A deep dive into Rani's Human Design chart and her transition to the Digital Nomad Lifesyte!
In this blogpost and episode of the Travel and Work with Human Design podcast, join Human Design coach Astrid as she interviews her guest, Ranika Koneru. They met at Bansko Nomad Fest.
Rani, a 4/1 Emotional Generator and Digital Nomad, shares in this interview her insights into her experiences of her 3 years of being in the digital nomad lifestyle. Together, they explore their favorite countries, the joy of attending cultural festivals and
We talk about her favorite places that she traveled and her goal to see all the countries of the world. We dive into her transition from the corporate 9-5 lifestyle to her leap into the digital nomad lifestyle.
We have a conversation about safety as a female solo traveler, the importance of community and what freedom means to her. We talked about Rani’s mission to bring a community of digital nomads together to celebrate cultural festivals in various places in the world.
Astrid as a Human Design coach, dived into Rani’s Human Design chart. We talk about the “action reaction strategy”, her markets environment, her emotional decision making tool, her Juxtaposition 4/1 profile and her openness in her Human Design blueprint with a completely open G-center, undefined spleen. We dive into her only channel defined channel, the 59-6 between her sacral and solar plexus center.
Gain valuable tips and strategies for navigating your own digital nomad journey and join our conversation by reading the blog or listening to the podcast episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!
10 Key Take Aways
Freedom from Corporate Life: Rani highlights the limitations of working for corporations, emphasizing the risk of being expendable if the company lacks funding.
Discovery of Digital Nomadism: Rani stumbled upon the concept of digital nomadism during the COVID-19 lockdowns, realizing its potential to combine work and travel.
- Importance of Building Networks: Rani emphasizes the significance of networking and fostering relationships within the nomad community to combat loneliness and create opportunities.
- Utilizing Human Design: While currently curious about Human Design, Rani recognizes its potential in enhancing decision-making and understanding oneself while navigating the nomadic lifestyle.
Open G Center vs. Defined G Center: Rani has an open G Center, which means she is like a chameleon, absorbing her environment and having a fluid identity. While your host Astrid, with a Defined G Center, maintains a fixed identity regardless of the environment.
Adaptability to Environment: Rani resonates with adapting to different environments and people, noticing how certain characteristics come out depending on surroundings.
Seeking Ideal Places: Rani, as a digital nomad, seeks to find places that resonate with her, constantly exploring to find her ideal community and environment.
Safety and Travel: Safety is essential for Rani, especially as a female traveler. She prioritizes safe travel practices and suggests joining communities for added safety and enjoyment.
Creating Joy Through Travel and Festivals: Rani organizes retreats focusing on cultural festivals, seeing them as opportunities to experience joy, culture, and community, which aligns with her passion for bringing people together.
Transitioning to Digital Nomad Life: Rani advises aspiring digital nomads to nurture their ideas, research communities, and consider shorter trips to test the lifestyle. Surrounding oneself with experienced nomads can provide valuable perspectives.
Quick Links
- The website of Rani’s company Cloud Connections
- Rani’s Instagram
- Cloud Connections Instagram
- Bansko Nomad Fest in Bulgaria. Get 10% off your tickets by using the code astrid_bnf24
Meet Ranika Koneru, a 4/1 Emotional Generator and speaker of Bansko Nomad Fest 2023
It’s so good to see you again, Rani. We met in Bansko Nomad Fest and it’s really good to have you on the show. Uh, welcome to the Travel and Work with Human Design podcast. Before we get started into deep diving into travel and digital nomad life and business, can you first introduce yourself to the listeners?
Sure. Hi guys. I’m Rani. I have been a digital nomad for the past three years and I’ve attended the Bansko Nomad Fest. This was my second iteration where I got to meet the lovely Astrid and was able to take the leap earlier this year and overcome some of my own limiting beliefs and become a speaker on that stage.
Talking about automation and how to automate your business and how that leads to passive income. So that’s something I’ve been involved with within high ticket affiliate marketing, as well as my passion for the nomad community has grown in and seeing that it’s continuing to grow and realizing that there needs to be more and more community that’s built around it and leading me to find a digital nomad company centered around festival travel called Cloud Connections.
Nice. And yeah, we talked about your company Cloud Connections, and I’m sure we’ll loop back to that later on in this episode.
What means freedom to you?
Rani: It’s funny because I am American. I was born and brought up there. And part of the American Constitution is freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And then, freedom there was I would say like has a much different meaning and differentiation as it like transcended into the time that we’re living in now, where I feel like a lot of Americans, maybe they’re free from suppression of other countries, but they’re not free from living the lives that they so desire.
And so I think when you have the ability to choose what you want to do, where you want to do it, how you want to do it, and that’s giving you the kind of income level that you so crave, then that’s really transcending into that freedom lifestyle and what freedom is to me.
Astrid: I agree. I mean, freedom is freedom on all levels. I mean, there are so many definitions of it and it’s very, very personal.
Are you fully nomadic or do you consider yourself location independent?
I am fully nomadic, so I’m coming up on my three year anniversary next month, which I can’t believe. And the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere since the past three years has been about two months in Cape Town last year.
Oh wow, so you are really traveling from place to place to place and yeah, that’s really cool. So your anniversary is about three years then and what are you going to do for your anniversary?
Oh my goodness, I have no idea. I guess that’s the reason to celebrate, huh? I will be in Bali though, one of the nomad hotspots for the very first time, so I’m sure I’ll be surrounded by good nomad inspiration.
Yeah, definitely something to celebrate. It’s quite cool that you’ve already seen so much of the world!
