This is my 4th year traveling as a digital nomad. I’ve been traveling with my friends most of the time, but now it has been 3 and a half months since they went back to Argentina. Since then, and I have been traveling by myself.
Naturally, you can start feeling lonely. Here are some things that IMHO are helpful for this problem.
Talk with your friends
Don’t be afraid to ask your friends to have a short call, or if you prefer async communication, you can send them some audio messages. Personally, I prefer audio messages. It’s better than a call because they can listen and answer whenever they have time. This is a good thing, especially if you are in different timezones. For example: I’m in Bali at the moment, so I’m 11 hours ahead of Argentina time.
Exercise
I know this isn’t easy, and not everyone likes it, but it’s crazy how working out can change your mood so drastically. It’s well known that this helps your mental health too. Find something that you enjoy. Of course I prefer staying with my laptop the whole day but if I need to choose some physical activity to do, boxing works for me. I really enjoy it and it’s so much fun. Next time you are feeling a little down, try to figure out what’s your activity. Go work out or go for a run and you will see the difference.
Podcasts
I started listening to podcasts a few months ago and I love them. This is a great way to learn something new and be entertained while you do boring tasks. E.g: doing laundry.
Some podcasts that I enjoy listening are:
- Armchair Expert
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- En Modo Avión (FYI, it’s in Spanish)
- Making Sense with Sam Harris
Meet new people
- Couchsurfing mobile app has a hangouts section where you can join a group or start your own hangout and plan a trip, go for a coffee or whatever you like.
- Meetup is similar than couchsurfing’s hangouts. You can join or create events about a topic you like.
- Pub crawls are great to meet new people while having a drink.
Life is short
If you are shy and have a hard time talking with new people think about this:
“You only get one shot at life, which is scary. But it sets you free… If our life is all we get to experience, then it’s the only thing that matters… If the universe has no purpose, then we get to dictate what that purpose is.” — Kurzgesagt
That quote is from one of my favorite videos and it’s also in this amazing post.
