Escape Artist
  • Features
    • Interview
    • News
    • Field Notes
    • Trending
  • Your Plan B
    • Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Second Citizenship
    • Digital Nomad
    • Plan B Summit
    • Webinars
  • Destinations
    • Europe
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Portugal
      • Scandinavia
      • Spain
      • United Kingdom
      • Rest of Europe
    • Central America
      • Belize
      • Costa Rica
      • El Salvador
      • Guatemala
      • Honduras
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama
    • Others
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • North America
      • South America
      • Middle East
      • Rest of the World
  • Travel Tips
    • Know Before You Go
    • Packing List
    • Food + Culture
    • Health + Wellness
  • Subscribe
Escape Artist
  • Features
    • Interview
    • News
    • Field Notes
    • Trending
  • Your Plan B
    • Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Second Citizenship
    • Digital Nomad
    • Plan B Summit
    • Webinars
  • Destinations
    • Europe
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Portugal
      • Scandinavia
      • Spain
      • United Kingdom
      • Rest of Europe
    • Central America
      • Belize
      • Costa Rica
      • El Salvador
      • Guatemala
      • Honduras
      • Nicaragua
      • Panama
    • Others
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • North America
      • South America
      • Middle East
      • Rest of the World
  • Travel Tips
    • Know Before You Go
    • Packing List
    • Food + Culture
    • Health + Wellness
  • Subscribe
👤

THE NUMBER ONE SOURCE FOR EXPATS, DIGITAL NOMADS, AND DREAMERS.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Your Plan B

Escape to Freedom #4: Freedom to Create

  • BY Pete Sisco
  • June 1, 2021
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

Escape to Freedom #4: Freedom to Create

“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labour in freedom.” – Albert Einstein

If there were nothing stopping you, what would you create?

Creativity expresses itself in thousands of ways and through billions of people. In fact, it’s fair to say that creativity is unique to each individual.

There is a deep human need to be creative.

Humans are born problem solvers. We are at the absolute peak of the animal kingdom in this regard – the apex predators of problem-solving. 

We’re naturally gifted at creativity and we get profound satisfaction from doing it. It’s as if there is a powerful force of creativity inside each of us that is bursting to get out.

But how many of us are able to regularly exercise our creative abilities through our work? How many of us can honestly say we get to use our full creative potential while making a living?

Candidly stated another way, how many of us are stuck doing soul-crushing, dull, uninspiring, unoriginal, visionless, drone work for and with co-workers who are just as trapped as we are? 

As a result, an important aspect of our humanity and happiness is stifled. In the worst case, it’s stifled for a lifetime. 

A lifetime spent trying to make the best of it by forcing a laugh at a Dilbert cartoon that illustrates the futility and negativity of living like a nameless cog in a dying machine.

The corporate, cubicle, drone-work, world is filled with people who don’t really have twenty years of experience, they just lived the same year twenty times over. 

To those of us who yearn to express our creativity, that’s just no way to live.

 

There Is Another Way 

For millennia the quest for enough money to survive chained us all to occupations that paid the bills but weren’t really fulfilling.

Now – thanks to a multi-trillion dollar online economy – there’s never been a more powerful, flexible, and enabling tool for all of us regular people to achieve the lifestyle we want most while living wherever we want to live.

Look around on Escape Artist and what do you see? People who have combined their own online businesses with living where they want and having the creative freedom to do what they want.

That’s what Mikkel is doing right here and on the Expat MoneyShow, what Michael Cobb is doing with ECI Development, and what my wife and I do at SafelyLeaveTheRatRace. 

When you start with a clean sheet of paper you can design your life to be what you want most and do best.

