Amy came to Surf Office Santa Cruz for a couple of days in December 2014. Being a full-time digital nomad and a travel blogger, she uncovers cool eateries, pads to stay at and thrilling adventures on her blog while traveling the world. After visiting Santa Cruz, she even has a handful of local tips to share with you.
Tell us a bit yourself
My name is Amy! I’m currently a “digital nomad” traveling through Thailand while working for a DJ music software company called Mixed In Key. I also have my own travel/lifestyle blog called Generic Dreams.
What was the trigger that made you go nomad?
I’ve always loved travel and wanted the flexibility and freedom to do it more.
Once I realized the actual possibility, it didn’t take too long to get rid of everything I owned, find a remote job, and begin to travel, blog, and work around the world.
Could you tell us a bit about your current nomad friendly company?
The company is called Mixed In Key. We create DJ software apps and a simplified DJ technique called “harmonic mixing” with our main app called Mixed In Key. We just launched version 7.0 last month actually.
Our founder/president is Yakov Varobyev who started the company in 2006. We are truly a “remote” company since there is no base location. We’re a small company (<11 people) and my colleagues are from all around the world including Bosnia, UK and Canada.
To stay connected, we use e-mail, Skype, and the new Slack Chat app which everybody has on their computer and their phone. Once a year, we will do a big company meetup in a different location where we rent a huge house to live and work together for a week. The developers do a “hackathon” while the rest of us work on business, marketing & creative ideas. Afterwards, there’s plenty of activities, eating, and drinking to be had!
What was the best part of staying at The Surf Office Santa Cruz?
Besides the people and the vibe of the house - which was totally chill and mellow, we all wanted to be productive and get our work done to relax and enjoy the outdoors afterwards.
Being a foodie, I loved discovering the local food joints. The Reef is this live music venue with a Hawaiian grill restaurant inside called Pono. Try the salmon-cilantro avocado bowl - it’s to die for and extremely fresh & healthy.
I also scoped out Samba Rock - an Acai cafe originally from Brazil. They have really amazing acai bowls. I ordered the Pele - a blend with fresh & crisp granola with slices of banana, strawberries and blueberries. Drizzle some agave syrup on top and you’ve got yourself a nice light lunch.
What are your travel plans for 2015?
I’m in Thailand for now until my visa runs outs. Then it’s most likely Hawaii and afterwards, I have some tentative plans for Europe and back to Asia but nothing set in stone. I usually just go where the wind blows me.
