The Disadvantages of Living Nomadically
I am all about offering a realistic perspective on things, I’m not one to try to polish and white-wash my experiences. After writing about all of the wonderful advantages of being a nomad, I thought it would be a good idea to also include the disadvantages.
After writing these two articles I have realized that the pros and cons are nearly one in the same. While there’s a price to pay for all the benefits of nomadism, it isn’t wildly out of line with the cons of any other lifestyle.
Just as important as chasing after the things you want in life, it’s also important to find cons that you can live with, because they’ll always be there. So without further ado, here is my list of disadvantages to the nomadic lifestyle.
You Always Have One Foot Out The Door
This is the counterpoint to an advantage that I listed in my other article. Whereas it can be a plus to always be able to leave a situation, it can also kind of suck to never be firmly planted anywhere.
Every time you meet somebody you really like, there’s always your leave date hanging over the two of you. In some ways, it helps you both cherish your time more, but it can be sad having your loved ones so far away and being unable to see them whenever you want. Sometimes I feel myself holding back on making a stronger connection because I don’t want to feel sad when we inevitably part.
Being able to leave whenever you want can also enable your impulsivity. It can empower your desire to flee situations whenever you’re not getting your way. Why deal with adversity and character development when you can just buy a plane ticket and go on to the next adventure?
I also think this con can contribute to a toxic “hotel” mentality, where you inadvertently treat everything like it’s just background, like you’re not actually in a real place where real people live their real lives. You’re just there to harvest experiences for yourself.
This mentality is something I see in the types of people who are gentrifying Mexico City without taking any care to appreciate the culture.
Your Friends Are Scattered All Over the World
The plus of this is that you can go to to many different places and have a local to show you around, the downside, is that you’re always kind of alone at the end of the day.
Of course, you can say the same thing about a non-nomadic life. But it sucks when you’re working a seasonal job and don’t like any of your coworkers, knowing your real friends are far, far away.
It can suck knowing you can’t just casually go out for a drink with your one Mexican friend, but that you must travel to Mexico otherwise you’ll never see them again.
Likewise, when I’m in Mexico, my friends back home in Chicago start messaging me that they miss me. It’s hard knowing that unless I take the time and energy to visit these people, I will likely never see them again, at least not anytime soon.
You Can’t Build Anything
This one is tough. There are a lot of hobbies and pastimes I’d like to explore, such as gardening, that require space you just don’t have when you’re traveling.
Even with things like content creation, or making music, you can find a setup that works for you when you’re traveling, but still, now you have to carry a bunch of potentially expensive equipment with you everywhere you go. It can be a burden.
A lot of times your money vanishes into thin air, paying for awesome experiences, but years pass and you don’t have anything physical to show for it, just stories and experiences.
Yes, experiences are enriching, but when COVID first hit, it was hard to care about that when I had no money, was essentially homeless, and was facing the prospect of not being able to travel again for a while.
It’s Easy to Become Isolated
If you struggle with being outgoing and social and tend to be a shut-in, it can amplify when you’re traveling, especially if you’re in a country that doesn’t share your cultural norms or language.
I felt incredibly isolated when I was in Asia, even at times in Mexico, I would feel like I needed time to be immersed in videos of my language and culture because the shock was so much to process.
This can easily turn into a feedback loop, where you begin hiding in your room day after day. People rarely talk about depression hitting when you’re abroad, but it happens and can suck even more because you feel ashamed that you aren’t enjoying your time as much as you should be.
You Have No One To Share Your Experiences With
It seems a lot of these cons revolve around being alone and solitude. Well here’s one more to add to the list.
It can be hard to motivate yourself to go sightseeing or do anything really when it’s just you. Why would I go on a boat ride to Xochimilco when it’s just me? That kind of defeats the whole purpose of going, it’s supposed to be a group activity.
Sure you can use an app like MeetUp, but that can be awkward to meet up with a bunch of other foreigners. It’s easier to just isolate and not do anything.
That’s why I like staying places for longer stints of time so that I can make friends with locals. Still, you often don’t have anybody by your side to react to the cultural differences and craziness of certain situations. You just have to take in the amazement by yourself.
