Let’s say you’re pretty miserable at your day job. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an accountant, an office worker in a cubicle, a restaurant worker, a realtor, whatever.
One day you’re surfing the internet on your phone, head in your hand, thinking, “How the fuck am I going to do this for another thirty years?” when you suddenly stumble upon the blog of some yahoo who is posting pictures of their travels around the world. While they’re working.
Wait, they work from their computer while they travel? They don’t have a home? They don’t have a DAY JOB? How the hell can I get me some of that?!?
Good question. It’s not complicated, really, but it is hard work.
However, even before you start building something that can fill your wallet while you surf in Bali, feed elephants in Thailand, or explore the country roads of Provence, you should know a few things first.
Gut Check
At first blush the lifestyle of a Digital Nomad (DN) seems like goddamned paradise. Wake up, answer a few emails, check your bank account, hit the beach, then cap off the day drinking rum while watching another beautiful sunset.
That’s the picture you’ll get of the lifestyle if you follow a few DN’s on Instagram. There are definitely days like that, and the good news is if you plan well and work hard you can do that stuff whenever you like.
However, getting there isn’t easy. If you have difficulty focusing on projects, if you struggle to complete tasks in unstructured environments, if you cannot deal responsibly with your finances, or if you have issues planning ahead, staying in shape, or keeping in touch with friends and family , those problems aren’t going to go away. In fact, once you hit the road they’ll almost certainly get worse.
Let’s discuss a few of the issues you should address before you jump into this new lifestyle, and if you’ve already jumped, you may want to get on them lickety-split. Like yesterday.
Stability/Routine
A settled life usually comes with a routine, like working out daily at the gym down the street or getting your coffee at a particular shop where everyone knows you.
You’ll become very much aware of this after just a single day of travel. Every time you switch locations your routine goes to hell. It will be harder to work out. It will take longer to find things like a coffee shop or a grocery store. Power outages, the language barrier, changes in weather and other unforeseen obstacles will play havoc with your plans.
Start by acknowledging that things are going to be messy for a while. Then figure out what’s most important fo you to do regularly to maintain your sanity (e.g. touching base with family, having a quiet cup of coffee every morning, working out, reading, etc) and set up your day so you can do that one thing. That one activity will be your first anchor to something sane and stable.
Check Out – Christmas in Savannah
Once you have your anchor in place you can add other parts of your routine in by clearing more space in your day and building around them.
It takes time, but even in a completely foreign locale it’s possible to create a soothing, productive routine for yourself. Have patience with yourself and keep working at it.
Planning Ahead
Some people excel at flying by the seat of their pants. To them there’s nothing quite so invigorating as waking up in the morning and saying, “Oh, shit, I don’t have any place to sleep tonight. I’d better get cracking!”
Even for people that enjoy that kind of spontaneity living that way for an extended period is going to get old quickly. To avoid becoming stressed by all sorts of last-minute surprises, plan ahead.
For things to run smoothly on the road you have to organize a lot of things in advance: scheduling flights, booking overland travel, researching accommodations, dealing with visas, staying on top of your budget (you do have a budget, don’t you?), etc.
Even if you’re the type of person who doesn’t plan diddly, you can learn and improve. Start by planning this new lifestyle. Figure out your packing list, write down what you’re going to sell and what you’re going to keep, research how you’ll work and stay in touch on the road, make a list of the items you’ll need to buy before leaving, and determine how to deal with your mail. Start writing things down and making lists, and get a good calendar (I use Google Calendar) to post reminders and deadlines. Do it every day.
Staying In Touch
If you talk to DN’s about the nomadic life it won’t be long before the topic of loneliness comes up. It’s tough to be on the road for months or years at a time, not connecting with anyone in the places you visit, not hearing from family or friends. This can be particularly hard during those times when you most need support, like when your business is going to shit or when the nice lady at the laundry down the street cheerfully informs you that she’s lost all your clothes.
Loneliness can be dealt with in two ways. Well, three if you travel with your family like I do. In that case there will be many days you’ll beg for loneliness as you’re picking Legos out of your toes in the middle of the night or hearing your child screaming “Daddy, come see this,” for the tenth time in as many minutes while you’re trying to brush your teeth. But I digress.
The first tactic for countering loneliness is to stay in touch with family and friends back home. Obvious advice, perhaps, but for many it’s easier said than done.
Check Out – The One Superpower You Need to be a Digital Nomad
If you’re one of those people who naturally picks up the phone or texts family and friends every day then you can skip to the next section. You get it.
