I have been a digital nomad for just over two years now and I can honestly say that it was the best decision that I have ever made. If you don’t know what a digital nomad is exactly, it is a person who is able to earn a living from their laptop, whilst simultaneously taking advantage of the fact that they can work anywhere in the world. I was fortunate to have a good friend Abhishek Gattani who helped me get started with this lifestyle, and I have never looked back. There are more and more digital nomads each year and the popularity is easy to understand. I wanted to give you my take so far on being a digital nomad so let’s take a look at the pros and cons.
Pros
I’ll start with the positive side of this nomad lifestyle:
– Location Independence
As I have mentioned, the ability to work from any corner of the planet with nothing more than a laptop and an internet connection is something that I really enjoy about this way of life. I am an avid traveler and I could never have done it all without being able to earn online.
– Own Yourself
I love that I have nobody but myself to answer to, of course I keep clients happy,but I work when I choose, I take a break when I like and I don’t have to work harder for anyone other than myself. I used to hate asking for days off and vacations in my ‘real job,’ I don’t miss it at all.
– No Transportation
When you work from your laptop, you no longer need to commute in rush hour for an hour each morning and afternoon, and you no longer need to pay for gas, buses or trains. Another aspect of my job that I hated so much was the amount of time in transit, before even starting my job and then when all I wanted to do was get home.
Cons:
Despite this sounding like the perfect lifestyle, there are some downsides to this lifestyle:
– Social Interaction
When you are working in a team or somewhere where you have colleagues, you get instant social interaction each day which gives you the perfect outlet during your day. When you work online however, you will be communicating with clients or team members electronically and the lack of generally conversation needs to be replaced. You can remedy this of course, but you have to put in the work to be sociable.
– Uncertainty
I have spent many months wondering if the next month will bring in any money or not and for a long time it was hard to financially plan for anything. This however, is a risk which you must take if you want to create this lifestyle for yourself.
Conclusion
In my view, and ins site of any drawbacks there may be, this is the best job in the world and I think that more people should embrace it.