(upbeat music)
- Flip flops was the wrong choice.
Can I just be honest with you guys for a second?
I feel kind of guilty being here, in Mexico,
especially since I'm not on vacation.
I'm technically here as a digital nomad, working remotely.
But on the flip side,
I'm also very proud of us for being here
to build a life where we're working as a digital nomad
took a really long time.
I would say it took almost four to five years
to go from my previous life, where I was kind of landlocked,
to moving to this life
where we can kind of work anywhere in the world,
travel to new countries every two to three weeks.
So I thought it would be fun to explore that topic with you
in today's video.
So I'm gonna take you on a little tour
around Puerto Vallarta,
because what's the point of building a life like this
to not be able to go and experience new countries
while you're there?
(upbeat music)
- Hello la.
We were at the grocery store,
and the woman was like, "hola,"
and I meant to say, "hola," back,
but then I went to say hello,
but then it turned into, "hello-la."
Now that's what we say on this trip,
is we say, "hello-la," to everyone.
So hello-la, friends.
What's your favorite part about Mexico, so far?
- I mean the warmth, the mountains, the ocean, all of it.
- Hey Lucas, do you wanna go for a Sea-Doo ride?
- I wanna go for a Sea-Doo ride.
- He wants to go for Sea-Doo ride.
We'll go for the Sea-Doo.
One, two, three.
(upbeat music)
- Was this a good decision?
- It was a great decision.
- Okay. Quick little story time here.
So I'm gonna call it out.
I didn't really have a traditional nine to five job.
But in my case I had all the trappings of
a traditional nine to five but honestly it was
kind of like even worse because most of the time
I'd be working into the evenings and on weekends.
And at that point in my life
when I first started my company,
most of my clients were government clients
so I was making a lot of videos of people smiling
and also things like waste water management videos.
- I am dead inside.
- So I specifically remember watching this movie called
Into the Wild and if you guys have not seen this movie,
first off you should definitely go watch it.
It's absolutely incredible and read the book.
It showed me that people have different ways of living.
And I was fairly young at the time and I thought
you had to have a nine to five job
or if you built your own company
you just worked all the time,
got a handful of vacations per year
and that's just how you do it.
So I was like whoa, I have control over my life.
I can choose to be happy.
I can choose to do the things that I really want.
So that kind of kick started something in me
to start building a different life than the one I had.
Do you have any thoughts on that?
- Into the Wild is a great movie.
- That's all you got from that.
So to summarize that point, Lucas.
If I was being honest with myself at that time,
I think I just realized I wasn't happy with what I was doing
and I wanted to change something.
(upbeat music)
- I have some more to tell you.
- Okay, so I very much had the goal of wanting to travel
and see the world.
Well, I'm still on this planet and I mean who doesn't
have that as some sort of goal?
That's a very very easy goal to always keep as a dream.
One day I get to do it when I'm retired.
And then you never end up doing it.
So if I actually wanted to do something,
I had to have a plan.
I did a bit of an audit on my business
and I think this is something you should do too.
Take an audit on your life, or if you're an entrepreneur
take an audit on your business.
And one of the things I realize
is that I can only make money from the clients that were
in Toronto, Ontario Canada because all my clients
were government based.
That means that I always had to be in Toronto
if I wanted to make a paycheck.
Which means I'm not traveling anytime soon
unless I'm going on vacation.
That's a bit of a hard pill to swallow,
'cause it means that it's gonna require a lot of work.
At some point I'm gonna be making significantly less money,
and it's gonna take a really long time.
You wanna go in the water too? - So bad!
- Your wallet!
Hello, oh aren't you a sweetie.
Hi.
It's a great day.
Sea-Doo's and small dogs.
- I love puppies.
- We're gonna on to the downtown core
and go and explore there,
find some cool streets, take some photos,
tell you more of the story, and eat some tacos.
We were just walking and we just saw this massive iguana.
Like oh buddy.
Look at it!
And it's tail is so sick.
- This is so cool!
- They climb trees.
What?
They climb trees?
Did you know this?
- Yes I did know this.
But it's so cool.
- You're so stoked.
- Yes, this is awesome.
- All these things are happening all the time around us
and it's literally your decision to go out and seize them.
- Where are you from?
- Canada!
(upbeat music plays)
Gracias.
Welcome to downtown Puerto Vallarta everybody.
So I had to find a way to make money that wasn't
location dependent.
So I knew some people were making money on Instagram
and they were making money by doing sponsored posts
or working with clients that way
so I was like, you know what, let's let that be one
of the avenues for revenue in how I can make money
and hopefully that means I won't have
to be location dependent.
So I went all in on Instagram while also running my company
and working the 60 or 80 hours a week on top
of also posting online for free to hopefully
one day get paid.
So I kept posting and for one year I kept getting jobs
and slowly growing my account to the point where
I got my first collaboration offer and, drum roll,
here's how much I got paid for my first Instagram post.
150 dollars.
And that's not a lot of money in comparison to,
in full transparency, I was making six figures a year
with my agency and all my government clients.
So I recognize that opportunity even though it was only
150 dollars and I went all in on that project
because I saw that I could create that anywhere
and the company loved it
and they came back and they were like,
"We'd love for you to do some more influencer posts
"but also we'd love to pay for content creation."
And that's when I got my first big contact and contract
to be able to create anywhere in the world that wasn't
location dependent.
And eventually I started slowly slotting out
the government clients and inserting the new clients
I was getting and eventually transitioning to this new life.
