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👋 Well hello there!

Note: the transcript for the audio is available in the panel above 👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼

Firstly, I am hosting a free AMA event on remote careers tomorrow, register here»

Spoiler: planning for that event, on my list of questions for attendees is:

Do you want a remote job or work?

This is one of the first questions I also ask mentees, when they ask me to help them find a remote job and we start engaging together.

Over the years that question has resulted in lots of wider considerations arising, postulating and opened more lateral thinking.

Which during the mentoring journey has often proved to be very valuable.

Check out the audio / transcript to understand why.

Interested in the next RoRemote Career System bootcamp edition?

Do you want a remote job or work? Which and why!

→ Comment below or ask any questions ‘-)

TLDR: 🫱🏽‍🫲🏾 In case you don’t know me already, I am Ro, I am based in Zaragoza, Spain with my Location Independent, somewhat Nomadic (4-6 months a years of nomading) family.

For work, I am a Remote Work and Digital Nomad Expert, Advisor and Writer, oh and a Linkedin Top Voice.

»You can book 1:1 Video Mentoring with me here.

🙏🏽 This publication is reader supported, pay to subscribe here to show your support.

May the road rise to meet you,

love n light,

💚 Ro

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👋 Well hello there! Back with a bang and another audio post which launches the rebrand of Remote Work Mentor, plus my new Remote Job Search Bootcamp!

Note: the transcript for the audio is available in the panel above:

You can either listen to the audio post only and/or read the transcript. If you are new here, all my audio posts are 5 mins or less.

Oh, I’m Ro btw, a Remote Work Expert Mentor, I help people and companies do remote work better.
Below is a recent pic of me in Kumbor, Montenegro, snapping a quick selfie before going on stage to deliver a keynote.

Nice to meet you!

😉 Why the update?

Digital Nomad Stories is rebranding to Remote Work Mentor, so I can focus on content for a wider audience. Remember to update your bookmarks and watch out for new content and features in coming days!

Hear more about the why’s in the audio post….

+ The Remote Job Search Bootcamp is having it’s first beta test cohort next week.

So glad to get this new group cohort version launched - after 2 years of mentoring remote work professionals 1:1 to boost their careers and help them find and secure new roles, it is time to unleash the group version to the world!

(if you are on Linkedin, I shared some more details there)

Interested in the bootcamp?

Comment below and I will send you more info, as I am preparing a special offer for my loyal subscribers on here ;-)

TLDR: 🫱🏽‍🫲🏾 In case you don’t know me already, I am Ro, I am based in Zaragoza, Spain with my Location Independent, somewhat Nomadic (4-6 months a years of nomading) family.

For work, I am a Remote Work and Digital Nomad Expert, Advisor and Writer, oh and a Linkedin Top Voice.

»You can book a 1:1 Video Mentoring with me here.

🙏🏽 This publication is reader supported, pay to subscribe here to show your support.

May the road rise to meet you,

love n light,

💚 Ro

👋 Well hello there! Back with a bang again! and an “audio post” you can listen or read the transcript on the side here →

I arrived back to home-base from 7 days in 3 countries on Friday and I am still unpacking today! “Disorganised Ro!”, you may say. 🐌 However, I like to unpack as slowly as a snail, the same way I pack, over multiple days and taking my time.

During my “Balkans Bonanza” trip I arrived into Serbia, went by sleeper train (a story for the grandkids, for sure) from Belgrade to Podgoriza in Montenegro, onto Kumbor, on Kotor Bay and travelled back out of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

So what 5 tips would I share about how to WFA effectively?

Listen to the audio note to learn →

Additional links and resources:

• Sleep kit

• WFA Setup

• Always underpack! i.e. how to pack uber light

Curious about anything I shared?

Comments are open for questions and feedback ;-)

TLDR: 🫱🏽‍🫲🏾 In case you don’t know me already, I am Ro, I am based in Zaragoza, Spain with my Location Independent, somewhat Nomadic (4-6 months a years of nomading) family.

For work, I am a Remote Work and Digital Nomad Expert, Advisor and Writer, oh and a Linkedin Top Voice.

»You can book a 1:1 Video Mentoring with me here.

🙏🏽 This publication is reader supported, pay to subscribe here to show your support.

May the road rise to meet you,

love n light,

💚 Ro

👋 Hey lovely readers! Hope y’all are doing well!?

Back with a bang and an audio voice note or “audio post” (I think that is the technical term!), you can listen or read the transcript on the side here →

Plus, as promised, a poll to get to understand and get to know my readers better.

So please take a moment to vote above 👆🏽

Also comments are open for anyone to share!

TLDR: 🫱🏽‍🫲🏾 In case you don’t know me already, I am Ro, I am based in Zaragoza, Spain with my Location Independent, somewhat Nomadic (4-6 months a years of nomading) family.

