Become a Digital Nomad or Stay at a Permanent Address
In this article I want to highlight some differences between modern nomads and those who stay in their homeland. There are a few pros and cons. I am pointing out that the lifestyle of a digital nomad is fun, but one needs goals and a life plan. If one starts his adult life without a direction, he might soon sit at a beautiful exotic beach and feel depressed. Every travel needs some planning. Every life is a travel and needs planning.
Content of Digital Nomads versus Permanent Address
Become a Digital Nomad
Staying at a Permanent Address
Permanent Address Nomads
Positive Side-Effect of Being a Nomad
Nomads Become Domiciled
Digital Nomads need Goals
Advantages of Having a Base
Advantages of Being a Digital Nomad
Disadvantages of Being a Digital Nomad
Probable Problems in case You Return
Being a Digital Nomad
There are quite a few Digital Nomads, also called Global Nomads, and the number is rising. Digital nomads are young people who work independently of the location. They make their money in the internet which they can do from anywhere in the world. Their working equipment is digital. Many have an own company, some are freelancers and some are employed. There are many opportunities to make money online. This can be programming, software developing, web design, graphic design, SEO, blogging, an e-commerce site, writer, author of articles or books.
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They fly from one beautiful beach to another and mostly live in air-bnbs. They carry a backpack with their belongings. They do not need much more than some shorts and shirts, shoes, a jacket, a sunscreen, of course a smartphone, a laptop, a camera, a selfie, and a credit card. If they need a car, they rent one. They often spend their time with other digital nomads. It is an international crowd. They usually have an international health insurance which is valid all over the world. Their company is registered in a low-tax country.
Digital nomads stay at one address as long as they enjoy it and then they pack their few belongings into their backpack and fly to another exotic country. They mostly enjoy the beach and warmth. Their base is their parent’s house. They stay in contact with their family and friends and visit them once or twice a year.
Staying at a Permanent Address
Most people stay at a Permanent Address. They live in an apartment or house which they rent or own. They furnish their home according to their taste and have the cupboards filled with clothes and all sorts of stuff. They are employed, are freelancers, or have their own company with an address near their home. Most of them have professions which they can only exercise in their homeland. Some of them work online. Permanent address people know their neighbors and often meet with their old friends. All are from the same country. They are shopping in the same stores. When they are going out they go to the same cafés, bars and restaurants where they are known. They own their car. Their health insurance is valid for their home country and includes a pension plan. Permanent address people are travelling during their vacation which is one to three weeks several times a year. They do not get to know the lifestyle of the countries they visit.
Permanent Address Nomads
Permanent Address Nomads rent an apartment in the country of their choice and come with all their belongings packed in a container or in boxes. They are travelling from this new permanent address. They have a job at the new address or work independently in the internet. After a couple of years they move with all their belongings to another part of the world. At every new address they meet new people, makes new friends, and might have a new job. They get used to a new lifestyle and to new customs. Sometimes they have to learn a new language. They stay in contact with their families, but lose the contact with most of their old friends.
People who are offered a job in another part of their country or in another country are not permanent address nomads. Most of them stay at that address till they retire.
I belong to the group of permanent address nomads. When I began with my nomadic life, I kept my apartment in my home country, rented an apartment in the country of my choice, found a job or worked independently and came with a few suitcases. With the years I got used to have more stuff – more clothes, more books, more kitchen utensils, and moved with boxes and then with a container.
I have always enjoyed getting to know other lifestyles, other foods and drinks, and other customs. I was interested in the history of the country in which I have lived and did a lot of sight seeing. What I found most interesting was the different lifestyles. Life in France is sophisticated. Clothing is stylish. You can buy fresh vegetables and fruit at open farmer’s markets. The bakeries are open on Sunday mornings, so you can buy fresh croissants. I can still remember how they smelled. The portions of dishes in restaurants are little and you choose several. In comparison to France life is kind of easier in England. Instead of a stylish café, you go to a pub, Instead of wine you drink beer. Instead of fine crêpes, you eat fish and chips. In California you need a car. You get anything, but you need to drive to get it. People address each other with the first name, which is strange for an Austrian. The portions of dishes in restaurants are huge and one usually orders only one dish. Fitness is important. There is hardly an apartment complex without a fitness room with workout machinery, a swimming pool and a jacuzzi. In Chicago I enjoyed the steaks and the cocktail hour. And so on and so forth. I am now on the way to move to the south of Italy. Again everything is different.
Positive Side-Effect of Being a Nomad
The positive side effect of being a nomad is that their thinking widens and evolves in comparison to permanent address people.
The positive side effect of being a nomad is that their thinking widens and evolves in comparison to permanent address people. They are open for all kinds of new concepts. They are filled with interesting stories. They are used to make changes and they are eager to try new things.
Digital nomads are meeting with lots of people from different countries and exchange their thinking concepts and the way they see life. Their thinking widens continuously and part of their knowledge increases. I have to mention that to increase your knowledge, you must not be a nomad.
After a couple of years of being a nomad, I was sitting together with some of my old friends who met each other for decades. I have observed that they have not changed. They only got older. They eat the foods which they are used to since young age. They talk about the same stuff over and over again and they are non stop criticizing all they are not used to.
Nomads eat all kinds of foods. I, for example, have lots of spices. Whatever I can’t buy at one address, I order online. Some of those spices are difficult to smell for a permanent address person. They also have a problem with eating foreign foods, because they are not used to different tastes.
