm ready for it, and I actually can't wait because I think that me sharing about this story, will set myself free in a particular kind of way. And that, honestly, is what this is all about. Freedom is what the digital nomad life is all about.

Christa Romano: I feel like I have complete freedom in my life, financial freedom, location freedom.

Christa Romano: freedom of my mind, freedom to spend time with who I want to spend time with. And I think actually that last one is really where this all began. So, um, [00:06:00] My story, my why, goes way back into my childhood, but I think the best way to tell this story is to go to a specific moment in time when I had something called a spiritual awakening, which if you have never had one, then you might think that that sounds like a really fun experience.

Christa Romano: And if you have had a spiritual awakening, you're going to hear me say that and you're gonna be like, Oh shit, how was that? Oh my gosh, because you know that a spiritual awakening is actually a rude awakening and it is a very hard experience. And in fact, this was one of the hardest experiences I personally have ever had.

Christa Romano: So, as I shared, I live in Bali, Indonesia at this time and I actually didn't plan on living there. I kind of ended up there by accident, which is a crazy thing to say. I realized that and it's kind of only possible to accidentally end up living on a tropical island on the other side of the planet [00:07:00] if you're already a digital nomad.

Christa Romano: So, um, I accidentally moved to Bali at the very beginning of the pandemic. So, in early 2020. It was just a few months after I had started my business. I went to Bali to meet up with a bunch of friends that were there, other digital nomad friends, when the borders all around the world started closing. So that was a thing that ultimately grounded me because before that I had been living out of my suitcase, like hopping around to so many different countries so quickly and just really traveling kind of like a maniac.

Christa Romano: And, uh, yeah, when the borders closed, my travel life came to a screeching halt. Now, Something that I realized when my travel life came to a screeching halt was that I had a lot more time in my day and in my brain to be thinking, just, just to be thinking, honestly, I had more time and space to be thinking.

Christa Romano: Previously, [00:08:00] in the years and years that I had been traveling, I had spent a lot of time looking at different Airbnbs, booking flights, researching different places that I could go, connecting with different people that were all around the world, meeting new people, um, looking for restaurants that I could eat at, looking for coworking spaces.

Christa Romano: When you live a life of constant travel, there's a lot of research. To be done and a lot of putting yourself outside of your comfort zone and a lot of just like milking every minute for what it's worth. I think something that's just an inherent part of my personality is I'm a really fun loving person and um, I also like had a near death experience back when I was 20, um, which inspired me to create my bucket list.

Christa Romano: And I think that ultimately is one of the big reasons why I became a digital nomad. That part of my story, I already was really familiar with, right? [00:09:00] If you don't know that part of the story, basically when I was 20 years old, I drunk dove into a swimming pool, and I broke my neck. And During that experience, I came really close to death and I was like, holy shit, I almost lost my life.

Christa Romano: I want to make sure that I never regret missing an opportunity to live my life to the fullest. So it was back then that I really committed to living my life to the fullest. And I think that, you know, Well, I know that that's a big reason why I pursued a life of travel. But why did I choose travel as a way to live my life to the fullest?

Christa Romano: Because travel just happens to be like the thing that I love, right? But there's lots of ways to live your life to the fullest. And that's something that I think I've really grown into as an adult is that my life feels really full. I'm so thankful now that I have a fitness routine. Like I love taking care of my body.

Christa Romano: I love learning about nutrition and holistic [00:10:00] wellness. I love spending time with the people that I care about. I think that living life to the fullest has so much to do with relationships. But back in the day, like, you know, in my twenties and moving into my thirties, I had just been so committed to the idea that traveling was the way to live life to the fullest.

Christa Romano: So that's really what I want to talk about today, like why did I believe that? So I realized something in 2020 once I no longer had my golden ticket to travel, my passport, my ability to just rock up to an airport and book a flight or, you know, get a visa in a couple of days and then show up in another country on a tourist visa and spend three months there or six months there, however long the government allows me to.

Christa Romano: I had been living just like such a free spirit and it was amazing. And suddenly in 2020, I no longer had that specific kind of freedom. So like I said, I had a lot more [00:11:00] time and a lot more space to just think because also now I no longer was booking excursions and flights and whatever like a mad person.

Christa Romano: So when I had all of this space and time to start thinking, that is when this spiritual awakening thing started happening. Now I'll tell you a little bit of the secrets about me is that I love exploring the subconscious mind. I love learning about myself. Now I love learning about myself. But in early 2020, I was new to that journey.

Christa Romano: And it was in early 2020 that I experienced a psychedelic journey for the first time.

Christa Romano: And, you know, sometimes they say that psychedelics can give you a good trip or you can have a bad trip. Now, I actually don't believe in a bad trip, but I do believe in a hard trip. And a hard trip is what I [00:12:00] got in 2020. Why was it hard? Okay, so what psychedelics do It essentially puts your subconscious level closer to your conscious level and allows you to access certain things that are in your mind that we are not normally able to access so easily.

Christa Romano: I'm talking about memories and emotions.

Christa Romano: You can also get tapped into different energies and frequencies when you are on psychedelics. So I had this one day when I was on Magic Mushrooms, and, uh, realized that I was really scared to fall asleep that night and I essentially started having a panic attack. As I was thinking about why am I scared to fall asleep, all this stuff that was in my subconscious started surfacing.

Christa Romano: And essentially, it was a whole lot of childhood trauma.

Christa Romano: Now, it's not like I was reliving a lot [00:13:00] of scary memories, but what I was experiencing was the emotions that I would have had as a kid, had I not suppressed them. As a kid. as a way to cope with the challenging environment that I had or that I was growing up in, I developed the defense mechanism of denial and emotional suppression.

