They are doing it wrong, they are acting like they are on vacation, which obviously gets old pretty fast.
The right way to do it is to setup a regular lifestyle in the place of your choosing, rent an apartment, instead of Airbnb and hotels, work from a home office or an actual office instead of Starbucks.
Ideally learn the local language and go where the locals go instead of where the tourists go.
Obviously this can't work if you are moving every other month or so, but that too gets old pretty fast.
dagw · 1h ago
The right way to do it is to setup a regular lifestyle in the place of your choosing
Sure, but that's just emigrating. The whole point of the digital nomad lifestyle is to be able to move around on a whim.
specproc · 1h ago
Well, I guess herein lies the rub of the whole concept. Nomadery is fine for some for a while, but it's no life. You need connections and community anywhere.
I think there are lots of reasons why people set out on this path, seeing a bunch of different places is one of them, but the other half is rich country wage meets poor country living.
I've honestly very little time for true digital nomads. By spreading yourself thin over a bunch of countries, you're part of jacking up the cost of living for everyone else whilst not being around long enough to meaningfully give back.
throwawayffffas · 11m ago
The way I see it the point is to live in one place while working in another.
specproc · 1h ago
Don't know why this was down-voted.
Totally agree that moving around too much and not learning the language is where most people fail. We need community to feel happy, you're not going to get it doing multiple countries in one year.
vram22 · 2h ago
Anyone here done it differently and better?
specproc · 1h ago
Yup, I didn't nomad. Been more or less in the same (non-Western) place for fifteen plus years. Few spells elsewhere, but this has been my center of gravity.
I have meaningful, long-term connections with the place I live, it's people, culture and bureaucratic peculiarities. I've got lifelong friends here, local and foreign.
Not going to pretend my language skills are great, it's a tough language, but they're good enough.
It's a good life and I still love it, though I recognise I'll have to move home at some point for various reasons largely (but not exclusively) unrelated to where I am.
On the economic front, I've seen my host country follow the opposite trajectory of my home country. It's grown whilst home has stagnated. Both countries are turning authoritarian, but please do let me know of any country that isn't descending into shit on the political front right now.
Data points:
- Married, but to someone from my OG country. Met out here, married out here, been together since about year one.
- No kids, one dog.
- Large enough family at home to not need to be around for elders.
- Multiple careers, started of in the aid biz and transitioned to dev work.
- Early doors, I was often in an office, working directly with locals. Did a lot of side gigs, mostly local. These days I barely work here, haven't for about a decade.
The right way to do it is to setup a regular lifestyle in the place of your choosing, rent an apartment, instead of Airbnb and hotels, work from a home office or an actual office instead of Starbucks.
Ideally learn the local language and go where the locals go instead of where the tourists go.
Obviously this can't work if you are moving every other month or so, but that too gets old pretty fast.
Sure, but that's just emigrating. The whole point of the digital nomad lifestyle is to be able to move around on a whim.
I think there are lots of reasons why people set out on this path, seeing a bunch of different places is one of them, but the other half is rich country wage meets poor country living.
I've honestly very little time for true digital nomads. By spreading yourself thin over a bunch of countries, you're part of jacking up the cost of living for everyone else whilst not being around long enough to meaningfully give back.
Totally agree that moving around too much and not learning the language is where most people fail. We need community to feel happy, you're not going to get it doing multiple countries in one year.
I have meaningful, long-term connections with the place I live, it's people, culture and bureaucratic peculiarities. I've got lifelong friends here, local and foreign.
Not going to pretend my language skills are great, it's a tough language, but they're good enough.
It's a good life and I still love it, though I recognise I'll have to move home at some point for various reasons largely (but not exclusively) unrelated to where I am.
On the economic front, I've seen my host country follow the opposite trajectory of my home country. It's grown whilst home has stagnated. Both countries are turning authoritarian, but please do let me know of any country that isn't descending into shit on the political front right now.
Data points:
- Married, but to someone from my OG country. Met out here, married out here, been together since about year one.
- No kids, one dog.
- Large enough family at home to not need to be around for elders.
- Multiple careers, started of in the aid biz and transitioned to dev work.
- Early doors, I was often in an office, working directly with locals. Did a lot of side gigs, mostly local. These days I barely work here, haven't for about a decade.