In March, my internship at Scandinavian Design Group is finished and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what to do after. In this post I want to share some of my plans with you.
At times, I’ve considered going back to school again. I’ve been tempted by trying to get a Master in graphic design at some university. I’ve also considered applying for a full-time job at several agencies, both in Oslo and abroad. Yet, these options have features that doesn’t appeal to me simply because they involve a lot of commitment over a long period of time. This doesn’t mean I’ll never consider doing it again, it’s just that at the moment I need more time to figure out what I want to commit to, so I don’t end up doing things I don’t want to do. With that said, I’m not trying to avoid doing mistakes in life, just delaying them!
So, as a result of a lot of thinking and considering — I’m going freelance and I’m gonna travel! The plans are not set in stone quite yet, but I have a few ‘drafts’ in my head of how I want to do it, and what I want to do. I’ll be going freelance from March 1st, and I’m hoping to make a deal with an agency to fill at least 50% of my availability (I’ll try to explain this decision in a later post). The rest of the time will be spent doing freelance work for clients, as well as personal projects.
September 1st, 2010 (not set in stone) I’ll be packing my bags and travel the world! Woho! I’m extremely excited about this :-) I have made some thoughts about where I want to go (thanks to a lot of help from my readers), but at the moment I’m gonna keep it pretty open. The thought is to allow myself to find new destinations as I go, and embrace the fact that I have no commitments.
While I will try to spend most of the time exploring the places I visit by taking photos, blogging, eating great food, drinking beer and wine, wrestling tigers, exploring the world, meeting new people (you!), snorkeling and enjoying myself, I’ll also be working! The plan is actually to finance parts of the trip with money made while freelancing while traveling. If you hire me, chances are I’ll might stop by in person!
I’ll probably write a lot more about this in the future, and I could probably need a lot of help with the planning of this trip. Where should I go? What’s the cheapest way to travel? Can I sleep at your sofa? Will you make me eggs for breakfast?
2010 is definitely the year for adventures.
Cool plan OMK! I’m hoping to do something similar when my Masters finishes in January 2011; I’ll be keeping an eye on your progress for tips on where to travel!
Dates haven’t been finalised yet for 2010, but if you’re still in Europe towards the end of the year you should try to visit Belfast, Ireland for the Build Conference & Workshops!
Best of luck with going freelance!
B
Great plan indeed. Traveling gives you so much great perspective, both design, culture and experience wise.
I can highly recommend you to visit Kraków in Poland. Great people, atmosphere plus good prices too.
Helgelandskysten/Lofoten. Tror neppe jeg kunne blitt mer inspirert enn en tur opp dit! (jeg selv studerte på Nesna, Nordland http://www.flickr.com/photos/mia_holte/344379451/ )
Ellers er jo USA mega vil jeg tro :D
@Brian, @Reiner — Thanks for the tips. I really hope I get the chance to stop by some of the conferences and workshops on the way.
@mia — I’m probably gonna travel Norway on another occasion in life, but that location looks absolutely amazing. Therapy indeed :-)
Great post. I wish you good luck and many great experiences while discovering the world.
It will be interesting to see how your travels will affect your work.
To eternity and beyond!
Thank you, Johan :-)
If you’re still in Zürich when I start my trip, let me know so I can say hello and buy you a beer!
Best of luck with the freelance work, I’m planning to do the same thing in Toronto in March.
It sounds like your plans are going to allow for some nice flexibility. I am thinking along the same lines right now, since I’m on the way out from 4 years+ at the same place.
Immediately, the thought of freelancing + traveling is really appealing.
And you best be checking out Couchsurfing.org as well - its the only way to travel in style.
(Living in northern Norway is fantastic - I miss it already! I guess fantastic nature in all its glorious forms will wow and inspire you - When I travel the world I will be sure seek out nature experiences every opportunity I get.)
And I forgot to say: It’s going to be really interesting to follow your adventure, especially since you’re thinking good thoughts already.
[...] about a month ago, I wrote a post on my blog where I opened up about my current plans for 2010. I mentioned that I’d like to do freelancing [...]
[...] about a month ago, I wrote a POST ON MY BLOG where I opened up about my current plans for 2010. I mentioned that I’d like to do freelancing [...]