I can tell you with certainty that every major online business model offers two great things:

  • the ability to engage in creative problem solving that is personally rewarding, creatively satisfying, and financially lucrative
  • the opportunity to use your personal lifetime of skills, experience, talent, and core competencies in ways you want to use them which lets you feel personally empowered and validated

Making a plan for what online business to build involves searching your mind and your heart for what you desire most in life. It involves immersing yourself in all the possibilities and then distilling them into a carefully crafted scenario that makes you excited to even contemplate. If you think you need help with that, I’ll personally help you.

And here’s the best part: the creativity never really stops. Products to create, services to develop, new markets to serve, innovative tactics to implement – all without the meddlesome interference of people who want to control everything you do, often while blaming you for their mistakes and taking credit for your successes.

Speaking as a middle-aged person, I can tell you that being immersed in creative problem-solving and innovation is the invigorating brainwork that keeps a person feeling young.

This is also exactly why Connie and I never live the same year twice; because we just don’t have to. And it feels liberating to plan each fresh new year without being trapped in a conventional job.

Freedom to create is a basic human need and it is emotionally destructive to live and work in an environment where it cannot see its full expression. I also know that first hand. I’ve served my time in a corporate, cubicle environment and I know I could never return to it. 

The first step – investigating your options – is a great way to get a taste of what’s available in terms of what fits your priorities and goals and to get your mind thinking creatively about the lifestyle you can build for yourself.

Here’s a podcast from The Expat Money Show where Mikkel and I talk about safely leaving the rat race by starting an online business!

 

The Takeaway

Humans are hard-wired to express their creativity and problem-solving impulses. Most repressive, drone-work jobs provide almost zero exposure to this proven pathway to happiness and personal satisfaction. Building and operating your own online business provides continual stimulation for your impulse to be creative and the freedom to live wherever you want.

 

Ready to Create Something of Your Own?

Are you ready to live life on your own terms – create your own online income? Reach out to us at Safely Leave The Rat Race. We are committed to helping you get from whatever point you are right now – to the point of earning a regular, predictable online income while living wherever you want.  

I hope you enjoyed Escape to Freedom #4: Freedom to Create. In case you missed them, here are

#6 – Freedom To Travel

#5 – Freedom Of Income

#3 – Freedom of Time 

#2 – Three Levels of Expat Online Income and

#1 – What is Your Freedom Lifestyle?

 

Contact Author

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Please let us know what's on your mind. Have a question for us? Ask away.

Stay Ahead on Every Adventure! 

Stay updated with the World News on Escape Artist. Get all the travel news, international destinations, expat living, moving abroad, Lifestyle Tips, and digital nomad opportunities. Your next journey starts here—don’t miss a moment! Subscribe Now!

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Related Topics
  • Digital Nomad
  • expats
  • Freedom
  • safety and security
  • starting a business
Previous Article
  • Your Plan B