For the rest of us, though, staying in touch with family and friends is an important skill to foster. They will not only provide you with a sense of home and normalcy, which can fend off feelings of homesickness, but they are the ones most likely to be there for you when you need support and encouragement.
So if you’re one of those people who sucks at staying in touch, start practicing now. Take your calendar and add a 10-15 minute block every morning for at least the next two months and title it “Reach out to Family and Friends”.
Every morning, spend that time messaging (email, text, DM, whatever) one or two family members or friends. If you don’t know what to say, just tell them something that happened yesterday or that you’re planning on doing today. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy update or a conversation and they don’t have to respond, just keep it short and sweet.
The easier you make it for yourself to reach out, the more likely it will become a habit. If it feels awkward, tell your family and friends that you’re going to be sending them regular updates of what you’re up to and that they needn’t feel any pressure to respond. You can even tell them that they can do the same by shooting you frequent simple updates about their day.
Quick messages like this with no expectation of response will keep you connected to those you love, and you’ll feel much less alone out there.
Plugging In Locally
The second way to deal with loneliness is to connect to the local scene and make friends in the places you land. Just like keeping in touch, some people are better at this than others.
Plugging in locally need not necessarily mean meeting local folks. For the purposes of helping you feel connected to others we’re not going to worry about whether these people are locals, expats, or fellow travelers. If you find you’re only connecting with fellow travelers at first, don’t worry about it. Deal with your social needs now and there will be time to get in touch with the local community later.
One way to find new friends is with regular classes. I train CrossFit, and there are thousands of CrossFit gyms around the world, so there’s frequently one where we travel. I get a great workout and I’m training alongside the same people every day in a supportive and social environment. By the end of the first week I’m usually talking regularly with a few people, and within a month I’ve made some great friends.
You don’t have to be a CrossFit nutjob like me to enjoy the benefits, though. There are plenty of classes you can take all over the world like yoga, pilates, art, music, local languages, etc. Join a local football club or find a pickup game in the area. If you enjoy a sport there may be a way to do it with others on the road.
If you’re into running triathlons, for example, set up a weekly training program and post to a local Facebook group. There are groups for expats and/or locals in lots of locations, and you can use them to spread the word that you’re doing some training and anyone who wants to join you is welcome. You may hear nothing but crickets at first, but follow up a couple of weeks in a row.
You can also volunteer if it’s permitted in the country you’re in. In many locations there are a variety of volunteer programs available including beach cleanup, working with local schools, construction of housing or public buildings, agricultural work, tending to animals, etc. Some countries regulate volunteer jobs similarly to paid work, so be sure to check first.
Try searching for meetups or parties. If there are none available, schedule one and invite local Digital Nomads, expats, or others via Facebook and online forums to come for coffee or adult beverages and shoot the breeze about world travel, location independent work, and the latest tasty waves you carved.
Organizing – and Maintaining – Your Finances
Now it’s time for the fun one – MONEY! Most people suck at this, so don’t be discouraged if you’re one of the many. Remember, you don’t suck at it because you aren’t wired for it, you suck at it because you haven’t done it consistently.
So let’s get consistent.
If you’re not yet out on the road, great. It’s better to get your finances into shape and develop strong habits while you’re in a stable environment.
If you happen to be out on the road already, you’re reading this not a second too soon. Let’s get your shit right before all hell breaks loose.
Start with a monthly budget. Excel or some other spreadsheet software is ideal for this, as there will be some basic calculations involved. List all of your monthly costs in one column, then put your income (or incomes, as the case may be) at the bottom. Subtract your costs from your income to get your monthly surplus or deficit.
If you’re paid – or pay yourself – regularly, i.e. weekly or biweekly, create a new column for this “pay period”, and list all the costs and income for that period. This will be your weekly/biweekly (or monthly, if your income only comes in once a month) operating budget.
[Aside: if you have a stream of income, e.g. revenues from online sales instead of a paycheck, then estimate your weekly income and use a weekly operating budget]
Now open your calendar and set three reminders for yourself on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to check your spending against your budget. Every time you check, look at your expenditures for the period and compare them to your budget. How much have you spent? How much do you have left?
Check Out: Affording RTW Travel, and a Peek at County Cork
This might seem like it does very little other than stress you the fuck out, but it after a while you’ll find that being aware of the numbers helps keep your spending in line. If you know you only have $20 left in your entertainment budget for the week, you might think twice about meeting friends out at the tiki bar and blowing $50. Instead, you might decide to buy a bottle of rum and some mixers and invite everyone over.
