Let’s dive in. Thanks for tuning in. My guest today is Julia Jerg. Welcome to the show, Julia.

Julia Jerg  01:02

Thanks for having me. Hi, Amy.

Amy Scott  01:04

It’s great to have you here. And it’s fun to talk to you again. Because actually, you interviewed me for your podcast. I was trying to remember how many months ago that was. And I will definitely link to that in the show notes so people can check out kind of the other side of the story as well.

Julia Jerg  01:20

Yeah.

Julia Jerg  01:21

So I really was excited to talk to you today, Julia, because we, you know, we have things in common in terms of being nomads and being mothers and a lot of the things that we talked about on your show, you know, I kind of wanted to flip the tables and talk about here. And I actually don’t think I’ve talked to a lot of parents about parenting since I became a mother myself. So I’m glad to have the opportunity to dive into that with you.

Julia Jerg  01:47

Yeah, cool. Yeah, I’m excited.

Amy Scott  01:49

Yeah. So to get started, can you tell us what your Nomadtopia looks like right now?

Julia Jerg  01:53

Yeah, sure. Well, first of all, thanks again for having me on the show. It’s really awesome how this nomad world always brings you in the life of other nomads. And it’s wonderful to connect. So yeah, I’ve been a digital nomad since 2011. I left Germany back then. And I’ve gone through all the stages. So I was first a solo traveler and met my current partner and daddy of my two sons in 2012 in the desert of Chile. So we went through couple travel stage. That was five years and then afterwards, yeah, our first son was born and our second son was born. And as much as our private life has evolved and developed, my work life as well, in the beginning, I was just a backpacker with a mindset of looking for local jobs, and then picking up the notion of oh, there is some sort of way to make money online. I can dive into that later, a little bit more in detail how that all happened. And then I created a freelancing career. And I then moved on to create my online business. And now I’m actually in the middle of scaling my business because I, in the past couple years, I was doing a lot of one-on-one coaching sessions, and now I’m moving towards group coaching. So just to get a little bit away from the one-on-one time-intensive work. And yeah, so it’s exciting times. We’re in Thailand, as you mentioned, we’ve been stuck here, but stuck by choice. Obviously, we never planned it. And due to Corona, we try to sit it out here because we feel safe here on this island, on Koh Phangan, we haven’t had any cases. And yeah, there’s no urge at the moment to move. Like, we want to see what the world is doing first and then we decide where to go next.

Amy Scott  03:57

Totally.

Julia Jerg  03:58

So this is a very un-nomadic phase of my nomadic lifestyle. It’s the first time we’ve been so long in one place actually.

Amy Scott  04:07

Yeah, yeah, I hear you. So before the pandemic, how often were you moving around? You know like, since your kids were born, what was kind of you know, the more quote unquote normal version of this?

Julia Jerg  04:20

We were kind of finding our ways back or our way back into the nomadic lifestyle because before—my first son, he was born in Germany, actually. He was planned to become an Australian citizen. But for some reasons, I won’t dive into this but my mom fell sick and it was just before, like two or three months before he was born. So we decided to relocate. We were in Bali, we were just about to get our visas and paperwork done and we were meant to have him there in Melbourne, but then we decided to cancel all this and then he was born in Germany. And then we stick around. We stuck around for a while, but I got itchy feet. Like after he was born, I was like, okay, so I heard that with newborns and little ones, it’s actually easier to travel. Let’s try that. So we did a bunch of road trips and smaller trips in Europe. And we took him on a road trip to Italy. That was his first travel experience. And he, yeah, he did a great job. And we decided he’s travel proof. So within Europe I think we did about five, five trips, the first year.

And then I said, Okay, now it’s time to say goodbye, because I never really, you know, for me living the digital nomad lifestyle is outside of Europe. From there, I want to get to know other cultures and countries. And I, I do love the tropical climate, hence why we always also come back here to Thailand, or Asia in general. And so that’s what we did. So we took our eldest, he’s now four, he will turn four in May, he we took him to Thailand, when he was one and a half. And that was amazing. I mean, it was just great. Being able to see him running around naked all day and experience a totally different nature and being in the ocean. And for me, this is just happiness. Yeah. And then we moved around like there was this, it’s not a, it’s not a clear pattern. And like, we never say we always stay in a place for six months. It also depends on the visa, to be honest, I mean, Thailand made it happen makes it possible to stay for 90 days. In some other countries it’s only 30 days, you know? And my second son, he was actually born on one of the Canary Islands in Spain.