Christa Romano: So this one day when I was on psychedelics and I was feeling scared to fall asleep, all of this stuff from my childhood started coming up and I had an incredibly emotional experience. And A lot of things that I had been in denial about from my childhood, suddenly I could no longer deny. Suddenly they were in my face as the truth And this was just so hard for me to experience. At the time, I was really [00:14:00] feeling a little bit of a victim, if I'm honest. Like, oh my gosh, like, why is this happening to me? I was fine, my life was so happy before, everything was so good, and now I have to confront all of these low vibe memories and just, you know, emotions that have been surfacing for me.

Christa Romano: And, uh, just, it was a tough time. We'll just say that.

Christa Romano: As I was going through this tough time, I started turning to different coaches in order to help me. So luckily by this point, I had already worked with a business coach and I already understood the value of investing in myself. I already understood the value of mentorship and I already understood the value of coaching.

Christa Romano: So instead of hiring a business coach, I started hiring. Shadow Work Coaches and Emotional Intelligence Coaches. People that would help me actually explore what were the emotional experiences I was having and that I was remembering so that I could make sense out of them and eventually learn [00:15:00] from them.

Christa Romano: Now, something very profound came from one of the sessions that I had with one of my coaches, and that was actually understanding why my, for lack of a better term, childhood trauma directly contributed to the reason why I was so passionate about it. about travel. And uh, the story really quick is just that when I was 13, I went on this cross country field trip with my class.

Christa Romano: And this cross country trip was one of my first experiences ever of traveling, but also traveling without a visa. any family members. And when I was just by myself, thousands of miles away from where I grew up, I got to experience this overwhelming feeling of freedom that I had never experienced before.

Christa Romano: Something that I realized in these coaching sessions at the time was that when I was a child, [00:16:00] I often felt trapped. I felt like I had to be a peacekeeper in my family. So I was kind of trapped in like a responsibility that I didn't want and that I wasn't really old enough or equipped for. I felt trapped in my schedule as well.

Christa Romano: Like I had to be going to the same kind of places every day and sleeping in the same place every night and just, um, essentially when you're a kid you, you really don't have a lot of autonomy and you really don't have a lot of freedom. Uh, but I think the thing that I really was experiencing on that trip was emotional freedom.

Christa Romano: I'm just going to pause here actually and ask if you listener can relate to that. I have come to realize that a big reason why a lot of people love traveling is because it is literally an escape. Of course, it's an escape from your routine and it's an escape from your daily life and your surroundings and the environment and your job [00:17:00] and whatever.

Christa Romano: But for a lot of people, a vacation or traveling is an opportunity to just clear your mind, to think about something different, to not be experiencing the emotional burdens that come with your regular day to day life. And that is what I realized. In 2020, like very soon after I started my business, that my real motivation for traveling, it wasn't just that I had a bucket list, but it was also that for me, traveling gave me a sense of emotional freedom.

Christa Romano: Now, if you can imagine, the sudden realization that I had been running away from all of my problems my whole life was a pretty painful thing to acknowledge. Because obviously I had been running away from them for a reason. They were painful. They were hard to look at. And they were now [00:18:00] suddenly in my face.

Christa Romano: Kind of like if you're running away from something, like from someone chasing you and that thing catches you. It's like. Now what are you gonna do? You can no longer run. You're just in the situation, caught, and now it's time to heal. Now it's time to do something about it. So embarking on a healing journey is exactly what I did.

Christa Romano: And like I said, I was working with lots and lots of different coaches in order to just make sense of all this new stuff that was surfacing for me, these new emotions that I was starting to experience, and to ultimately Transmute them and turn them into something amazing, turn them into lessons learned and help me level up as a person because I now have a new sense of awareness of who I really was deep down.

Christa Romano: What I've come to realize is that who I really am deep down is definitely still, again, a super fun loving person who wants to live life to the fullest and make the [00:19:00] most out of every moment that I can. Like that is just part of who I am. But also. I love that I am now someone who is deeply in touch with my own emotions and I'm able to help other people get in touch with theirs.

Christa Romano: Prior to starting my business, I was completely out of touch with my emotions, right? I didn't want to look or feel any of my emotions and I think that's why I ultimately created this lifestyle for myself where I was traveling like an addict. If I am really honest, I actually had a moment with myself in 2019 where by that point I'd been living out of my suitcase for four years, which is just crazy.

Christa Romano: Like that's literally no home base and not being in any country for longer than two months at a time. So I had this moment with myself in 2019 where I was like, Krista, like you've been to almost all the countries that you've wanted to be at right now. Like, when are you [00:20:00] going to settle down and why aren't you settling down?

Christa Romano: Like, what's going on? I'm tired of living this way. I'm tired of not having a closet. I'm tired of only owning four pairs of shoes. I'm tired of Not being able to express myself with my fashion choices in the way that I want to. I'm tired of not having a consistent routine. I'm tired of feeling like my body is always being thrown into different time zones.

Christa Romano: Like don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved and adored the years that I did travel like that. But you know what? Four years is a long time and ultimately I think it's best to integrate your love for travel with some kind of grounded lifestyle as well. Which is what I now have. But at that time in 2019, it was like, I had this one side of me that was saying, I really, I really just want to stop.

Christa Romano: Like, I really just want to ground. I really want to have the closet. I want to have the home base. I want to have the routine. But where am I going to [00:21:00] go? I feel like I can't stop. I feel like I've had this crazy momentum going with travel and I started saying these words about like, I can't stop. And I was like, I literally sound like an addict right now.

