Leah McHugh has been traveling for the best part of the last 10 years and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. She got sick of fighting with TSA, so developed liquid-free shampoos and conditioners called Get Dirty With Me. You can use the hair powders dry for hair refreshing or add water for hair washing.
This little powerhouse has been “digital nomading” for a while now and she’s going to open the veil on what life as a digital nomad is really like.
Oh, I really need to try her products out too!
Anyway… Here is Leah…
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I love being a digital nomad. But it’s not all cocktails and working on the beach. Ok, there are a fair amount of cocktails, but no beach working, because sand.
Image Caption: No. This is never me.
I HAVE worked on a swing in a bar. And a cardboard seat of a mini-bus. Actually, I’ve worked on pretty much every kind of transportation,most kinds of bars, and a casino hallway. I briefly worked from a hammock, but there aren’t many hammocks with conveniently located plugs (business idea?)
As with everything, there are highs and lows, and you really can’t tell normal 9-5ers about the lows because they already hate you and your lifestyle. “I just don’t feel like I appreciate beaches anymore,” is not something anyone sitting in an office wants to hear. Ever.
If you want to be a digital nomad, it’s good to know the good and the bad and plan accordingly. Learn from our mistakes! Or don’t, because the mistakes make the funniest stories.
We can not live and work from anywhere
Did you know that 60% of the world population still doesn’t have internet?[1] Yeah. So there’s that.
Ok, ok. We can work from a lot of places. Some easier than others. Unfortunately, a lot of those beautiful, isolated places are beautiful and isolated- meaning they don’t have great infrastructure. Losing your mind when the electricity goes out won’t get you anywhere. I still love going to places like this, but I save them for a weekend, or when I don’t need to be working. Sometimes, we still have to take time off from working in order to see the world.
Image Caption: Another conversation you should never have with non-Nomads.
Lesson: Nomadlist is a great place to start getting general information about the amenities in your destination. For more specific info you can’t beat asking other Nomads! There are loads of Facebook groups where you can connect. Research your destination before you decide you’re going to go live and work on an island for the next six months. Or, visit before you commit to long term plans.
You may spend A LOT of your time chasing wifi
And thinking about where you’re going to find your next wifi. And going to ridiculous lengths to get wifi. Basically, we’re wifi addicts.
“I once led a 2-hour webinar for 200 people from the deck of a sailing boat in a storm (the connection wasn’t strong enough below deck). To block out the sound of the wind, I leaned my back against the mast, wrapped blankets around me in the shape of a cone, and held my 4G dongle up with one hand out of the top. The boat was keeling and rocking and bouncing the whole time, and at one point I looked up out of the hole at the top of the blankets to see an electric lightning storm raging above me.” Human Lightning Rod, Natasha Stanley, Careershifters.
Lesson: Plan your wifi! Got an important meeting or webinar coming up? Maybe you should stick to the major cities, or join a co-working. It may be worth investing in an international router for “wifi-mergencies”, but they’re not foolproof either. Make sure you test the connection before you desperately need it.
Not all Digital Nomads are the same
There are lots of developers, and coaches, and lifestyle-preneurs, and people working remotely for their 9-5. Just when I think I’ve met every possible Digital Nomad, I stumble across a new kind.
Some think nothing of dropping $10k on a 4 day internet-free boat cruise. Others, think that’s 10 months worth of money. Some live in co-living, some have their own villas.
We aren’t all doing the same thing or living the same lives and you may not relate to all of the Nomads you meet. But it sure does make it more interesting!
There is no right way, other than the right way for you.
“Japan was one of the first countries I traveled through when I started my digital nomad journey. I’d never couchsurfed before, so I decided I would give it a try so I could meet some locals while visiting. One guy I stayed with ended up being a nudist. And the next one? Well he was a college biology student in Tokyo who’s hobby was to grill up lab animals and eat them. Gecko anyone? But hey, they were both chill and their wifi connections fast. To this day when someone asks me if they should couchsurf, I respond with an unwavering ‘HELL YEAH ABSOLUTELY.’” Caitlin Cardoza, caitlincardoza.com
As with everything, there will be some people you love, some you like, and some you tolerate. You also say goodbye a lot.
