London leavers: ‘We cured our burnout by quitting renting in London to travel the world as digital nomads’

Constant job stress can lead to occupational burnout, leaving you feeling overwhelmed and permanently fatigued. It’s something Hayley Knight unfortunately knows all too well.

She was extremely fortunate to have remained healthy and in work during the pandemic, but the flip side was that working around the clock had left her exhausted.

Hayley was also trying to plan a wedding. Having to cancel and rearrange three times due to social distancing rules only added to her stress. When Hayley, now 35, did eventually marry Marcus Knight, 34, in July 2021 it was a pared-down outdoors ceremony in a forest.

“Both of us were really busy with work,” said Hayley, formerly a freelance public relations executive.

“We both got incredibly burned out from working around the clock, and I really didn’t put any boundaries in place. We were both desperate for a break.”

Eventually they decided that the solution was an extended thirty-something gap year.

Marcus quit his job as marketing manager for a record label, the couple gave notice on their £1,300 a month two-bedroom garden flat in Ealing, packed their rucksacks and headed to the airport.

For the next two years Hayley and Marcus were constantly on the move, starting off in Croatia, moving on to Turkey, then going to visit Marcus’s sister in Florida.

They took in Mexico and Sri Lanka, before returning to Europe to explore the Balkans, and then spending six months back in South America.

By the summer of 2023, their savings were dwindling.

“We needed to start working again,” said Hayley. “But neither of us wanted to give up travelling so we decided to use our PR and marketing backgrounds and set up a fully remote agency.”

Be Yellow was founded in October 2023.

“I was very scared that people would not want to work with people who were constantly travelling, but our clients are fully on board with our lifestyle,” said Hayley. “Some of them are doing the same thing.”

Since then Hayley and Marcus have worked on Be Yellow while travelling through Croatia again, and visiting Columbia and Brazil.

They are currently in Portugal, and Hayley hopes to get a digital nomad visa in Spain which will allow them to work freely in the EU for a year.

Hayley and Marcus only need a wifi signal to work, whether in the Airbnb’s they rent, local cafes, or the beach. And they have become adept at meeting new people.

“I am as extrovert as they come and will just talk to people,” said Hayley. “I call them five hour friends, because you make friends, and then you move on. Saying that I have made two real lifelong friends while travelling, so it can be done.”

Hayley and Marcus’s current home is an Airbnb in Porto, a stunning Portuguese seaside town, which is costing them around £200 per week.

And the future is flexible.

“We are talking about staying in Greece next year, I want to move to Brazil for a while, and Marcus’s retirement plan is to buy a house in Sri Lanka,” said Hayley.

“What I do know is that I don’t want to go back to London. Travelling can be exhausting but I would not change it for the world.”