See? Progress made, even while partying.
Early on many of your estimates may be way off, typically for things like entertainment and food. If weeks go by and no matter how hard you try you just can’t get your weekly grocery bill below $70, maybe that’s where it needs to be. Or if you find you’re regularly blowing your transportation budget on taxis, there are alternatives you can explore (buses, bike, etc) to get that line item under control.
Keep refining the budget, figure out where you can realistically cut back a bit, and look closely at your bottom line. Do you have a surplus or a deficit? If you have a deficit, where can you cut spending or increase income?
If you have a surplus, congratulations, it’s time to put it to use. Make sure you’re paying down debt first – credit cards, student loans, etc. Then start building an emergency fund, typically 6 months worth of expenses. Once you’re making headway on debt and have built an emergency fund, then it’s time to direct cash toward investments.
Investing is beyond the scope of this post, but there are plenty of resources available online, or you can contact me at nathan@tryfailgrow.com or give me a holler in the comments and I’ll try to point you in the right direction.
Most importantly, keep checking your spending and tweaking your budget. The budget is the foundational tool for organizing your finances, so even when it feels like you’re banging your head against the wall, stay with it. If you do, within several months you’ll have a new, finance-friendly habit that will serve you well on the road.
Challenging Yourself Physically
This one’s pretty simple. Not easy, but simple.
If you’re normally an active person and you don’t stay active on the road, you’re going to be miserable. If you’re not an active person and you hit the road without a plan for getting active, you’re going to be miserable.
Regularly applying physical stress to your body helps you deal better with psychological stress. Selling all your shit and saying goodbye to family and friends so you can cruise around the globe for a few months or years is the very definition of psychological stress.
Stay active. Even if it’s just 10 minutes of all-out intense activity, get it in 4-5 times a week. You’ll be happier. And sexier.
Who doesn’t love a happy, sexy nomad?
Challenging Yourself Mentally
Just as with your body, your mind needs a regular workout. If you don’t keep your mind active, it will turn on itself. Typical conversations with yourself when you get to this stage sound like:
I should have never left. This is stupid.
I’m going to blow this and have to come crawling back home. Everyone is going to laugh at me.
What the fuck am I doing?
I don’t know what I was thinking. Why do I always do dumb shit like this?
We’ve all seen what happens to people (e.g. retired folks, celebrities, the idle rich) when they have nothing to do. They fall apart. When your brain has nothing to push on, it starts looking around for stuff to blow up.
For most of us, keeping a steady income flowing and planning the logistics of the next move is enough to stay busy and challenged, at least at the beginning.
Once you settle into a groove, and if you’re fortunate enough to streamline your business/gig so that you only have to work a few hours a week, you may find yourself getting bored and listless. You might start hearing some of the above destructive self-talk.
Check Out – Under the Tuscan…Never Mind
When that happens, it’s time to start scheduling a regular workout for your mind. Suggestions for sources of positive mental stress:
- Volunteer (see above for caveats on volunteering in certain locations)
- Take classes, either locally or online
- Start a new business or nonprofit
- Take up a new hobby, e.g. painting, drawing, furniture building, baking, etc
Think of your mind like an excitable puppy – you need to give it something to do or it’s going to get into trouble.
Alcohol
Last but not least, we come to booze. No guide to on-the-road happiness would be complete without mentioning it.
Alcohol holds a very special place in the lore of the Digital Nomad. Rum drinks, boat drinks, umbrella drinks, cold beers at sunset, and Painkillers seem to go hand-in-hand with the very image of the location-independent warrior.
Enjoy it, but be aware that it can quickly become a crutch for any of the issues above, and it can happen before you even know what’s going on. If your finances are a mess, for example, you may start to feel anxious and stressed, and nothing takes the edge off like a frosty rum punch at sundown.
The problem, however, is that you’re not dealing with the problem. In fact, you may be making it worse. Deal with the issues above and put solutions in place for them and you won’t feel the need to rely on alcohol to entertain you, soothe you, or make you feel less lonely. Booze is good at those things in the short term, but in the long run…not so much.
Get Things in Order and GO!
The reality of life on the road is naturally more complicated than the issues we’ve discussed above, but having an idea of the major pitfalls and knowing some strategies for dealing with them can be helpful.
What solutions have you come up with for the above problems? What issues have you run into on the road that don’t fall into any of the above categories?
Keep me posted on your travels. I’m eager to hear how it’s going.