31–40 of 88 posts
I don't like ethnic food and it was ridiculously expensive and time consuming to eat at Western restaurants 3-4x a day (rarely had access to a kitchen). Ended up clinically underweight and moved back home.
2) Client timezone shift
3) Work vs. vacation visa challenges.
Issue 1 is fairly fluid. Telecommunications infrastructure is constantly being upgraded, so internet connections tend to improve over time.
Timezone shift is a challenge. Expect to take some late night calls with clients (or early morning).
I never overstayed a vacation visa, but the horror stories from digital nomads most often are related to securing and renewing a work visa. This is easily avoided by never taking income from the local economy, where taxes may be required.
I'm sort of in it now. It is a struggle to find a good routine, but when you do -- oh boy do I love waking up at 5:00 am to do a morning 3-hour hike in the mountains, come back for a killer second breakfast and slam into code-mode with the energy of Zeus, then spending evenings either working if I want, or doing things in town, meeting friends, exploring, etc... That said, it's the most trying exercise in discipline…
If you're by chance in SLC LMK b/c I'll be there tomorrow morning starting that routine!
But to answer your question, I didn't really like the digital nomad lifestyle very much. I do love living in Thailand and slowly exploring all of Southeast Asia.
I'm sort of in it now. It is a struggle to find a good routine, but when you do -- oh boy do I love waking up at 5:00 am to do a morning 3-hour hike in the mountains, come back for a killer second breakfast and slam into code-mode with the energy of Zeus, then spending evenings either working if I want, or doing things in town, meeting friends, exploring, etc... That said, it's the most trying exercise in discipline…
> oh boy do I love waking up at 5:00 am to do a morning 3-hour hike in the mountains, come back for a killer second breakfast and slam into code-mode with the energy of Zeus If you're by chance in SLC LMK b/c I'll be there tomorrow morning starting that routine!
I'm sort of in it now. It is a struggle to find a good routine, but when you do -- oh boy do I love waking up at 5:00 am to do a morning 3-hour hike in the mountains, come back for a killer second breakfast and slam into code-mode with the energy of Zeus, then spending evenings either working if I want, or doing things in town, meeting friends, exploring, etc... That said, it's the most trying exercise in discipline…
> oh boy do I love waking up at 5:00 am to do a morning 3-hour hike in the mountains, come back for a killer second breakfast and slam into code-mode with the energy of Zeus If you're by chance in SLC LMK b/c I'll be there tomorrow morning starting that routine!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Get a remote job and take the leap.. What else is holding you back?
Not all remote jobs will be open to you keeping constantly changing and non-standard hours, right? I think freelance and self-employment would be more suited to this lifestyle.
I've done a few stints of 3 months nonstop on the road, and when I had an employer we typically had weekly & monthly milestones, and no Skype meetings. Our communication was asynchronous (email back then). They'd often ask for smaller things 'ASAP', but as long as everyone understands that could take up to 24hrs, it works fine.
[I would lean towards freelance & self-employment when doing this, though. My income was supplemented by products I sold myself online too.]
My first batch of travels took me from coast-to-coast a couple of times, and from Alaska to Chiapas, Mexico, and almost everywhere in between. This round of travels has been slower and far less ambitious; just sort of rambling through the US, stopping in pretty places.
The reason I stopped wasn't the lifestyle itself, though it was related. I lost both my dad and my dog to cancer within days of each other. My dog was my best friend for 14 years, and she'd always been with me on the road, so it was hard to go back to traveling the same way without her, so I didn't.
For a while after that I just couldn't handle any additional stress, and traveling all the time does include some stress. Normally, I'm fine with it: Get great insurance, get roadside assistance, get great health insurance, tuck away a little savings for emergencies, and just let the world happen. But, because I had trouble working productively for a while, my savings got slimmer and my business suffered, so stress just sort of piled up. Staying in one place was the best I could manage.
But, after a couple of years in one place, I got itchy feet again. I definitely wanted to get back on the road. I never feel more alive than when I know I can stow my stuff and drive to another part of the world within hours.
There are negatives to this kind of life: Making lasting friendships when you travel is difficult. Romantic relationships tend to be shorter and less serious. It's probably more expensive than the blogs have led you to believe (I spend about as much on the road as I spent while renting half of a house in Austin; though, admittedly, I have mostly traveled in the US, which, obviously has a high cost of living compared to some of the exotic international destinations some digital nomads choose).
I recommend everyone that thinks, "I might like that", to try it. You'll never really know if it's for you, if you don't. But, then again, if you're needing affirmation from others before you even give it a try, it may not be for you. It's definitely not for everyone, but I'm likely to live the rest of my life traveling.