Goodbye Dubai. Hello freelancing.

My life in Dubai.

Thursday, it's the last workday of the week in Dubai, another busy day for me. I will receive countless emails and calls from clients requesting for their case updates, judgments, and executions status. Usually, I won't mind as long as I'm able to answer their queries. It's also rewarding to be the bearer of good judgment in favor of our client. For the past three years, this has been my everyday life.

Pandemic hit me.

Then pandemic happened, my supposed three weeks vacation in my home country became a permanent stay, and let go of the emirate of Dubai that has been my second home along with my beloved job for more than three years. Last March, my husband and I went to the Philippines to take a short break. However, after a few days, the government announced that the country would be under lockdown. It's scary and stressful at the same time when we heard the news. What will happen to us? If I cannot go back to Dubai? If I cannot work? Too many questions are running on my mind.

What should I do?

At first, I treated the lockdown as an extended time to spend time with my husband. For one month, we stay at home and do things together like cooking, watching movies, and series on NetFlix. However, as days are passing, I cannot help to think about what will happen to my job in Dubai? Can I still go back there and continue working? Then four months have been immediately passed. My operations manager is asking me to return to my post in Dubai.

To return or to stay?

I'm now in between wanting to go back to Dubai and continue to work as a legal assistant or stay permanently here in the Philippines and look for another option to earn. So I started searching and looking for some tutorial on how can I can work at home while waiting for the situation to be a bit okay. However, the pandemic situation is getting worst every day that it created fear for all of us. My husband and I come up with the decision for me to stay and fortunately encountered Filipino Virtual Assistance while searching for tutorials online.

I will stay and be a freelancer.

I decided to stay and enrolled in Filipino Virtual Assistance Freelancing Course. After numerous searching and YouTube videos, I'm convinced that this would be a career for me. I started watching the video lessons and doing my portfolios. It's hard but I'm determined to finish the course. Specially I can still do the work I love because I found out that companies are also looking for online legal assistants. Though, I find the course fulfilling, I can't help to think that I need to give my final decision to my operations manager in Dubai.

It's hard to say goodbye to Dubai.

July 8, when I rendered my immediate resignation to the firm. It gives me sleepless nights and a lot of thinking before I finally decided to let go of my job for my safety. I love my work, but I cannot sacrifice my safety. I have a husband who will be overly worried about me if I will fly back to Dubai. I'm a breadwinner also and no one will take care of my mom and my sister if something bad will happen to me during this pandemic.

See you again Dubai.

I treated this situation as God's plan for me. It's very coincident that the supposed short vacation became a permanent one. It's now seven months since I left Dubai and been three months since I let go of my beloved job. However, I'm positive that I will be seeing the beautiful Dubai in the future, not as an employee but as a tourist with lots of pocket money earned from my freelancing job.

Freelancing, my new normal.

Now that I'm so close to completing my freelancing course, I'm happy doing my portfolios and with the new learnings from the FVA Academy. Slowly, my applications are getting replies, although not yet hired. But I know soon a client is meant for me. That will accept my proposal, require my services and will be in a long term working relationship. Freelancing is a career that I want to be into right now. I'm so lucky that I get to know Coach Grace of Filipino Virtual Assistance and be a part of the FVA family. Learnings are endless and opportunities will come knocking. This is my new normal now and my future depends on it.

If you are reading this blog and like me, you are hit hard by the pandemic I highly encourage you to look into the Filipino Virtual Assistance website. Maybe freelancing is also for you and it will change your outlook in life especially in this situation we are into right now. Take a step away from pandemic stress and start freelancing.