If you’re a regular viewer of the TV show ‘House Hunters International’, chances are you dream of working abroad one day. Am I right? (For those of you not familiar with the show, it usually involves a person, couple or a family moving to another country, searching for housing after landing a new job or a transfer.) I love watching the show because it speaks to my own, unrequited dream, of working abroad.
But it’s hard to get a job overseas! One reason is you are often competing with the local talent pool. Opportunities for intra-company transfers can also be scarce and are highly company-dependent. So what choices are we then left with?
Moving abroad as a freelancer or even as a digital nomad may be the best chance many of us will get.
I wanted to look into life as a digital nomad. I’ve checked out several YouTube videos, articles and blogs to get a sense of the good and the bad. In this blog post, I’ll share with you some of the important learnings gained from this research. By the end, we’ll try to answer whether it’s the dream life (and worth pursuing).
The good
One of the major benefits digital nomads often speak of is FREEDOM. Erick Prince, a digital nomad for many years, remarked “I have all the freedom I create for myself.”
Another nomad shared the following, “We work much more than we did before when we were working the 9-5 in the office … but because we have the flexibility and the control over our schedule it doesn’t feel that hard or heavy.” The quote also hints at burnout being a potential issue for nomads. But if you embark on the nomad lifestyle with an awareness of this, you can hopefully prevent it from happening to you.
The bad
Almost every country in the world has its issues – crime, personal safety, cost of living, air quality/state of environment, social justice, politics. That aside, I came across a YouTube video titled ‘Why I’m leaving Bali | My last day living in Bali VLOG | BEWARE OF THIS | Digital nomad life’. I was intrigued and just had to click on the video.
The person behind the video was Danie who had only been living in Bali a short time. Unfortunately, she contracted Dengue Fever during her stay and had to be hospitalised, but didn’t have any health/travel insurance. She made the video as a warning to others.
Several years ago, Mark Manson (now a best-selling author) wrote about his experience as a digital nomad. One of his biggest struggles was loneliness and being away from family and friends.
Clearly, it is important to consider this when planning your digital nomad lifestyle. And even if you are quite happy to say goodbye to your family, friends and support network, you will need to be prepared for the possibility of being completely on your own in a foreign land.
In all of my research, the most eye-opening and unexpected take on the digital nomad life was from Brett Dev’s YouTube video – ‘Expats vs digital nomads’. Brett has lived in Chiang Mai, Thailand for a number of years and in the video he talked about the perception that Chiang Mai digital nomads aren’t successful, are disliked by the expat community and are essentially just like backpackers.
This negative image wasn’t enough to turn me off the digital nomad life, but I am starting to like the term ‘remote worker’ a bit more (and I have made a mental note to not go to Chiang Mai).
The conclusion
I saw a really good documentary featuring a guy named Pete. Pete was from eastern Europe and had worked in a London office for around 10 years. He shared the following observation, “Once you have it all you find out, actually, no, now that I have it all it doesn’t make me any more happy … when I started travelling, then I saw how little you need to be happy.” Some people choose a digital nomad lifestyle because they aspire for success, but others choose it because they’re pursuing happiness.
Like many things in life, your motivation needs to be clear. Do your research. Understand the pros and cons. Would a few months of world travel, rather than a move abroad, suffice? Personally, I think being a digital nomad for one year or a couple of years can be worthwhile and fulfilling.
It is thought that by 2035 there may be 1 billion digital nomads. Bear in mind that this was a pre-pandemic estimate. According to one digital nomad living in Thailand, “We’re going to see an explosion of remote workers after this virus is done.”
Are you interested in becoming a digital nomad? Why not share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below. To help with your planning, you may like to check out the city guides at digitalnomads.world.
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