Nomads don’t have to be digital

8 min readAug 19, 2018

9 powerful pointers I have found in the last few years on the road

For many of us, hitting the road seems like a rite of passage at some point in our lifetimes — whether you’re 18 and fresh out of high school, or post children or divorce in your 50’s. Even my parents are about to take a campervan to Uluru this week with fears they might leave it too late if they don’t go now. And travel is extraordinary, for so many incredibly personal reasons that you yourself will only know when traveling. It is entirely your own.

Many of us, will even enjoy it so much that we decide to take out entire life on the road with a one way ticket.

Then what about the digital nomads?

What I want to address here, is the simple situation that haunts many young, often single hopefuls who have to figure out how to do this without savings in the bank, and with no real idea how they might pay for it. To our apparent rescue, many of us get bombarded by blog posts, Instagram pics and Facebook flaunts of those digital nomads out there expressing to us that they have also taken their office on the road, become their own boss and working only in cafes from the beachside in Bali. And guess what ?!— if you want this life, it’s so simple to become a digital nomad too with my simple e-book!!… (um, no thanks)

But what if you don’t care for spending all the time you have on your computer?

What if you aren’t interested in chasing reliable internet connections, creating a social following and making vlogs to advertise (and and potentially ruin) every beautiful moment of your travels?

Fortunately, there are (many) other ways.

Let me start by telling you a little about me:

Firstly, I am nobody special.

I have no particular talents to tell you about, no giant savings account. I play a little bit of guitar, can snowboard at a medium level and sing well only when showering. I am ok with tools and technology though, but that doesn’t make my case here regarding digital nomads invalid. Let me tell you why:

From humble beginnings, I grew up on a small farm in a regional area about 500km west of Sydney, Australia. One of five children, my father was a truck driver and mother an aide to disabled kids at the local high-school. A simple upbringing, lot’s of love and always food on the table. So i’m incredibly grateful this was my childhood.

Left to my own accord however, career talk got in my ear and soon enough I was at university studying electrical engineering (hence the technology skills). Within months of finishing engineering and working at a firm, I started a masters in finance so that I could move into banking. Fast-forward a year and a half later — I was doing office work in a Sydney bank, I was miserable, and staring out the window all day for the answer.

So I quit.

Four years later, I am on the road still. Here is my wisdom since…

1. It still works if you do it on the cheap.

When I first quit the bank, I took my entire (measly) 3000 Australian dollars and bought a one way ticket to New Zealand. Fortunately as an Australian citizen I can live and work in New Zealand indefinitely, and cashed in some flyer points from my credit card to make the entire flight cost of shifting countries $127. I borrowed a backpack from my sister-in-law and my friends gave me their old cold-weather clothing.

When I arrived, I was living out of the cheapest backpackers room in Queenstown as I searched daily for any job I could.

2. Don’t be too uptight about what you do.

Willing to do anything to start with, I was applying for all sorts of jobs from dishwashing or housekeeping to banking (because Queenstown is a hospitality/tourism based city). It’s good therefore to remain open to any opportunities, for you never know what could come of it. Most importantly- don’t be stuck feeling too proud to either work hard, or get dirty.

3. Follow the flow.

Pretty soon I had gone from working 55–85 hour weeks on minimum wage at my (purposely unnamed) hotel, to guiding at Aro Ha; one of the country’s most prestigious yoga retreats. The point here: by working hard but being open to follow the flow and move with the opportunities, I was soon working in a place that astounded me every single day with breathtaking beauty and incredible people. I was earning good money, and well, the picture below speaks for itself:

4. Volunteer your time.

I left Aro Ha in October 2016, and that was the last time I undertook proper paid work. For almost 2 years now I have been volunteering.

There are incredible opportunities out there for anybody willing to give away their time, mind and muscles to other people. The hardest thing sometimes, is simply asking.

After New Zealand, I shifted to the beautiful island of Koh Phangan in Thailand, where I had (at the time) grand plans of becoming a digital nomad. I wanted to sell yoga retreats online — and therefore my then partner and I moved to one of the modern yoga hubs of the world to live amongst it. She went ahead and cheekily asked a yoga school if her and I could volunteer and work in exchange for their 500hr advanced yoga teacher training course. It was my first experience asking for something like this.

And guess what? We stayed in Koh Phangan for 9 months and become advanced yoga instructors without paying any money for the course. I used my money skills to look after all the restaurant finances, course fees, housing payments and music events for the community of 30 or so people living there. My partner helped oversee the restaurant and housekeeping. Our time, skills and work was valuable to the yoga school, and therefore the trade was fair and good for everybody involved.

The best thing is that on the way, we up-skilled:

5. Use what you have, and also what you gain on the way.

After Thailand, my next volunteering job came in the form of a yoga teacher at a German hotel/resort. Each day I would use this new skill, teaching yoga, that I picked up whilst traveling, whilst living my ‘life’.

So as you keep volunteering, you keep picking up more and more skills that makes you valuable to the next business or place you stop at. Would you believe it — the German hotel offered to pay me if I were to stay. In fact, my last four volunteering businesses have all offered me money to stay.

6. When you aren’t in a rush, you can finally enjoy living.

This morning I took this photo, after having the beach to myself for 4 hours after watching the sun rise. You start to realize that if you’re entire life is one of travel, then there is no need to be missing out on what is right in front of you — there is no rush at all. I don’t need much money, because with a simple lifestyle I don’t really spend it. All the volunteering places I find offer food and accommodation for anything between 15 and 30 hours of work in exchange. Getting paid a little bit here and there along the way, more than covers my expenses.

7. Be willing to give more than you take.

The greatest way to ensure that your life is rich, is to give out more than you expect to get back. If you can find it in your heart and energy to put more into the system that feeds you than you take out, you will find the rewards come back in a million incredible ways that you could never have expected. Smiles, homes, car rides, hugs, food….

This simple change in your attitude will ensure that you are always supported and in incredible ways.

8. Always be willing to try new things.

If you have read this far already, I am sure I don’t need to explain to you the power within trying new things. By trying new things you will:

9. Be open will change your life — daily.

Therefore, don’t let the old you stop you from being new every day.

One of the most thrilling things to do with your life is to allow yourself to change. The person who is sitting at home, or with the same job year after year is missing out on the incredible possibility of experiencing a new life, a new person, a new present moment every single day. This is not a statement to condemn, its a statement to inspire because we really can be moved by life each and every day when we are finally open to. It’s only a stubbornness, an unwillingness or a fear that locks us into place and not becoming as fluid as the river of life itself.

And yes, I know that this is not for everyone.

Many different lives, many different backgrounds, responsibilities and circumstances that mean its not as easy as 1, 2, 3. But it doesn’t mean it’s not possible to those of you out there who really want it and are ready to take the plunge.

Digital nomads don’t always have it easy, nor do they always live the good life. To live on the road without your computer doesn’t mean you have to become barefoot, to hitchhike or even to dumpster-dive for food. Everybody is welcome to do it in their own way, as connected or disconnected from society as they see fit.

My expression here is therefore to show you that it all unfolds in front of you, but only once you are moving. And, very importantly, it does not have to involve your computer or smartphone at all.

In fact, it’s probably best if you leave them at home!

UPDATE ***********
I have added a second post to give you all some examples other ways I have come across people making their non-digital lifestyles a reality.