The unbearable lightness of being a digital nomad
Or, the 10 challenges to face if you want to live on the road.
All those who dream of a career as a digital nomad have probably seen themselves, at least once, lying in the sun on a beach in Bali, sipping a colorful cocktail under a straw hat. Probably in their vision a laptop awaits them on the terrace of their house, the one overlooking the sea.
Meanwhile, without malice, they laugh a bit thinking about their colleagues at home, trapped between asphalt and concrete, frustrated at their 9/5 job, and what’s worse, without a trace of tan.
But is the life of the digital nomad really that good? No matter where you are, no matter what’s your style, life has the pesky tendency to be more complicated than we like to imagine. I haven’t gone to Bali yet and I don’t know if I’ll ever want to go there, but wandering around that small corner of the world that is Europe, reality has already given me a good wake up call. Or 10.
10. Uncomfortable working conditions
There are a lot of small details that can make our workplace comfortable enough or turn it into a small hell. Sitting for many hours on the wrong chair can be a literal pain in the… Well, we all know where. Your next ergonomic desk may be hours from where you are.
Also, consider that if you are in a small, delightful village by the sea or on top of a mountain, the internet connection may not be optimal.
09. Physical fatigue
Maybe this is a minor problem, after all it can be solved with a good night’s sleep or a few hours on the sofa. Yet, if you haven’t ever carried your whole life on your shoulders around the world you may be surprised to discover it is fascinating as much as it is tiring. Sometimes your back just hurts, but you still need to go around to see a hundred apartments before you find your new den.
The time zone can also be challenging. If your boss or your best customer are on another continent, you can’t expect them to answer your calls at 3am.
Enjoy yet another sleepless night.
08. The obvious language barriers
It should go without saying but it’s worth repeating. Don’t expect, and by god, don’t demand locals to speak English fluently or even not fluently. Don’t expect locals to speak English, period. Especially outside big cities.
This can hinder everyday life in dozens of different ways, from making new friends to buying a cough syrup at the pharmacy, to asking the landlord to come and fix the drain.
07. The golden age of remote work may or may not be already over
The pandemic made remote work cool. Now, with the crisis almost over, there are many hybrid jobs and many in-house ones, but the options for those who want to work remotely only are dwindling. Let’s keep this in mind, if we happen to lose our job (or conclude a contract), finding an alternative may not be easy or quick.
Furthermore, working remotely often means working from home, but in the country where the company offering the job is located. If you’ve had enough of the place grabbing your laptop and jumping on the first available plane isn’t always an option.
06. Bureaucracy? Please feel free to cry
There are a lot of things we take for granted when we grow up and live for a while in the same place. Then we go our merry way somewhere else and the first thing we know, we’ve been fined for this or that. Or this AND that.
So here we are, facing an invisible, highly frustrating enemy: bureaucracy. Rental contracts, taxes, health insurance, driving license, etc. everything can be complicated and time-consuming in a new country, especially if we don’t speak the language.
From personal experience I can tell you to not expect to find all the infos on line. Also don’t expect the office employee to know or want to speak English. They are not required to do this.
05. Cultural barriers
You know, when in Rome, do as Romans do. Every country, however culturally similar it may seem to our own, has its own customs and traditions. It is not easy to learn them all in a short time and it is not easy not to make mistakes.
You can easily offend or be offended without wanting to and if we are used to it, it is not a given that we are facing somebody who is as adaptable as we are. Take the old lady who sells newspapers on a remote island in Greece. Maybe she never left her country, maybe she never even had to deal with tourists. Remember that the locals have no obligation towards us, it is up to us to use all the sensitivity we have to settle in without causing damage. And this leads to the next point.
04. Social fatigue
Even the most extroverted may find that they don’t really want to interact with others all the time. Yet, interacting with others when we are in a place we do not know can be unavoidable. If we do not want to alienate a possible help, a source of important info, or even colleagues and new friends, we will easily have to question ourselves about what to say, how to say it, when to say it and what impression of ourselves we are giving to others.
Keeping the guard high is tiring for anyone in the long run. Social fatigue can lead us to feel overwhelmed and anxious, which lead us to close up and even question our motivation to be wherever we are.
03. Productivity suffers
Now, a society too prone to hyperproductivity is sick, but in spite of ourselves we are part of it and we cannot break the vicious circle only thanks to willpower. That is to say, whoever gives us a job sooner or later wants results. Or we work for ourselves and we still need these results to earn the minimum necessary to live. The life of the digital nomad includes various activities (many of which I’ve listed already) that take away time and energy. Don’t expect to be as productive as you would have been in your home.
02. New beginnings stop being “new” after a while
Sad but true. After a number of new beginnings, and a number of years, the excitement subsides at least a little. It is physiological, every novelty after a while ceases to be, well, a novelty.
That miracle drug that is a rush of adrenaline won’t be there forever to keep us on our feet.
Maybe we will find a new source of excitement, maybe not.
01. Loneliness
Someone said that to be free is to be alone. I think it’s true, at least to some extent.
It is not easy to find a partner willing to follow us in our wandering. Maybe they don’t want to move, or maybe they want to go north while you dream of going south. Maybe their job doesn’t allow it, maybe simply it’s not the right time for them. If you are a digital nomad and have a partner to travel with you are lucky, but you are the minority. And if you plan to have children, well, it gets complicated.
Also, keeping in touch with family and friends via social media is a gift of our times, but keep in mind that no amount of video calls can ever replace flash and bones.