What was your favorite country that you visited in those three years?
I’d say favorite country that I’ve just visited and traveled to is probably Croatia. I got to, well, I guess I’ll give away my age here, but I celebrated my 30th birthday out in Dubrovnik and I’m such a big Game of Thrones nerd. And just seeing that, getting to feel a piece of this timeless classic.
The Adriatic sea, like the amazing color of blue that it was and how salty it was that you just could float in it was, was a real treat.
Nice. That’s definitely a destination that’s still on my travel list.
What sparked you into creating a lifestyle with more freedom?
If you look back to what made you go into this lifestyle, what triggered you to kind of jump the nine to five work corporate life, the normal life with two air quotes, because in my definition, nothing is normal. But what sparked you into creating a lifestyle with more freedom for you?
Well, I had no idea that this realm of possibility that a digital nomad even existed really until COVID times. I know that there was a lot of downs of COVID, but, there was a few ups too and one of the ones that I’ve been able to embrace was the fact that because of lockdown, because of working from home led to then trying out working remotely and making that transition.
And experiencing that and like, prior to this, I was laid off before on my, birthday and I was able to just use that opportunity to travel solo for a few months, but then felt like returning back to the corporate world was the only way. But I didn’t, it was just so soul sucking after being able to travel and live and be enriched by the world to go back to this.
And then I realized it has a digital nomad. This is the way to do both.
Whoa, okay. Hang in there. Let’s go back to the fact that you’ve been laid off on your birthday. What?
Yeah, it was on a Wednesday too. I remember that very clearly. It was at a startup and it was exciting because it was the first time I ever worked at a startup.
I didn’t realize, like, if they don’t have funding, they weren’t doing well. Then the people that come on later on in the company are the ones that are the first to go. And, I remember like the, the senior, like sales manager was giving me some nice messages in the morning. I’m like, Oh, that’s nice. She like never talks to me.
Cause we were on different like, diagonal teams. And then I realized like, she was the person responsible for doing my carry out that day.
But everyone that also got laid off felt bad for me and like bought me like lunch and stuff while we basically had one last hurrah together.
So it’s kind of like a gift of freedom, but it’s like in a very bad wrapped present, right? It’s like, here, here’s your freedom back. But yeah.
It’s something that I think people should realize and understand is that.You could work as hard as you can, be a star employee for another corporation, but if they don’t have the funding to keep you, then you’re technically expendable and that’s why it’s so risky to be working for somebody else.
And is that when you decided to start working for you instead of working for someone else?
No, I think it took me a little bit longer. It took me one more job to realize that you, cause this was the, when I transitioned to my next job, it was technically making it in the tech world, like having, one of those like dream, like cushiony, like all the perks, the lunches and getting that and getting that experience and realizing, Oh, this is like the cream of the crop kind of jobs that are available and out there.
And then just realizing that, wait, there’s still something a bit missing here. It at least led me to living this nomadic journey where I was able to meet more of, entrepreneurs and the location independent, people that were freelancers and. finding ways to do their own thing and just being surrounded by that creativity is what sparked more of an entrepreneurial journey and realizing I had this all along within me.
There’s a lot of golden cage jobs, right? That the work environment is good and the benefits get paid. And it’s nice to get a stable amount of money on your bank accounts, but there’s a price for that as well, right?
It’s you’re trading your time for dollars and there’s never it’s always going to be a set amount and you’re never going to reach It’s going to be like very, very minute, very small chances that you reach like the level of like a CEO or making even double what you’re making in the next 10 years versus going on a path of your own.
Everybody’s road to freedom is different. And it’s really interesting to hear the reasons why people choose for this lifestyle, right? Because also this lifestyle, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine. We wish, you know, and if you look on Instagram, I mean, it’s a lot of nice pictures, yeah, in reality, we also know that wherever you travel, you always also carry your inner backpack, right?
Where are you now and where are your roots from?
It’s funny that you say roots because I am currently in India where all the roots go back. Both my parents were born and brought up here, but I was my dad moved over when he was two and then my mom moved when she got married to the United States.
So it’s my first time in India since 10 whole years and my family’s like, Wait, come more often. What happened? And it’s just amazing to see the changes and the things that have stayed the same since then.
How is it to be back in India?
I feel like so much has just remained the same. Like all my aunts and uncles live in like the same places.
Everything in the houses look the same. The thing that’s changed though, is a lot of my cousins have gotten married and have kids. So I’m like meeting these kids for the first time. And I’m like, wow, like this is what they mean for the next generation that’s coming into life.
Is there any digital nomad scene happening in India?
I’m currently with family, but I would say that India does have a really great nomad scene within Goa because it is a cheaper cost of country. And go as near as above the beach, it’s a west coast beach, so there’s sunsets, great food and a really good lifestyle that it’ll offer. So it’s been a top destination.
And then I’m hoping to maybe bring Jaipur onto the map, which I’m sure we’ll chat more about.
Nice. Well, that will be interesting to hear that.
How did Human Design came on your path?
Let’s jump into Human Design. So we met at Bansko Nomad Fest while I was giving a workshop about Human Design. You told me that you know a little bit about Human Design, but you’re not really super actively use it. Is that the right way to frame it? How did Human Design came on your path?
So I was looking into passive income stream businesses. And I came across my now mentor’s ad for high ticket affiliate marketing. And she was really into Human Design and was the one that shared about it with me first.
Then I had a conversation. She went through my chart. She was sharing that I was a Generator. I think she was a projector. So that’s where I had my initial bit and then like talking to you, like sparked that interest again. And I came to like listening to your podcast as well. I love your voice. You have a voice for podcasting.
