11 Things No One Tells You About Digital Nomad Life

If youโ€™re an aspiring digital nomad, this is the post for you! These are all the things I wish I had known before embarking on the digital nomad lifestyle.

Social media would have you believe the digital nomad life is all working on the beach, traveling to exotic destinations, and living your best life while making oodles of money.

Sure these things are possible but Iโ€™m here to tell you that there is much more to digital nomad life that social media just doesnโ€™t show you.

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There are many obstacles and bumps along the road to creating a sustainable life of full-time travel. The unfortunate reality is that most people donโ€™t even know about these bumps until theyโ€™ve happily quit their 9 to 5 and landed in their first destination as a digital nomad.

Navigating these obstacles on your own can lead to unhappiness, depression, or even giving up on the digital nomad life entirely.

So I asked some of my digital nomad friends what their biggest struggles have been and how they overcame them. I compiled them into this blog post in hopes that it will better prepare you for life as a digital nomad.

You can even download the PDF version and keep it in your virtual back pocket as an easy go-to resource for when the going gets tough:

Here are 11 things no one tells you about digital nomad life.

Working on the Beach is the Biggest Digital Nomad Myth

Working from the beach is the biggest myth out there about being a digital nomad! Sure, it sounds idyllic; chilling out next to the ocean (preferably in a hammock) with a frilly drink in one hand, your laptop in the other, raking in the cash.

Itโ€™s a lie.

Okay, itโ€™s not a lie, but itโ€™s utterly impractical, an ergonomic disaster, and ultimately, part of the reason Iโ€™m boycotting Instagram (but thatโ€™s another story).

Hereโ€™s the reality behind this beautiful image you have in your head about being a digital nomad and working from the beach: sand gets everywhere (and electronics and sand are NOT friends), and being so close to the ocean exposes your electronics to sea salt (which corrodes everything at an alarming rate), the sun glare is unmanageable, and there are no power outlets at the beach.

Letโ€™s not forget about ergonomics; anybody who works at a laptop all day knows the importance of an ergonomically friendly workspace. Not having one comes at a variety of costs, the least being your productivity (and hence, income), the worst being your physical health (and ability to work at all).

Do you still want to live the dream of working at the beach? No problemo. Find a cafe or co-working space with a view, and set up there. You can build sandcastles when youโ€™re off the clock.

Nora Dunn (aka The Professional Hobo) traveled full-time for 12 years, before getting a home base and continuing to travel half the year. She was a digital nomad before the term existed, and is considered a pioneer in the travel blogging industry. She used to walk 10 miles to work, in the snow, uphill both ways. Stay off her lawn. And follow her adventures on Facebook.

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Nora Dunn โ€“ The Professional Hobo โ€“ working near the beach

Staying Productive on the Road is a Challenge

Most people become digital nomads at least in part because they want to travel the world and see all the incredible things it has to offer.

But life as a digital nomad isnโ€™t all about travel, and you still have to focus on your work! With so many distractions, not to mention the hassle and stress of constant travel, that can be a real challenge.

Over time, Iโ€™ve found that the single best way to stay productive as a digital nomad is simply to travel more slowly.

If youโ€™re moving destinations every week, itโ€™s a lot harder to stay focused than if you spend a month or more in each destination. Resisting FOMO and realizing that you have all the time in the world to see that next enticing destination can help you focus on the task at hand and get your work done.

Plus, traveling more slowly helps save money to boot!

Nate Hake is a recovering lawyer turned travel blogger and digital nomad who has been traveling the world non-stop since 2016. He is the founder of Travel Lemming, a blog that focuses on highlighting emerging travel destinations around the world. Follow his adventures on Instagram.

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Nate Hake โ€“ The Travel Lemming

Working With Your Boo Without Strangling Each Other is Hard

One of the biggest (and most unexpected) challenges my wife and I have faced as digital nomads is simply not driving each other crazy. Weโ€™ve traveled together extensively in the past, but last year we set off on our first true digital nomad adventure.

My wife quit her office job for this trip, and at first, we struggled to find a suitable travel job for her (English is her second language). Thatโ€™s when I had a brilliant ideaโ€ฆ Why not just have her work with me? We could tag team the blog and pump out content twice as fastโ€ฆ

Well, my brilliant plan hit some roadblocks pretty quickly.

It turns out, we are VERY different people with VERY different ideas. Weโ€™re also both stubborn โ€œmy way or the highwayโ€ type people.

After several unpleasant scuffles (and a few tears), we came up with a solution. Instead of both trying to be โ€œco-bossesโ€ with everything, we split things up. Iโ€™m the boss of the blog. Sheโ€™s the boss of Youtube. Whenever we have a disagreement, the boss always wins.

So far, this arrangement has worked out charmingly well!

