The Challenges and Rewards of Being a Digital Nomad
By Chris Wildgen, McMaster Alumna, travel writer, photographer and tour leader
Making the switch from being a home-based freelancer who travels to being a full-time digital nomad is exciting. It’s a big move that requires disposing of many things, from physical possessions to mental concepts of many things. Having made that leap, I have found that the digital nomad lifestyle is as rewarding as I hoped, but that the rewards also come with challenges. And sometimes it feels that every reward has a challenge and every challenge has a reward.
By working from my computer, I am geographically independent. I can work from anywhere with the reward of freedom to travel where, when and for how long I want. Without the attachments of a stationary life and job, the world becomes an open itinerary. With no limitations and so many possibilities, it can be difficult to decide where and when to go next!
Many rewards are the same rewards that anyone can have when travelling on vacation such as learning more about the world, meeting new people, embracing other cultures, getting out of the “daily grind” and trying new foods.
Being able to stay somewhere for a longer time allows more living like a local, giving more knowledge and insight into the culture. This is invaluable to me as I research for a place on the water to eventually settle. Working while there is even better research.
There is a false sense of financial freedom because most expenses are not fixed from month to month. Of course, accommodation and food are still expenses, but these can be reduced by organizing travel and stays to take advantage of off-peak times and out of the way places.
Becoming a digital nomad is a process of letting go — of almost everything, from physical possessions to concepts about life and work. The result is clarity and simplicity. Going through possessions becomes a process of learning and deciding in favour of what you really love. On the road, this becomes part of a daily ritual. Do I love being here, now? And where would I love to go next?
Letting go leaves open the possibilities for new opportunities, personal growth and friends. By having less, you get more.
As with rewards, many of the challenges for digital nomads are shared by all travellers. Planning travel to and accommodation at the next destination can be very time-consuming, especially if budget is a concern. For a digital nomad, this can happen frequently! With all the resources available, it can take more time not less.
And while everyone wants wifi, it is critical for a digital nomad, for work and to keep in touch with family and friends, usually from constantly changing time zones. A device can be purchased to provide wifi at a daily rate, an additional expense that is unavoidable as it makes the lifestyle possible.
And while it may appear to be a foot-loose and fancy-free lifestyle, things like banking, taxes, medical insurance, mail forwarding and delivery, what cell phone provider to use and what phone number are all complicated decisions, requiring serious thought and attention.
One mental challenge is dealing with the travel/life/work balance. It’s sometimes difficult to maintain the work discipline when it feels like you are on vacation in a foreign country! The challenge is to remember that the “digital” work part is what makes the “nomad” travel part possible.
And strangely, it is easy to feel a little untethered, and even alienated, with no fixed schedule. It would be easy to get caught up in the novelty of just going from one destination to the next for no other reason than to keep moving. But that would defeat my purpose of choosing the digital nomad lifestyle, which is to truly experience life in different cultures, beyond what would be possible in a vacation. Reminding myself to “be here now”, and to be grateful that I chose this incredible opportunity reminds and strengthens me.
Having settled in and made friends somewhere, repeatedly having to say goodbye can be hard. But that has always been the case leaving friends and family. So as my mother always said to me, I say, “see you soon!”
Like all life and work choices, being a digital nomad has its challenges and rewards. By embracing them, this lifestyle is giving me freedom, growth and new friends.
After an international career in sports medicine and sales and marketing, McMaster graduate Chris Wildgen is following her dream of connecting with people and diving into local cultures around the world through travel. Now a digital nomad, Chris is a travel writer, photographer and tour leader. With a natural flare for languages, she can converse in German, French, Italian, Spanish and English. Visit her site www.travelbetterlivebetter.com.