Christa Romano: Like I've never been addicted to a substance. I am a very light drinker. It's not that I don't drink at all, but like I really don't drink often. Um, I've never smoked cigarettes. I've never indulged in, in drugs like that. Like I just, I'm, I don't have that kind of personality. Not that I haven't tried all these things, but I, I just have not been an addictive person ever.

Christa Romano: But I was Speaking like an addict in terms of my travel and that set off an alarm for me. So that was kind of a my first indication that I was like, Ooh, there might be something here that I don't want to look at. And then ultimately, like I said, this first psychedelic experience in 2019 really boom, like put the real reason why I had been traveling like an addict in my face.

Christa Romano: And then there was [00:22:00] nothing else for me to do but to actually look at it and heal it. In a future episode, I will talk about how I healed these kind of past traumas, um, with shadow work and also light work. But, for the sake of today's episode, the point is, I did a lot, a lot, a lot of work on myself. And, yeah, ultimately did get to a point where I'm super comfortable with exploring my shortcomings and exploring my shadows, I'm very open about talking about them with other people.

Christa Romano: And I'm even at a point now where, like, once I discover that I have some kind of shadow or a part of myself that I actually am not fully in love with, I'm like, ah, yes! I caught another one! And it's like this game for me where I'm just on this up and up and up trajectory where It's like the confidence that I have in myself now and the self love that I have is [00:23:00] indestructible.

Christa Romano: Like there is just, I don't know if there's anybody that could criticize me in a way that would break me or if somebody, for example, like did something behind my back that really hurt me. Like when those kind of things happen. Usually the reason why they hurt is because we take it personally.

Christa Romano: and we make it mean something about ourselves. We make it mean like, Oh, I'm not good enough or I'm not worthy or I'm not pretty enough or smart enough or interesting enough or thin enough or successful enough or good enough or whatever. But I just actually feel like I'm at a point in my life and in my, In my heart and in my personality now where that just can't happen because of the work that I've done on myself.

Christa Romano: So, I just want to really articulate how big of a change I have made. in myself and in my personality since 2020 when I had this big unveiling of like, oh shit girl, you got childhood trauma. [00:24:00] You have emotions that are haven't been processed. You have shit that you need to look at. you have parts about yourself that you have deemed unlovable or unworthy.

Christa Romano: You're not good enough. And now Now, I'm here and, can I just say like the emotional freedom that I have now that I'm able to have on a day to day basis without traveling is something that is just in me all the time. And this is a big part of my why. This is why I teach business. And career and digital nomad lifestyle in the way that I do.

Christa Romano: So if you're not familiar about the way that I coach people into changing their lives forever, I have a big emphasis on choosing this lifestyle. because it's [00:25:00] authentic to you and your deep down desires. Now, I hold space for the fact that there might be someone listening here that's like, I really want to escape my family life.

Christa Romano: I really want to get out of this shitty relationship and choose freedom. I really want to get out of this matrix that I'm in and be free. Pursue happiness and joy and with traveling that's when I've always felt the most joy and the most happiness so If that's you, amazing. I regret nothing about my choices to travel the world like a maniac.

Christa Romano: Honestly, it's just made me such a more interesting person with so many life experiences and when I think about hopefully someday I'll be a grandma, I am going to have the best stories to tell ever. Like, I'm so excited to be a grandma. Um, I just think that the, way I have lived my [00:26:00] life and the adventures that I have had, I, they're just my gold.

Christa Romano: Like they're, I just, I'm so, so, so, so grateful for that choice. So whatever your, let's say, like, superficial reason is for changing your life. If it, if it is actually to escape a situation that you're in, I support you. I support you so much. And you know what? Like I used to get really upset when I would come across people in my travels and they'd be, you know, we'd be getting to know each other and they'd say, Oh my God, you've traveled to how many countries?

Christa Romano: Like, that's crazy. And they'd say, Oh, you've been living out of your suitcase for so long. What are you running away from? And I'd be like, excuse me, I'm from What if I'm actually running towards something? What if I'm running towards freedom? What if I'm running towards joy? What if I'm running towards personal growth?

Christa Romano: What if I'm running towards adventure? And all of that is super valid. All that [00:27:00] is super, super, super valid and I think that becoming a digital nomad is running towards so much goodness, like so much amazingness. And um, we'll talk all about the amazingness too. And also, you know, I think that when people ask me what I was running away from, um, I I just wasn't honest with myself and that actually prevented me from having the real freedom in my heart that I desired.

Christa Romano: Because remember, I was traveling to feel free. I was traveling to be free. But I was only free externally. I still was a prisoner of my own mind and of my own emotions and of my own trauma until I actually looked at it. So, when I say, why do I teach people in the way that I do, the way that I do it is, actually, I'll just break down like the practical way so that we can also talk about the philosophical way [00:28:00] simultaneously.

Christa Romano: The practical way that I do it is that you come into the program, the Digital Limit Life Academy. Uh, you fill out this really, really intense homework assignment, that helps you surface all these different parts of your personality and, um, you know, I ask you for three of your major life stories, what you're good at, what you're not good at, et cetera.

Christa Romano: And when I get to look at this worksheet with you, I get to ask you clarifying questions and, ultimately my life. job in that call is to help you get in touch with what your deep down passions are and why you want this lifestyle in the first place and what's been holding you back from having the lifestyle.

Christa Romano: What I have seen after doing hundreds of these career assessment calls is that oftentimes people actually know what their passions are but they just have not allowed themselves to admit [00:29:00] what their passions are to themselves because they have a little voice in the back of their head which is someone else criticizing them.

