When Denise Cassar quit her job and left on a trip to India, she discovered there was a job she could do from anywhere in the world: writing. 

I started travelling full time in 2016. I left Malta in 2002, returned in 2006 and started travelling again in 2016. 

I wanted out of my corporate job and wanted to find something I love doing for a living. In 2016 I went to Nepal to write a novel that got published in July 2019. I finished the first draft in Nepal between January and May 2016. I started my freelance writing business when I returned to Malta in September 2016.

I spend seven to 10 months a year travelling. It's the lifestyle I chose, I'm a virtual nomad. I live a simple life everywhere, but not as a tourist. I simply live my life in different places and work there. 

Travelling with my son requires more planning and my priority is him. If, in the past I would travel five hours by bus to a place, and then spend the whole morning looking for a family house to rent a room, now I would carry out the research before, make sure it's good for him and pre-book.

The digital nomad life is more doable than people think. I spend the same, or even less, amount of money on living expenses as I would in Malta. I don't think that you need to spend as much money as when you travel as a tourist. Look up communities online and follow things they did.

I do miss Malta. I miss my family, my friends, pastizzi and ħobż biż-żejt. 

I spend two to four months in Malta every year. That way I enjoy family and Maltese life for a bit and then return to feeding my travel bug for the rest of the year.

Are you a Maltese person living abroad? Contact malteseabroad@timesofmalta.com