My 2021 Language Routine & Resolutions – Continuing My Journey To Fluency

  • BY Mikkel Thorup
  • June 1, 2021
View Post
Next Article
  • Your Plan B

The Ideal Tool To Help You Become a Designer

  • BY EA Editors
  • June 1, 2021
View Post
You May Also Like
Global travel routes illustrating visa programs that lead to permanent residency
View Post
  • Second Residency
Which Visas Actually Lead to Permanent Residency
  • BY Isha Sesay
  • January 28, 2026
The Financial Advantages of Becoming an Expat
View Post
  • Finance
The Financial Case for Living Abroad
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • January 20, 2026
A stunning sunset over the ancient, terracotta-roofed town of Volterra, Italy, a dream location for those considering the country's €1 house experiment.
View Post
  • Property Development
Italy’s €1 House Experiment
  • BY Ethan Rooney
  • January 19, 2026
Remote worker with laptop and tablet at outdoor garden desk showing digital nomad lifestyle and location independence for global professionals seeking residency
View Post
  • Second Citizenship
From Visa to Resident: 10 Digital Nomad Havens Offering a Path to Citizenship
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • January 13, 2026
Brown leather travel bag with passport and boarding pass at airport check-in counter showing international travel and global mobility for expats planning relocation
View Post
  • Second Citizenship
The World’s Most Powerful Passports Are Changing
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • January 12, 2026
White Mediterranean-style building with green arched door and potted cactus plants, representing the lifestyle and independence offered by global property ownership
View Post
  • Plan B
Global Property as a Pathway to Long-Term Independence
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • December 24, 2025
A person's hands hold a small white model airplane over a world map, symbolizing the careful planning and consideration required for expat relocation in a time of global economic uncertainty.
View Post
  • Plan B
How Inflation Abroad Changes Expat Plans
  • BY EA Editorial Staff
  • December 20, 2025
The New Framework for Building a Second Legal Home
View Post
  • Plan B
The New Framework for Building a Second Legal Home
  • BY Isha Sesay
  • December 17, 2025
Trending Posts
  • A stunning sunset over the ancient, terracotta-roofed town of Volterra, Italy, a dream location for those considering the country's €1 house experiment. 1
    • Property Development
    Italy’s €1 House Experiment
    • January 19, 2026
  • Global travel routes illustrating visa programs that lead to permanent residency 2
    • Second Residency
    Which Visas Actually Lead to Permanent Residency
    • January 28, 2026
  • A colorful street in Oaxaca, Mexico, with a mountain in the background, representing an authentic travel experience beyond the resort. 3
    • Culture
    Life Beyond the Resort
    • January 26, 2026
  • The Financial Advantages of Becoming an Expat 4
    • Finance
    The Financial Case for Living Abroad
    • January 20, 2026
  • The bright yellow clock tower of the Xalapa Cathedral against a blue sky, representing the city's rich culture and history for potential expats. 5
    • Mexico
    Could Xalapa Be Mexico’s Best-Kept Cultural Secret?
    • January 23, 2026
Advertise
Know Before You Go
  • A small squirrel monkey with a white face and orange fur clings to a vibrant green palm frond, illustrating the daily presence of wildlife in Costa Rica. 1
    • Costa Rica
    Top 10 Culture Shocks You’ll Notice When You Move to Costa Rica
    • January 30, 2026
  • The bright yellow clock tower of the Xalapa Cathedral against a blue sky, representing the city's rich culture and history for potential expats. 2
    • Mexico
    Could Xalapa Be Mexico’s Best-Kept Cultural Secret?
    • January 23, 2026
  • Welsh Patagonia 3
    • South America
    A Welsh Homeland at the Edge of Argentina
    • January 9, 2026
  • Colorful cliffside village of Positano Italy with pink and white buildings overlooking Mediterranean Sea showing Mediterranean charm for expats relocating 4
    • Plan B
    The Countries That Make Starting Over Feel Possible
    • December 26, 2025
  • Families and children playing soccer and enjoying beach activities together in Costa Rica, demonstrating community bonding and social connection 5
    • Costa Rica
    Building Community in Costa Rica
    • December 19, 2025
Learn More
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Shop
Why Subscribe

The newly imagined Escape Artist brings you fresh content with a global focus, and sharp, up-to-the-minute coverage of the joys, challenges, and opportunities of life abroad.

For a limited time, we’re offering a special discount on all subscription deals, so be sure to lock-in these incredible savings and start receiving top-notch travel and expat content today!

Sign up for the EA Newsletter

Get important news delivered directly to your inbox and stay connected!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Escape Artist
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy
  • Disclaimer

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

Before you go, want $50 off your Summit registration?

Subscribe, and get $50 discount code for Plan B Summit registration.

Download Your Free Guide

Fill out the form below to get instant access to your guide + receive a $50 discount code for Plan B Summit 2026!

Download Your Free Guide

Fill out the form below to get instant access to your guide + receive a $50 discount code for Plan B Summit 2026!

Download Your Free Guide

Fill out the form below to get instant access to your guide + receive a $50 discount code for Plan B Summit 2026!

Newsletter Subscription