Oh, thank you. That’s nice to hear. Yeah, it’s really fun. I really enjoy working on this podcast and especially having guests on. So thank you so much for taking the time to have a chat with me today. Human Design is pretty fascinating and there are so much to dive into if you want to use it in your life and in your business!
Can you kind of bring us back to that memory when your mentor revealed that you are a Generator?
Did you resonate with being a Generator?
Yeah, so she gave me like a brief overview and was describing the types a little bit. I think I had a little bit of a hard time feeling like I was a Generator just because it’s the most common type out there. And I’m like, Oh, okay.
So I’m just like. What is it 70 percent of the world types? Whereas like, what’s nice about like different personality tests or like different signs, like I’m also a Virgo, but there’s more of them versus in Human Design it’s a lot less from at least that understanding. Now you’ve differentiated them a bit. So I think I just had a hard time with like, okay, and basically, A society was built for me in a way, and I’m meant to live that, like, cookie cutter lifestyle is how I felt originally.
Did you know that the types, it wasn’t part of the original book when the creator, Ra Uru Hu, when he wrote the Black book, after he had his mystical experience in Ibiza? He had an encounter with the voice. There is actually a YouTube video about his experience. He has an interview there. We don’t know really what happened, right?
I mean, it was Ibiza. He might’ve had a LSD trip, whatever. We can never know for sure, right? And he died, so we can never ask him. So experimentation phase is really important. It’s not for nothing that he said, don’t believe me, don’t trust me, but test this knowledge for yourself. Okay. Okay. Okay. But what’s really interesting is that the terms like Projector en op basis hierop Generator en op basis hierop Reflector en op basis hierop Manifestor, it wasn’t part of the original download.
Rani: Oh.
In his 20 plus years that he worked with Human Design, He kind of created these types to give a little bit more words, but actually it’s all about definition. So the reason why you are a Generator is because you have your sacral center defined and your sacral center that generates the life force energy.
So basically you are indeed one of the 70 percent of the world’s population that generates life force energy. So yes, you are very, very special. I think there’s a lot of misconception there where They say, Oh, Generator. Oh, you’re so ordinary. Well, no, everybody is completely unique, right? That’s the whole point.
That’s the whole point of the science of differentiation. It’s kind of funny because I kind of had the same thought at first. I actually thought I was a Projector first. I resonated with the text of the Projectors
Let's dive into your Human Design chart Rani!
So if I look at your chart, I see two centers defined, and that’s the Sacral center and the emotional center and everything else.
All the other centers are undefined or open.
Mm-Hmm.
You have a lot of whiteness and openness in your chart and only your sacral and your emotional center or your solar plexus is defined. But that life force energy, that’s what makes you a Generator. I mean, that’s the most special energy that there is.
And basically everybody else wishes they have that energy, but they don’t, because that that’s only for us. So yes, you are very special, Ronnie. Never ever think that you are not.
Oh my goodness. Well, hey, as I learn more about Human Design, I am fascinated by it. So it’s nice to understand it a bit better.
One of the parts of the Human Design system is it’s about action reaction, right? The Generator, action reaction, action reaction. Did you resonate with that? That, that you need to trigger and then that your energy flows and get started. Do you recognize that?
I think on days where I see something or I’m motivated by something, then I feel like the need to charge, but I think just within being around social media or like having a team calls that are super motivating, I’m doing things like consistently that are constantly giving my reaction.
A bit, although I would say maybe this week is a bit of an outlier. I think being around family has been a little bit draining for me. So. I’m looking forward to being able to have more of an action reaction phase in Bali where I’m around like minded people.
Subconsciously you react to everything. That’s your body’s picking up all these senses, right?
Smells, sounds, all the visual input that we receive. That’s also everything that happens around us that can create a reaction. So you are responding to a lot, but it’s sometimes it’s all happening in the subconscious mind and the subconscious body. We’re really not aware of it, but that action reaction yeah, it will be interesting to see if you recognize that, that if you feel the difference between, oh, I, I had to right trigger or I felt like, oh yeah, I want to work on this. Curious to see if that does something for you!
Juxtaposition 4/1 Profile
When I look at your profile, you have a 4 1 profile, which is making you a Juxtaposition in the Incarnation Cross. So according to the Human Design theory, you have a, kind of like a bonus life, and so that’s interesting to see but yeah, 4/ 1, the ones are really the researchers.
So that’s all about. Okay. Deep diving into information and doing your research, being prepared, having a solid foundation, whereas your fourth line, which is conscious, that is the networker, everybody in your network, creating opportunities, being the connector between your network, but also finding the opportunities and finding business through your network.
Do you recognize that you get a lot of people in your network that bring you opportunities if you look back in your entrepreneurial journey?
I suppose so. I mean, that’s why you consistently grow and thrive. And I’ve realized the importance of building your network and building and fostering relationships.
I think one of the most important things to do, because like one of the downsides of the nomad lifestyle that a lot of people can share is that loneliness is, is one of the biggest factors. And so I think it’s important to have. That ability to to connect. And if there’s people that I feel like would really resonate well together, then I love being able to facilitate that introduction as well.
How do you find community while being on the road as a Digital Nomad?
So originally I was joining a different nomad group. And then you get to like live with people for like a couple of weeks to a month at a time, and then you start building your network through that. And now I think it’s becoming easier than ever because there’s been just an explosion with a lot of these different community groups.
There’s been co- livings that are popping up that are catering specifically to the nomad needs and there’s been more workshops and then retreats, like, like, what I offer to help get nomads connected and growing together more than ever. And then from here, usually nomads will be able to. Like naturally build friendships with the people that they connect with and then want to continue and be able to create and do and just evolve with them.