Amy Scott  06:54

Nice. So yeah, that was something—you already touched on this a little bit, about where your first son was born and why. And that’s something you know, it sounds like you had the idea of like, Oh, if we can have him in another country, then you know, it opens up other possibilities, gives him a different citizenship. Having a baby in Australia, would that have also given you residency or some form of, you know, different type of visa there? How does that work?

Julia Jerg  07:21

The visa situation and residency situation definitely depend on each country. So in the case of Australia, we actually didn’t decide for Australia because of the residency. But there was a business opportunity for me there. I met someone in the Philippines at one of the conferences I was attending. And she said, Okay, let’s connect, I want you to be part of my business and come to Melbourne, and we worked something out. And she was offering me sponsorship, which for me was, Wow, like winning in the lottery. Because that means you can stay in Australia and work there for longer. And I love Australia, by the way, if you didn’t notice. And then I thought oh, and it’s a wonderful side effect if my son then also gets by birth, Australian citizenship. But yeah, yeah. So it unfortunately didn’t happen. And there’s another country, I think Costa Rica, for example, we were eyeing that, too, for a moment, just before the birth of my second son. And we said, you know, if we went there he actually gets citizenship, and then we can stay there, too. We know a family who did that.

Amy Scott  08:29

Well that’s what we did too, which is why I brought it up. There’s a lot of countries in Latin America in particular. I don’t know why. It was on my radar from a long time ago, actually. Because I think I told you when we talked last, I lived in Argentina for a long time. And my husband is from there. And I had friends, American friends who had a baby in Argentina, and they got residency through the baby. So I was like, Oh, that’s a thing. Okay. Then we thought, well, you know, we already have residency in Argentina. That’s not useful. What other countries and so yeah, Costa Rica was on our radar, and we found out that they offer that in Mexico—don’t quote me on this—Nicaragua and a few other countries also. I don’t remember. We didn’t really research a lot of the other ones. We had ended up in Mexico, possibly having children was on our radar, but we weren’t like, you know, pregnant, or it wasn’t happening super soon. And we were already coming to Mexico and spending more time here. And it just started to make more and more sense to do everything here. And Mexican passports are not particularly desirable, I would say, but they can get American and Argentine passports through me and my husband and we were able to get permanent residency, which, honestly, it was great timing, because let’s see, I think we got residency in like, December of 2019. And so then as the pandemic picked up, we were like, Phew, okay, well, at least we can stay here as long as we need to, you know, that was one less thing to worry about.

Julia Jerg  10:07

Yeah, that’s true.

Amy Scott  10:09

Yeah. And so how did you end up choosing the Canary Islands? Like I think sometimes, you know, other things come into people’s kind of plans and calculations in terms of the medical care available, and you know, your support system. And, you know, why did you choose there?

Julia Jerg  10:25

Well, I have to go back a little bit, because my first birth experience with my, my eldest son, it was actually quite magical. So I was not experiencing it as something really horrible, like all the stories that you can hear if you are pregnant and research for it. And so I had a really positive birth experience. And the only negative side of it was actually when my partner brought me to the hospital in the car. So sitting and moving from my state of going through all the labors and waves moving into the car, and then to the hospital was so painful and so disruptive that I said, Okay, that’s not going to happen again. And then plus, in the hospital, there was only one midwife and my partner who were actually helping me giving birth. And then I said, Okay, so if there’s no doctors needed, if everything goes according to plan, why would I have to be in the hospital? So I made this crazy decision to not have, like, I wanted to be in a birth house or at home. But my preference was back then when I decided for it, that it was actually the birth house. Is that how you say it? Birthing house?

Amy Scott  11:41

I think it’s a birthing center.