It Can Be Difficult to Go Back to a Normal Life
I always like to think of this in terms of momentum. If you have been renting the same apartment for years, and have a bunch of furniture, a big TV, and a pet, then you have built up a strong momentum towards remaining stationary.
If you are traveling, don’t have many possessions, aren’t on a lease, and have established yourself at a seasonal job, you have built up a strong momentum toward remaining nomadic.
Making the transition back to stationary life after being nomadic for years isn’t that simple. You may not have enough money to make the security deposit, you don’t have any recent housing history, you don’t have anything to put in your apartment, and it’s easier to just keep doing what you’re already doing.
If you like being nomadic and don’t want to settle down, then this doesn’t matter as much. However, when COVID hit, it was quite the pain in the butt transitioning back to stationary life. I never bought anything for the room I rented for a year because I knew I would hit the road again as soon as it was possible.
Receiving Mail Can Be Tricky
There are so many different addresses you occupy. If you’re in another country it only gets trickier.
One time I lost my debit card in Mexico, and didn’t know that regular mail is known to take forever. I ended up waiting a month and some change, only to find out the better method is to use a parcel delivery service like DHL.
I ended up canceling my debit and sending for a new one because I had no idea if it was lost in the mail or not. It ended up coming the day I canceled it. Of course.
I would advise you to do some research online, depending on what country you are in, to find the best method for receiving mail while you’re abroad.
Drugs, Alcohol, and Debauchery
Just like a lot of other industries and subcultures, travelers can tend to be a boozy, druggy bunch. Not always, there are plenty of exceptions, and it also can depend heavily on where you end up.
When I first started traveling, I worked at a couple of different “party hostels” and let me tell you, I got incredibly tired of partying. I used to refer to them as “party prisons”, as it was like living in a perpetual party you could never escape.
It’s also just customary to get drinks with people you meet, whether they are locals or other travelers. Some countries have bigger drinking cultures than others, but most cultures drink.
COVID definitely put a damper on a lot of this, as well as on nomadic living in general, however, if you’re trying to do the sober-living thing, it’s just something to plan around and be cognizant of.
Realizing Your Privilege Can Be Heavy
I don’t know if calling this a disadvantage to traveling is really the best word for it, but it definitely takes away from the glitz-and-glam that this lifestyle often gets portrayed with.
Vloggers love showing you their all-inclusive resorts, but they’re not going to show the raw poverty the people of that country live in. Nor will they mention that the hotel was built on land taken from the native population, who are now folding your towels and making your food.
There’s no way around it, this lifestyle is an extreme privilege. That doesn’t mean that I think you shouldn’t do it, it just means that you should be aware of it and the bias that comes with it.
There’s no real way of participating in our current system without contributing to pain and suffering. The less you can do the better, but I think it’s a bit disingenuous to pretend you’re not doing anything bad in your stationary life either.
You Become Somewhat Unrelatable
This one gets to me at times. Most people in their thirties that I know are either getting serious about careers, kids, and finances; or they are still degenerate bar flies. Either way, not many people are bouncing around like me, and it means I can’t relate much to them, nor them to me.
Sometimes I feel like I’m bragging when people ask me what I’ve been up to. A lot of people think it’s cool and are happy for me, but others I can tell are jealous, or feel some kind of way towards me.
It’s mostly fine, but it can make you feel like maybe you’re making a mistake not doing what they’re doing. Like one day it will all poof into dust and you’ll have nothing solid to fall back on.
Who’s to say? Only time I suppose.
It Ain’t All Bad
Isolation and loneliness seem to be the biggest cons, but honestly, it's a con I can live with. Obviously, I would prefer to have a big group of friends that enrich me and my life, but that’s not something you can just readily have available to you at all times.
Even when I wasn’t nomadic, I was in some pretty toxic circles and eventually isolated myself for my own mental health. I always try to remember that when I feel lonely abroad. It’s not like I never felt lonely at home either.
These are only reflective of my personal experiences. You can always travel with someone else, or take measures to not become isolated. I just thought I would be as honest as I could about my experiences and not try to white-wash it for you potential nomads out there.
Safe travels and keep following my nomad content!
