The Next Chapter: From Job Loss to Digital Nomad — Reinventing Life After 50

On endings, new beginnings, and saying yes to what’s next.

Have you ever wondered ‘Now what?’

January 2025 was a tumultuous month. I lost my job on the 6th, but by the 22nd, I had a new life plan, and I launched the Align & Thrive Substack. Ten months later, I’m still figuring it all out, one step at a time.

Finding My Way: Aligning Purpose, Passion, and Opportunity

Changing Winds

A big shift happened with that job loss. For the first time in my life, I was not only debt-free, but had built a comfortable safety net, and with that came a realization…I could lead any life I wanted. NYC is an incredible city, but it’s also expensive. As much as I love its energy, I knew there was more life to explore.

COVID taught us that work doesn’t have to tie us to one location. While I do thrive in an in-office environment, I also thrive when I’m out in the world experiencing new things. I’d long imagined retiring outside the U.S., but that’s when it hit me: why wait for retirement to start living the life I want?

One of my biggest surprises since joining the Substack community has been discovering how many women are just like me. They have already designed this kind of life for themselves and are thriving.

Jo Barnes

,

Kimberly Anne

,

Jen Phillips April

are just a few that have shown me that it can be done, what it takes to thrive, and that I’m not an odd duck for wanting something different. And while he’s not a 50-something woman, a special shout-out to

Jeremie

, whose support and example have meant the world on this journey.

Before I could begin this next chapter, though, two big things had to happen. The first was liquidating my life; selling or donating 95% of what I owned, one item at a time. And let me tell you, I had a lot.

Here are the two biggest lessons that came from that process:

1. Don’t buy new, expensive furniture. It depreciates faster than a car (and it shouldn’t, but it does). For now, it’s quality used or cheap new for me.

2. I didn’t need all that stuff. It was heartbreaking to realize how much money I’d spent on things I rarely used or never needed. I could have easily lived without most of it—or at least bought secondhand.

And then there was the love of my life: Lucy. She turned 17 in May and had been living with cancer for almost two years. Leaving the country while she was still with me was never an option. We had a scare before her 17th birthday, but she rallied better than ever. So in August we packed up the car and drove to Spokane, Washington, where rent is cheaper and family is close. I’d told Lucy that if she wanted to go before the trip, it was okay (honestly, it would’ve saved me a lot of money). But apparently, she had her own plans. She wanted one last adventure to see her dad and grandfather one last time, and to return to the state where she was born. She passed just twelve days after we arrived.

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Now What?

After Christmas, the next phase of this adventure begins—and it will take me to Europe.

I’ll begin my digital nomad chapter in Spain. I won’t yet have a long-term visa, so there will be some opportunity for exploration in the meantime until I do. I will work hard to serve clients and grow my business remotely so that I can qualify for the Spanish Digital Nomad Visa by Fall 2026.

This phase before establishing residency in Spain, I like to think of it as the fifty-something version of backpacking through Europe: laptop in hand, curiosity in my carry-on. The Schengen rules will make things interesting as the visa clock really counts against 29 European countries. But there is an advantage to this. It means I will be required to seek out locations for living I may not have otherwise considered. And exploration is the name of the game.

But there is an easy out, the UK and Ireland are not part of the Schengen Zone and have a generous 180 day visitor visa. Only time will tell, but I imagine I’ll spend some time in the UK taking advantage of Trusted House Sitters to explore towns, meet people, and bond with pets with the huge number of house-sitting opportunities.

About half the staff of my NYC apartment building were from either Albania or Montenegro. I’ve promised to visit their homelands as well.

Yes, it’s daunting. My brain still screams, ‘Are we really doing this?’ The question has two sides for me. First, is this really the right thing to do? Absolutely. Whenever that question surfaces, I know it’s fear and doubt talking—the discomfort of the unknown. Yes, I’ve done my research. Yes, I follow many ex-pat communities to hear about real life experiences. Yes, I’ve imagined myself in a thousand different scenarios. But it’s still uncomfortable and even a little scary.

Courage doesn’t erase fear—it walks beside it.

The other aspect is a pattern throughout my life: nothing seems real until it happens. I had the same feeling when I was about to leave NYC. ‘Am I really leaving?’ Nothing feels real until I’m actually on the road or in the air. That’s when my mind, soul, and body all recognize the truth.

So, I keep planning, setting deadlines for taking action, and dreaming of the possibilities in the life ahead.

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From Survival to Thriving

The older I get, the more I see that life isn’t about starting over. But rather, it’s about returning to who you were always meant to be. Do I need to leave the country to do this? Not technically. But to stay would feel like holding back, not moving forward.

Last night, I wandered through a new-to-me neighborhood to check out a local Spokane street fair and crossed this incredible bridge along the way. It’s discoveries like these that remind me why I love exploring wherever I am.

Jo Barnes

captures it perfectly!

It seems my move from Seattle to NYC was the training ground for this next shift. I learned that there is so much more to experience in the world and I want to experience it all. Pursuing what I want (within reason) is how I thrive.

That’s what Align & Thrive is all about. It’s not just a business. It’s a philosophy.

We can grieve, rebuild, and dream at the same time.
We can honor what we’ve lost while creating space for what’s next.
We can keep becoming—no matter our age, stage, or past chapters.

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✨ What about you?

Where are you being called to realign and thrive right now?

If you’re navigating change, loss, or a new beginning, know this: you’re not alone. You’re in good company here—among bold changemakers rewriting what success looks like after 50.

Here’s to the courage to begin again. 🌍

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• There will be missteps.

• There will be wins.

• And life will keep throwing curveballs.

Thanks for reading and being part of this journey with me at Align & Thrive!