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This week on the podcast we are joined by Mitko and Sarah Karshovski. Mitko joined us on the podcast back in summer 2019 to talk about Bulgaria, where he’s originally from! Now, he’s joining us with his wife, Sarah, to talk about their travel story and how they have become full-time digital nomads.
In this episode of the show, we talk about what inspired Mitko and Sarah to start working online, what their first digital nomad experience was like, how their nomad adventures have evolved over the years, as well as where some of their favorite digital nomad spots are! Enjoy!
In this episode:
- Making $1,400 a month and moving to Bulgaria
- Soft-launching the digital nomad life
- Digital Nomad Life: Expectations vs. Reality
- Entrepreneur Digital Nomad vs. Employee Digital Nomad
- Establishing work/life routine
- Finding community
- Favorite destinations & The Fizz
- Iceland during the pandemic
- And much more… Listen now!
If you would like to get access to the past and future episodes of our nomad series as a World Wanderers Insider, head on over to Patreon.com/theworldwanderers. Thank you so much for your continued support!
Connect with Mitko and Sarah here:
- Thatremotelife.com
- (Sarah) Instagram
- (Mitko) Instagram
Digital Nomad Life: How Mitko and Sarah Karshovski Started Working and Traveling the World Full Time!
Welcome to the World Wanderers podcast, your source for travel stories, travel destinations, and travel philosophy. We are your hosts Ryan and Amanda, and we will be taking you on today’s adventure as we speak with this week’s guests.
In this episode, we reunite with Mitko Karshovski, whom we met and interviewed a few years back, and his wife Sarah, to share their story as a couple of traveling digital nomads. They have been moving around for quite some time now. Mitko also has a website and a podcast called “That Remote Life”, where he shares the experiences and stories of those who are location independent.
Each story shared on our podcast deeply inspires us, and we are positive it encourages everyone who follows us on our journey or is considering becoming a digital nomad.
Making $1,400 a month and moving to Bulgaria
The couple’s journey began when they first heard about the term “Digital Nomad” in 2016. Mitko became interested in this, and Sarah shared the excitement that Mitko felt when he began to explore this lifestyle and they decided to try it out and see if it was for them.
“Back in 2016, I had just graduated college, and Mitko had found, I think, the term digital nomad on Google or something, and had heard of this lifestyle of traveling and working online.” – Sarah.
They saw the beginning of becoming digital nomads themselves, or at least they thought they did when Sarah got her first job on Upwork. The gig didn’t pay much, but at that time, it was more than enough for them to start building their dream.
“I got my first consistent job on Upwork. I think I was making $400 a month, but it was a consistent job. And I was just so excited to see the beginning of something happening finally.”-Sarah.
Their spontaneous decision to move to Bulgaria, where Mitko is originally from, marked the start of their nomadic journey. When they reflect on it, it was a bit of a risky decision while only making about $1400/month, but they are pleased they did it. There are times when all you need to do is pack your bags and trust the call.
“We ended up going to Bulgaria that summer. I think it was such a bad idea. We were making no money, and we were like, oh, we should just move to Bulgaria. We’ve made it. Everything is good. I remember you were earning $400 a month, and I had just started making a thousand dollars a month. I quit my job the next day. We just hit the road, and now looking back at it, that could have gone so badly, exactly how my parents reacted. That was kind of the rocky beginning of everything.”-Mitko.
Soft-launching the digital nomad life
But despite all the bumps on their road, the circumstances were still in their favor. Since Mitko is from Bulgaria, it helped a lot that his family owned an apartment there, and they weren’t paying any rent.
“I think the important thing to note is that we went to Bulgaria and my family still owns an apartment in Bulgaria. So even though we were only making $1,400 a month, we had a free place to stay, and it was just a very soft launch.”-Mitko.
They see this as the soft launch of their beginning into digital nomad life. It is indeed challenging, but still, some circumstances eased the path they were about to pave.
“It’s not like we went somewhere we had never heard of before. We didn’t know anything. We went to Bulgaria where I had been, where I was very familiar with. And so, even though we weren’t digital nomads, it was a soft launch essentially. And it wasn’t all roses and rainbows that year.”-Mitko.
When they speak about their ups and downs, the two explain that it is not as easy as it seems to gain stability as a traveler. You might need to stumble a little along the way, but in the end, they say they succeeded because they persevered through the hard moments to achieve their goals of becoming full-time digital nomads.
“I was again at zero, having to figure it out again. And I remember I had to go back for a little bit to my lifeguarding job until things picked up again. So it’s not as if we just got started, and then it was all fine and dandy from then on. Of course, there were little steps back, but I think one of the things that were a benefit for us was that there were no other options, you know what I mean?”-Mitko.
