Nearly 3 years ago I received an email from Dan Burseth which set off a domino effect that had a tremendous impact on my life.
And Dan didn’t even know it. (Dan if you’re reading this—thank you)
Dan the Man
He introduced me to Tim Ferriss.
This in itself was a significant discovery to me at the time. I was not into self-development then as much as I am now.
A few months of reading Tim’s blogs and listening to his podcasts got me curious about his book: The 4-Hour Workweek
What an absurd idea
Fast forward 3 months later, I found myself preparing for a 6 hour drive to Michigan. I remember that day very clearly (for a good reason). I got in my car, started my engine, and impulsively decided to buy my first audiobook ever.
A completely different Parth stepped out of my car when I reached Michigan.
What happened in those 6 hours?
No, I didn’t figure out how to compress my job from 40 to 4 hours a week. I didn’t learn how to make a Gorjillion dollars either.
But it gave me the permission to be okay with the idea of not having a job.
It allowed me to think beyond the 9-5, beyond typical career paths and most importantly…
Beyond the H1B visa.
You see, I’m an Indian citizen, and I was in the US on a student visa. To stay and settle in the US, I would need a resident visa. The H1B visa is the most attainable resident visa for immigrants.
It is also lottery-based. STEM students only get 3 chances at the lottery. And I was down to my last and final ticket.
If I didn’t get it this time, I would have to pack up, leave the US, move back in with my parents in India, and most likely, completely drop my career ambitions for the rest of my life.
And Tim’s book gave me the vision to look past all this.
Within 6 hours, it showed me I could still follow my ambition and be happy doing what I wanted in life.
It made me realize I didn’t need to be in the US to make US money. I didn’t need to stay in my career (which I wasn’t 100% fond of) if I wanted stability. I didn’t need to be bound by the shackles of the H1B visa.
I could keep my job if I wanted, work out of a different country (or countries, as it happened), or I could completely switch my career to align more with what I ultimately wanted to do in life—run my own business on my terms, living wherever I want to, at my own hours.
The H1B problem turned into a life-changing opportunity to do what I wanted with my life.
And so began my digital nomad journey in 2022.
None of this would have happened if Tim didn’t write this book, Dan didn’t send me recommendations and Mal (my manager at the time) didn’t ask me to drive to Michigan.
Huge thanks to all of you!