Christa Romano: Maybe it's a really difficult parental figure or a teacher who wasn't kind to you or maybe there's an insecurity that you have from someone that bullied you when you were in middle school or You know, a thing that made you feel like you weren't good enough because you failed at something when you were in the fourth grade, um, there's actually a lot of stuff that comes up on these career assessment calls where, uh, you know, I'm, I'm not, Not necessarily saying we're going to explore all of your drama on the call, but, what does happen is that that call is your first taste at exploring the real reasoning behind why, again, why you want the lifestyle that you want and why you will be best at a specific kind of career.

Christa Romano: So I'm not your typical career [00:30:00] coach, right? Like I'm not just going to look at your resume and say, Oh, well, because you have this experience, then you should do this. Like that's what all the other career coaches are doing. And that is the opposite of what I want to do with you. I think that a lot of career coaches just work with people on the surface level.

Christa Romano: And that's ultimately why people end up feeling so unsatisfied with their careers. I recently heard a statistic the other day that says 80 percent of the world's population is unhappy with their careers. And to me, That statistic breaks my heart so much because one, I feel like, oh my gosh, how am I such a lucky one where I love what I do.

Christa Romano: But I know that I love what I do because I have been following my heart and following my intuition all along in my career path. But for a lot of people. They haven't been able to do that and why haven't they been able to do that? It's not because I [00:31:00] have something that they don't have. It's probably actually because I experienced trauma in a specific way that motivated me to do something really different and out there.

Christa Romano: But for other people, their trauma, they might have coped with their trauma by being a people pleaser or by saying, yes, mom, I'll do this. Or sure, dad. Yeah, whatever you say, I'll follow in your footsteps or okay, I will carry on the family business or the legacy or whatever. A lot of people. I think. Yeah.

Christa Romano: Yeah, I think that this 80 percent statistic comes from people not living out their authentic truths, not expressing themselves authentically, not being in touch with who they are deep down as a person underneath the trauma that created them going in a path that is unaligned with who they really are.

Christa Romano: I'm actually curious to know if what I'm [00:32:00] saying is resonating with you on a deep level and if you can get in touch with whatever that thing deep down is saying. If there's a part of you that you know you haven't really been looking at that is resonating with you. Is the reason why you are living a lifestyle that you're not satisfied with, or if you are feeling drawn to the digital nomad lifestyle where you will be, quote, free and able to just be on your own, living out your dreams without the worry of all the other people that might be causing you some kind of emotional distress.

Christa Romano: Really, something that I feel so strongly about is that we just need to be accepting who we are deep down and acknowledging that every human has had a difficult life. Sure, we have [00:33:00] difficult lives in different ways and for different reasons, but really you're not alone in whatever your challenges and struggles are.

Christa Romano: I can pretty much guarantee you that if we get on a career assessment call and I figure out what your shit is, that I have heard that same story. at least a few times before, or at least some version of it, right? There's, all different levels of unsupportive parenting. There are experiences that we have when we're children that cause us to, again, people please or go in a direction that isn't really authentic to us.

Christa Romano: We all have moments of shame from when we are younger or accidents that have happened to us, grief that we have experienced that have caused us to perhaps pursue a life that isn't fully aligned with our ultimate higher self and our ultimate good. So when I make this [00:34:00] episode, right, and it's all about finding your why, for me, discovering my why, my real why, has made All the difference in my life and in my business and in my career.

Christa Romano: Back in 2019 when I started my digital nomad business, my why was because I wanted to have more freedom and my why was that I wanted to be able to do that. Make more money. And my why was that I wanted to not have anybody tell me what to do. And all of those are great reasons why, right? Like those reasons why I started my business were the things that kick started me into you.

Christa Romano: Ultimately becoming an entrepreneur and I really believe that entrepreneurship is such an amazing vehicle for growth. I actually don't think that I would have arrived at the why that I'm now at had I not [00:35:00] created that initial kind of surface level digital nomad coaching business. Now, my business is not surface level.

Christa Romano: Now, my business is much, much, much deeper than that. And, uh, I think any of my clients can attest to the kind of deep work that, uh, we do inside of the DNLA. So it's not just about getting you on a career path that's aligned with who you are and getting you in touch with your passions, but it is about evolving into a more confident and secure.

Christa Romano: version of yourself and entrepreneurship is such a vehicle for growth in that way because when you're an entrepreneur, you have to put yourself into the face of rejection. You have to put yourself into the face of failure. You have to take risks. You have to get clear on what your money blocks are, why you've been stuck in a state of scarcity.

Christa Romano: You have [00:36:00] to tune into gratitude and abundance if you want to have success. You have to learn what your shadows are so that you can overcome them because many people have shadows about showing up online so they don't show up online and that prevents them from having success in their business. Many people have shadows of criticism, right?

Christa Romano: They're worried about what their parents are going to think. They're worried about what their colleagues are going to think if they start their own business. They're worried about what will anybody think if I fail those bullies from high school. Well, guess what? All of those worries, all of those shadows, all of those fears are things that going to be living in your subconscious Either way, right?

Christa Romano: Like all those things are in there right now. It's just that when you become an entrepreneur, you have to confront them and, confronting Your demons like that confronting your shadows is a very uncomfortable thing [00:37:00] as you heard my story Like I had this panic attack when I couldn't fall asleep and suddenly realized I had all this childhood trauma that I hadn't addressed That that sucked full disclosure It's not a fun experience but the way that my life is so much better now as a result of all that work that I have done is Just not it's literally a miracle and I want to be a miracle worker for people.

Christa Romano: I want to help people achieve their own miracles. And um, what's so amazing is like so many people inside of the DNLA end up being really inspired by the business and they go become coaches themselves. And I just love that I get to create this ripple effect of people that are helping other people. feel a sense of freedom in some way, right?