I enjoy the challenge of changes and there are lots of changes I have to make when you move from one country to another. Permanent address people have a problem already with a little change. “They have stopped to produce the shower gel I have used for at least twenty years, I have already tried several other shower gels, but dislike all of them,” said one of my old girlfriends.
When you are a nomad, with every new address you have to get used to new grocery stores, new foods, new shower gels and cosmetics, new shopping centers, new cafés and bars, new restaurants. In every country are different laws. Even coffee tastes differently in each country.
Nomads Become Domiciled
After several years of constant travelling, some of the young digital nomads choose one of the countries in which they enjoy living to be their permanent address. Some of them will return home. As soon as you have children, everything changes. As soon as the children go to school, they need a permanent address.
I also believe that with the years one gets tired of travelling permanently and living out of a backpack. There comes a day when they have enough of packing and moving. I am 62 and Rome in Italy will become my permanent address. This is the last time that I was packing and moving with all my belongings. No more rented apartments, but a house that I own. I will continue to travel. But it will be for a few days or weeks, not years, and I will then get back to my base. I will only pack a suitcase, not all my belonging.
Being a digital nomad is fun as long as you are young and energetic. When they begin travelling to different countries, everything is new. After some time of travelling they stay longer at a location of their preference and rent an apartment or house. During the rainy season they travel to the other side of the world. And so they become semi digital nomads.
Digital Nomads Need Goals
If you choose having your own company, the first few years are hard, especially financially. A digital nomad works as much, if not more, than someone with a job at a permanent address. If you are building up an e-commerce store or a blog, with each new page and post you have more visitors and you make more money.
As a digital nomad you become kind of uprooted. You might lose direction and get depressed. We all need goals. Someone who stays at a permanent address has the usual goals. If you choose to become a digital nomad you need goals in every area of your life. From time to time you need to go through your list of goals and make changes. You might not want to stay a digital nomad your life long. You might decide to become a semi digital nomad or a permanent address nomad. Having a base in a part of the world where you enjoy living, is good.
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Some of the Advantages of Having a Base
Having a base is grounding and has a couple more advantages
• To have a base is grounding and has a couple more advantages.
• You have a permanent address that you can name if needed.
• No matter how much you are travelling and what your travel destinations are, you can always return to your base.
• You can store all the stuff you do not need for your next travel.
• Between travels you can fully relax and get reenergized.
• No matter how long you stay, its the same cost because the base is paid monthly.
• There are no rules as in rented rooms.
• You can invite friends or family.
Have Short and Long Term Goals and a Rough Life Plan
Think about your life and about short and long term goals. Ask yourself a few questions. You have to make a few decisions, for example, about having a health insurance. And make a rough life plan.
Questions for the first 2 to 3 years.
• How much money do I have to earn to be able to live as a digital nomad?
• How will I earn money? Do I need to keep my job, until I have build up a blog or an ecommerce store aside?
• How and where will I live until I hit the financial break through?
• What do I need as a digital nomad?
• What do I need to prepare before I start travelling?
• Should I signup for an international health insurance from the beginning?
• Should I have a pension plan?
• Can I keep all the stuff I don’t need as a nomad in my parent’s house, or put it into a storage, or get rid of it?
Questions around a five year plan
• Will I only travel during the first few years or stay at a certain address for a few months or even longer?
• Will I rent a bnb-room or a room for which I have to sign a contract?
• How much time will I work per day?
• How will my lifestyle look?
• How and how much will I keep contact with family and friends at home?
• What if something happens? Shouldn’t I have some extra savings?
• How and where will I invest money I earn, but not spend?
Questions around a long-term plan – 5 to 10 years from now
• Should I get a base from where I travel or should I keep renting a room and stay independent from a location?
• Should I stay in one of the exotic countries that I enjoy or should I move back to my home country?
• Should I get married and have children?
• Should I continue with my money-making plan or should I make changes?
• Should I get a pension plan in addition to my health plan?
The Advantages of Being a Digital Nomad
• Being a digital nomad is fun and informative.
• You really win in many ways.
• You get to know other countries
• You meet lots of people from around the world.
• You exchange ideas with lots of other people.
• Digital nomads help each other with their websites and online stores.
• You make experiences you can’t make if you stay at home.
• It widens your thinking and you increase your knowledge.
Disadvantages of Being a Digital Nomad
• You might get homesick at least from time to time.
• You might miss the security you have in your homeland.
• You lose years for your pension, unless you sign up for a pension plan.
• You might lose the contact to your old friends and acquaintances.
• You have to earn enough money regularly, because you get no money from elsewhere.
• While those with a permanent address have fixed office hours, a nomad has to get himself to work. This is not so easy. The sun shines, the beach calls you to come, and you prefer surfing to working. If you want or not, you have to be productive to make money.
• Jetlag whenever you change the time zone. It takes one day for one hour of time change. A jetlag takes time and energy.
Probable Problems in Case You Return Home
• You will be unhappy again and again, because the differences from your home country to exotic places are huge.
• If you decide to return to your home country, it will be difficult to get integrated again.
• During the first few years after your return, you will be alien to your friends and acquaintances.
• You lost years for your pension.
• Unless you have a special education, special skills or knowledge, it will be difficult to get a job. During the first three years employers might be afraid that you again leave.
_________________
Digital Nomads enjoy living near an exotic beach.
Being a Digital Nomad is fun. But for how many years?
The positive side effect of being a nomad is that their thinking widens and evolves in comparison to permanent address people.
Digital Nomads need short and long-term goals.
It is important that they prepare themselves for later years.
To have a base is grounding and has a couple more advantages
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