People assume I freelance because I hate structure. That I’m allergic to meetings, allergic to bosses, allergic to pants.
(One of those might be true.)
But the real reason I freelance is simpler: I like to be treated like an adult.
The Illusion of Flexibility
I’ve had jobs before — good ones. Stable contracts, decent benefits, all the usual badges of respectability. But somewhere along the way, “flexibility” became a corporate buzzword that meant its opposite.
Companies now love to say you can “work from home.” What they mean is: work from your officially registered home address. They love to say you can “work remotely.” What they mean is: remotely, but not remotely inconvenient to HR.
You can “work from anywhere,” as long as “anywhere” means within their risk management zone. You can “embrace work-life balance,” as long as the balance doesn’t cross time zones.
I even have friends from Spain who live and work in Belgium — and when they visit family back home, they’re allowed to work from Spain a maximum of two weeks per year. Two weeks! As if crossing a border instantly corrupts their Wi-Fi or their professionalism.
The Real Issue: Liability, Not Loyalty
The irony is that companies don’t restrict mobility because they’re evil — they restrict it because they’re scared.
When you’re an employee, your employer is responsible for your health, insurance, and taxes. If you twist your ankle in Madrid while on a video call, someone in HR has to file a form about it. If you send an email from a sunny terrace in Valencia, someone’s insurer wants to know if that terrace was approved.
So employers create limits. Not because they don’t trust you — but because they don’t trust the paperwork.
Still, from a worker’s point of view, it feels infantilizing. Adults who manage complex projects are suddenly told they can’t handle geography.
Freelancing: Adulthood, Contracted
That’s when I realized freelancing isn’t just about freedom. It’s about being treated like a grown-up.
When I invoice a client, the deal is simple:
You pay me for results, not physical presence..
You care about what I deliver, not where I deliver it from.
It’s work without parental supervision. No HR memos, no “two-week abroad limit,” no location anxiety. Just mutual trust — and a due date.
Of course, freelancing comes with its own chaos. I buy my own insurance. I handle my own taxes. If I slip on a wet floor in Lisbon, no payroll department will rescue me. But that’s the tradeoff: less safety, more sovereignty.
Freedom With Responsibility
For some, that’s terrifying. For me, it’s oxygen.
I’d rather deal with the uncertainty of self-employment than the certainty of being micromanaged into “safety.” Freedom isn’t free, but at least it’s honest.
Freelancing doesn’t mean I work less — it means I work on my own terms. I can decide that today’s office is a café in Porto, tomorrow’s is a kitchen table in Kraków. As long as the work gets done, does it really matter where my feet are?
The Last Frontier of Trust
That, to me, is the heart of it. Freelancing is the last corner of the modern work world where trust still matters more than control.
Because in the end, all I really want is to be treated like an adult — someone capable of managing both deadlines and daylight. I don’t need permission to live where I feel alive.
So yes, that’s the real reason I freelance.
Not to escape work.
Just to escape the idea that adults need permission.
💬 If you freelance or work remotely — what kind of flexibility actually matters to you most: hours, location, or trust?
💻 About the Workation Diva
I’m Caro, an early pioneer of remote work, studying IT in the ’90s when “the Internet” still made dial-up noises. I’ve been blending work and travel since before it was fashionable, from spa weekends during business trips to half-vacations at my family’s place in Buenos Aires. These days, I live the part-time laptop lifestyle — balancing motherhood, projects, and plane tickets, proving that freedom can come in Wi-Fi and family-size portions.
Workation Diva 