Julia Jerg  11:42

Birthing center. Okay. And then I was researching where and what birthing centers and wasn’t really successful, and then was like, Oh, what am I gonna do? And then we were in Thailand again, we came back for the, you know, escaping the European wintertime. And we were just having a conversation with someone who said, Oh, they just spent such a wonderful year in on this beautiful Canary Island La Palma and one of her friends they gave birth in a beautiful finca, just in the middle, you know, with this view, and blah, blah, and I listened to it, and I said, Okay, well, here’s my sign. La Palma is calling. And then I was doing a little research. And it was actually quite difficult because a) Spain is a really traditional country. And so giving birth at home is not seen as something common. Plus, the system tries to make you really go to the hospital. So they, yeah, especially as a foreigner, it wasn’t the easiest option for me at all. And then on this little island, there were only two midwives who were actually up for the job because they said, this is a long story, but like insurance for them, it’s actually not lucrative to do that.

And I still found one midwife. She’s actually from Germany, too. And she lives there since 20 years. And she said, Okay, I live on the other end of the island. It’s a crazy thing to do. But I love helping women and I’m just bored in my normal job in a normal hospital and she said yes, I do this I do this. And so yeah, we met a couple of times. I was—when we got there I was almost eight months pregnant. And so it was really last minute and until the end, I wasn’t really sure will I find a midwife or not? Will it work out or not? I went to the local hospital just to get a few checkups and to check if everything is okay. And my partner he was always No, we should go to the hospital, let’s find a place which is close to the hospital just in case and I was like, Get out of my mindset. I’m in present mode. I will do this as I want this. And yeah, so she agreed and everything but then it happened that he was quicker than she was. So it turned out to be a home birth and we were all by ourselves.

Amy Scott  14:06

Oh my gosh.

Julia Jerg  14:07

Yeah. And it was wonderful. You know, I wanted a water birth so my partner managed to fill up the birthing pool. And within one and a half hours he was born. We did it all by ourselves. I messaged her, this was in the middle of the night, I said, Okay, this was the first contraction. I’m not sure how long it’s gonna take, take your time. I’m feeling fine. And she said, Okay, message me in an hour again, if I should come or not. And in an hour, I wasn’t able to message anymore. My partner just said, No, you should be coming. But she lived 45 minutes away, and he was there within the next 20 or 30 minutes. And yes, so we did it. Alone.

Amy Scott  14:47

Wow. Well, congratulations. I’m glad it all went well. And yeah, that was probably both wonderful and super stressful.

Julia Jerg  14:58

For me actually, it wasn’t stressful at all. I didn’t even think about her anymore. When I was when it all started, I was like, Okay, this is what happens now. And I was just focusing on breathing through my contractions and everything. And for some reason, I believed, I got this. And I think giving birth is so much a mindset thing. And I’m not saying that it’s always—if you have an easy birth, and you can talk like this very easy, I get this, because I know, some women really go through hell when they give birth. But I also know cases where people are going into it very scared. And then I believe that this is a big portion of it, then it makes it really a not so nice experience for them. So I was really always very positive and relaxed. And I thought, okay, nature made us like this. We are made for giving birth, why would I need, I’m not sick, I’m not going to the hospital until there’s something wrong. And yeah, okay. So there was a portion of luck, mindset, and I don’t know.

Amy Scott  16:08

Yeah. Yeah, I actually read a lot of that stuff too, about, like you were talking about kind of being in the right mindset and the right frame of mind going into it and to yeah, kind of trust in your ability to do this thing. And it definitely was daunting for me because I was having twins. So I had come in from the same—hopefully this is interesting for people, I think this is an interesting conversation.

Julia Jerg  16:37

A little off-topic?

Amy Scott  16:37

Well, it is and it isn’t, because I think that this is a big part of what women need to think about as they think about like, okay, I want to get pregnant or I am pregnant, where is this actually going to happen? And how do I feel about that? What kind of support and structure do I need around me? I also had ideas about you know, at home—or not home, but like you said, like a birthing center or something. And we looked at a couple places. And then when I found out I was having twins, I was like, hmmm? Also my husband was the same as your partner, like, maybe we should be at least close to a hospital just in case. And we ended up I gave birth at a hospital in Mexico City and that was the plan from the beginning. You know, we had looked at this hospital, actually where my OB worked. And it felt like the best of both worlds because they were really focused on natural birth. And they had pools in the rooms. And you know, it’s all very open minded about that, which is important, because like a lot of places, the C-section rate in Mexico is really high. And so I was really looking for a doctor that wasn’t going to automatically push me that way. And yeah, so I ended up having the kids there. And it was great, because I knew that all of the medical support was there if any of us needed it, but we didn’t need it. And unlike you, it took 24 hours. It was amazing, because they never, they never pushed, you know, to like, Okay, I think it’s time to do a C-section, we need to move this along. You know, they were just like—

Julia Jerg  18:13

Oh, that’s amazing.

