Hey guys, and welcome back to my channel. Or I should also say,
welcome to myself back to my channel.
I have been dark on this channel since March of this year, 2021.
Which is shocking and horrifying and it was definitely not planned. There's just been a whole
cumulation of sh*t that has gone down.
And I'm filming this video which I was supposed to film in March. I'm going to do
a quick little life update for those who are interested in what the f*** happened.
For those of you that want to skip ahead to what this video
is actually about which is how to create your freelance writing contracts in under 5 minutes,
click ahead to this timestamp over here, and get to the good stuff.
For those of you that are here for the tea,
and want to know where I've been, what's going on in my life, this section is for you.
So in March of this year, 2021, I was in the groove. I had videos coming out twice
a month more or less, I was creating content, I had my blog posts going on.
And I was about to go on my first hike that I organised in
Tugela Falls which is in the Drakensberg. Then I went to go
visit my cats in PMB which is a place in KZN if you're not from South Africa.
While I was there, I got a call and I got this incredible opportunity to go
do a campaign with South Africa Tourism.
Freelance writing is not my only job. I'm also a travel blogger,
and part of that, I do a lot of influencer work as well.
I went back to Johannesburg, and I had 5 days to pack and then I flew down to Cape Town
because I had to go do some hotel reviews which is also something that I do with my blog.
And also to prepare for my next hike that I had organised to Cape Point which was later
that month. I was staying with my dad in Cape Town and it's just when you're
in someone else's house, and his house is so busy, there's just not a lot of quiet time.
And I need quiet time to film these videos in order
to just kinda get into the zone. I didn't feel
like I wanted to make videos. So that's also why I didn't and then all the prep for these trips.
Because I then decided to organise another hike
to the Cederberg. An overnight hike to the Wolfberg Arch which was absolutely phenomenal.
Cannot wait to go back and we will be doing another trip there soon. So
very excited about that.
May, was incredible because it was my birthday. I had an amazing celebration with my family in Cape
Town which I didn't get to see last year because of the lockdowns in South Africa.
I also ended May with me and my partner of 4 years breaking up.
Which just created a whole lot of chaos in my life because
I was supposed to go over to Amsterdam on a partner visa. You know, we had sold all our
stuff, our cats were going to come over to Amsterdam and now none of that is happening.
The best way that I can explain this is that I just felt so untethered.
Because my partner, he is more practical than me and much more grounded and stable.
I have those qualities to me but, I'm also like woo0o0o0o0o0.
"Ah I want to travel! I want freedom."
I don't care about stability so much. That's partly why I got drawn into
freelance writing and just freelancing in general.
It's just because of what wo0o0o0o0o factor.
Anyway, I digress.
I just didn't really know what to do with my life. I'm not going overseas anymore to,
you know, start creating my life with this partner anymore.
What the f*** am I going to do?
Step 1 would be to get my own place. And in my mind, okay, if I get a lease agreement first
of all I'm going to have to get a place that has furniture because I've sold all my sh*t.
So I have f*** all. Literally, all my stuff fits into about 2 or 3 suitcases that I physically own.
I don't know if I'm going to sign a lease agreement or if I'm just
going to carry on renting Airbnbs month to month.
It sounds like I have commitment issues. I know.
But it's just, I want the ability to pack up and go somewhere. Like
if someone says "hey do you wanna go to Zanzibar?"
I wanna be like "sweeeeet!" I'm going to go to Zanzibar for 3 months.
And not have to pay 3 months of rent when I'm not in the place.
I do travel domestically quite a bit. Whether it's going to do these
hotel reviews or doing these trips that I've been organising.
I would say that sometimes, I'm only physically in a house maybe 15 days out of a month sometimes.
Sometimes even less.
And it's like, is it worth paying that money?
Anyway.
So.
Thank you to those that sat and watched through this,
this TedTalk of what the f*** has been going on in Lauren's life.
This is just my commitment to you and myself that I am going to try my best
to be consistent with these god damn YouTube videos because it is something that lights me up.
I really enjoy them and that's what I need to f*** ing remember. I want to create so much
but there is only 24 hours in a day.
There's only one Lauren.
Anyway, let's get into the actual juicy part of this video which is how to create a freelance
writing contact for your freelance writing business in under 5 minutes.
Let's get into it.