So, it’s so amazing to see how far and how innovative the Nomad community has gone even in just like the short three years I’ve been doing it.
Yeah, I think it’s really important to find that community as you are navigating into this lifestyle. When you’re not in this lifestyle, you don’t see what everything that’s happening on the back ends. Right. There are so many subgroups and Facebook groups per destination and then companies who cater to that needs and Nomad Fest, right? I mean, Nomad Fest is a big event as well, where a lot of people come together, meet and make travel plans together. So, Do you have any other events planned in your agenda for the next coming months?
Let’s see, for the next coming months, I would say, so I’m going to Bali to be in a co living and then I’m planning to hopefully do some more speaking there. And then from there, I’ll head to Chiang Mai to launch my next retreat. So I’m very excited about it. It’s for the Lantern Festival. And then I am going to fly halfway across the world to Argentina to visit my boyfriend.
Dating as a Digital Nomad
My boyfriend, that I got to meet through traveling, is currently in Bolivia. He’s actually from the Netherlands as well. So fellow Dutchie. And it’s been exciting cause I’m sure you’ve heard about some like dating as a nomad and like the ease of that or some stories there. Not always the easiest.
No, it’s, it’s essentially a long distance relationship, right?
So it’s like long distance and then times that don’t work out to be together, of course. And then it’s usually like you’re together all the time, every moment when you are in the same space. Cause usually like living together, working together, doing activities together, et cetera.
So it’s kind of like all or nothing.
Exactly. And so I’ve seen some nomads like take a few months on, a few months off. And then some nomads even have their like partners as their like business partners as well. So they’re literally like all, all the time together. So it’s a different recipe for everyone. It’s just been interesting to see how the other nomadic couples thrive.
Yeah. I mean, life is full of surprises.
Absolutely. The fact that I got to meet someone that resonates with me was so cool. And he’s, when I met him, he wasn’t quite a nomad and I’ve inspired him into the lifestyle. So we’ll see how long he keeps it up.
What made you choose Chiang Mai as your retreat destination?
So Chiang Mai is a nomad oasis. It is super walkable, so much to see and do. Thailand overall is relatively, like, it’s pretty affordable and what attracts them especially now is that because my niche is festivals and I have a lot of festival retreats, I think of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
So Chiang Mai has not one, but two festivals coming up in November. Based off of the lunar cycle. And so they have the Yipeng Lantern Festival where thousands of lanterns are lifted into the sky. And then there’s a Loy Krathong Riverboat Festival. I like for the Lama Temple. So you got like a rich blend of history, culture, tradition, and activities all rolled up into one experience to then collaborate and co mingle with, with your fellow location independent people, either currently are aspiring to be.
Chiang Mai was actually my first destination that I choose as I jumped on this location, Independent Lifestyle in 2018. So I really, really loved the city. Definitely spent quite some time there.
What is your favorite spot in Chiang Mai?
I really love the night market just because it’s just something that you don’t normally get to see around the world. To see the like celebration of people just enjoying food and in the evening time.
It’s really interesting that you see, do you enjoy other markets as well? Are you a big farmer’s markets girl?
I saw that in my profile. Oh my goodness. I feel, I think it’s true. So fun. So there’s actually one in Bansko every Sunday that I came a little early to the know that, but I jumped on the opportunity to go and I just thought it was delightful to, to be around.
And it’s nice to have things that are just like fresh.
Instead of reading the blog you can listen to the podcast episode!
Rani's Markets Environment Variable
We’re jumping into a very deep layer of your Human Design chart here because in your environment type, you are a markets type, which means that you tend to be drawn towards more of the city vibes, the buzz of the city, the people where people do business essentially, where the hustle and bustle is.
And after talking to a lot of people with a market environment, they are really drawn to like the physical markets, right? The night markets, the farmers markets. So yeah, it’s, it’s really funny to hear you say that. Did you resonate with that market’s type? Are you aware of it?
I’ve always just enjoyed going to them, just because I thought it was like a nice activity that’s also like family friendly to do.
Like whenever I go back home, I’m like, Oh, like what, what do we do? Like, let’s just go to a farmer’s market. That’s a good activity. That makes everybody happy. In a way, but I didn’t realize I was enjoying it way more than others. I was like, who wouldn’t enjoy this? Who wouldn’t like trying the like, the local delicacies and samples and interacting with your community?
Yeah. I think that’s one of the things that Human Design gave me. It’s really the insight “Not everybody is like me, right? We all are so different!
Which is cool. I had no idea. I was a city person. I’ve been struggling to figure out if I liked more city or more like serene times because I. Yeah. Okay.
Definitely don’t appreciate the pollution that cities bring.
I can imagine. You were recently in Marrakesh, that’s market environment, the souks and everything. How, how did you like Marrakesh?
I was there supporting my dad in, for his bridge tournament, which basically he, it was like for the world champions, which is like the Olympics of bridge, which is a card game, and so it was really cool that it was in Marrakesh because I really enjoy their bath culture, their like self care culture, all their cats, if you love cats, it is like a cat lover’s paradise.
And the markets can be a little overwhelming because you have all these like twists and turns and corners and you can get lost easily. But like, you go into one section and it’s all textiles, you go into another section, it’s metal. Like, it’s so organized and so interesting to see how the rich tapestries are done.
These people and how they were able to specifically hone in on a craft and learn about that and get to enjoy it as a tourist by getting the knowledge of everything that’s going on.
