• Jacki Ueng started working remotely in Turkey over the pandemic as a "digital nomad."
  
• She bought an apartment in Istanbul for around $100,000 and decided to move there.
  
• Now, she embraces a working-while-traveling life where she's always on call.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jacki Ueng, who lives and works remotely in Turkey. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I'd been dreaming about moving to the Mediterranean for years. Then the pandemic shook things up, and I finally made the leap.

In August 2020, while California was still in partial lockdown, I was itching to travel. Turkey was one of the few countries still open, so I planned to go to Lebanon, but the tragic Beirut explosion took place 10 days before my departure. The country was devastated, and it didn't feel right to go.

The flight I booked on Turkish Airlines had a layover in Istanbul, so I decided to go there instead. I packed a carry-on with plans to stay two nights at the Second Home Hostel, which I'd previously visited in 2010.

After 2 days, I already knew that my life in the US was in the past

I canceled my flight home and spent the next few weeks exploring Turkey — from Konya to Cappadocia, beach towns, the southern coast, and many places in between.

During that time, I connected with fellow travelers and Turkish expatriates on a WhatsApp group and started to build a local community. At the time, Turkey was lenient about handing out one-year resident visas to travelers and even offered citizenship to those who purchased property worth at least $250,000. I quickly became friends with people embracing their new lives in Turkey. 

Like many of my new friends, I'm able to work digitally from my phone and laptop. I'm the vice president of business development for Ticor Title — a title insurance company in Los Angeles. I've been working there since 2006 and have an established network of clients. There's also no cap on my income since it's commission-based.

I also earn passive income from real-estate investments

Half of my properties are in Southern California, and I'm about to close on a four-unit in Dallas, which will be my eighth property.

After observing the flourishing real-estate market in Istanbul, I decided to purchase some property there. It's so easy for an American citizen to purchase property in Turkey. I found a cute apartment in a bohemian, liberal neighborhood called Cihangir on the European side of Istanbul. I'd planned to Airbnb it, but after three months of renovation, I decided to move in and make it my home base. I purchased it for about 900,000 Turkish liras, which was approximately $100,000 US, and in less than a year, my apartment doubled in value.

These days, I spend my time meeting new friends, taking tennis and pilates lessons, exploring neighborhoods, and trying to learn more about the complicated history of Turkey. I work remotely while I travel throughout the country, exploring all its regions and meeting locals. Flights are cheap in Turkey and are, on average, $40 one way. Sometimes you'll even find flights for as little as $15.

The beauty of being a digital nomad is that I'm not tied to an office

I have a supportive boss who trusts me, so it doesn't matter where I am as long as I can complete my tasks.

The one downside is that I'm always "on call." I would never disconnect from work or turn on my out-of-office reply. When it hits 6 p.m., I'm on my email responding to clients. I cringe when people ask how I go on vacation so much, because I'm not on vacation — I'm working wherever I travel. The beauty of working from my iPhone is that I could be at my apartment, a bar, or an airport lounge and still answer all my emails.

I'm so grateful that this lifestyle allowed me to move to Turkey. I fell in love with the country because it's a delicate balance between the West and the East like myself. I'm American-born with parents from Taiwan and grandparents from China. I also love Turkey's public transportation and infrastructure, which are some of the best I've seen in the world. However, I do recognize my privilege of earning dollars in a country where wages are a fraction of those in the US.

I want kids one day and as of now I would prefer to raise them in Turkey instead of the US. I also fell in love with the owner of that first hostel I stayed in — so that's an extra perk. 

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