The Freedom Series: Veronica Paula on Leaving Corporate, Crossing Africa, and Building Blankbase
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Words by Veronica Paula | Edited by Tania from Slower Travels
Veronica Paula spent years convinced that her career in Field Marketing was simply incompatible with a nomadic lifestyle. She needed to be in the office. That was just how it worked. Her boyfriend, a seasoned remote worker, kept telling her otherwise. "Everything is possible," he'd say. For a long time, she didn't quite believe him.
Then she quit her job and spent eight months in Southern Africa. Somewhere between Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, a new dream began to take shape: she wanted to build something of her own.
That trip changed everything, including what she wanted to build next.
From Corporate to Founder
Back from Africa and done with the corporate world, Veronica and her partner Chris turned one persistent frustration into a company. The problem they kept coming back to was finding accommodation that was genuinely work-ready, with verified Wi-Fi and a proper workspace, for stays from a week to six months. That gap became the foundation of blankbase.
"We didn't just pick up a random business idea to be digital nomads. We started building to solve our own problems."
It's a distinction she's clear about. blankbase isn't a lifestyle accessory. It's a serious company, registered in Austria, currently pre-launch with a waitlist open. Building it has been the steepest learning curve of her career so far.
What Life Actually Looks Like
Veronica and Chris split their time between Austria, South Africa and Southern Europe. Neither full-time travellers nor fully settled, but something in between that suits them both.
"Either I get itchy feet if I stay too long in one place, or travel burnout if I move too much."
Their solution is a sprint-based work rhythm that doesn't follow a Monday-to-Friday routine. Sometimes it's three days on, one day off. Sometimes ten days of focused work followed by four days on safari. Laptops close before 7pm on workdays. The schedule bends around life rather than the other way around.
Moving between their own flat, a camper and temporary bases naturally keeps things lean. Veronica lives comfortably on less than she ever spent as an employee, putting money toward transport and experiences rather than possessions.
The Setup That Makes It Work
Veronica was deliberate about the legal and financial foundations from the start, and honest about what that actually required.
Before leaving corporate life, she made sure she had a solid financial base. When she and Chris decided to start blankbase, they went in with enough capital to build for a couple of years without needing immediate income, supplemented by Austrian startup funds. The company's registration in Austria isn't the most tax-efficient option globally, but it simplifies everything else: funding, health insurance, legal structure. She pays tax and insurance at that home base regardless of where she travels, which removes a layer of complexity that trips up many nomads.
For travel insurance, a good credit card with built-in coverage handles most situations. For visas, experience has taught her which countries are straightforward and which aren't.
The Part Nobody Talks About
The hardest thing about this life, for Veronica, hasn't been the logistics or the learning curve of building a company. It's been losing friends.
"The more I travelled, the more I built an unconventional life, the more old friends I lost. Not many people can cope with distance."
Friendships built during school and university, the kind grounded in shared daily life and proximity, faded as the distance grew. When you step off the standard path, she says, it becomes genuinely hard to find people who think and live the same way. To feel truly understood becomes rare.
Having a partner who shares the same dream, she acknowledges, makes all the difference.
What Freedom Means When You're Building Something
For Veronica, freedom isn't an absence of responsibility. It's the presence of options.
"I don't live a luxurious life in the usual sense, but to me it is the richest lifestyle I could ever dream of."
The freedom to work on her own project, to decide when to stay put, and to have built something for people who live the way she does. None of it came quickly or easily, but it was built with intention, step by step, with eyes open.
If You Want to Do This: The Honest Version
Veronica's advice is the most rigorous in the series so far. She starts with a reality check: 12 months is a short timeline for building a life of maximum freedom. But it's enough to take the first real steps, if you're honest with yourself about where you're starting from.
She suggests beginning with a thorough assessment of your current situation: your skills, your passport, whether you own or rent, your financial foundation, your relationship, your actual travel experience. Then question what you genuinely need, rather than what Instagram is telling you to want. Are you burnt out and need a break, or do you actually want to build something? Do you want to travel full-time, or does the idea of that exhaust you?
Once you have honest answers, set a specific goal. Then define what the first step actually is. It might not be booking a flight.
"Working remotely is not a job in itself. You must do the work. A free life doesn't come overnight. It has to be built."
Follow Veronica and blankbase
Platform: blankbase.io (waitlist open)
LinkedIn: Veronica Paula
Instagram: @blankbasehq