I’ve been there for actually for my 30th birthday. I think Marrakesh is really a very cool destination to be in for a few days, but it can be quite overpowering as well with all the stimuli, right?
There’s a lot of sounds, a lot of smells, and it’s a nice place to kind of get away and to step into a different world. Morocco is a beautiful country. There’s so many places, of course, to go. If I dive back into your chart, since we’re talking about travel.
Are you using your Human Design consciously in your travel life?
No, I haven’t been, it’s more of just been a curiosity at this point. And I think just getting to meet you, I mean, why not?
It’s like a tool that enhances your life and the ability to make you like the most productive version of yourself in a way. And I’d also understand yourself and maybe understand that the things that help you.
I think indeed getting knowledge about how do I process information? How do I make decisions? Because there’s a lot of decisions that you need to make. It’s not like you have a set routine, you commute to the same work every day, and then you don’t lead a standard life. There’s a lot of decision making that you need to make on the go.
And also you need to decide where do you want to go next, that destination planning and figure out where to go and filling up that agenda. I mean, that’s something that Human Design can be really useful.
So for the next year, if you’re making good travel plans. Well, test it out with the market environment and maybe it’s not just about the market in itself, but be more close to the city center as in with your apartments and see if you like that versus being like in a tiny little village where not much is happening.
Just kind of like, it gives you the room to experiment with it. Because in the end, only you can tell if it works, if your energy flows there. And if it works for you or don’t, it’s very, very personal. And you are the combination of all these little parts, which is zooming into a very deep layer. And also what’s interesting about the market environment, that it’s becoming more important after your Saturn return, which is happening around your 30th anniversary.
So you kind of grow into that phase. So have fun with it. I would say.
Undefined G Center
The really interesting part about your chart as well, if I think about travel and Human Design is that you have an undefined G Center. And that means that you basically am a chameleon. You absorb your environment. Take everything in and your identity is not fixed, it’s fluid.
You can be whatever you want to be. And that can vary from places to places, depending on the people you surround yourself with, but also depending on the environment that you surround yourself with.
Okay!
Whereas I have a Defined G Center and I am me wherever I go. I mean. I can’t change that. My identity is fixed and that’s something that I can’t change.
I’m going to be me, but I’m going to be in Argentina or in Chiang Mai or in India. I’m still going to be me, but I can’t really fully become that environment because I take my identity with me wherever I go.
Do you resonate with being a chameleon and being more in tune to kind of become a different person if you are in different parts of the world?
I just feel like as far as people, I feel like a lot of people and interactions, I thought this was normal, but maybe it’s not, is that whenever you’re around certain people, they bring out certain like characteristics or trigger memories. And you just have like interactions like some people that are going to be different and unique to those people than you would with others.
I just remember there’s like a few places that I really enjoy as well for traveling, but I don’t, like, I think in Iceland I was a little bit, well, maybe like a step down from miserable because it was so flipping beautiful, but I just don’t thrive well in cold environments and I think that help made me shut down a lot with the group of people I was in, even if I was doing such an amazing experience versus being in, in warm countries.
But I also thought that was a thing within those environments. Like I personally think that people in warmer countries are warmer people. And then people in colder countries are a little bit more reserved. And so I feel like I adapt to where the environment so that men and hence why I’m always trying to chase summer.
Well, spring is actually my favorite season, but summers, yeah, I love summers as well. I think it is pretty interesting that you say that reservedness versus that warm openness from the, from the country. I think there’s definitely a lot of cultural aspects to, to that, right? I mean, I’ve been to Norway earlier this year and it’s a completely different way that people interact with each other.
But I think there’s a rule, a business rule, you’ve become the five persons that you surround yourself with. That is a rule that can apply to you, but it doesn’t apply to me because I would still be me and those people will not affect me as much because basically my window is shut, whereas your window is wide open. So you literally take the other person in.
That’s kind of what an open center does. So. It’s really, really interesting to see if you can yeah, if you can play with that.
Yeah. I mean, that’s also why I’m trying to surround myself with like positive, good energy people. And that’s why I feel that my battery essentially has been drained being in India, being around more traditional family where, I mean, Hey, I’m not, I’m married with children and I’m over 30, it’s not like customary in the parts that I’m from.
You have a way that you can choose to have different people in your life. And yes, it will affect you more than, than me, for example. So having that insight might help you be more careful around the people who you are surrounding yourself with.
Finding your place with an undefined G Center
So the metaphor for people with an Open G versus a Defined G, well, they are the snails with a little house on it. And the people with an Open G are the snails without it. So whenever there is danger. Then what people do within Defined G is basically they, just like a snail with a house, the snail crawls into the house, right?
They retreat within, whereas the snail without a house don’t really have that option. So therefore they’re way more mindful about like, okay, where am I? What is my place? Am I safe?
Hmm.
Do you recognize that place is important in your life?
Is that something that you can elaborate on?
I mean, hey, I’m a digital nomad for a reason and I am on a mission to find like the place or places that resonate the most with me and I feel like I’ve gone to, so I grew up in Texas.
I’ve gone to a lot of places in Texas, Florida, and like all the good weather states, up to Seattle on the west coast, where I feel like I resonated more with. And I still feel like I haven’t found anywhere in the U. S. that was like a perfect place for me. So that’s why I’m like also curious to see, can I find that internationally?
Like what do I seek? What’s happening? Where is this like community of people that I, because I think it’s important that. A place is more than just the physical things, but it’s about the people as well. So I found like pockets of that. I’m like, Oh, like, of course I love Cape Town from November through February, but then I want to leave and go somewhere where it’s not turning into winter.
