Are you a digital nomad? Are you familiar with this conversation?
Spend your time finding the right position to make sure the sand
does not reach its keyboard or charging port. You need to put the brightness of your
screen at the maximum level to distinguish something. You are lucky if there is a free Wi-Fi signal
with a decent connection. More so if
you find an accessible outlet from the beach.
This particular digital nomad cliché is just one of the many that
sell people, fueling the fantasy that working remotely and traveling in it are
the perfect recipe for life, that anyone can achieve.
All are lies.
Very often, being a digital nomad sucks.
Between the endless search for a suitable Internet signal, the
blurred line that separates work from leisure and the constant uncertainty
about what will happen next, the dream can easily become a nightmare.
But that does not mean that combining remote work and travel is
impossible. More than that, you can
quickly enjoy it. With the only
condition that you know what you are getting into from the beginning.
The nomadism digital
It is such a fashionable expression.
Anyone who does not work in the same office doing a job of 9 to 5
proudly proclaims himself to be a digital nomad. I know, I do too.
And because it's so fashionable, we still have not reached the
point where people talk about what it really is. Most of what we see in social networks
contributes to the myth that working remotely is all rainbows, unicorns and
butterflies. Just look at the results
of # digitalnomad on Twitter and see what people post. Most of the time, it's a picture of a laptop
in the middle of a paradisiacal landscape.
During the past year, I traveled to China, Tanzania, EE. UU.,
Turkey and recently I made a road trip from France to Sofia through the Balkans
to finally arrive in Sofia, where I will stay until the end of the summer
before moving. to berlin
I did all that and assumed the responsibilities of my work in ClaimCompass . It
was difficult and to make it possible, I had to break my ass like never before.
But oh boy, I feel fantastic!
The nomadism digital
It is a topic that has raised at least a couple of problems so far:
1. Most people who undertake the nomadic lifestyle fail because
they have no idea what it is in the first place.
2. A minority of others begins to strongly condemn the digital
nomads for selling what they call a lie.
I can empathize with both groups and I can not help but feel sad.
For the first, because they tried to live a dream they had not
seen was idealized. For others, because
they go too far in their criticism of a lifestyle that has been placed on a
pedestal too high, it is true, but it remains a formidable and manageable adventure
when done with care and awareness.
As I said, to pay the price of exploring several countries on 4
continents, I had to work hard and attract several people throughout the night
to do everything on time. But next to
that, I walked through the Great Wall in China and started climbing Mount
Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. I saw the
Grand Canyon in the United States and visited Cappadocia in Turkey. And many more boxes marked on my wish list.
It's about finding the work-life balance you can live with. I went on a 15-day trip in southern
China. It was amazing, one of the best
experiences of my life. And I did not
do a lot of work during all this time, that's true. However, by the end of the month, all my
scheduled tasks and more were done. I
worked twice as hard before I left and the same when I got home. Balance.
I think the problems raised by the nomadism
digital they come from the
restrictive definition that has been popularized by: the lifestyle of people
who work remotely and travel at the same time.
It is often interpreted as little more than the escape from office
work from 9 to 5 to permanent vacations.
Yes, of course, you want ...
With only a year trying to live this life behind my back, I admit
that I feel presumptuous when writing like a know-it-all. But from my experience and after connecting
with fellow remote workers, I would suggest a more complete explanation of what
it means to be a digital nomad.
The digital nomads are adverse to the idea of a world without
work flexibility, in terms of location, hours and perhaps even tasks. They are people who understand that they do
not need a "regular job" to put their skills to good use and make a
living, but only a laptop and an Internet connection. People who consider the paradigm of
traditional work a waste of their lives.
But here comes the critical part.
For it to work, digital nomads remain standing: they know and
accept to live with the consequences of this lifestyle. They understand that they will not travel
every two days but at a much slower pace.
They accept the loneliness and isolation that can be recurrent. The trouble of finding a place to sleep and
work everyday .
The uncertainty of what will come next, without mentioning the money
that is needed to finance all this. And, above all, they know that they will
have to work a lot more than most.
Making it work in the long term requires embracing the bad in
order to live the good.
I doubt there is a sustainable way to be a digital nomad without
accepting that there will be some bad times.
But these "working travelers" believe in the idea that the
amazing surpasses what stinks.
That's why so many people fail in that. Like the traditional work of 9 to 5, it is
not made for everyone.
I am convinced that successful digital nomads are those we do not
know. Those who do not try to sell or
exaggerate their way of life, but simply live it.
It is difficult, but if your shoulders are wide enough and you are
prepared for it, it is a fantastic way of life. We need an alternative to what until now we
have been conditioned to believe was the only option.
I would like the implications of being a digital nomad to be
clearer. Because fewer people would
waste their time trying to become one and fewer would also rate it as nothing
more than a disappointment.
