New Balochistan Interview 🙏 Thank you to Haroon Harshid, Managing Editor of Independent Urdu, who lived 6 years in Quetta and so who saw a story to tell here. And to the talented and gracious journalist Mehak Fatimah for putting me so at ease. It was such fun talking about Balochistan with you.
🌴 I’m moving to #Pakistan because I've started a bespoke luxury travel planning business in Malaysia and am focussed on inbound tourism to Pakistan. If you'd like a bespoke luxury trip created just for your adventure in Pakistan, please reach out.
On top of that, together with my friend Haris Ali Shah of @AdventurePlannersPakistan, we've created luxury small group tours that feature a week in Balochistan, 5 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and so much more:
- Go dolphin watching
- Visit vibrant cities & remote villages
- Climb a volcano
- Stay in 5-star luxury Pearl-Continental Hotels & boutique Hotel One properties
- Explore 5 UNESCO World Heritage & Biosphere Sites
- Relax with a decadent beach picnic on the Arabian Sea
- Soak in the joy of Ramadan at a local night bazaar
- Ride a camel around an ancient UNESCO fort
- VIP check-in at hotels, with gifts waiting for you in the room
- Explore the North
Full itinerary & details on the website adventureplanners.net/itinerary/pakistan-15-day-lu… 🌴
ABOUT ME
I'll be the TRIP PLANNER and host for Q4 2024 trips! It was my good fortune to live one full year in Pakistan (Nov 2020-2021), spending 52 of those days in the country's largest and most remote region -- Balochistan. I've reviewed all but two 5-star hotels in Pakistan (outside of the North). You can find all of my 90+ Balochistan and Pakistan hotel reviews & travel guides on my YouTube channel.
#luxurytravel
I'm moving to #Pakistan ... Again 🥰 It's exciting but I'm nervous as it's a big change from the current stability I'm living now. The truth is though ... I have never craved stability. I crave the unknown.
In the days leading up to my relocation, I'm sharing a daily SHORTS video from some of my favourite moments from 2021, when I lived 1 year in Pakistan. Then starting in March, I'll be sharing new Pakistan luxury hotel reviews and travel guides ❤️
🐢🍷👙 🎙️ New Radio Show TODAY on turtles & luxury on REDANG ISLAND starting at 6pm Malaysia time with my dear friend Phat Fabes >> tune into his drive time show on LITE FM if you're in Malaysia ... or on your computer from anywhere in the world at www.lite.my 🎙️
Big thanks to the teams at SEATRU for letting me experience life as a volunteer for turtle conservation, BERJAYA AIR for the amazing “no ferry needed” direct flight to Redang Island, and THE TAARAS for the unforgettable days and nights in paradise 🌴🐢🍷👙
#redangisland #thetaaras #seatru #malaysia
SHOULD YOU BE A DIGITAL NOMAD?
Last week I reminisced about LEAVING 9-TO-5 LIFE to become a digital nomad. The year was 2016, I was in my mid 40s with an empty nest, and I WAS MISERABLE in (what would become) my last job as a chief marketing officer at a high tech startup company.
Looking back I wish I had done it more responsibly but leaving a life I felt almost no joy in living was the best decision!
Being a nomad is as rich with benefits as it is fraught with pitfalls. But it’s EXCITING and easy to fall in love with.
Is it for you? What I know for sure is if I can do it, so can you!
Here’s what you need:
1. A MARKETABLE SKILL
Unless you’ll be living off savings, you can’t be location-independent if you can’t support yourself. For this life to be sustainable you need a mad skill that you’ve honed. Beyond that, you need a niche to stand out from the crowd as an awesome coder, editor, bookkeeper, designer, or ‘online whatever fabulous thing you’ve chosen.
2. TO BE A HUSTLER
You need to know how to package up your mad skill and sell it. Trying to articulate your value to a prospective client – without seeming arrogant or screwing it up – can be a challenge. Digital nomads have to jump that hurdle and continually promote themselves to stay ahead.
