The One Thing Holding You Back From Location Freedom (And How to Break Free Today)

It's never a matter of money...

I got totally trolled on a Facebook post a while back.

It was a simple photo, one of those moody travel shots with a Paulo Coelho quote over the top: “Travel is never a matter of money but of courage.”

Cue the angry comments.

• “Easy for him to say.”

• “What a load of privileged nonsense.”

• “Try saying that to a single mum on minimum wage.”

And I get it. Life is complicated, and money is tight for a lot of people, especially right now.

But the energy on that thread wasn’t really about budgets or bank balances.

It was about fear. And frustration.

And maybe the uncomfortable realisation that the biggest thing standing between most people and the life they want… is the permission they haven’t yet given themselves.

I'll be honest, I didn’t fancy hosting a pile-on in my comments section that day, so I took the post down.

But I’m putting it back up. Because I believe it’s true.

And here’s why.

The Real Cost of Freedom Isn’t What You Think

We like to think it’s money that stops us from travelling or starting over. That if we just had more savings, or a guaranteed income, or a windfall of some kind, we’d finally go.

But most of the time, the cost that actually stops us is emotional, not financial.

Things like:

• Giving up certainty

• Letting go of routines, responsibilities, or other people’s expectations

• Facing the discomfort of not knowing exactly what comes next

Those are the bits that keep you stuck. Not EasyJet prices or accommodation costs. Not really.

When you’ve spent decades building a life around structure and predictability, choosing a different path (especially one that looks nothing like what your peers are doing), takes more than planning. It takes guts.

Which is why courage is the key ingredient, every time.

The “Someday” Trap That Keeps You Spinning

I speak to people every week who tell me they’re planning their escape. They want to travel more, downsize, simplify, maybe even start an online business.

They just need a few things to line up first.

• A bit more clarity.

• A bit more confidence.

• A bit more cash in the bank.

The problem is, someday has no arrival date. And clarity rarely comes from thinking harder. It comes from moving, testing, adjusting, trying.

It comes from action.

And more importantly, it comes from starting before you feel ready. Which, let’s be honest, almost no one ever does unless they’re pushed.

If you’re waiting for the perfect timing, the perfect conditions, or a perfect plan, I can save you some time, they don’t exist.

You’ll always find a reason to delay if you’re looking for one.

Courage Isn’t About Jumping Out Of a Plane

We often imagine courage as some big, dramatic act.

Selling everything. Booking a one-way ticket. Launching a business and making six figures in six weeks.

But real courage is far less ostentatious. It looks like:

• Booking a short solo trip and testing how it feels to work from somewhere new

• Starting a freelance profile or publishing your first newsletter, even when it makes your stomach flutter

• Saying no to a commitment that no longer fits, just to create a bit more breathing room

• Telling your family that you’re thinking of trying something different, and being okay with their raised eyebrows

Tiny choices, done consistently, change your life more than the one-off big leap ever will. And the more of them you make, the stronger that courage muscle gets.

Your Brain is Trying to Keep You Safe, Not Free

Part of the reason this is hard is because we’re wired for safety, not freedom. At least not the kind that comes with change, risk and uncertainty.

So your brain will try and talk you out of it. It’ll bring up every worst-case scenario it can think of.

• What if it all goes wrong?

• What if you lose money?

• What if people think you’re mad?

But all of that is just noise. A perfectly normal response from a brain doing its job.

The trick is not to fight it or silence it, but to notice it, thank it for its concern, and do the thing anyway.

How to Break Free, One Step At a Time

If you’ve been circling a location independent dream for a while and still haven’t made a move, here’s a few places you could start.

Nothing dramatic, just doable steps that start shifting things in a real way.

• Book a “minimum viable nomad” trip. One month somewhere new, with your laptop, to see how it feels

• Pick one side hustle idea and commit 5 hours this week to bringing it to life

• Join a group or forum where people are doing what you want to do, and actually introduce yourself

• Look at your monthly expenses and figure out how much you’d really need to feel secure on the road

• Make a short list of countries or cities where your cost of living would be lower, not higher

Don’t try and overhaul your life in one go. Just start testing the edges. Give your future self a chance to see what’s possible.

The Longer You Wait, The Heavier It Gets

There’s something else I’ve noticed, both in myself and others.

The longer you wait to make a shift, the heavier the decision becomes and the more loaded it feels.

You put more pressure on yourself to get it right, which only adds to the fear, and makes it harder to take that first step.

But just one small step toward the life you keep thinking about will interrupt that loop. It sends a signal that says: I’m doing this.

Not someday. Now.

And that feeling, even if it’s just a flicker, is pure magic.

Because once you taste a bit of freedom, it’s very hard to go back.

Courage Before Freedom

So yes darn it, I’m reposting that Paulo Coelho quote!

Not because I think money doesn’t matter, or that courage alone will book your flights and pay your bills. But because after 15 years on the road, through good months and bad, through unknown places and unfamiliar paths, I’ve learned this:

Courage always comes before freedom.

And the people who make it work aren’t the ones with all the answers. They’re the ones who were brave enough to go first.

Start where you are. Use what you have. Back yourself.

The rest, I promise, will meet you on the road.