10 Reasons Why You Should Become a Digital Nomad. 10 Obstacles You’ll Get on Your Way.
The journey of the unknown path
Several years ago I was at Lollapalooza festival in Berlin and one day in between the concerts, I came into the circus tent. There were some fun competitions and Wheel of fortune in particular. “Wheel of fortune, what? Really?” I thought skeptically standing in line to get my prediction. When it was my turn the guy in a fancy costume turned the wheels and 3 wooden planks with the painted people appeared next to me. On one of them, there was a man in a hat carrying a bundle on a stick. “You’re an easy-going person, who will have a lot of adventures ahead traveling around.” Adding then with a voice full of mistery, “A Nomad.”
At that moment I thought it sounds nice at least because I like to travel. But I couldn’t imagine it will become true to me just a few years later.
3 continents, dozens of flights, bookings, new countries, and a good old laptop full of stickers always in my backpack. “Can you hear me? Is the connection good?”, then fasten your seat belts, here are the reasons why you should become that cool digital nomad guy sitting and working in a hipster cafe in Singapore.
10 Reasons Why You Should Become a Digital Nomad.
1. Freedom of movement
A new world is in front of you—no more limitations of 2-3 weeks of vacation per year, no more judgmental gaze “Another trip? Well, well…” Even more, it’ll be so much easier to actually grab cheap flight tickets without any limitations in time and duration. 10€ flight to Barcelona in a week? Here I go!
2. New workstation every day/week/month
It might be an advantage for some romantic creatures — to have a different picture in front of your workstation. One day you have the views on the streets of Rhodes while the next time there are mountains right in front of your laptop, if you made a research for scenic locations, of course.
Another option is to test the coworking spaces and libraries. Most of the libraries have the benefits — they’re free and silent.
What about working next to the pool or lying right on the beach, the most common image for a nomad?
Well, to be honest, that’s pretty much cheating.
3. A different perspective
Changing not only your workstations but the picture around, you get a completely new vision on people communications, way of life, and your current work as well. Walking the streets in Bangkok, hiking trails in the Alps or sailing the channels of Amsterdam, more and more you soak up a great variety of the world, which, in its turn encourages you to widen the horizons and consider different points of view on solving the tasks.
4. The whole world is my home
There is a chance the more you nomadize, the more you’ll come up with this idea. You adapt to new surroundings much quicker and it won’t be a big deal to switch between the destinations, except for collecting the belongings.
5. New friends and new connections
You meet a lot of new people during the trip and if you have some interests in common, you’ll probably stay connected after. Chances are, you’ll run into someone with whom you’ll be on the same page and the idea for a new project will be born. Or you’ll simply meet some nice folks—once walking the streets of Ljubljana I’ve stumbled upon the journalist from Monocle who asked me a brief interview about the using of the eco milk machine nearby. So I even heard myself in The Urbanist podcast, that was a lot of fun indeed!
6. You become a master in time management
Or not. Really, it’s not an easy level to unlock.
7. At least, you’ll get your work done faster
Not the master in time management, you’ll still want to see as much as possible in the places you’re visiting. That’s why sometimes you’ll work in 1,5x -2x speed mode, tested! No need to refill your cup of coffee.
8. Top-level planning skills
’Cause there’s no other way to survive in the constant trip—you have to plan all the flights, connections, find the best deals on accommodations, keep in mind the time schedule, time difference, search for the best ways to go from the airport to the city, know how and where to buy tickets for transport, and so on. Should I mention there are also the work tasks for several projects, including numerous calls and discussions? That’s why in any way you’ll unlock the level of the master in planning.
9. You notice changes in yourself
Each time I come back home, the one where I have my own flat, I notice changes in myself. I perceive the familiar surrounding in a slightly different way. Each trip brings a new puzzle—overcoming the obstacles and fears, unlocking a new skill. For instance, I wasn’t that much into hiking experience before but right now more and more I explore the places with pure nature walking the trails just on my own.
One of my obstacles to conquer is to move out of my comfort introvert zone and be more open to people. That’s where the nomadic lifestyle comes to help.
10. It’s all about impressions
Yes, that’s an inevitable benefit of being a digital nomad, its main factor—to fulfill your life with new impressions and inspirations. You’re driven by a desire to see, perceive, admire the variety of life.
I believe, there are different kinds of people, some praise the material part while others are kind of dreamers whose top priority is to enrich the spectrum of positive feelings. Hm, whom I belong to? It’s easy to guess.
