Living That Decentralised Life: An Endless Summer
The idea that you can work from anywhere in the world is undeniably appealing. Who wouldn’t want to chase the sun from beach to beach, laptop under one arm and straw hat on your head? No-one has ever had a bad time working on the beach, except maybe Sheriff Brody. And the Fyre Festival guys.
This idyllic fantasy is no longer a distant dream. Millions today work in jobs that involve at least an element of remote working. Global Workplace Analytics says the remote workforce has increased by 140% since 2005. In a recent study, IWG found that 70% of professionals now work remotely at least one day a week, with 53% working remotely for at least half of the week. More bullish estimates claim there will be as many as 1 billion digital nomads by 2035. With wireless connectivity now available in places previously thought impossible, remote working could mean remote in the strongest possible sense of the word.
This nomadic lifestyle is very much in tune with the crypto spirit — living life without a base, without a centre around which your life revolves — a decentralised lifestyle. It is a mindset, a freedom from traditional forms of obligation and controls. It is, however, not always easy and comes with many challenges.
One man committed to such a decentralised lifestyle is Laurence De Rooij, founder of Endless Summer Kitesurf School. He’s a regular in Primalbase AMS, where he’s joined by a host of other nomads who bounce between our locations as they trot the globe, armed with only their laptop (and in Laurence’s case, a load of kitesurfing equipment). We sat down with him at Primalbase AMS to find out more about the ups and downs of decentralised living, and his advice for anyone looking to do the same.
Taking Kitesurfing on the Road
Laurence has been working in the startup scene for a long time. His kitesurfing business is very much influenced by this experience, as well as the tech startups he sees in Primalbase every day.
“We started out last year. My business partner and I met in Cape Town — one of the best places in the world for kitesurfing. We were running one of the biggest local kitesurfing schools over there together and we started brainstorming about how we could do something like this back home in Amsterdam.
“After two years in Cape Town, we returned and we started our business. We stayed under the radar last year, we had so many people who approached us just through word of mouth that we were already fully booked. This year, we went online with our website and started marketing properly. This season is the real first kitesurfing season that we are up and running for.
“We teach in locations around the city, depending on the wind. It can be quite windy (as anyone who has visited Amsterdam will attest!). There’s a lot of water, too, so we can decide whether we want to go to the ocean or one of the lakes with flat water — those are really nice for kitesurfing. It’s a real luxury to have this flexibility because most schools are based on the beach. But obviously, there are a lot of people in Amsterdam who might want to try it, but they don’t have any idea of where they need to go. We try and make it easy for people.”
When Is a Tech Startup Not a Tech Startup
The terminology Laurence uses is definitely that of the tech startup, something he acknowledges has heavily influenced their approach. “It’s funny. We ended up at Primalbase, which is, of course, more targeted towards tech startups,” he said. “But we approach things in the same way and have looked to tech companies for strategies for scalable growth. The tech guys who come in have also been a real influence and we’ve used lessons to grow our business.”
The other similarity is in the nomadic lifestyle they all share. “Many of the other Primalbase members we meet have found a way to live a life that’s truly global. They definitely understand why we do this and what we do. They might do it in a different way, and that’s also cool, but it’s all following the same dream.”
The seasonal nature of kitesurfing lends itself perfectly to the nomadic lifestyle. Endless Summer Kitesurf School is open for six months in the summer and closed in the winter so they can travel around the world looking for the best places for kitesurfing, whether this be Brazil or Cape Town.
Laurence explains that this is more than just a job, though, it’s a way of life. “We do this because we really believe in promoting this lifestyle,” he says. “A lifestyle based on travel, adventure, kitesurfing — that’s something we really love and we believe it’s possible to do this.
“A lot of people live their lives and have their jobs, but they are sometimes not aware that this is also possible. We want to tell people that if it’s something for you, and you want to do this, then it really is possible and you can join us. Let’s do this together. That’s our motivation, to do this and to make it into a sustainable way of living our lives.”
Experience the World
The key benefit is, of course, visiting a wide range of different places. This has only been made possible for many by technology. Even for an outdoor business, you need to be heavily focused on online efforts to drum up business in an area before you can set up anything there. You need it to build a community. Then when you’re out there, you need to do the same again for the next place you’re going. This could mean working from a beach cafe, or from a coworking space like Primalbase.
This enables a rich variety of experiences. “Everywhere you go, every place is different,” says Laurence. “Take Cape Town, for example. It’s really rugged. It’s super beautiful — it’s much wilder. That’s what I love about it, you can be in the city and then you drive for an hour and you’re in the middle of nowhere surrounded by zebras.
“On the other hand, when I come back to Amsterdam, you have all the nice coffee bars and the infrastructure and everything is super well organised and clean. I can take my bike and be anywhere I want to be in 15 minutes. It’s really cool to be able to live in different places that are nice in their own way.”
Challenges to Overcome
There are, however, certain challenges to overcome in a nomadic lifestyle and it isn’t for everyone. Many considering making the leap into a more nomadic way of living also worry about the potential loneliness. For Laurence, this isn’t an issue.
“Sometimes people ask me if it’s lonely to travel around, but the thing is that there are a lot of people that do this, and you make friends along the way who live their lives in the same way as you. It actually makes it even better. There’s a whole crew of us. We have a lot of friends that are into kitesurfing. Some of them work for us as instructors, another helps us with the website development — they join us on our mission and follow us around the world. That’s definitely part of the fun.”
It’s not just those working in kitesurfing and tech, though. Such a lifestyle is now available to people working across a wide range of industries. With such a rich variety of characters all following a similar dream, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll meet people you get on with who you’ll encounter again and again.
“I have quite a few friends that live the same way and it’s super inspiring. It’s inspiring to see how different people find different ways of living this lifestyle. Some people are, let’s say, writers, and they are not location-dependent. They can live anywhere and do their work. Then another guy is a graphic designer and another guy is a web designer. We also have a group of friends who are from Switzerland, and they run a paragliding centre in Zurich in the summer, but in the winter they go to Cape Town for kitesurfing and it’s like wow! I didn’t know that was possible, but that’s cool.”
“There are a few places around the world that are popular, and you definitely meet the same people in the same places over and over again. That’s super cool. After a few years of doing this, you have a big group of friends from all around the world.”
Should You Take the Leap?
Does all this sound like something you’d be interested in? Laurence has some important advice for taking the plunge.
- Be aware you’ll need to adapt to different cultures. “This means learning new languages and learning how different countries work. Also, especially if you want to build a business in a different country, you have to deal with all sorts of different rules and regulations and that can be challenging.”
- If your network is really strong in one place, but not so strong yet in another, you really need to invest in that. “To be honest, I also find that the most fun part, because it really feels like you’re pioneering. You throw yourself in at the deep end, you go to some new frontier and you try to build something new again, and when it works out it’s super rewarding. It’s challenging but it’s also fun.”
- Ask yourself who you are and what you want to do, and what your passions are. “If you know what you love, then the next step is obviously to try and find a way to do that. The only way that you can find out is by trying. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to change your life completely overnight and quit your job and sell your house and whatever. What I’ve found really useful is to do experiments. Besides your job, you can start learning a new skill and try and see if you like it, if you are good at it, and if you could maybe make some money with it. Then, that can grow into something bigger. My advice is to do what you love, then try and find a way to do it full time by experimenting. I really believe in entrepreneurship, that it’s a great way to be able to design your life in a way that fits for you. The more traditional way of working for a company is usually quite structured, so it makes it a lot more difficult to live a flexible lifestyle if that’s what you want.”
Are you a digital nomad? What’s your advice for would-be adventurers? Let us know in the comments!
