Have you ever had that feeling to live your life on automation?

Every single day, the same scenario is being played and you don’t really have the control anymore. This is pretty much how I have lived during these past few years.

I have lived in Ireland since 2012. Before that I lived in London where I completed my college degree. The decision to come to Ireland was because I already knew it from past summer trips, but also because it was easier to get a decent job. I spent a whole summer in London looking for a job after I graduated, going to interviews after interviews with no luck to get hired. And after applying to a few positions in Ireland I got 3 positive feedback within a week!

Ireland is a great place to start a career. It is an international platform, very young and qualified workforce. You also have the opportunities to work for Fortune 500 companies that decided to settle their European HQ in Ireland. The work experience and the network you can build in this city is incredible.

I have learned a ton from living here and I believe the biggest changes that happened in my life was during this period:

• I have built an expertise in social media marketing

• I have started my online entrepreneurship journey here

• I have met and learned new skills from very talented individuals I worked with

• I have had a foretaste of the laptop lifestyle working for big tech companies

• I have started and earned money from photography here

• I have met my wife and gotten married here

• I have become a dad here

These milestones have helped me become the person that I am today and for that I am grateful to have been able to experience living in this country.

But it is now time to close the Irish chapter and start a new one.

As I get older, I have more responsibilities and need to think about the lifestyle that I want for my family and unfortunately this cannot be done by staying here.

Hence the reason to go live in my fifth country: Latvia.

My wife is from Latvia and I have been there a few times already. I really enjoy their simple lifestyle. The country is beautiful, the food is amazing, the weather is great, I will finally be able to enjoy the 4 seasons after nearly a decade living on rainy islands! And also I will finally be on the European continent, which means being able to travel to neighboor countries more often without having to take the plane every single time!

Latvia is also becoming a tech hub among the Baltic countries.

Even though it has a small population of 1.96m people, Latvia punches way above its weight in terms of technology, and the country is home to more than 300 solid start-ups.

Professionally, this is exactly what I have been looking for. Being surrounded with like-minded people, entrepreneurs and freelancers.

I am also considering getting the e-residency in Estonia and register my company there. The main benefits from the research I have done so far are:

• No taxes. You are only taxed for the salary and dividends you earn.

• Everything is done online (accounting, contract management, etc…)

• The accounting and taxes are directly managed so that you can focus on your business without worry if you decide to use their local services

I will write more about it once I’d have gone through the whole process.

Overall, I am very excited about these changes. I know it won’t be easy for a few months. English is not the first language, I will have to build a new network of friends and I will have to adapt to the customs and culture and even learn Latvian! But the best way to learn is to actually practice and living there, I’ll have no choice but to learn!

Challenges are there to help you grow. And I feel that is what I need right now in my life.

Will Latvia be my last destination? It is still too early to say. Contrary to when I first came to Ireland thinking that I would stay for 2 years and ended up staying 5 more years! I am not setting any deadlines this time. I am going with the flow.

The most important is to be able to enjoy a family life and be surrounded with like-minded people. I am also looking forward to taking photos of this beautiful country. So make sure to follow me on Instagram to see future updates if you don’t already.

I am also planning on switching a few things up with my Instagram feed. Still work in progress!

I will end this post with a quote from an Irish Author named Bernard Shaw that sums up pretty well my life journey so far:

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds, cannot change anything”

Chat soon from Riga!

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