Christa Romano: Some of my clients actually do become digital nomad coaches and the other others become mindset coaches or grief coaches. addiction coaches. There's all [00:38:00] different kinds of, topics that people can coach on. And ultimately I think coaching is a vehicle for freedom. And that's why I love what I do, because as you know, feeling that sense of freedom for me back when I was 13 and took my first trip was just like the essence of life somehow.

Christa Romano: And I want to infuse more life into people. more freedom into people. Now, there's just one more story that I want to share that's, that I just feel like I have to say it, because I just think it's really important and it's a little bit political. So sorry if you're American and you get triggered by this, but basically, um, so I'm pivoting now, right?

Christa Romano: Okay. So I share that I'm in LA, right? I'm in LA. I'm to party and I love to dance. So I went to this big [00:39:00] dance party, uh, the other day and I'm in the crowd and okay, I have learned to, um, really appreciate psychedelics, right? I've learned to really appreciate them because they help me explore my subconscious.

Christa Romano: I don't usually take them recreationally or if I do, it's always just like a little bit. So the point is I had some magic mushrooms when I was out dancing the other day and um, I actually don't know if I will do that again because sometimes I have this thing that happens to me when I am on psychedelics.

Christa Romano: And it is that I channel the energy of other people. Now, sometimes that energy is really high, like it's really high vibe, and it's fun, and it's amazing. Um, and usually when you're in a happy environment, then that's what you get, like the psychedelics can kind of magnify that energy. [00:40:00] But something pretty weird happened when I was there, which is that I was in the crowd, and I was dancing, and I started feeling this energy.

Christa Romano: overwhelming sense of dread, a dread, dread, dread, dread. It was coming up in my body and I was asking myself, is this fear? Is this intuition? What is this? Because side note, there's a difference, right? fear is something where. your mind is on replay where it's projecting all this stuff into the future and it usually makes your mind spinning and it's uh, it kind of makes you feel very panicked.

Christa Romano: Intuition is something where it's just a loud and clear one term message, one time message. And so it was actually both, right? My fear was saying, Hey, pay attention to this, pay attention to this, pay attention to this, pay attention to this. But the [00:41:00] message that I was getting was, leave this crowd. Leave this crowd.

Christa Romano: Get out of this crowd. And I didn't know why. Right? I didn't know why. But I, luckily, um, I was with my sister who like totally understands this part of my personality and who I am. And I told her that I was having an intuitive message that I needed to leave the crowd right away. And So we left and, what I realized, what that was, was that I was experiencing the emotion of the crowd.

Christa Romano: Which was suffering in many ways. Um, I think it's actually a really charged time politically in the United States and there have just unfortunately been a lot of events where there's a large crowd and something absolutely horrific has happened. Um, there's a lot of gun [00:42:00] violence in the United States and there are civilians that create terrorist attacks, on crowds, on people that are just having a good time.

Christa Romano: it's really just about the fact that humanity experiences a lot of grief on a regular basis. And that so many humans are deeply unsatisfied with their life.

Christa Romano: And sometimes they're so unsatisfied with their life that they need to project that and create terror and trauma for the masses. So, when I was there, I picked up on this, and if you can imagine, it is incredibly uncomfortable to be channeling collective grief, and, uh, I had a good little cry out, uh, we found a tree to go hang out by, which is very grounding, by the way, if you are someone who's a very energetically sensitive person, [00:43:00] then always get yourself near some nature, um, it really helps so much, but.

Christa Romano: Anyway, um, the point is that I just allowed these emotions to channel through me to feel the grief. And, um, In my head, this is what was happening. Oh my gosh. I hate this. I hate that this happens to me. I should never do psychedelics in public again. This is crazy. Um, why did I do this? I feel like a victim.

Christa Romano: And, uh, as the emotions passed through me and it was cleared and I felt lighter after I had released those emotions, I actually started having a different feeling. And that feeling was Vindication. That feeling was, this is literally why I do what I do. Because there are so many people out here that are unhappy.[00:44:00] 

Christa Romano: And when people are unhappy, bad things happen. Sometimes really, really, really, really horrible things happen. And honestly, this is one of the big reasons why I don't live in the United States and why I don't think I will. ever live in the United States again, because this is something that I feel every time that I come home, every time that I come back to the States, I, I feel this collective tension.

Christa Romano: I feel this collective grief. And I know it's not just in the United States, but maybe I'm more deeply connected to the culture here because I grew up as part of it. But, um, yeah, that's I've had this feeling of survival's guilt many times over the years that I have lived abroad because I've gotten to,

Christa Romano: I guess I've gotten to miss, um, some of the really [00:45:00] painful collective events that have happened and, you know, part of me is like camaraderie, like, We should be with our people and we should suffer together. We should grieve together. We should experience together strength in numbers and at the same time then I think to myself shouldn't we all have a choice on what kind of camaraderie we want to be a part of and what kind of lifestyle we want to have.

Christa Romano: What about the people who don't want to be a part of the collective grief, right? There are lots of other people who are sensitive to energy like I am that, you know, they might really be having a hard time in the environment that they're in. And it's not just about the country, right? Like maybe you're from another country listening to this [00:46:00] and you're experiencing a similar in maybe a toxic work environment or hell, maybe you're growing up in a war zone, God forbid.

Christa Romano: Unfortunately, many people are living in cultures where I just, I'm actually going to get upset thinking about it. There, there are so many people in the world living in environments that they don't want to be in and they just don't have to be. In my travels, right, you know, I've traveled so, so, so many places.

Christa Romano: I have had the privilege to visit many memorials of absolutely devastating things that have happened in so many countries. Um, sorry for getting heavy here, but I'm talking about genocide and war memorials, museums dedicated to [00:47:00] economical crises. I've gotten to experience firsthand the consequences of some, environmental disasters.