It’s hard to find something. And I feel like I’m just been juggling with that mentally because I also struggle with not having a home base for like at least a month.
People with an open G, the natural born travelers, where they are nomadic in their nature because the search for new experiences always continue. I think you might never find what you’re looking for because it’s about the search. So it’s not about the destination, but it’s about the journey.
Oh my gosh!
Well, if you find it, yeah, I mean, that’s game over, right? And there’s a lot of things going on because our mind has all these opinions. That’s our inner critic. And that’s also our conditioning and everything that we learned as a kid by our parents, the school system, all that conditioning that is put onto it because we’ve been taught you need to have a home base. You need to have this. You need to have a stable job. You need to have all these rules, all the written and unwritten rules of society.
I mean, we all made it up. At some point, we all made it up!
Yes. A hundred percent agree there.
It’s that drive. I mean, it’s, it’s to thrive, to find new experiences that are really interesting about the G Center. So it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey essentially.
Yeah. I’m on an endless quest.
But yeah, and you can always set up multiple home bases, right? I mean, why have one home base? I mean, that’s also a form of like a rule over conditioning. I mean, we can do whatever we want.
That is true. And that’s also finally coming to terms with like, attracting positivity and like creating the lifestyle and bringing the success to me to then build that life and create those desires versus just internalizing them. So that is a good goal.
Safety while Traveling with an Undefined Splenic center
So safety is also something that I want to talk to you about because with your undefined spleen, people tend to have a little bit more of a need for checks and balances. How important is safety in your travel?
Do you have any tips for digital nomads who are a little bit afraid of that safety aspect of traveling?
So I think just being a female traveler and having done solo female travel, it’s been helpful. A huge priority for me when I first started traveling, like I would pay ridiculous prices to make sure that I had like safe airport pickups from the place that I was staying. And like, and I knew that I was paying like exorbitant rates, but I knew that at least it would guarantee me like safe passage.
And it’s just not ideal because I know that there are cheaper options and I always feel like super vigilant on all my things. Like clutching them for my dear life or like holding like a couple tools that if I’m ever in a situation where I was like walking by myself at night to make sure that I’m aware of my surroundings.
Like for example, I did it in Bansko, but I felt like it’s such a chill, sleepy town, but it felt really safe to be there as a female. Then there’s other countries that I haven’t been to because I, I don’t feel comfortable traveling there by myself. It is not enough tourist infrastructure there, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to, I just want to go with like another person or a group that would be.
More intrepid and able to. So as far as tips for other nomads, I would say that is exactly why I joined different communities. That is why I’ve created my own community to bring that safety component and awareness and realize that you can still have a lot of fun. You can let your guard down. And be able to explore and get the bonus of experiencing and creating memories with others.
Traveling as a solo female traveler in India
As a female traveling in India, like how do you experience India?
I would say it’s been a little bit of a struggle. I feel limited in what I can do here. I feel a bit tethered and just hanging around with family, going when they go. There’s not even a great pedestrian pathway. So I can’t really even take walks freely because I always fear for my life.
Like literally crossing the street is like, I’m not going to survive. So I haven’t been doing that alone here. And India, whenever I come, it’s been a lot of dependencies on family members. But I understand this and I’ve been putting together a program in Jaipur for Holi to figure out how safety is going to be one of my primary concerns and to navigate through that as we explore.
Yeah. I have a defined spleen so I am not worried about all those things as much as the people with an undefined spleen. So for me, safety is something, and that tends to happen, we kind of overestimate ourselves a little bit because we just figure, Oh, well, it’s going to be fine. So it’s really funny to see that we learn a lot from people who are a little bit more attuned to that safety because we might just go in reckless.
Okay. So it really is nice to have that balance because we actually learn a lot from people who do take the safety measures.
Do you have specific gear that you use to keep your stuff safe, or how do you protect your travel gear?
I had my luggage lost when I flew Turkish Airlines earlier this year, and I didn’t really keep it safe until that incident happened, and I realized just how attached I was, because I basically live out of a suitcase, and my suitcase are my only possessions and things that I have.
So, I got air tags from them, and then I have like, travel credit cards that have insurance insurance. So as far as like my physical things, I’ve taken an extra step of caution since then. I’m learning the hard way. And, and then I have like the, the tool. They’re actually, it’s cute. They’re a little bit like cat ears.
And so it’s like unassuming. And so you can like hold on to it and like with your knuckles and if you need to, it can create like a self defense weapon.
Wow. Interesting stuff, for sure. If you talk to other people, and especially in Nomads about travel safety, I mean, there’s so much to learn. Everybody has a different vantage point of what keeps them safe or what makes them feel safe.
But it’s all about giving you, yourself that, well, reassurance, right?
Did you get your luggage back or was it completely lost?
I got it back after five days, so it was fine. And I was around, I was able to meet friends in Istanbul, but let me borrow clothes. Oh, great.
Yeah. I mean, it’s essentially losing everything you have, right?
Yes, absolutely.
Are you mostly traveling to new places or revisit places that you've been before?
So one last question about the G Center and that is that people with an open or undefined G Center tend to like to travel to new places where people with a Defined G Center Actually travel more often to places that they already know. How do you plan for that? Do you have a balance of places that you’ve been before, or do you really crave that need for, no, I’ve been here, done that.
Okay, so I’m excited about Bali. It’ll be my first time ever going there. It’ll be a new place, and but as I’ve been setting up this company and having different bases in different places for the festival, I realized that I’m going to keep going back to the same places, and what I’m excited about to do with the places, I’m like, oh, like I’m going back to Carnival, like, I’ll be a pro, I’ll be able to provide a better experience for people, and then I’ll be able to redefine and transform Rebuild on those relationships that I started when I was there earlier this year.