Digital Nomad Life: Expectations vs. Reality
Many people are often shocked at realizing what digital nomad life is truly like once they start living it. Mitko and Sarah debunk myths surrounding the idea of digital nomads having a “glamorous” lifestyle. It’s something that anyone who has taken this journey can relate to, and it’s a good thing to keep in mind when taking the plunge.
“I think that is a big problem, not just being a digital nomad, but I think you have this dream of what life is going to look like when you get to that place. And when you do get to that place, then you almost don’t take part in the things that got you to want to do that in the first place.” -Mitko.
We compare the expectations and reality of remote working and traveling. Mitko is honest about how difficult it can be for all nomads to balance their lives and work.
“There’s a lot of people who, for example, once they become digital nomads because they want to travel all the time or go to this one specific location, they get so busy in working online or building a business or whatever it is that they kind of like, forget the reason that got them interested in that topic in the first place.”-Mitko.
They highlight the importance of keeping a sense of balance and not losing sight of why you started living this life in the first place. One should not relax and think only about pleasure. The first and most important task on the list is still the one that pays the bills. Then, having reached a well-established schedule with your work, one can fully indulge in leisure!
“I think there’s a happy balance between the two. Of course, you need to get work done, and you need to do the thing that pays the bills. But at the same time, don’t forget that you’re doing this lifestyle so that you can have these experiences.”-Mitko.
Entrepreneur Digital Nomad vs. Employee Digital Nomad
Being both entrepreneurs and employees, Mitko and Sarah could clearly explain each of their roles and how they impact their lifestyle. And they can guarantee that both scenarios are different.
“I feel like a lot of digital nomad talk revolves around entrepreneurs and people that have their businesses. And then you have people like me. I can’t necessarily do that as much because I do have a full-time job. And luckily, it’s incredibly flexible. I’ve been there for four years, but I don’t have as much freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want. It’s interesting, comparing the journeys of the entrepreneurial digital nomads and the employee digital nomads.”-Sarah.
Working remotely still involves putting in working hours, which does not equate to complete freedom as some people believe. On the contrary, it is a lot of hard work, and Mitko and Sarah are upfront about the time of your day that it usually takes up.
Fortunately, they see that the future brings more flexibility for digital nomads to work online. They look forward to it because they know it will make maintaining this lifestyle more accessible.
“I think it’s far more likely that it’s going to become the norm now, and we’re going to have the ability to have more of this control of our days that was sold as this benefit of digital nomadism but wasn’t the reality if that makes sense. And I think that we’re slowly moving in the direction of it becoming a reality.”-Sarah.
Establishing work/life routine
As the couple previously shared, when comparing reality to expectations of living as digital nomads, they emphasize the importance of maintaining a work-life balance.
Here is how they learn to juggle the two successfully:
“So I’d feel like we do have a pretty normal workweek, which I prefer just for routines and everything. For me, I think one of the things that I’m trying to do a better job of is adjusting my daily routine based on the location that we’re in.”-Sarah.
The key to their success is finding a routine that works for them and sticking to it. Even though the nomadic lifestyle promotes absolute freedom, Sarah says it’s necessary to have a pattern to balance.
“I feel myself craving routine… I think having a schedule and having a plan and having some form of routine gives you freedom, as long as you’re the person that’s in charge of that.”-Sarah.
While some days may be spent working heavily, and others may be spent not working at all, the freedom is creating your own schedule.
“Working really heavy in the first few days of the week, and then allowing for some flexibility later in the week often works well for us. And sometimes that means working until seven o’clock or eight o’clock at night, which we’re fine with. We just communicate that to each other. And then allowing for some more flexibility for weekend trips or just enjoying a Friday off. We’ve been doing that for sure and it’s worked really well for us.”-Sarah.
As long as you are disciplined in following your plan, you will eventually achieve balance – at least this formula has proven successful for Mitko and Sarah!
“If you can be the person to call the shots and create your plan, sticking to the plan is usually where I find the most freedom. And the most enjoyment out of life comes from this.”-Sarah.
Finding community
For Mitko and Sarah, another essential aspect of living as a digital nomad is finding or creating a community. And not any type of community. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people and establishing connections is good for the mood and the business as well.
“I look for a community, so I want to go somewhere where either there are other nomads, or there’s an entrepreneurial community there. Usually, if there’s a good coworking space that’s popular, they’ll have a community around them that you can plug yourself in right away, and you can meet other people, you know?”-Mitko
They genuinely enjoy meeting new people and establishing relationships, and that is something they look forward to!
“It’s always really fun to go and co-work together like we were doing a Volta in Merida. It’s always great. So that’s one thing that I look for.”-Mitko.