Christa Romano: Like there are people around the world that are starving, that are victims of their government, that are victims of oppression. that are in places where they don't feel safe because of hate crimes or growing up in environments where they're in some kind of slum or a ghetto because that is just what they were born into.

Christa Romano: My message here is that I just know that with a little bit of strategy people can free themselves from pretty much any situation. Okay, as a disclaimer here, I am aware I also have passport privilege, right?

Christa Romano: I know not all of my listeners are American. I've worked with people who are Brazilian and Filipino [00:48:00] and from India and so many different countries, right? Where it's, it's harder to leave the country. But, something that is coming to mind right now, so I want to make sure that I include it because I do like to make sure that my opinions are well rounded and that I am taking into account people that have different experiences than I do, right?

Christa Romano: And um, one time I said some kind of, you know, statement like this or comment or my opinion online. And, uh, where my claim, right, is that literally anybody can change their life. And this woman came to me, uh, saying that, well, I can because I am privileged and not everybody has the same kind of privilege that I do in order to create a business and change my life.

Christa Romano: So. I get that I am a person from a powerful first world country with a great currency, that I have a college [00:49:00] degree, that I am white, right? That I'm an educated woman. There's a lot of privileges that I have. However,

Christa Romano: the way that I teach business is democratized if I'm using that term in the right way, like

Christa Romano: whoever is listening to this podcast at least has access to the internet. So someone who doesn't have access to the internet cannot free themselves in the way that I am preaching about, right? But whoever you are listening to this, no matter what your skin color is, no matter what your nationality is, you have access to the internet.

Christa Romano: And because of the internet, what you can do is learn skills. You can market your skills for free. You can learn how to brand yourself. You can learn how to get clients. And all you really need to do is utilize your time and energy and skill set and exchange that for money. [00:50:00] And literally like that's all you have to do in order to change your life forever in order to free yourself.

Christa Romano: So, yes, as we're talking about my why here, I just know, I believe so strongly that it actually isn't very complicated and you do not need a lot of resources in order to completely change everything about your life and free yourself, but people don't do it because of their subconscious, because of their fears, because of their limiting beliefs, because of their not enoughness.

Christa Romano: So, my why is not just to help people create a business, to set themselves free externally, but it's also to give them the freedom internally so that they can actually truly experience freedom and ripple effect that into helping other people achieve [00:51:00] freedom and also joy. Speaking of joy, one of the things that inspired this podcast in the first place was a conversation that I had with one of my clients just the other day.

Christa Romano: And I want to share this story with you now because I think that this story will help you, whoever you are, get in touch with what your why is for your business. So I'm done talking about myself here now, and I'm wanting to make this podcast relevant for you and also my heart goes out and I apologize to anybody who may have gotten triggered by the last segment of this episode.

Christa Romano: We're going to pivot now. And I want to tell you the story about a client that I recently was working with. So this client, she is in a corporate environment where she feels really, really unhappy. She hates her job and she has felt really stuck in her job. She joined the Digital Nomad Life Academy, I don't know, maybe like six months ago or something.

Christa Romano: We did the career assessment and the thing that came up [00:52:00] for her in the career assessment was retreat planning. Um, in our work together now, it's not just like, okay, she's going to be a retreat planner. It's like, who is she marketing her retreat planning business to? And what is she offering to them? And how can she do this in the shortest amount of time while making the maximum outcome or money?

Christa Romano: Right? So what we came up with originally, this was like several weeks ago now, was, um, her creating a retreat business for corporations to send their basically burnt out employees to

Christa Romano: and the corporation will benefit from doing this because when more people are happy and satisfied in their work environment, the company themselves gets stronger employee retention, which actually ends up saving them a bunch of money and makes the whole process of being at work and running a company so much easier.

Christa Romano: So, That is [00:53:00] essentially the business. She wanted to create a retreat, which is essentially for the employees to make them more satisfied at work, but she's selling her offer to businesses, business owners. So we had this idea, we, we talked about this together and she seemed like she was on board with it and over the past few weeks.

Christa Romano: Basically, she started feeling like, Oh my gosh, but I really hate the corporate world. I don't want to be in the corporate world. I actually want to be so far away from the corporate world. And on our coaching call that we had the other day, she was saying, I don't know if I want to do this anymore because I just, I don't want anything to do with corporate.

Christa Romano: And she said, one of the reasons why is because she listened to a former one of my podcast episodes where I asked this question. And the question is. Uh, and maybe you can answer it now if you haven't heard the question before. The question is, if your soul came down to earth for one [00:54:00] reason, and that one reason could be summarized in one word, what would that word be?

Christa Romano: And you're welcome to pause the episode and think about your answer if you haven't thought about it yet. But anyway, for the sake of the story, she said that her word is joy. And she said, you know, I am someone who, People always tell me that I'm such a joyful person and I know that that's a gift that I have to give to the world.

Christa Romano: And when I'm in this corporate environment, I'm just so suppressed. And how can I spread my joy if I'm back in an environment where I feel suppressed? And I thought, okay, well, this is, this is super valid. And it's, you know, if, Really, ultimately, you don't want anything to do with corporate. I support you and we can pivot and come up with a different angle or even different business all together that feels more aligned with your ultimate goal.

Christa Romano: However, if your soul's mission here on earth is joy and spreading joy is part of that [00:55:00] mission. Then you have a couple of options on how you will spread joy. So one way that you could spread joy is by spreading joy to people who are at a 70% and taking them to a hundred percent. those people are on the planet.