So I think that will be a positive, but ideally if it wasn’t for the business that I’m working on. I think that I would like to crave and like, one of my goals is to see every single country in the world. So I think that, I don’t know how I’ll be after that goal. I’m sure I’ll want to go back to my favorite at that point.
Wow. That is a pretty cool goal to have. Really nice.
And how many countries have you visited so far?
I just hit 52.
Wow 52 countries. That is amazing. I’m at 41. Okay. But I’ve been accumulating countries since I was 18, so 52 countries, that’s quite a lot! Really cool.
Rani's Defined Channel of Mating (Gate 59 - Gate 6)
If we switch to channels here you have one channel and that’s the channel of mating.
That is gate six of your Solar Plexus with your gate 59 of your Sacral center. And this channel is part of the Tribal Defense circuit.
How important is the tribe to you?
I think I feel especially in tune with that being back in India, being able to like kind of grow up here throughout the years and seeing like some of the same people.
And I think like continuing to, to build a relationship with the people that you care about, that care about you is What life is all about and having that quality of life is really the quality of being there to support each other and seeing each other’s successes and helping each other through maybe their, their rougher patches.
So I strongly believe in community. It’s also why I’ve been keen to, to create my own and to create. To have this vision of bringing people together to, to celebrate festivals and experience different cultures across the world together.
Yeah, so basically you’re building your own tribe then.
Well, yes, while also realizing I’ve come this far by being part of others and still trying to foster in those relationships.
Als een fourth line would say, the power lies in your network. Yeah. One of the reasons why this channel is called the channel of mating is because, and the superpowers of this core quality is that it’s the generation of new seeds. So it’s about creating new relationships. It’s about conceptualization of new ideas.
It’s about that creative starting point of a new project. That is what this is all about. It’s planting the seeds.
Hmm.
And creating that from planting the seeds and kind of get the process started. Do you recognize that if you think back into your career and whatever you’re working on in your business right now?
Yes. And I, I’d say that’s always like the first step of like a business or entrepreneurial journey or creating anything is that you start with those little seeds and people don’t understand what you’re doing. They might get curious, but they’re not going to really like, There’s maybe just going to be a few people that surround you at that little seedling phase of either you just have that physical time with them or they really believe in you, but until that starts to grow and nurture and, like, turn into something more, that’s what’s going to really start bringing more and more people because they understand, they see the word is spreading, and it turns into something bigger and more beautiful, and that time is nice too, but then you can’t, like, nurture more of those, like, close connections. As you could earlier on when you were still like a little seedling growing.
Yeah, there’s always a balance there, right? I mean, the startup phase of that idea, but yeah, community is definitely showing up in your charts for sure. It’s really cool to see that you know, you’re working on creating your own community there.
Underfined centers in your Human Design chart: Completely Open Heart Center
If I look at the rest of your chart, I mean, there’s a lot of openness there. So it’s an open heart, so there might be an urge to prove yourself. I mean, that’s where the whole corporate world is run on, right? And a lot of people with open and undefined hearts that feel that pressure to prove themselves.
Do you recognize that, your chart, if you look back at your corporate career?
Well, I feel like that’s more than just corporate. It’s like society. It’s like society telling you that you need to have this formula to reach success. And then having your parents and people that you’ve looked up to for your whole life to share that this is the path to success.
And it’s also what they’ve understood and believed in. So it’s difficult to, Like get out of that mindset and to be able to shift into something different. So as like a person, you want other people to feel pleased, essentially in society. And so you don’t want like to do anything to like upset or like be rude in a sense that it comes from trying to.
Like maintain like social appearances, so it’s difficult to, to break free from that. And, but once you start internalizing what it is, like who you are, then you start to realize like what you like and what you enjoy and what you want from yourself. And you can start shutting out more of those voices that are saying, no, this is the only way.
The mantra of the open heart is you have nothing to prove, period.
Rani: Yes.
Astrid: So you have nothing to prove.
Rani: I like that.
Period. Yeah. It’s really, really fascinating. But if you have so much openness in your chart, I mean, especially as a traveler, you don’t have a home base. So how do you find the space in your day or in your routines to create enough alone time?
Because you basically absorb a lot of energy from everybody else. In your openness, I mean, you think that all the centers are windows, basically almost all the windows are open. So there’s a lot of input there. How do you find time for yourself while being on the road?
You know, the funny thing is, I used to think that I was an extrovert before I became a nomad.
So I still think I do have like very extroverted tendencies, but I’ve been drawing energy in a different way. And that’s why usually I try to have like my morning practice or morning routine, which isn’t easy with all the different time zones coming through. But I think having. Things that I do, and it doesn’t have to be in the morning, but like making sure that there’s like a few tasks a day that I know that I want to do every single place I go.
Create habits out of them really help.
Yeah. Having those habits is something really important, right? For a digital nomad. I spoke with a lot of digital nomads who really have set routines. Yeah. Love it.
Underfined centers in your Human Design chart: Completely Open Heart Center
So talking about decision making here, I mean, you need to make a lot of decisions as a digital nomad in life, in business, about travel planning, about next destinations.
And you have an emotional decision making tool from the Human Design system. So there is like a wave. According to the theory, it’s going up and down and up and down. So one of the interesting elements of that is that you can never know for sure. Like you never know a hundred percent sure if that’s the right decision.
Have you noticed, have you experimented with that emotional decision making tool from the Human Design system?
Rani: For, for making decisions?
