We’re taking you back to the beginning…
Author: Makenna Taylor-Gonzalez
A story of two nomads who met online and built a friendship on the road
Welcome to the 21st century. It’s no secret that over the past couple of years, social media sites have exploded. The online world keeps getting noisier, consequently becoming harder to connect with like-minded individuals. Your newsfeed is flooded with re-posts of funny animal videos or satirical news stories, which only keep you entertained for so long. So, say you’re a digital nomad and you’re headed to a new country next week. You’ve never been there and don’t know anyone. You search for a group on Facebook, and maybe find one, but its a total shot in the dark. This is where our story begins…
Meet Digital Nomad Guru Khalsa.
Eight years ago, at the young age of 25, Guru moved from California to Hawaii: San Francisco to Honolulu, from a closet to a tree house, to be exact. He always dreamed of living a simple life and “Hawaii seemed like a great place to pursue [his] photography and video career”.
We asked, what prompted you to make the move?
“I met a guy in California who told me I could live in his 3 story tree house for free while I researched Hawaii. I caught a one-way flight as soon as I could. A lot of my career can be attributed to me saying yes to that offer.”
As we chatted with Guru, we found that much of his journey can be attributed to his “yes-man” attitude.
How long have you been on the road?
I have been on the road for 8 years now. I still rent a place in San Francisco to keep me grounded to friends, family, and clients, but I am there less than half the year. I love SF, it propels me to keep moving and inspires me to keep creating. However, my very first international trip was to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a month when I was 15. It was so transformative and the reverse culture shock was powerful. I caught the bug on that trip and awoke my DRD4–7R gene. I worked on my camera skills for the next 10 years and dreamed of a life of travel, spending most of my time bopping around the Americas with some EU/UK and Asia in the mix.
What was your plan?
My original goal was to visit one foreign country every year. I saw photography as a way to support that lifestyle. In 2014, I went to India, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, England and the Isle of Man. I shot for the moon and landed on the stars - I feel beyond fortunate.
How did you afford to move?
I graduated from college and was working in a camera store/restaurant, collecting gear and saving up for the next chapter of my life. I bought a new camera and a plane ticket and have been freelancing ever since. When I first arrived in Hawaii I used craigslist to find random photography gigs. I also serendipitously met another nomad and we started making travel videos together.
Now, I don’t ‘move’ around so much as I go to “be” places.
I book jobs to create photo or video content in other countries. I usually go out before the project begins and stay after, which has helped me create a large network of savvy, like-minded travelers.
Enter Player #2, Fellow Digital Nomad Glen Thomson.
A veteran nomad and travel photographer, Glen has worked over 50 jobs in his first ten years of travel. He is currently living in Nepal with his wife, following the devastating earthquake earlier this year.
How did you decide you wanted to work and travel?
My wife is a response director with a large emergency response NGO, so I knew if I wanted to travel with her I’d need to have a location-independent income. I’ve had over 50 jobs and none of them were really my cup of tea, so once I started exploring and seeing success with different online business models, I was hooked.
How do you choose your next destination?
Often, wherever my wife will move for work, based on the most recent natural or conflict emergencies. I also travel to popular digital nomad hubs. I’m in Vietnam this week meeting with online business friends, off to Bangkok next week for a conference, and I spent four months in Mexico earlier this year working with an online startup. Some favorite spots include Burma, Cuba, and Ladakh in northern India. We’re off to Bhutan soon too, can’t wait!
How do you connect with other nomads?
Multiple channels, FlyingYak included! I’m part of two other online communities, the Dynamite Circle, and NoHatDigital, both of which have given me amazing connections and lifelong friends.
How did you guys discover FlyingYak and first meet up?
(Guru) — A buddy of mine sent me an email and said “this seems up your alley”. He was right. When I booked a gig in Nepal with some NGOs, I hopped online and searched Kathmandu on FlyingYak. Glen popped up and was doing similar things there. At the time, my clients were discussing postponing the trip due to political unrest and I was able to get first-hand, real-time info from Glen — we were all set to travel and there were no worries. Once Glen and I connected online, he met up with my buddy (Matt) and I our first day in Kathmandu. He gave us a nomad tour and we shared a couple meals with other nomads and potential clients — and, I got to ride on the back of Glen’s motorbike through the dusty treats of KTM.
(Glen) — I think I found FlyingYak on Instagram. I’m a passionate hobby photographer so you can often find me on Instagram as well. Guru connected with me when he saw I was based in Kathmandu (on my FlyingYak profile), as he and Matt were on their way to Nepal to shoot/film for two different NGOs. We hung out several times during their stay and I’ll definitely be seeing them again whenever I’m next in the US!
Guru’s takeaways?
It was such an awesome way to connect online, knowing we already shared a number of mutual interests and lived similar lifestyles.
Often times, the first few days in a new city can be lonely as a digital nomad. Meeting on a platform like FlyingYak gave us the ability to accelerate that process and hit the ground running.
How do you connect with other nomads?
Planes, trains and automobiles. In transit has always been a great place for me to strike up a convo. When you’ve been on the road for a while, there is a magnetic pull towards others. Anybody with a laptop hacking away is fair game. If they are a keen nomad they will respond. I also post where I am heading on Facebook and see what comes through my network, but it’s a shot in the dark. Now I will skip that step and Fly straight to the Yak!
Are there any tools you wish existed when you first started traveling?
(Glen) — Anything to help book flights: I love JetRadar — it pieces together flights made up of all the cheap, crappy airlines, my favorite way to fly! SecretFlying.com also helps me find crazy cheap and interesting deals, often inspiring a journey I’d never planned.
(Guru)—If there was something like Patreon or FlyingYak when I first started working on the road, things would have been much easier. 8 years ago I lived in Hawaii and the only lasting nomad connection I made was completely random playing volleyball.
Now, there is a lot of noise on standard social media sites so it is great to use something with a specific focus like FlyingYak.
Also, I would have settled for an iPhone to check emails and use a maps. My iPhone is my gateway and apps like Gmail, Evernote, Waze, Instagram, Spotify, Words with Friends, Duolingo, Maps, Kayak, PayPal, and Authentic Weather make travel much more efficient and enjoyable. I also always have my Light & Motion headlamp everywhere I go. With rolling blackouts in so many places — light is key.
Any last words?
The hardest thing about being a digital nomad? Saying goodbye to all the amazing people I meet on my path is really tough. Combine that with not seeing the people I love as often as I would like — I often find myself feeling like a lone wolf. — (Guru)
What advice would you give the average Joe?
Enjoy the journey, pack less stuff and pack more money. There are two types of fun. The kind you have when you are having it and the kind you have when you are telling the story about it. For fellow nomads out there, focus on inspiring each other rather than instilling fomo. Don’t just show off but share the road to this new frontier. Community is the key! — (Guru)
What are some challenges you face?
I think the biggest barrier for me is tapping into a local network quickly and precisely… and finding fast, dependable WiFi. There are so many tourist-related city guides and communities, but honing in on digital nomad-related communities can prove difficult. Language barriers and maintaining a sense of community are big challenges for me, but fun obstacles to overcome. Also, finding a good salad in a foreign country is crucial and eludes me more often than not. — (Guru)
If you’re looking to start your digital nomad journey, tap into local communities and connect with like-minded, adventurous travelers, head over to FlyingYak and sign up.
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