It all might sound like a fairy tale — visiting lots of different locations, get a new portion of impressions regularly, plan your days as you want. Then, here is the other side of being a nomad.
10 Obstacles and Misbeliefs About Being a Digital Nomad.
1. It’s not a fairy tale
Looking at your digital nomad lifestyle, people quite often believe it’s a life full of magic. Like you’re traveling a lot, post photos from many countries, isn’t it a paradise? And, of course, people will envy you.
The truth is, you’re not on a long term vacation. Yes, you do travel much more than usual but at the same time you work, so it’s a balance between two activities.
2. You got exhausted from constant packing-unpacking-relocation
While being on a trip, usually, I move 1–2 times a week. Thus, relocation is a constant friend. And it does take a lot of your energy.
Good for you if you carry a minimum of things, kind of a backpacker mode. But when you know you’ll be in places with different weather, everything is getting more complicated. And here I was, carrying almost 20kg luggage and a heavy backpack throughout my 1,5-month trip. In some moments it was a nightmare.
3. It’s hard to concentrate on your one-and-only home
The place, where you want to improve its design, bring new furniture, pictures, lamps, candies, of course, to feel hyggeligt. Sure, I sound very much like a designer and maybe not everyone is fond of design updates in the room. What I mean is that being on the move means you have less time for your actual home. It gets the status of a temporary station in between trips.
4. No time for full-time rest
Well, you may find a once-in-a-year spot in a calendar but do not expect it would be that easy to do during the whole year-round.
5. Unpredictability is your best friend
While it’s fun to have a lot of adventures, it also means some situations happen all of a sudden. The ones you didn’t expect at all. Like missing the train or mix up it and come to a different place, or accidentally buy a wrong ticket which obliged you to pay a penalty. Recently it happened to me. Even though it wasn’t my first time when I took RER from Paris to Charles de Gaulle airport, I bought the wrong ticket and then had to pay 35€ to the transport officer who checked tickets. Part of the experience.
6. No constancy and assurance
Summarizing 3, 4, 5 points pretty much.
7. You feel out of the game
That’s a different aspect related to your role when you’re working with a team. At first, you probably won’t notice the difference but if one day you come to the office and meet all the people you’ve seen and talked to previously on Slack and Hangouts, yes, it feels so unusual at first, you notice the change. You interact with the team in real life not arranging the calls and checking the connection, you see the results of work right in front of you. It’s so much easier to talk when you’re in the same room not divided by the screen of the laptop. Heck yeah, you realize it is cool to be in a team, even if you’re an introvert!
8. Houston, we have a problem, there is no Wi-Fi connection
Remember the times when Instagram is down, how do you feel like? At least, confusing. When you depend on connection even more and not only want to add some pics from the beach to your feed but send an important letter or update, the broken connection is a curse.
9. There is no chance to get a dog
A cat, a hamster, a parrot, a fish. Still, I’d prefer a dog in the first place.
10. All by myself
Don’t wanna be
All by myself
Anymore
— digital nomad hymn after 3 years of nomadic lifestyle.
During this year I wasn’t on a severe nomad diet—haven't spent the winter in Bali, nor crossed all South America countries. I switched to freelance and suddenly began to travel more. It was always my passion and of course, when you’re not obliged to be in the same office 5 days a week, you start to think on how you can spend them in a different way.
So, is it a good experience?
Most of the conclusions I’ve made about such type of lifestyle I’ve revealed in these points—10 benefits vs. 10 obstacles. In the beginning, it looks like a paradise but then, you start to notice the other side. One day everything is amazing, the other day you’re completely exhausted. And everyone perceives such practice in a totally different way.
What I also realized is that this period won’t last infinitely, like everything in life. It has some invisible limitations like, for example, it’s so much easier to be a nomad when you don’t have yet your own family. Or a dog.
Should you follow the prediction of the magician and try a nomadic mode?—Yes, you should. Knowing the pitfalls.
Want to read more stories about my traveling experience? Here are some of them:
Cultural specifics — how do they influence on design and user experience
COLORASIA: things I’ve learned about color and culture during my Asia trip
Part 1, Part 2
Fly Me to the Faroe Islands: the land of wonder and trust
Faroe tale: stories about road trips of a lifetime, Faroese people and culture
You can also find more photos and impressions on my Instagram.
Thanks for reading!