Favorite destinations & The Fizz
We asked Mitko and Sarah which places are their favorites, and they had quite an impressive list prepared. Mitko surprised us by sharing this term he made up to label places that are very special to him and places he enjoys being in the most. “The Fizz” is how he describes this particular feeling.
The “Fizz” was quite hard to explain, but we understood exactly what the label means when asked about their favorite places.
“I call it ‘the Fizz.’ I think some places give me the fizz, and I can’t explain it in any other way. It’s pleasant; there are just some places, maybe you’ve had those before, where you just get there, and you’re like, yes, this just feels right in some way. And Budapest is one of those places where I just feel happy there. I feel nice there. I feel comfortable there.”-Mitko
First on their list of favorite destinations is Budapest. They both agree the city just feels right for them and share the whole experience of visiting.
“I don’t know why, but we’ve just really fallen in love with Budapest. Especially in the fall, I remember when we were on one of our first digital nomad travels and we spent some time in Budapest. It just felt very homey to both of us.”-Mitko.
Similar to this, they compare Barcelona and add it second to their list.
“Barcelona for me felt very similar. Barcelona is one of these amazing cities. I could walk the streets of Barcelona all day and be like, this is sweet. Do you know what I mean? So I think that I can’t describe the fizz. It’s just the city gives me the fizz.”-Mitko.
They do the old-fashioned way of creating a list with all the cities they both feel have the “Fizz” potential and then mutually decide where to settle.
“I think it was Asheville, Ireland, Budapest, Barcelona. I don’t remember any other ones. There’s a lot of places that I’ll go to for a little bit, but to spend six months or more, I would say Budapest.”-Sarah.
Lisbon is the next destination that holds a high position on their list. It is a city that Mitko believes holds a lot of potential for having “The Fizz.”
“I think I could spend a prolonged amount of time in Lisbon, Portugal because we’ve been to Porto, and I didn’t like Porto a lot at first, and about three weeks later, I was like, oh, okay. I can dig this. And I think, based on what we’ve heard about it, Lisbon has potential fizz.”-Mitko.
Last but not least, Mitko’s hometown Varna holds a special place in their hearts. It is currently their home for nearly half of the year.
“And then the other place that’s a pretty obvious one, Varna, where we do spend six months almost every year.”-Mitko.
Iceland during the pandemic
Furthermore, we were curious as to where this duo went when the pandemic started. Their experiences while they were stuck in Iceland and their challenges along the way have been very interesting.
“I think we got to Iceland on March 1st, and it was, I don’t want to say a joke, but everyone was kind of making fun of COVID and everything. And it slowly, obviously started to get more serious because we were there for two weeks. So sort of towards the end of it, I think the travel ban got called on March 13th, and we were scheduled to fly out of Iceland on March 15th.
It was just crazy.”-Sarah.
Despite how crazy this period was for everyone, many valuable lessons and plans came out of it all. During this conversation, they describe their first thoughts and how to handle the whole situation.
“We were in Iceland, we had plans for that year, and then we had to figure it out, so our flights didn’t get canceled to the US. Where do we go? We didn’t want to go back to bunk with my parents because what if we had the virus and we didn’t have a home so we’re really sure what to do! ”-Mitko.
In the end, the whole incident was a catalyst for this couple to take the next step in their relationship. Upon returning to the US after spending time in Iceland, they got their first long-term apartment together, which was just the beginning of many new plans they have for the future.
“We came back to Cincinnati and quarantined for a couple of weeks, and then we made a quick decision and rented an apartment for a year, which is the very first long-term lease that we have ever signed as a couple.”-Sarah.
Being back in Cincinnati gave them a chance to rest and reconnect, which they were missing this whole time.
Overall, they did a good job handling the last year.
“We decided to get a long-term lease on an apartment because we just didn’t see a reality in which we were going to be able to run our regular life. So in all honesty, since then, it was kind of nice to be stationed in Cincinnati again.”-Mitko.
Last Words
We are so glad to have finally rejoined these old guests of ours, and we hope you enjoyed their dynamic and exciting story too!
When it comes to success, all we need is strong determination and grit, despite the circumstances. And a bit of luck as well. Their story proves that the beginnings of starting a digital nomad life may be rocky. It’s not easy to overcome challenges, especially when changing careers and shifting to a different cultural environment in a new country.
What is the rock bottom of their story? Believing in their decision and doing everything in their hands to achieve what they put their minds to.
We hope their story inspired not only newbies who are currently starting to live as digital nomads but everyone out there with similar lifestyles.
If you would like to find out more about Mitko and Sarah Karshovskis’ nomadic journey, check out their podcast and website. They have some fascinating stories to share!