For work, I am a Remote Work and Digital Nomad Expert, Advisor and Writer, oh and a Linkedin Top Voice.

»You can book a 1;1 Video Mentoring with me here.

🙏🏽 This publication is reader supported, pay to subscribe here to show your support.

May the road rise to meet you,

love n light,

💚 Ro

Read more

👋 Hey lovely readers! Hope y’all are doing well!?

Just over 8 years ago - thanks to Remote Work powered Global Mobility - we moved to Zaragoza from Dublin to try to improve our daughter’s health with the very dry climate in Aragón.

Regularly we get asked “Why Zaragoza?!” and if you are buying me a coffee or drink, I will explain that my husband happened to have some remote working colleagues and connections there. Many of whom were parents too, advising us to consider the city due to the very dry climate and good health service to support our our sick child, sharing the longer version of the why in the context of being desperate parents of a chronically asthmatic small child.

As EU passport holders, we could move relatively easily from an administration perspective, so in a fog of exhaustion and desperation we grabbed a short-term rental, packed our stuff and left Dublin.

It was only later, with the benefit of hindsight we can reflect on why we love (and why we stayed!) in Zaragoza.

Let’s dig in!

🧭 Location, location, location

Zaragoza (the 4th biggest city in Spain no-one has heard of) is very well located for all manner of holiday options

• Salou, Calafell, Cambrils & Comarruga, all beaches in the Costa Dorada are only a 2 ½ hour drive away

• The ski resorts of Formigal & Astún (which are lovely in the summer time too!) are only 2 hours away

• The French border is only 2 hours away

• Pamplona is 2 hours away

• Bilbao is 3 hours away

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🔗 Connectedness

Zaragoza is well served by Spain’s extensive transport network, in fact for the first 4 years we lived without a car and relied on public transport to move around!

• Motorway connections to Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, San Sebastián, Valencia

• High Speed Train Services to Madrid, Barcelona (and onward to France), Valencia, Malaga, Sevilla, Alicante

  • Fact: There are now several companies running high speed trains (Renfe/Iryo/Ouigo) so train travel is cheaper than ever if you can plan your trip!

• Regional Trains including the beautiful journey to Canfranc-Estación in the Pyrenees

• Comfortable bus services to all major Spanish cities

Interested in visiting Zaragoza? Our home is available on HomeExchange:

🚲 15 Minute City / Infrastructure

After Zaragoza held the World Expo in 2008, a major rethink was done with regard to its infrastructure, aiming for a compact 15 minute type city vibe!

A tram system traversing the city as well as an extensive bus network exists. With a Tarjeta Bus card (buy here: Gran Vía (€7 to buy with €5 credit included) any journey is 45 cents.

The city can be cycled across (fully!) in around 45 minutes. An extensive network of cycle lanes (130km) exists and the municipal free bikes (with motors!) can be hired for €1 a day or €10 a week, called Bizi.

Unique Attractions In ZGZ

• Aquarium - Zaragoza’s aquarium is a bit different in that it only has fish from rivers, it is in fact Europe’s largest river aquarium (300 species!), it has 5 zones based on these rivers

  • Nile (Africa)

  • Mekong (Asia)

  • Murray-Darling (Oceania)

  • Amazon (Américas)

  • Ebro (Europe)

• Origami Museum (EMOZ) Europe’s first Origami Museum, the exhibitions change regularly and various workshops are put on for young and old alike

• Paddle the Ebro - The longest river that flows solely within Spain is the Ebro and bisects Zaragoza in two. It can be paddled down (in a very gentle relaxed manner)

• Parque De Atracciones - Charming old school theme park set high above the city

• Museums - there are plenty to choose from!

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🫒 Food / Tardeando

Food as you may imagine is the #1 & #2 most important thing in Spain (well maybe equal with football).

We are going to recommend some of our favourite tapas bars in the centre of town. Remember the idea is to visit 3 or 4 of these and then have dinner, so tread lightly!!

• Los Victorinos - https://maps.app.goo.gl/PBh6dtNg9zNTuaA36

  • Rated the #1 tapas spot in town and rightfully so. Specialises in ‘montaditos” (i.e. the thing you ordered on a bit of bread)

• Barrio Sur - https://maps.app.goo.gl/pKLvPrBxugPd6tSbA

  • You can sit down here and order ‘raciones’ (sharing plates). What sets this place apart is the amount of vegetarian and vegan options that are available!

• Bar El Champi - https://maps.app.goo.gl/KoQrsa4KJ5DFWGoA8

  • Some bars specialise in certain products only (Shellfish, lamb etc). Champi is famous as it sells one thing only: three mushrooms sitting on a piece of bread with a shrimp on top, slathered in garlic oil. Divine and tricky to not spill on your clothes!