Christa Romano: Maybe they're comedians, they're entertainers,

Christa Romano: and there's room for those people who wanna take people's joy from 70% to a hundred percent. But maybe for my client. What if what she is here to do is to take people who are at a 10 percent joy and bring them up to a 50 percent because there are a lot of people in the corporate world who are at just a 10 percent joy and her impact on the world could actually be bringing more joy to the people who need it most or you know people who are in a situation where they're just really unhappy in their corporate environment.

Christa Romano: And so when she thought about it this way, she said, yeah, you know what? It's actually kind of like a Trojan horse where the [00:56:00] people that I really want to give this gift to or that I can give the gift to that would benefit from it most are not actually the people that I would be selling it to. It's like, she's going to be selling it to to the people, to the, to the gatekeepers, right?

Christa Romano: The ones that are actually, I don't want to say responsible for people being so unhappy, but the, but the gatekeepers of this. Um, so if she can sell her services to them, but then actually the people that she's really serving and uplifting and spreading more joy to are the people that are just like her that are unhappy in that environment.

Christa Romano: because she has been one of these people that has suffered in the corporate environment. She now has a deep connection to the people that are suffering in that way. And therefore, when she builds her business, as she does her market research, as she does her sales calls, she can stand behind her why [00:57:00] so strongly in that.

Christa Romano: Yeah, I'm building my business. And yeah, I'm selling to corporate people. But my reason why is to spread joy to the people that need it. It's kind of this way of flipping your business on its head, right? To get in touch with like, again, the why the, essence of your business, like what is the gift that your business is giving to the world for her, the way that she was kind of thinking about it a few weeks ago was that, Oh, okay.

Christa Romano: I'm just, you know, helping more corporate people selling corporate things to corporate people, but it's, that's not what it is for her. She needed to get in touch with her. soul's reason for being here and how can she give that gift and sometimes it comes in ways that we don't really expect but the clearer you can be on what gift it is that you want to give to the world you can get creative with coming up with the business that is aligned to that.

Christa Romano: And I promise you, when you have a business that you feel soul aligned in, [00:58:00] things will just start to work. So I mean, when I say they will start to work, I don't just mean that you're going to snap your fingers and your business is going to be so easy just because you're excited and passionate about the business idea.

Christa Romano: That's not what's going to happen. What's going to happen is that you still will encounter all the challenges of entrepreneurship that I mentioned earlier, which includes risk taking, again, facing your fears of rejection and criticism of putting yourself out there and risking being seen and rejected.

Christa Romano: All those things will still happen. But when you are so clear on your why, like the deeper essence, the real reason why you're doing what you're doing. you will be able and more motivated to power through those challenging moments. And just for the record, your why doesn't have to be [00:59:00] something that is, say, as, I don't know, heart wrenching as maybe some of the reasons why I gave you earlier today for my business.

Christa Romano: Your why could simply be because working online will make me happy. And you could have a quote, selfish why like that. And even if you do have a selfish why like that, it's not actually selfish because when you fill up your own cup, when you put on your oxygen mask first, when you are someone who is filled with joy, you radiate joy.

Christa Romano: And your energy affects other people. Bringing that back to my story earlier when I was at that dance party this weekend, people can feel your energy. People feel each other's energy whether they're conscious of it or not. We are all energetic beings and we are all influencing one another. You, for better or for worse, are being influenced by this [01:00:00] podcast.

Christa Romano: You watch a movie and it makes you feel happy. You watch a movie and it makes you feel scared. You talk to your friend who's sad and you feel sad. You go to a wedding and you cry tears of joy. You listen to someone light up when they talk about their business and you feel inspired by you getting clear on your reasons why you want to have freedom

Christa Romano: and for being committed to the idea of creating freedom for yourself for whatever reason. You will benefit the world. I promise you and I think that if you're listening to this episode if you've gotten this far You probably care a lot about the world and you probably are in some way a humanitarian Just like I am because if you weren't you would never tolerate getting this far into this episode So if you are this far into this episode I believe that you probably are someone who shares [01:01:00] a similar outlook to the world that I do.

Christa Romano: You're probably someone who has big dreams just like I do. You're probably someone who has a big heart just like I think that I have and you're probably someone who wants to help people. You're probably someone who wants to make a contribution to the world and you're someone who knows that you can have more.

Christa Romano: You might not know how you can have more, but you know, you know that there is more out there for you. And I hope that this episode has given you the motivation to actually seize the day and do one small thing that can move you closer to your goal of setting yourself free. And again, whatever your reason is, why for wanting to be free, it doesn't matter.

Christa Romano: You just get clear on your why and then do something about it. if you want a suggestion for something that you can do about it, you can explore the option of joining the digital [01:02:00] nomad life academy. And I'm going to shamelessly plug it right now because I made this business for you. I made this business for people just like you.

Christa Romano: And what's amazing is there are currently over a hundred other people in the program just like you and just like me. People who again, have big dreams, want more for their lives. are in a pursuit of freedom and authenticity and self expression of contribution. So Real quick, what the Digital Nomad Life Academy is, it's a year long membership where you get access to coursework that will teach you exactly how to build a business in the most simple and streamlined model possible.

Christa Romano: And this model can be applied to any business. Any passion or any personality trait. Joining the Digital Nomad Life Academy, you also get access to book a career assessment call with me, which I explained earlier in this episode. Again, essentially it is you fill out this big worksheet. [01:03:00] I get on a call with you.

Christa Romano: We have an energetic exchange and I help you come up with a business idea that is aligned with your personality and your unique skill set. And I promise you there's something out there for everyone. No matter what yours is, I will suggest to you something that makes sense with the business model, the super simple business model that I teach inside of the digital nomad life Academy.

Christa Romano: I only teach the most simple one. It's the small service provider model. If you're wondering. Um. I only teach that simple one because I want my clients to experience the sense of freedom as quickly as possible. I want my clients to be able to replace their income as quickly as possible so that they can quit their jobs and start pursuing freedom in whatever way they want.