Amy Scott  18:14

You know, their heart rates are good, you’re doing fine. We’re here as long as we need to be. It was a good experience.

Julia Jerg  18:21

Maybe I can add something because I think it’s actually on topic, because that the reason why I was so confident and so positive towards that second birth was actually due to my lifestyle. I’m 100% sure that if I was like living a normal life, and you know, you always obviously get influenced by your surroundings and the people that surround you. So telling my parents back home about this idea of giving birth at home, I heard things like this is what unsafe crazy. It’s they did that back in the medieval ages, and stuff like that. So I would have probably never decided for it. But then being outside and then meeting other alternative living families. This was a normal, almost more normal decision. And so many people would say, Oh, yes, me too. Oh, yeah, of course, you know. So it helps a lot when you surround yourself with those people that are like minded. So do that if you are open towards it. And if you’re thinking about having your child in a foreign country, then mingle around those people who are positive toward that and get this positive influence instead of the other one.

Amy Scott  19:40

Yeah, that’s such a great point. In fact, I didn’t get it too much directly myself, and luckily my parents were pretty open minded about it, but they told me they were getting questions like from other family and from their friends like, well, she’s coming back to the US, right, like, obviously, who would give birth in Mexico. Like, millions of people, you know, but yeah, like, just think that you would do it by choice. And I think that’s the other thing is that a lot of people have perceptions that a lot of other countries just are backwards and undeveloped, and like, it’s not going to be safe. And I mean, actually, my mom came with me to one of my prenatal checkups. And so she saw the hospital and she saw, you know, met my doctor, and she was like, people back home have no idea what they’re talking about, like this is, you know, state of the art, like, better than back home, people just totally have these misconceptions about things. But at the same time, like you’re saying, Who says you need state of the art? You know, it depends, obviously, on your circumstances, and, and what feels right for you. And yeah, so I think, yeah, it’s totally on topic. And I think it’s important for people to think these things through and figure out, what kind of experience do you want to have? And where do you want to be?

Julia Jerg  20:59

Yeah, exactly. And that’s, that’s why I’m so passionate about talking about this, this lifestyle, because the more you’re in it, the more normal it becomes. And I would love for other people also to experience it at least once in their life, because I know so many people and friends back home, they’re sitting there saying, Ah, I’m so jealous about what you’re doing. And I’m like, you can do it too. I mean, I’m not special. It’s just, you know, it’s just making the right moves toward that decision. And obviously, it takes some preparation time, mindset, and all these things, but then it’s just taking control over your life and doing what feels right to you and not following the advice of others who say, this is the way you should live and live your life. And I just wish so many more people would try it out.

Amy Scott  21:53

Yeah, totally. Me too. That’s a big part of why I started Nomadtopia to begin with. So one thing, I think, well, I was gonna jump way ahead and talk about childcare. But I think one thing I’d like to just talk a little bit about first, because I think this is an important piece of it, too, is, I mean, kind of those early days, early months, you know, after giving birth, you talked about with the first one, you were feeling antsy, and you were like, ready to get on the road. How did you kind of like know that you were ready, you know, like, was it just feeling antsy? Or were there other pieces of it? You know, my experience was really different. I think, especially having twins, I was like, I am not ready for anything. So I was definitely not antsy to hit the road. And of course, wasn’t feeling that way until we ended up in a global pandemic and that became an impossibility anyway. So yeah, I’m curious, you know, what that experience was like for you? And I imagine it was a little different the second time, but yeah, kind of, you know, how long did you stay in one place? And what do you feel like for you was kind of the magic amount of time to kind of just nest with a newborn?

