Enspiral’s Digital Nomads
I’m sitting in a really uncomfortable chair in an amazing house in Amsterdam. It’s my fifth country in 12 weeks. I’m tired. I’m out of my work cycle and struggling to get my brain switched on. But I’m in Amsterdam! 24 hours ago I was in Lyon, France and before that I was exploring a castle I once knew only as the board game Carcassonne (it’s a really real place my gamer friends, and it’s stunning).
I’m 10 thousands words behind in my writing goals but I’m surrounded on a daily basis with so much inspiration my muse has stopped swooning and just passed out. I’m so happy most of the time I could burst. Other times I’m sitting in a corner and crying because I’m overwhelmed by travel, work, world schooling a 7 year old and just plane old life logistics.
I can’t imagine ever stopping.
Maybe next week I’ll pack my bags and head back to my tiny eco-village in New Zealand, far, far away from everything, but I doubt it. My mind is more preoccupied with how I can keep traveling for the rest of my life.
We are officially living the life of digital nomads. We wander the world working and discovering new things and it’s a balance that is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to control. So we aren’t. My life goal at the moment is to go with the flow and it’s a lot harder than it sounds.
How do we do this and stay connected with Enspiral?
A few weeks ago we had an Enspiral members meeting, a nice early morning one for those in New Zealand, but it was the middle of the night for me and the end of a long family celebration in London. I didn’t even last through the hour long round of check-ins, where we give everyone present a few moments to say how they are doing.
This week we’ve been moving around every other day with day-long drives between locations and I don’t think I so much as sent an email.
But, thanks to the Embassy Network, an organisation we’ve connected with through Enspiral, I’m in a majestic old house in central Amsterdam, overlooking the canal network. I have a pub with excellent beer on the corner, internet access (essential), a bedroom, and 6 weeks to get some actual work done.
This digital nomads lifestyle, while still being part of our working community (and support network) is allowing us an extremely unique way to live.
We’ve attended conferences in Paris we otherwise wouldn’t have connected with, we have another two conferences lined up in the next few months and then we have to decide where to go next. But we get to do it the with the security and support of a work environment that cares. That actively tries to support our endeavour. And the more awesome thing about all this, we aren’t alone.
We are in the process of organising an Enspiral Europe mini-retreat (on a boat, floating down the Amsterdam canals, because we can). This is a great chance for us to connect in the physical world with colleagues, some we haven’t seen for a year or more and others we hung out with just a few months ago.
Physical connections are a great way to bolster the online communication tools we already use (like Slack and Loomio) and assuage the homesickness.
I’m always looking to see what other digital nomads are up to so touch base with us and share your travels.
