Depart: design a life that supports the marketing agency.

When to depart

Technically you can work from anywhere from day one. In practice, it is wiser to wait until your marketing agency covers your costs in the place you want to live, with a buffer on top. For many people that can be within the first year, but it is not a promise and it depends on how consistently you run the earlier steps.

Micha first negotiated a remote setup with his employer, then flew to Bali, started his marketing agency there and only later lived from his own clients. His savings ran out faster than expected. That is why the book recommends planning a bigger buffer than you think you need.

Slow travel beats fast travel

Moving every week feels like freedom and works like a permanent holiday. You spend your energy on flights, new apartments and finding a good desk. Your clients notice. Slow travel, staying weeks or months in one base, gives you routines, community and focus while still letting you see the world.

Build a freedom calendar

A freedom calendar plans your year around both work and life. It marks the periods for deep work and growth, the periods for adventure, the moments you want to be close to family and the dates that matter, like a birthday you do not want to miss. Micha was in Valencia for his mother's sixtieth birthday because his calendar allowed it.

The calendar turns location freedom from a vague dream into decisions with dates. As one of Micha's own lines puts it: a dream with a date becomes a goal.

Choose your base by phase

Different places support different phases. In Micha's experience, Bali worked for building and community, Valencia for balance and closeness to home, Rio de Janeiro for adventure, Medellín for focus and scaling and New York for doing business in the US. Before choosing your next base, ask what this phase of your life is for.

Then check the practical side: internet, time zone, cost of living, safety, community, health, climate, flights, rules for staying and vibe. The destinations section of this site covers each base in more detail.

Geo-arbitrage buys focus

Geo-arbitrage means earning in a strong market while living somewhere your money goes further. The book frames it differently from most travel content: use it to buy focus, not just cheaper accommodation. A comfortable base with good internet and help at home frees hours you can invest in your marketing agency or in your life.

The logistics nobody posts about

Taxes, banking, insurance, visas and time zones are not exciting, and they are exactly where remote business owners get into trouble. Rules differ per nationality, per country and per situation, and they change. Always check the official visa and residence rules for your nationality, and work with an accountant or tax advisor for your business structure.

Time zones deserve their own plan. One of the new rules says time zones are a feature, not a bug: work can move forward while clients sleep. But you need clear availability windows and a calendar that protects both your sales calls and your rest.

The traps nobody posts about

The book is honest about the hard parts: loneliness in the first weeks somewhere new, getting sick far from home, people constantly leaving, comfort that makes you stop doing outreach. Choose bases with community, live with other founders when you can and keep a fixed call with family. Freedom means most when you can share it.

Keep the business first

The biggest risk of departing is not a visa form or a slow connection. It is comfort. A beautiful base can make you stop doing outreach, exactly as a comfortable contract did for Micha. Protect your sales rhythm wherever you are: fixed blocks for outreach and calls, a weekly review of your numbers and a team that knows how to reach you.

Remember what the freedom is for. The marketing agency pays for the life, and the life gives you the energy to run the marketing agency well. As Micha puts it: freedom is not the goal. It is the means.

How the program helps you depart

In the Freedom phase of the Out of Office Forever Program, what works is systemized and you get help choosing your base and making the marketing agency location independent. Your mentor Micha Houtkamp has run his marketing agency from Bali, Valencia, Rio de Janeiro, Medellín and New York, and shares what he would check before every move.