• Bar El Circo - https://maps.app.goo.gl/L8jmjWYZtEc7knpz7

  • The best tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelette) in town. End of.

• Bar Gilda - https://maps.app.goo.gl/hiJ7B3n4XzxGZ5oE6

  • A bit out of the centre but worth it. A Gilda is an anchovy/olive/chili pepper combo on a toothpick. These guys do the best ones, more or less anything can have their signature spicy sauce added to it!

• Bar Estudios - https://maps.app.goo.gl/Wp1LUvYz681BTvwv7

  • These guys do cheese (100 kinds), ham (on a giant toast) and a belly of tuna with tomato salad. That's it. It’s all one needs.

🏰 Easy Day Trips from Zaragoza

The province of Huesca is within an hour of Zaragoza, the gateway to the Spanish Pyrenees, so day trips from Zaragoza are abundant!

All of these assume you’ll be driving, car hire is not expensive (roughly 60€ for the weekend: Fri - Sun).

• Castillo De Loarre

  • The Loarre Castle - which is around 1hr30mins from Zaragoza - and the spectacular rock formation Mallos de Riglos (pictured below) are within 30 mins of each other by car. The castle has been spectacularly well preserved (dates from the 11th century)

  

• Mallos De Riglos (pictured above!)

  • Rising to 300m high, these red towers look stunning against the surrounding vistas. A 5 km loop can be walked up to the top of them and the eagle eyed should be able to see some brave rock climbers too!

• Monasterio de Piedra - The 800 year old monastery and gardens is about a 90 minute drive from ZGZ. A picnic can be brought and it’s a lovely space for adults and children alike!

• Parque Lacuniacha - This 30 hectare park features such diverse animals as Iberian Wolves, European Lynxes, Brown Bears & Przewalski’s Horses. Perfect for children but we recommend getting there early as parking is up a 1400 metre road!

Interested in visiting Zaragoza? Our home is available on HomeExchange:

🏠 A homely place

Zaragoza is a gem of a city. Where you “bump” into people you know easily, due to it’s compact nature and not-too-big size, making in friendly and hospitable for expats and relocating types.

It’s history, traditions and architecture all contribute to making it very Spanish in feel, but the people have made is want to stay as we feel so welcome and “at home” here.

I could write more about the geoarbitage benefits too of Zaragoza i.e. it is not a nomad or expat hotspot, so the local living costs very much reflect that. It is provincial. It is very much the real Spain.

We are integrated here - which has to happen when you have to learn Spanish quick as parents with a sick child accessing a local health care system at pace, our Spanish improved rapidly, we had no choice! At the time it was super hard, now we feel blessed it forced us to integrate to survive.

All in all, we are blessed to call it home.

note: Taking a summer break now, so back later in August. BFN!

TLDR: 🫱🏽‍🫲🏾 In case you don’t know me already, I am Ro, I am based in Zaragoza, Spain with my Location Independent, somewhat Nomadic (4-6 months a years of nomading) family.

For work, I am a Remote Work and Digital Nomad Expert, Advisor and Writer, oh and a Linkedin Top Voice.

»You can book a Direction Session with me here for help with remote careers and relocation strategies.

All my web and FREE resource links are here.

🙏🏽 This publication is reader supported, pay to subscribe.

May the road rise to meet you,

love n light,

💚 Ro

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💚 Digital Nomad Stories is a publication + community aimed at those who travel + remote work. If you enjoy it, please become a founding member for only €45.00 per year. Then you’ll get access to full archive, mid-week community threads and the friendly comment section. Note: Content may contain affiliate links.

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🛌🏻 Saving big time on travel costs

Hey lovely readers! Regular subscribers and readers know I often share and write about HomeExchange - the community platform for home swapping that has not only changed the way we travel - but also changed our lives for the better as a family. In this article I will share how we maximised our home listing and have leveraged the platform to earn as many points as possible.

➡️ join HomeExchange as a member - use this link with my sponsor key.

A friend who joined the community on my recommendation said to me:

HomeExchange has changed our lives as a family for the better, at last we can afford to go home to my country of origin to see family there.

She has two young children and could not find accommodation during school holidays that was affordable, meaning they could not travel at all. For families, home exchange is redefining travel as costs soar.

Over recent days, myself and my husband were reviewing our calendar to make sure that our availability for coming months for our home was up to date. During that review we realised that whilst we have travelled in the last 6 months, almost 3 weeks of that time guests were visiting our home, enjoying Zaragoza and we were earning guest points, did I mention 3,264 GP!

(boy do they really enjoy Zaragoza and with the above views, you can see why!)