Lesson: Ultimately, you’re doing this because you want to create a work life that you love. Wanna go on ALL the retreats, and you can afford to? Great! Go do it! Think masterminds are stupid? Don’t join one. You do you.
You will probably work weird hours
If your business or clients are based in a different time-zone than you, you can pretty much forget about working 9-5. I go to great lengths to avoid phone communication, but still have 2am phone calls from time to time. I say that it’s a small price to pay for the lifestyle, but ask me again when it’s 3am and my caller is running 40 minutes late.
Lesson: If you regularly have to talk to people in the USA, Australia may not be the best choice. If you just can’t get around weird hours, figure out if you prefer getting up REALLY early or staying up REALLY late and base your calendar on your preference. Also, the World Clock is your friend.
Image Caption: WTH? Where am I?
Lots of people think you’re on a long term vacation, but really, you forget what vacation means
Ironically, it can be difficult to find your work/ life balance. Without specific work hours in place, it’s quite easy to fall into working all the time, only seeing whatever is between your accommodation and co-working space. And then some smart arse asks you when you’re going to come back and get a real job.
“I have been nomading for a while but people understood it as I had a set (corporate) job and went into an office with colleagues. I rotated offices between Indonesia, Thailand and at times Vietnam. When getting back to the Netherlands last December to set myself up to start the digital nomad lifestyle I explained to family and friends what I was preparing myself for. After explaining people started understanding the theory but they still find it difficult to see the reality of it. The funniest situation was: after explaining in detail what I was going to do, the person nodded and smiled, asked some questions. I answered the questions and it felt like the person I was talking to understood. When saying goodbye he said: ‘It was nice talking to you, have a wonderful holiday!’” Janneke Dijkhuis, JannekeDijkhuis.com
This is not a vacation. I can’t remember the last time I actually took time off. Probably the last time I didn’t have access to wifi. Does a long haul flight count?
Image caption: Sometimes it feels like I quit your 9-5 to work 24/7
You will have the same conversations over and over again
Where are you from? What do you do? How long are you here? Where were you? Where are you going next?
I just outlined 90% of my conversations.
When you’re constantly meeting new people, you tend to fall into the same patterns of conversation. When I’m with American Digital Nomads, we inevitably end up talking about taxes. At a party the other night I had multiple conversations about sales funnels. It can be hard to switch off when your lifestyle is so closely tied to your work.
Which isn’t to say the people and conversations aren’t interesting (I love sales funnels!), but it’s good to mix it up a bit.
Lesson: Go deeper! Ask follow ups. We’re all sick of the same questions. Sometimes that means going out of your way to change the conversation.
Make a rule that if anyone asks any of the above 5 questions in the first hour they have to buy everyone’s drinks.
You will not see and do everything
Believe me, I’ve tried.
As I type this, I’m sitting on an airport floor, 40 hours in transit with very little sleep. I still have 7 hours to go. Travel days take time and suck your energy, and often don’t go as planned- I was supposed to have reached my destination 20 hours ago.
Constantly moving while working and trying to see everything is a great recipe for burnout. I’ve been moving about once a month, and I’m starting to burn out. There’s a pull to want to take full advantage of your freedom, and I have to remind myself that freedom also means being free to stop and recharge. Sometimes you just need to take a break.
Lesson: Take your time. Prioritize.
Travel can be hard (this one probably tops the list of what-not-to-say-to-non-nomads). And it’s easy to fall into the habit of leaving, or avoiding serious connections with people because you’re just going to say goodbye to them soon anyway.
I regularly get changed in public bathrooms, have spent 12 hours throwing up, spent months being damp and have spent way too much of my life on some form of transportation. I have thought I was going to die on multiple occasions, And, I would not trade my experiences for anything.
[1] http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/4-billion-people-lack-internet-access/