Christa Romano: They desire. And that sense of freedom, by the way, it doesn't have to be living out of your suitcase full time. I don't want to be doing that either, frankly. Your sense of freedom could be having the ability to go visit your sister in California and then extend your [01:04:00] trip by three days just because you're having a great time, because that's what I just did.

Christa Romano: That's part of the freedom that I have access to. Or your sense of freedom could be being able to Spend the last few days with your grandfather right in his final moments like that also is freedom that you get to have when you work for yourself or your sense of freedom could be moving to a country where your nervous system feels relaxed or maybe to a country where the person that you love the most is living.

Christa Romano: There's so many reasons to pursue freedom. So I'll help you come up with that business idea that's aligned with you and then I'll show you how to build that business with the coursework. And anytime that you have questions, anytime that you have limiting beliefs come up, anytime that you have fears come up, there are multiple coaching calls that I and some of the amazing guest coaches in the program are https: otter.

Christa Romano: ai every single week. Usually there's a minimum of two coaching calls. Sometimes it's as much as [01:05:00] four. There's also workshops and different kinds of networking events so you can meet the other people in the community. And finally, the community and also the character development that is baked into the program are two of the most valuable and invaluable parts of the entire Digital Nomad Life Academy.

Christa Romano: I promise you that when you come into this program, you will love it. a different person on the other side if you actually show up for yourself and showing up for yourself means coming to at least two calls per month. It means watching the coursework and it means even if you fall off track, getting back on track.

Christa Romano: I give you a whole year in the program because it takes a while for you to change your whole life. And because we have lives, right? Like, I know that you have lives. I know that you have vacations that you still want to go to. You have jobs that you need to attend. You have kids where you need to drive them to soccer practice.

Christa Romano: You have [01:06:00] family members that get sick. Sometimes you get sick. Sometimes you get bored. Sometimes you get burnt out and that's okay. That's all part of the process. And again, that's why I gave you a whole year. So whether you need to sell your house or start a new school program or whatever, the Digital Nomad Life Academy is set up to accommodate you.

Christa Romano: Also, no matter what your time zone is, we have people from all over the world in the program. And that is one of the things that makes it so special. It's an incredibly inclusive program where we have people from all walks of life, all nationalities, all orientations, all ethnicities, different accents, different languages.

Christa Romano: And it's really just such a beautiful, super supportive, educational environment for you to be fostering this new life, this new way of living. For yourself and that way of living is the digital nomad life. And however you want to define that for yourself is just perfect. [01:07:00] So if you listen to this episode and you're like, you know what? I think I could take one small action today.

Christa Romano: Here's what you're going to do. You're going to go to Christabella travels on Instagram

Christa Romano: and you're going to send the keyword. Why podcast? Make sure you include both words. Why podcast? If you just send one, then my automated response will not trigger. If you spell it wrong, it will not trigger. So make sure that you spell why podcast you send that in a DM to me. And when you do, you will get an automated message from me that says, Hey, thanks so much for listening to the podcast.

Christa Romano: Tell me a little bit about yourself and let's see if the DNLA is a good fit for you. And I'll ask you a series of questions. If you respond to those questions in thoughtful way, then I will personally get on there. I will see your message come through and I will respond to you personally. And we will have a conversation about, um, yeah, whatever [01:08:00] your concerns are, whatever your fears are.

Christa Romano: I only want people in the program that are making a truly empowered decision to change their life. I'm not here to convince anyone. Okay. I'm not here to. I'm here to just help you decide for yourself if this is the path that you want to take. It's really important to me that the people in the program are all on the same page in terms of what they desire for their life, in terms of this level of freedom, right?

Christa Romano: That everybody is on board with the level of inclusivity that we encourage. so. I do make sure to have these conversations with you. So when you send that keyword, why podcast to @christabellatravels, just make sure that you give me some thoughtful answers so that we can have an intelligent conversation and just make sure again that the program is the right fit for you.

Christa Romano: I have a suspicion that if you are still here listening to this, you probably are an excellent fit, but let's just Have a quick [01:09:00] conversation and make sure before we start hanging out on the DNLA calls every single week. Just imagine you and I could be doing a podcast together one year from now.

Christa Romano: If you have scrolled through any of the other episodes in this podcast, you'll see that it's like every third episode I interview somebody that's been inside of the DNLA and you hear from them, their experiences, you hear how the program has completely changed their life. And for most of them, they all started off as a podcast listener.

Christa Romano: They started off as someone who heard my voice being transmuted through the internet to their ears and something about. What I'm saying, something about my energy made them be like, you know what? This is the path that I want to take. So then they joined the DNLA and do you know what happened? They changed their life in again, whatever way made sense for them.

Christa Romano: Some of them have moved to the woods with their husband and their dog. Other ones have booked a [01:10:00] one way flight. Others are still living at home with their parents and just spending more time with their loved ones. It really doesn't matter what. or how you want to approach the digital nomad life. The thing that matters is that you are here because you know that freedom is yours for the taking and you're willing to actually do something about it.

Christa Romano: You're willing to go get it. So, Uh, wow, this episode was a bit wild. Uh, thanks for being here. I hope that I see you in the next episode. I'm sorry if I scared you away. Uh, sorry, I'm not sorry, actually. You know, they say that, uh, if you actually really want to be a leader, then you're going to end up polarizing some people, and you're going to be controversial, and I'm just leaning into that.

Christa Romano: So, again, if you're still here, I appreciate you So much. I appreciate you so much. And I hope that I hear from you soon. So thanks again [01:11:00] and, stay tuned for the next episode. Bye.