3. A REVENUE STREAM
You can’t travel the world on karma and good luck, and if it was easy, more people would be doing it. YOU NEED CLIENTS and a steady stream of active or passive income to keep you housed, fed, and living a life of relaxed freedom.
Final Thoughts….
Being a nomad is a fabulous way to escape feeling handcuffed to “normal life”. It’s also the perfect way to explore new cultures and TRAVEL FULL-TIME.
What’s the worst that can happen? I’d say that nothing is worse than leaving a DREAM UNFULFILLED that your heart holds dear.
Who knows … you may even find there is more to life than you ever knew possible.
📸 Recent trip to Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia: after working 3 hours on a client website project and hanging out by the pool 👙 It was a fun day as a digital nomad!
TRULY GRATEFUL, THANKFUL & EXCITED ❤️
Because of you, last week was a big one! Even if I didn't share that right away. Seems my excitement over the new radio gig consumed me but I'd like to say thank you now.
Along with travel, vlogging is my favourite hobby. The idea I had at the start was simple: I wanted to HELP PEOPLE MAKE TRAVEL DECISIONS. That meant hotel reviews and destination guides. And it's only because YOU WATCH those videos that I keep making them.
I know a handful of you have been along on this ride with me from the start, back in 2011 when my daughter and I moved to India and I started my first blog and Facebook Page, Angela's Bangalore. Then the YouTube channel came, although I only uploaded a few videos per year until around 2015'ish.
Back then I was a hugely TERRIBLE VLOGGER! It was a comfortable place to be behind the camera so at the start I simply added voice-overs to my vlogs.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still not very professional or skilled now but the drone definitely helps and I am finally comfortable in front of the camera. I'm even better at capturing video of myself, although I still prefer the shots from behind me so there's room to grow still...
When I departed Indonesia in Nov 2020 to spend a year in Pakistan, I had 8K subscribers on YouTube. I was in Karachi at a 5-star hotel review around Christmas 2020 when my channel hit 10K. No one had showcased the luxury side of Pakistan before and it turns out that people all around the world wanted to see it. By the time I left Pakistan in Nov 2021, I had 47K subscribers.
Last week the milestone of 50K blew me away.
I've been single for 16 or 17 years. I travel solo. Yet during the good times and bad, you're there so I think that's how I never feel truly alone. You let me share very real feelings and it's like a therapy session. You also take the time to watch my travels (which is something not even my family or closest friends do, which is very normal FYI, my friends and family are lovely!).
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here. I am truly grateful.
📸 My favourite sunrise of 2021: Astola Island, Balochistan, Pakistan
#vlogger #vloggerlife #youtuber
UPDATE segment airs at 6:25pm today! Listen to it here: audio1.syok.my/lite
Today: PAKISTAN 🎙️ Yay, another new chapter begins today: a recurring radio segment on one of Malaysia's top English radio stations Lite FM. It's fair to say I'm more excited than nervous but the pressure is ON! The drive time 3-8pm DJ - Phat Fabes - is an old friend who invited me to do this with him on his show. He's giving it a prime time slot, in the 6pm hour. I just want to do a good job, be interesting and engaging enough so that people don't rush to turn the station.
Each week I'll share a travel story, and then give tips on how to avoid it or how to have that experience (depending on if it's a funny disaster or something fabulous). Episode 1 is all about my year living in PAKISTAN ❤️
In case you want to catch it, it'll be every Friday on 105.7 Lite FM with super fabulous DJ Phat Fabes. If you're in Malaysia you can tune in during the 6pm rush hour drive time show or listen online (phone or desktop) here: audio1.syok.my/lite
EXPAT LIFE MISTAKES 😔
I was doing it again. Not making an effort to go explore Kuala Lumpur. Not out shooting video. Not being as social as I should be to keep up my mental health. Not working enough hours to keep myself happily busy. Not hopping on calls with family and old friends each week.
Feeling sorry for myself.
I fell down a “sad” rabbit hole recently but LUCKILY (thank gawwwwwd), I figured it out and yesterday sorted that shit OUT!