I repeat, racking up 3,264 guestpoints which we can use ourselves as a family for stays in other members homes.

For us this is a new way of saving on travel and it is significant.

>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>

🔗 Affiliates corner 🔗 Here are some of the products and services that I rate: ➡️ Digital Nomad Spanish Visa or Accounting Advice in Spain, ➡️ Nomad Health Insurance from SafetyWing or ➡️ join HomeExchange as a member - use this link with my sponsor key.

>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>

🏩 Accumulate and use GP’s

Here is how Home Exchange defines and explains guest points:

Number of GuestPoints per night: GuestPoints are used to help organize exchanges. Your home's nightly GuestPoints value is based on its location, amenities, and number of beds. Collect GuestPoints when you host and use them when you travel. »» read more here.

I also wrote a while back about exactly how the guest points system works, for novices →

The exiting news is that we currently have accumulated lots of guest points, 3,264 GP makes you feel like you are travel rich - but don’t worry, we spend them quickly planning trips and nomad adventures!

We already have 5 exchanges planned for 28 nights of accommodation across Spain between now and the end of August, 2025.

We are currently planning additional trips for October and December/January, exploring the various destinations we can visit.

So how did we do it? Here are our top 6 tips:

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🦉 What would you do?

Someone asked me this question the other day:

“If you had to try and find a remote job today and start again - what are the first things you would do?”

It made me stop and think hard before answering.

I had to say and caveat my response with this first:

“I think I am at a disadvantage, as I know how truly hard finding a remote job is, especially as I am aged 52 and in my 40’s it was really hard already, ageism is real. So I made my own work and carved my own freelance path”.

That is the honest truth.

Before I answer the question with what I would do, the first 5 things I would focus on, you need to know this. I am not (and would not be) looking for a full time remote job, in my 50’s as a menopausal mother, from my perspective:

I would be very unlikely to find a remote job with my particular skills and also, I don’t want one, as the full time commitment would not fit for me, my stage of life, my family and our lifestyle.

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Note: I can still be a remote worker, for sure, but I create, build and find my own remote work, rather than waiting for someone to serve me a remote job ready packaged on a plate.

There are many ways to skin a cat, or so the old saying goes.

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🔗 Affiliates corner 🔗 Here are some of the products and services that I rate: ➡️ Digital Nomad Spanish Visa or Accounting Advice in Spain, ➡️ Nomad Health Insurance from SafetyWing or ➡️ join HomeExchange as a member - use this link with my sponsor key.

>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>

My best advice is there are many ways to find remote work and a diversified income, to find a remote job (only), is only one strategy in a plan that can have many strategies.

The more strategies and routes to try, the more possible income streams, sources of work/project experience and the more likelihood you will find success.

Reminder: » » please become a founding member for only €45.00 per year.

So what would I do if suddenly tomorrow, I *had* to start a remote job search from scratch.

Here are the first 5 steps, in order of priority:

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When I surveyed the 9k+ subscribers on here recently, the majority of people were remote job seekers (over 73% were looking for remote jobs, survey here).

🎁 Remote Job Seeker? catch my weekly midweek jobs round up here »

💚 Digital Nomad Stories is a publication + community aimed at those who travel + remote work. If you enjoy it, please become a founding member for only €45.00 per year. Then you’ll get access to full archive, mid-week community threads and the friendly comment section. Note: Content may contain affiliate links.

Before I share how I start to mentor mentees or answer the people who ask me about the remote job search challenge, let me set the scene for you.

I am using the picture below intentionally, there is hope and light on the horizon but finding *true* remote work is for the majority of people is an uphill battle, and if we liken it to an endurance race it is definitely more akin to the Barkley Marathons than a straight-forward 100K ultra marathon.

That may sound harsh, but hey, the article is called harsh truths, so don’t say you weren’t warned!!

So let’s keep with the truth-telling, and I hope you are ready to hear it and learn why one of the most important traits for an effective remote job search is not only resilience but what I call:

extra-level relentless resilience.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏾 In case you don’t know me already, I am Ro, I am based in Zaragoza, Spain with my Location Independent, somewhat Nomadic (4-6 months a years of nomading) family. For work, I am a Remote Work and Digital Nomad Expert, Advisor and Writer, oh and a Linkedin Top Voice.

»You can book a 1:1 video mentoring session with me here.

All my web and FREE resource links are here.

🙏🏽 This publication is reader supported, consider becoming a founding member.

Here’s what you need to understand as a remote job seeker, you need to know the harsh truths, ready yourself and understand the size of the challenge ahead.

Furthermore, you need to apply specific context to the exact role type and geography you are located in (which I will show you how to do below using some simple exercises) to understand better your own job search context.

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💚 Digital Nomad Stories is a publication + community aimed at…

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