Yeah. Okay. So according to the theory here, my Solar Plexus is undefined. So I have no clue how that feels because my emotions are quite flat. If I not triggered, I don’t really feel anything. It’s like a calm sea.
About 50 percent of the world population has a defined Solar Plexus where 50 percent of the population has an open or undefined Solar Plexus. So with the people with the defined one, it’s like, there’s always something going on. There’s a wave. It goes up and down and up and down and up and down.
Do you recognize that you feelings go up and down and up and down? Is that something that you can recognize?
Okay, I don’t think I’m as in tune to that, but sometimes when I know that I’m very passionate about something where I’ve had an idea like building in my head, usually I’m fast to act on things.
And sometimes I’ve been allowing myself to, to sleep on it for a night and to make sure I still feel that way in the morning. Yeah. Just to not act as quickly. But, but it’s hard. When I feel really excited about something, I, I usually go all in.
Yeah. The decision making tool is kind of like, we have a decision making tool in our mind. I mean, that’s how we learn, right? In a school system, especially, it’s a lot about, okay, your mind is the only decision making tool and that’s it. And Human Design is all about, okay, what does your body say?
Okay.
And the strategy for emotional decision making is to create as much time you can for making decisions. So you basically, you can feel out your wave.
Hmm. Okay.
So by creating time, if you have important decisions to make, you kind of can feel out like, okay, the wave goes up and up and down and up and down and up and down. And then at some point it hits that middle ground a few times. And then at some point you get like, okay, perhaps this is the right decision.
So if I can give you a tip, the more you kind of buy yourself time, the better the decision making process will go from a body standpoint.
Okay. I know. I do feel like I can jump into some decisions like through passion. So I love all your tips too.
It’s also your channel too if there is an urge that you want to create something, but it’s more about the bigger decisions. Where do you want to go next? Whenever you feel stuck in your decisions or somebody asks you a question and you’ll be like, okay, I don’t really know what I have to do with this. Or I don’t really, I don’t really want to make a decision. Then create as much time as you can, especially with working with clients or whenever you need to make hard decisions, just know that buying time is always a good thing here.
Rani's company Cloud Connections
We can talk about your chart, but we can also talk about your business! Basically, it’s all about joy for Generators. It’s all about finding joy in what we do. Can you elaborate a little bit about why did you decide to organize a retreat and why, especially cultural festivals?
Well, I just realized that I celebrated carnival last year with fellow digital nomads, and I was realizing that there’s so many people, there’s about like 50 people I had in this like WhatsApp group that all wanted to come and celebrate and they just couldn’t figure it out or were really concerned about different safety issues around Brazil.
And they want a community and a group to do something like that. Because. Usually within festivals, a lot of people do want to go, do want to experience it and just don’t understand how to do that on their own. And so that’s why what I realized from festivals, like if Generators bring joy, then like festivals are like the heart of every Generator, because like every festival has a deeper meaning, has a cultural significance.
And it is rooted in history and it’s stuck around some even for thousands of years. Some of them are just beginning and these traditions stay on because it brings joy to the people that celebrate them in that culture. And now that’s evolving and now it’s like a way, a slice to look into the lives of these people from the country and experience some of their most joyous moments and understand and appreciate that.
And then bring that to a community of like fellow travelers. That would be super keen on even tying their entire calendars and plans to figure out when. this next festival was and so I’d love to be in a place to be able to educate that and then bring people together for it and to, I mean, Holi for example in India means it is the celebration of joy and color and then there’s something called Holika which is like a more of like a fire festival and then there are things that you can do in traditional villages as well as in Jaipur where you can see like a city official, somebody like very noble saying that this is the beginning of Holi.
And it takes place over a few days. Like a lot of festivals are like very much embracing life and fulfilling everything that you are.
And when you’re speaking about this, I mean, I am already fired up about this it’s so you, right? I mean, that’s when you speak about it, you feel like, wow, you have so much passion for it.
So where can people find you?
So I have a website called Cloud Connections. Co and you can also find me on Instagram Cloud Connections underscore.
Depending on when you are hearing this episode, it’s probably somewhere on an agenda up there when the next trips are there. Yeah. Let’s check it out.
A Tip for Aspiring Digital Nomads
The last question that I want to ask you is for people who are still in their traditional nine to five life with air quotes that are transitioning towards a digital nomads lifestyle, can you give them a tip?
Well, I’m so excited for the people that are aspiring to become digital nomads. Just like having that idea, you’re already planting a seed. So just from earlier, just allow yourself to nurture that seed, nurture those ideas. Think about like, start researching different digital nomad communities and places that have Always sparked your interest.
Try taking time off to go to these first, seeing if this is the kind of lifestyle that you’re interested in. And you don’t have to be a fully remote nomad like myself. There’s totally ways you could do this for just a couple weeks to a couple months, and at your own pace. So just getting out there and realizing that there, when travel and vacation are not synonymous in the digital nomad lifestyle, there’s so many digital nomads that take their work seriously and are passionate about what you do.
So just any misconstraints that you have around that, just. Make sure that you surround yourself with people that are nomads and not just travelers too. So if you go with like a group of friends, like realize that it’s going to be a different experience than it would be for going around more seasoned nomads and to just get that breadth of perspective.
Well, thank you. There are some beautiful words of wisdom there.
So I want to thank you for being a guest on my podcast, Rani!
It was so good to learn that even if we’re both Generators, there’s so many variances between us.
Yeah. I am sure we will meet again somewhere in the world. Yes. And for the readers and listeners, thank you so much for reading and listening and I will catch you in the next blog episode.