Julia Jerg  23:11

So I think it was definitely different with the second one, but the first one I felt in the beginning, yes, okay, you’re overwhelmed, they’re so new, there’s this little human who depends on you. And all you have to do is make him survive and keep trying, you don’t know, you know, changing diapers is in the beginning something where you think, oh, we need this table and everything close to it. And then once you’re in a routine, you realize you can change diapers anywhere. So a friend of mine, she came and visited us, I think two weeks after or three weeks after I gave birth, and she had already a one-year-old. And actually no, she had two kids. And the second one is a one-year-old. And we had a conversation, I was having my newborn close to me, you know, I was really like not moving because he was just falling asleep. So I was just making sure that I’m not moving too much, that he wouldn’t wake up. And then I saw her you know, talking to me, managing that the three-year-old wouldn’t spill her cup of water, and changing diapers on the floor. But the one-year-old was already running around almost like whoa, okay, there’s so much you know, it was so, I don’t know it might sound weird but it was so eye-opening to me that I was totally not in charge and control of my mother role at that stage and I thought okay, maybe I should relax a little bit and don’t see it as a you know, a breakable piece of china. And that helped me a lot like surrounding myself with experienced moms was a game changer. And then I thought okay, I heard and I was obviously already researching how do you travel with little ones and then I thought, okay, let’s just see if it works or not, if we don’t like it we don’t have to do it. That’s, by the way, an approach that I recommend to anyone. You can always go back to your old life. Right? And we actually didn’t think it was terrible. We liked it.

Amy Scott  25:13

How old was he? Do you remember?

Julia Jerg  25:15

Yeah, he was six weeks the first trip. So that was fairly small. And then the second trip we went, we took him even on a plane. He was just nine months. And it was also a nice, nice trip. But the second one, yeah, so we spent six months on the Canary Island, two months before giving birth, and then four months after he was born. And then we had to move again, due to visa situations. And then I also wanted to show my little one to my parents. So we spent, I think, a couple of months in Germany after that, and the reason why we wanted to actually hit the road again, was the weather because it was getting colder, and I just cannot, I can’t stand the cold. And I noticed my kids, they don’t like to put on socks. They don’t like to put on shoes and jackets and all this and I said, Okay, we need so much so much stuff. We got to get out of here. And then yeah, we booked the flight to Thailand, and it was the best decision because then we were lucky to be here when the pandemic hit, and not there.

Amy Scott  26:29

Yeah, wow, that’s crazy. Yeah, we actually were supposed to take our first trip on a plane when they were nine months. Which was feeling like a good time to do it. But then we canceled our trip two days before because we were supposed to fly to Argentina on March 15th of 2020. And it was like, right when it was like, Uh, do we stay? Do we go? Are we gonna get stuck there? Like, what do we do? And so we just decided No, we’re not gonna go. And it’s crazy, because now they’re 22 months, and they still haven’t been on a plane.

Julia Jerg  27:04

Oh my, well, it’s still early, Amy.

Amy Scott  27:07

It is. But I remember feeling like yeah, you gotta go all over while you know, you get the free tickets before they turn two, and

Julia Jerg  27:14

Oh, yeah. Well, that’s a perk when you do it early.

Amy Scott  27:16

I know. But yeah, it is what it is. And I definitely, I remember the first three months, especially, maybe, especially because they were twins. And you know, so that was an added level of overwhelm. And then also because they were, they were healthy. But they were very small. Yeah, like you said about like them being like a china doll. I definitely felt like they were so fragile. I was out at the park, I had them in the stroller, and I went to the park with a friend in Mexico City. And she was like, Well, why don’t you come over for a little bit. And I said, I don’t know, it’s supposed to rain. And she’s like, What do you think’s gonna happen? I don’t know. But she’s like, so you get wet. Like, it’s not the end of the world. I said, I know. But they’re so little. And she said, they’re not that fragile. I said, it really feels like they are. So yeah, the first few months especially I was like on, you know, eggshells in terms of—we went out a little bit, but yeah, I definitely was not feeling super adventurous. And I remember someone telling me when they were about two and a half months, like the first three months are the hardest, and I was like, Oh, well, that’s good to know. And it really did feel like as soon as we hit three months, it was like a switch flipped or something like it just started to feel easier. And I was like, okay, okay, they don’t feel so, you know, tiny. So it was interesting, kind of going through those phases of like, me feeling ready, them feeling ready for, you know, different things. So

Julia Jerg  28:43

Yeah, amazing.

