The biggest decision of my career

0% tax. 30 countries. Over 100 cities.

And I just gave it all up to work in an office…

In 2018, I started chasing what seemed like the perfect dream: building a business I could run from anywhere in the world, my aim was to "do cool sh*t with cool people."

Two years of grinding later, I finally achieved it.

I became that guy working from exotic beaches, living the "digital nomad" lifestyle that fills up Instagram feeds and YouTube ads.

Eventually, I even settled into what many consider the ultimate digital nomad hub: Dubai.

But after 4 years of living this supposed dream life, I've discovered something most people don't talk about: the freedom of constant travel comes with hidden costs that Instagram can't capture.

Today, I'm sharing why I left Dubai and traded my laptop-on-the-beach lifestyle for a 9-to-5 office job in Auckland, New Zealand.

I'll walk you through what I've learned about the digital nomad journey, and show you how my team and I are building something new these past few months since making the switch.

Whether you're dreaming of location independence or already living it, there are some important truths about this lifestyle that took me years to understand.

Let's dive in...

NOTE: If you’d like to watch my YouTube video on this topic you can watch it here instead!

A Recap of the Past 2.5 Months

In early October, I packed up everything in Dubai after 2 years and flew back home to New Zealand with about 90 kgs of luggage. I sold my car, sold everything else, and even arranged to move my cat over. This wasn't just a temporary move – I packed up for good.

Since then, my team and I have been busy setting up our new lives here in Auckland:

1. New Homes and Routines: We've all got new homes, new cars, and essentially new lives. The biggest change? A completely new routine. We're waking up, driving to work, hitting the gym, and navigating traffic. It's a far cry from our previous digital nomad lifestyle.

2. New Office Space: We've signed a lease for a new office for Morningside AI. It's a space with capacity for 15 people, which we’re slowly filling by recalling our team of 40 people all across the world.

3. Team Expansion: We've welcomed new team members, including some who've returned from overseas. James, our front-end developer, is back from Amsterdam, and Olly, our sales manager, has also returned. We’ve also brought on 5 new people for our new consulting division…

4. New Business Ventures: We've kicked off a new consulting division and are working on business education programs for 2025. Our first official consulting project is with a $200 million (annual revenue) steel company here in New Zealand – an eight-week AI audit that's teaching us a lot.

5. Work-Life Balance: We're making a concerted effort to balance work with lifestyle. We've been to concerts (Travis Scott and Coldplay), taken team trips (like a helicopter ride to a winery on Waiheke Island), and are generally enjoying the benefits of being in one place together.

Why I Said Du-bye to Dubai

Now, you might be wondering why we'd leave what many consider a ‘perfect place’ for online businesses. Here are the key reasons:

1. The Digital Nomad Burnout: While the digital nomad lifestyle can be incredible, it can also be isolating. Jumping from city to city, always feeling like a stranger, can get old. My team and I missed having a broader friend group and a sense of familiarity.

2. Communication Challenges: Being spread across different time zones made it difficult to stay on the same page. In-person brainstorming and ideation sessions are invaluable, and we were missing out on that.

3. Business Infrastructure: Despite Dubai's reputation, we found the business infrastructure lacking compared to New Zealand. From banking to legal services, we struggled to find reliable support for our growing business.

4. Home Field Advantage: Most of our team is from New Zealand. We see it as a largely untapped market for AI services, consulting, and education. Given our personal brand and momentum, it made sense to become a big fish in a smaller pond.

5. Community and Lifestyle: While Dubai offered an incredible lifestyle, we missed the sense of community and the ability to build deeper connections. Being back home allows us to reconnect with friends and family, and build a more balanced life.

Basically, Dubai served its purpose for me and my team. Going back to NZ will mean we are paying tax (and a hellaova lot of it…) but we think we can make more money overall if we execute on our plans correctly.

If you want to hear my full thoughts on Dubai, watch this video.

Our Plans for 2025

Looking ahead, we have some exciting plans for the coming year:

1. Team Consolidation: We're recalling many of our remote team members (over 40 people) to work in-person in New Zealand. We're offering trial periods for those who want to relocate.

2. Expanding Morningside AI: We're scaling up our e-learning offer while also taking on some general projects with high-profile clients (including an NBA team and a publicly traded company in the U.S.).

3. Consulting Division Growth: Our new consulting division is a major focus for 2025. We're positioning ourselves as the go-to service provider for AI solutions within New Zealand, and having a team specialized in use case identification is a key part of that.

1. Business Education Programs: We're developing education programs for businesses, seeing a massive opportunity in helping companies prepare for the AI revolution.

2. In-Person Events: We're planning to start doing in-person workshops and events to build the Morningside AI brand in New Zealand. This includes some public speaking engagements for me – a new challenge I'm excited to take on.

I’ll be releasing a video breaking down our plan in more detail next year, keep an eye on my channel for that!

My Reflections on This Transition

This move back to New Zealand is a full-circle moment for me.

It's made me reflect on whether we could have achieved this without leaving New Zealand in the first place.

The answer, I believe, is no.

Leaving your comfort zone, whether it's your hometown or home country, is crucial for personal and professional growth. It allows you to forge a new version of yourself, free from the expectations and limitations of your past.

Now that I’ve solidified the ‘new me’ and found a solid base for my careers, I can return home with my team without being pulled back to my old self. I’ve broken ties with people who might have held me back and formed new connections that have pushed me forward.

While I love being home, I don't think I could have gotten to this point just by sticking around. The experiences and growth I’ve had while traveling have been invaluable.

If you want to see my transformation from high school graduate to multi seven figure entrepreneur step by step, you can watch my full ‘my story’ video here.

There's also lot of comfort in the familiarity of being home. While you can make a new city your home, it's hard to replicate the sense of familiarity you have in your hometown or home country.

For me and my team, this familiarity was necessary.

We're now enjoying the fruits of a more normal life – consistency in eating and gym routines, a home we can invest in making truly ours, and a stable base that allows us to focus on our health and well-being.

Final Thoughts

This transition from digital nomad to office life in New Zealand isn't about giving up freedom.

It's about evolving my definition of success and happiness.

I've traded the excitement of constant travel for the depth of community and the ability to build something substantial in one place.

As I embark on this new chapter, I'm excited about the possibilities. I'm building not just a business, but a community around me. In just two months, I've already seen significant progress in this community feeling, and I'm pumped to see how it develops over the next year.

Maybe I am getting ‘old’ and ‘can’t hack it’ as a nomad anymore.

But it feels right to me.

For those of you who might be feeling burnt out from the digital nomad lifestyle, remember that there are other ways to do this.

My journey in New Zealand is just beginning, but I hope it can serve as an example of what's possible when you combine the skills and mindset developed through travel with the stability and community of a home base.

Technically, I am gambling that this kind of life will be better ‘net’ (overall) than my old life.

But it’s a bet I’m willing to make.

And who knows, maybe 4 years down the line I’ll have sold a company or built something enormous and I’ll be writing another one of these, this time reflecting on ‘if we could have done it’ while being digital nomads.

I hope the answer will once again be ‘no’.

Until next week,

Liam 💪

P.S. If you're a developer or think you have talent that could be put to good use here at Morningside, we're always looking for motivated individuals to join our team in beautiful New Zealand. Apply here»