Coming into “expat life” this time I knew exactly what to look for in triggers that things weren’t going great. I have written about them and vlogged about them enough now to know what to look for and pitfalls to avoid.
But somehow I fell right back into the same rhythm, the same mistakes that I’ve made in other relocations. It’s easy to do that because it’s past behaviour that we know. It’s doing the “new” or unknown that’s a bit harder to simply fall into.
So it took a beat to realise what was happening. I looked in as if from the outside to see myself isolated in my condo, eat and drink too much … and gain weight these past weeks since arriving to Malaysia.
THAT WAS NOT THE PLAN!! And it’s only been 1 month! Seriously, come on!!!
Two nights ago I forced myself to sleep early. Woke up yesterday gung ho to work on all my clients’ projects around the globe. Today if the weather is great I’ll finish vlogging my new condo tour video. AND today I record my first radio segment for my new, weekly travel chat here in Malaysia with my buddy Phat Fabes and Lite FM.
Recognising the problem is seriously THE BIGGEST STEP in course-correcting a wrong. And even though we all may have the answers to dish out to friends and loved ones, we don’t always heed our own knowledge. Shit happens sometimes and we fall into old habits like I did. We need to get better at asking for help … even if it’s just a call or meetup, to keep us from falling down that hole sometimes.
MY LAST DAY AS A DIGITAL NOMAD 🧳
It’s 6pm and yes those are pyjamas – the official uniform of many working from home! That’s also a vodka soda with a splash of some yummy Malaysian berry something or other, not tea.
I’ve been packing up my temporary condo ‘cuz tomorrow’s a big day. Well, I suppose today was the big day because I signed a long-term condo lease and turned over my passport until Wednesday when my official 1-year visa is endorsed.
This is the first time that I won’t be living as a DIGITAL NOMAD since moving from Indonesia to Pakistan in November 2020 and I would be lying if I said I feel only positivity and excitement.
The truth is that it scares me.
Planting roots scares me. Losing my gipsy-esque lifestyle and an ability to live each day as the wind takes me is hard to give up. Having a fixed address for the first time in 15 months is also freaking me out just a bit.
When did MY NORMAL LIFE become that of a Bohemian with few permanent ties? I’m guessing November 2020, right?
I know I need some stability. I need to live – at least for a while – in the same country where I have a bank account and friends I’ve known for years. I need to get a financial plan setup for myself and actually begin to execute it.
My current lifestyle – albeit adventurous and alluring – is not sustainable if I wish to remain an independent, self-sufficient woman. Something has gotta give, hence my relocation to Kuala Lumpur. Hence the condo rental contract and investment in a visa to live someplace I adore.
It’s done. I’m here. Now I need to get off my ass and start doing what I know needs to be done (because I’ve done it WRONG enough times to know what doesn’t work) and give this new life a fighting chance.
Setting my alarm for sunrise tomorrow and going to try and start the day early and be productive. Then at 9am I’m moving into my new home for the next year … heading off to meetings and a photo shoot after that with my favourite client ever @bottegamy.
Feels like tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life … again ❤️
#digitalnomadlife #kualalumpur #malaysia
Balochistan, Pakistan Luxury Travel Planner | 📍 Islamabad #expatlife
On my channel, you'll find:
🐪 Pakistan / Balochistan travel guides and my day-to-day life living between Islamabad & Quetta
🎥 Asia 5-star hotel reviews
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I'm Angela Carson, from L.A., California. At 20, I dropped out of uni to travel Mexico solo in my Jeep Wrangler. Now I'm 50+, I’ve explored 38 countries, living in the USA and Mexico, then Spain and India with my daughter. Next, I lived as an empty nester in China, Hong Kong, a small island in Indonesia, twice in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and now for the 2nd time in Pakistan.
PAKISTAN LUXURY TRAVEL PLANNER
I create bespoke luxury travel itineraries featuring Balochistan - AND - I host small group tours with Adventure Planners Pakistan adventureplanners.net/itinerary/pakistan-15-day-lu…
MY DAY JOB
That WOW: www.that-wow.com/
Branding, social media & websites for hospitality & tourism brands in Pakistan