Amy Scott  28:45

So yeah, let’s talk about the childcare thing a little bit. We have been pretty, you know, we’ve been pretty much without any support, all through the pandemic, and didn’t have a ton of time before that, really to test out different ways of having help with the kids and also trying to get work done. And so the last year has been super crazy. I’m curious. I guess maybe we talk about it from like, a pre-COVID perspective. You know, when you were traveling before all of this happened, did you just, you know, take care of your son on your own, you know, how did you handle that? Some people I know will find local help wherever they go, you know, find a local school, whatever.

Julia Jerg  29:25

Yeah, so we had a few different scenarios. So first, with my first son, we got a lot of help from my parents. So he was surrounded by four adults all in this newborn mode. And so this was a very, very luxury situation. When I look back… Back then I thought, Oh, my God, how are we going to manage this newborn baby even with four adults around but now I know, I realize it was a luxury situation. I was able to pick up work I actually started taking on a new client six weeks after my son was born even though I promised myself I will wait a little longer. But then the project was so interesting. And I was already feeling fine. And I thought, Okay, I’ll do a little work every now and then. And it was possible because my partner was there, my parents were there. So this was all very doable.

And then once we hit the road again, we took turns, we started simply—not simply, like, it’s never simple when you have kids and work at the same time—but we started to develop a system that works for us, my partner, he’s actually a night owl, while I am a morning person. So I get to work in the mornings most of the times, and he is happy to take the afternoon and then you know, moves towards the night and stays up crazy late, which I would never be able to do, I don’t function at night. And plus, I mean, in the first years, Mommy’s just always required during the night.

So I just stopped nursing my second one two weeks ago, and he will turn two in May. So I’m now after four years, breastfeeding for almost four years entirely, a new human being again, because now I can sleep through the night, which is not entirely true, but I don’t—when the baby screams, then my husband can go there and give him water. So I’m not always needed. And it’s a totally new feeling. But before I was just nonstop in mommy duty during the night, so obviously, I needed to manage my energy level a lot better than my partner. Yeah. And that’s, that’s, that’s what we basically do. Sometimes we swap days. I never really have done that until recently that I said, Okay, I need the entire day. Because of the obvious reasons as a mom, your, your kids always, yeah, need you a little more. But now I feel like we could do that. Like, the other day, I had to go to the other island to take care of some visa things. And I was gone from 6am in the morning until 6pm at night, which was really long for me, and them, but then I noticed that my partner said, Oh, no, they were doing great. We had a lot of fun. It was a boy’s day. And I was like, Okay, if you had so much fun maybe we could do that more often.

So I think it’s a lot about trying out and communicating, obviously, and making it a slow process. Because you have to let everyone adjust and feel comfortable. I would never, you know, just say okay I have to schedule. And when I get a call and it says Could you come maybe home earlier, there’s some, you’re needed. And then I do that because my kids are priority. And that’s the beauty of this lifestyle. I can do that. I mean, I’m flexible with my work. I mean, unless it’s a one-on-one coaching session. Other than that I’m really flexible with my work. And that that’s why I love it so much. Oh, yeah, having kids and this type of lifestyle is really amazing.

Amy Scott  33:17

Yeah, our setup right now is similar. Usually I work in the mornings, and he works in the afternoons. And then yeah, like he has a standing client meeting on Tuesday mornings. So we switch on those days. And then depending on what’s going on, sometimes we’re working at night. We’re kind of the opposite. I’m usually the one who stays up way too late and he gets up early. But also luckily, our kids aren’t super early risers, so that helps a ton also. And also, I don’t know if it’s because they’re two of them in the same room, but they are perfectly happy to just like hang out, you know, in their cribs for, like an hour after they wake up so that’s also helpful.

Julia Jerg  33:59

That is amazing. Oh, no, my kids wake up and they’re “Mommy!” It’s action from minute one. And they are early risers too.

