This is a guest post written by Ash Katch, Videographer, Vlogger, and Community Manager of #RadLivin.
Words by Ashley Katchadourian…
I always walk in circles during important phone calls. I was pacing around the pool in the back yard of the house I lived in Ventura, California on the phone with my cousin Nick asking his advice. “I have a feeling I need to go to this festival in Australia. But I’m not sure if I would be too crazy to fly all the way out there on a hunch.” I called Nick because he always gives great advice and is driven by prudence much more than I am. I think I was just looking for approval to do what I already knew I was going to do.
I remember when I first found DontTellSummer. It was a few months before the Nick phone call in my room in the town I grew up in. I was scrolling through the explore page of Instagram, feeling tired, mentally. I was craving to finally start living my dream life. I wanted to travel, be passionate again, make my difference in the world but didn’t know how to do any of it. I saw a photo that struck a familiar chord. I clicked on the name of the account, and when I looked through the @donttellsummer feed. I thought, this feels like the vision board for my dream life: doing what you love every day. I didn’t know what “Don’t Tell Summer” meant but I knew I liked it.
After I hung up with Nick, I went back inside and stared at the booking screen for a $1000 round-trip ticket to Sydney, Australia to go to first annual #RadLivin Festival by DontTellSummer. It was my first adventure financed by my credit card. But it was Valentine’s Day and I had no plans so #treatyourself.
Between the time I found DTS and booked my ticket to Sydney, I had moved to a new town to pursue my dream job and started a blog called “From Raw to Recycled,” a blog to exhort companies to start using recycled materials to produce goods instead of raw materials. These were the first two steps I ever took to start pursing my dream life.
I remember emailing the founder of DTS, Olivia, after the festival saying I had the best time. I met the most amazing people, was so inspired by speakers sharing their stories about how they are doing what they love, and boogied to my favorite music with my new mates. I just kept thinking how genius it is to mix inspirational speakers with live music. I would tell people, “It’s literally the best event you’ll ever go to.”
Fast forward to 10 months later when I’m booking my next ticket to Sydney, only this time it was a one-way ticket.
When I got back to the states after #RadLivin, I had set a goal that I was going to move back as soon as possible. I moved back home from Ventura to save money and started working for dad. 2016 ended up being such an exciting time. I was living off the high of #RadLivin, I was frothing the idea of moving back to Sydney, and my blog evolved to what it is today, ashkatch.com. By the end of the year I started a YouTube channel that would be about sustainability and travel, two of my biggest passions. I was taking bigger strides toward living my dream life. I was nurturing my passions and my direction was becoming more clear.
In January 2017, I moved to Sydney with a single backpack, a YouTube channel, a determination to really start living, and absolutely no plan.
A few weeks later I found myself tailoring my resume for an intern position that Olivia was advertising on DTS. Before I could send my email to apply, I get a message from Olivia asking if I would be interested in helping out with #RadLivin that year. I said “yes” in that extremely calm way when you’re trying to overcompensate for your excitement.
After #RadLivin, Olivia and I were at one of the local favorite spots eating tacos and sipping margaritas when she mentions she wants to go to Europe during June/July. I was like, “I’m keen.” And then plans for an epic Europe trip were started–my first trip to Europe!
I went to Italy first and met up with Olivia in Greece. I couldn’t believe it. I was traveling, creating videos, and had to have a moment to let it sink in that I was living my dream life. Like I was actually in it.
After Europe, I went back to California for a wedding and ended up staying home to work for dad again. I just had a gut feeling I should stay for a while. Maybe that gut feeling was from my bank account. Regardless, this time living at home and working for dad felt different. I wasn’t unhappy because I knew the bigger vision for my life, and I knew more clearly what path I wanted to be on. I ended up going full-on with work, full-on with YouTube, all while starting to dream on the 3rd annual #RadLivin Festival. I did this for 5 months and am not sure if I actually slept at all during that time. But I was so happy.
One day I had an idea to make a parody video of one of my biggest role models, a business man/entrepreneur. Through that video, I was introduced to a new community of people passionate about hustle, entrepreneurship, and positivity. My life as a video creator was maturing and my brand was evolving to the message it currently is, “Live Your Daydream.”
I moved back to Australia in late 2017 and got to travel Australia and meet some of the most incredible people. And that brings us to where I currently am, sitting in a café in Bondi Beach, listening to Odesza on Australia Day 2018.
It’s weird to think about how that one seemingly irresponsible decision to fly to Australia in 2016, using money that I didn’t have, to go to a festival that had never happened before, has lead me to where I am now. I just wrapped up the best year of my life. During that time became best mates with Olivia, who inspires me to do what I love every day and who was the one who inspired me to start taking steps in the first place. I’m in a place now where I’ve fallen in love with the journey and not the destination. I’m enjoying every day now in confidence.
Doing what you love doesn’t have a destination. It’s a path that you start walking. It’s little moments of saying yes to who you are and what lights up your heart. It’s as easy as starting a blog or as risky as putting a trip to Australia on a credit card. Sometimes it’s easy as making plans over margaritas and other times you don’t sleep for 5 months. Sometimes you ask for advice and other times you listen to your gut. It’s different for everyone but the common denominator is it always starts with saying “yes.” Yes to who you are and yes to doing what you love. Your dream life is possible and you are deserving of it; start saying yes.
Connect with Ashley over on Instagram, Youtube, and her blog.