So you have to find clients that allow you
to create anywhere.
So for example in our case, one of those clients actually
happens to be the sponsor of today's episode
and that is Storyblocks and we love Storyblocks
for that reason.
Now Storyblocks is an all in one platform
that allows you to tell whatever story you want,
when you want to without sacrificing time, budget,
or resources.
For example, we are in Puerto Vallarta today
so we can just go online, search Puerto Vallarta,
and we have a whole bunch of B-roll so rather than
roaming around the city and trying to capture all that,
we can actually enjoy more of our day
and then we have footage that we can slot in later.
So having unlimited downloads to over a million
royalty free digital assets such as high quality footage,
illustration templates, music and sound effects
with their unlimited all access plan,
means that you can tell whatever story you want
when you want to.
And maybe that story is your journey to becoming
a digital nomad.
So head over to storyblocks.com/chrishau to check out
all their flexible subscription plans.
Links are in the description.
Thank you Storyblocks for sponsoring this video
and being such a supporter of this channel.
We appreciate you because you allow us
to create videos like this.
Okay so I saw this spot on TikTok that looks really cool
and you can actually sit and have a drink in the water.
Okay, life is good.
It's a fish.
What's his name Lucas?
- [Lucas] Pedro.
- Pedro.
I've never had a drink out of a fish before.
Prices are actually pretty reasonable here.
It's like what you would pay
at a normal restaurant in Canada
but now my feet are in a pool.
So when I started four years ago, or essentially
five or six years ago on YouTube and Instagram,
it really wasn't like a standard career at the time.
I remember when I was telling people that I wanted to do it,
they didn't really understand it but I knew
there would be money in the distribution and the followers
'cause that's essentially what a lot of companies
are paying for.
They're paying for the eyeballs, but they're also paying
for the content creation.
The content creators are becoming the agencies now.
They're becoming the media houses, they're becoming
the full production companies that do all this marketing,
and I noticed that trend early
and started working towards it.
But now there's definitely a lot more of a roadmap.
This is a legitimate career
and if someone tells you otherwise, don't listen to them.
Your life could change overnight with a piece of content
so if you're serious about this, if you're serious about
a lifestyle change, study the people that do it.
Like I always like working backwards, if there's someone
I admire I'm like, "How did they get there?"
And then work backwards from there
because someone else has walked through the forest
with a lantern, so just follow in their footsteps.
Just something to think about.
If you have a job where you are not doing this
I think one of the biggest things that we learned
from coronavirus and all of this happening over
the last couple of years is that a lot of jobs
are a work from home scenario because we had to
adapt to that lifestyle.
And I know a lot of companies are now asking for people
to come back and work in the offices
but if your company has the ability to do
a situation where you can work from home,
that means your home could literally be
anywhere in the world.
If not, maybe switch to a different job.
Find another employer that would allow you
to work form home.
So kind of do a cost analysis.
I think this life is far more achievable
than you actually think.
Okay so we just finished up.
The whole meal in Canadian was like 54 dollars.
Like I spend that at Chipotle back in Canada.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
(upbeat music)
- Also I thought I would mention 'cause it seems like
a fitting time, if you guys are interested in learning more
about how essentially I built this life
where we get to travel every two to three weeks,
get paid to travel in a lot of these cases,
I actually built a course called
"How to Get Paid to Travel."
And there should be a little asterisk there,
without followers, because this course details
so many different ways that you can make money
in the travel space or build a career as a digital nomad
and you do not need to have a social media following.
So if you want to learn more about that,
links are in the description.
And if you use HAU10, you'll save ten percent
on your checkout.
A little gift to you.
I just thought I'd mention it 'cause it seemed kinda fitting
for this video.
Also check out this car.
I wanna go in that.
- Do it.
- Seems like a good spot to close out the video.
Okay so at some point in your life, there's gonna be
a moment when you're starting on this path
that you have to let go of your previous life.
I was chatting with a friend of mine named Shonduras.
Shaun mentioned to me once, when I was debating about
leaving my government clients and going full
into YouTube.
He says, "If you want to swing to the next tree,
"you're gonna have to let go of the previous vine."
And that really struck a chord with me because
I had these super safe and reliable clients.
They were government clients.
I had these people literally for life if I wanted that.
And it was super scary to let something like that go
for the risk of what the future could be
and I didn't know what the future was gonna be
at that point in my life.
I really wasn't making as much money but I thought,
this is what I really really really want.
It sounds kinda dark but there's this thing I subscribe to,
this mentality that I subscribe to from the Stoics
called Memento Mori.
I actually thought about getting a tattoo.
And essentially it translates from Latin into,
"remember that we die."
- I am dead inside.
- And I know it sounds kind of morbid but for me,
death helps me prioritize things.
It reminds me that time is finite.
So while we're on this planet, you have to do things
for yourself.
You deserve to live the life that you want to live.
That's your career, that's your job, that's the people
you surround yourself with, that's where you live.
Sex, relationships, it doesn't matter what it is,
you deserve to be happy.
I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
This is a little bit of a heart to heart here.
If you did, please press like.
It actually makes a difference.
Subscribe and hit the bell to be notified for future videos
and we'll most definitely catch you guys in the next one.
I'm gonna chill here, watch the sunset with Lucas,
and just take in that we were able to do this.
And you can absolutely do this too.
Love you, bye.
(upbeat music)
(waves crash)
This has felt very safe here but I still did not feel
comfortable leaving this camera behind us while
we shot that.