Amy Scott  34:10

Yeah, oh, geez. Yeah, we’re talking about possibly switching them into regular beds sooner than later. And that’s probably going to change that scenario. I don’t think we’re really going to want them running around the room by themselves for whoever knows how long but so it’s, it’s helpful, I think, for people to just hear that. Yeah. Like, it’s, it’s doable. You figure it out. And especially as you said, if everyone involved has a flexible schedule, and while they’re still young, you’ve also got naptimes that you can use to your benefit.

Julia Jerg  34:44

Oh, yeah. That is true. That’s a big one too.

Amy Scott  34:47

Yeah, definitely. So I think we’ve covered a ton of ground and in fact, I lost track of what time we started. So I think it’s been running kind of long, but anything else I you know, I was thinking that the people who are likely to listen to this are probably either already parents who are just curious how other people are doing it, or they’re on the road and thinking about what it would be like to bring kids into their version of Nomadtopia, or they already have kids and are thinking about going nomadic and like, what’s that going to look like? So is there anything else that we haven’t touched on that you would like any or all of those groups of people to know, based on your experience?

Julia Jerg  35:26

I think what really helped us is, if you know that, there are certain places around the world that are already classified as digital nomad family hubs then choose them to get started. There are countries, like for example, this island, there’s so many nomadic families here who live this exact same lifestyle, they run an online business and have children. So it’s kind of so normal walking around the streets saying hi to people and have those conversations, I don’t have to, you know, back home in Germany, when I walk through the streets, people are asking different questions. And here, we have totally like this, we already have the same base. And then on top of that, we have similar interests, which is so refreshing and helps also a) not feel too crazy, because you’re actually not, there’s a bunch of other people who are doing the same. And this is always reassuring, especially for people who are a little scared. I have a lot of coaching clients who ask me, What, how, are you sure? You know, I notice that they need this confirmation that what they’re about to be doing is actually something safe. And so surround yourself with people who are doing already what you are planning to do, that helps a lot. And obviously, obviously, also because when you have children, you want to hang out with families with other children who don’t send their children to the school and will actually have time to play with you and your children. That is a big plus too. So Koh Phangan is one really hub spot for that, in Bali there’s a lot of people, in Spain there’s different places like the Canary Island that we went to, there are many families right now that I know of, and Costa Rica too, I’d say, I don’t know, maybe you can add a few more. But these are definitely digital nomad family hubs, hotspots, and I’m sure it’s gonna, it’s gonna evolve, and there will be more places like that.

Amy Scott  37:32

Absolutely. Yeah, I would say a few I know of in Mexico specifically are San Miguel de Allende, where we lived when we didn’t have kids. And we were in this weird kind of like, you know, there’s the retirees, and there’s the families. And we were like in this weird, like, we don’t fit either of those groups. And I think our experience would be different now actually, being able to plug into the family scene more than we did at that time. Also, I think there are a lot of families in Puerto Vallarta and kind of along the coast. Well, Playa del Carmen also is just kind of a general nomad spot. And I think there are a lot of families there as well. Yeah, it’s funny we have not actually explored as much of Mexico as we were hoping to, but yeah, hopefully after things calm down we’ll be able to check out more of the country and beyond.

Julia Jerg  38:26

And beyond. Yes. Hopefully soon.

Amy Scott  38:29

Yeah, exactly. Well, thank you so much. It’s great to talk about this stuff with you. And like you said, it’s like, just nice to be able to share stories and know that there are other people doing the same thing, right.

Julia Jerg  38:41

Yeah, absolutely.

Amy Scott  38:43

So to wrap up, can you tell everyone where they can find you online?

Julia Jerg  38:47

Yeah, sure. Generally, you can find me on all social media channels with the handle Jeyjetter. And that’s also the URL of my blog. So jeyjetter.com. And the only place where you can find me with my first and last name, that’s Clubhouse, I don’t know, I have to switch that, I signed up as Julia Jerg and now I feel like I should have signed up as Jeyjetter as well. Don’t make sense. But anyways, yeah. So that’s where you can find me.

Amy Scott  39:16

All right, excellent. So I’ll include those links with the show notes. And as I said I’ll also include a link to your interview with me so people can check that out if they want. And I think that’s it. Thanks again. This has been great.

Julia Jerg  39:28

Yeah, thanks so much. It was fun.

Amy Scott  39:31

And thanks everyone for listening, and we’ll see you on the road.