Now, obviously every coupleโ€™s dynamic is different and what works for us might not work for everyone elseโ€ฆbut Iโ€™ll leave you with one piece of advice.

No matter how frustrating things get, remember there is a solution. And the best way to find it?

PATIENCE and LOVE โค๏ธ

Mitch is your typical nomadic backpacker. Or at least, he was. But after stopping in Cali, Colombia to take some quick salsa lessons, his life took a sharp left turn. He met a cute Colombian girl in dance class, fell in love, and got married. Nowadays, heโ€™s the blogger behind Project Untetheredโ€”where he runs an awesome free email newsletter teaching adventure-craved wanderlusters how to escape the rat race, earn money from anywhere, and build an โ€œuntethered lifeโ€.

Follow Mitch and Dayโ€™s adventures on YouTube.

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Mitch & Day โ€“ Project Untethered

Digital Nomad Life is Lonely, Even When Traveling With Your Partner

Before we worked and traveled, we stayed in hostels and we met SO many people! Every single day we made 10 new best friends, and the times we were alone were few and far between.

We started working and traveling, staying in more AirBnbโ€™s and fewer hostels, and we realized that we werenโ€™t meeting as many people. Since we travel as a couple, we never really thought that travel could get lonely, but after months of traveling and working in AirBnbโ€™s, we found ourselves craving community!

This is one of the aspects of digital nomad life that no one told us about. Travel is so social so we assumed that digital nomad life would be too, but that isnโ€™t always the case. The reality is that we spend most of our time by ourselves working in our apartment.

Over the last 4 years as nomads, weโ€™ve found some ways to make sure that we donโ€™t get lonely! We join co-working spaces, we attend Facebook events in the cities that weโ€™re in, we go to networking events for topics weโ€™re interested in, we post in nomad Facebook groups and meet up with strangers (that are now friends) for coffee, drinks or dinner.

We take Spanish lessons, connect with listeners of our podcast, and be super intentional about getting out of the house to connect with people. All of that has helped us to create a community so that nomad life isnโ€™t lonely for us!

Amanda & Ryan are the hosts of The World Wanderers podcast and blog. Originally from Western Canada, they started traveling together in 2011 and havenโ€™t looked back! Theyโ€™ve been to over 60 countries across 6 continents and are currently based in Panama City. When Amanda & Ryan arenโ€™t traveling and exploring a new country and culture, you can find them eating Mexican food, listening to Spanish music, chatting about life over a good cup of coffee, or hiking a mountain! Follow their adventures on Instagram.

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Amanda & Ryan โ€“ The World Wanderers

Finding the Right Accommodation is Important

The transition from traveler to traveler and entrepreneur is one that took us some time. At first, we held on tightly to our backpacker roots, thinking we could run our website from hostels. Sitting in the common area surrounded by people drinking, with spotty wifi, while trying to sit ergonomically at a rickety bar stool isnโ€™t exactly sustainable!

Once we realized that we wanted to be full-time digital nomads and were serious about our website, it became clear that accommodation (where we worked from) was important.

If you can work in proper co-working places, thatโ€™s great. We, however, prefer to have our own space. These days, staying in an Airbnb is a great option for digital nomads.

Look for a place that has a comfortable kitchen table and chairs, or an actual desk to work from. And, youโ€™ll want to make sure the place has fast wifi speeds โ€” you can even ask the host to send a screenshot of the speed. Not to mention, Airbnb apartments are a great way to save money as you can cook your own food.

Another awesome option is housesitting. This will afford you free accommodation, the use of a vehicle (usually), the company of a furry friend, and the chance to live like a local. In exchange for these โ€œfreebiesโ€, your job is to take care of the home and pet(s) while the owners are away. Weโ€™ve house sat in the Caribbean and Costa Rica, with offers from all over the world!

Trust me, having solid accommodation and a suitable workspace is the best way to stay focused, be efficient and thrive as a digital nomad!

Dariece is one half of the duo over at Goats On The Road, a top travel and lifestyle website dedicated to showing you how to make money on the road so you can travel as long as you want. Follow their adventures on YouTube.

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Dariece & Nick โ€“ Goats On The Road โ€“ enjoying a break from working in Paris to check out the Eiffel Tower

Gnomads Pro Tip โ€“ We recommend using Flatio to find accommodation! Flatio is a rental housing platform for digital nomads, offering hand-picked, mostly deposit-free, and reasonably priced accommodations in over 300 destinations, mainly in Europe. Click here to check it out!

WiFi Availability is Everything to Your Business

I learned the hard way that internet availability is never guaranteed.

While visiting Morocco I decided to take a trip out to a remote village on the border of Algeria. Although I had a client deadline, I figured I could tether wifi from my phone and easily complete the project. As I sat atop my camel and rode into the desert I watched the cell phone bars drop and drop until I was out of service.

Feeling stranded in the middle of nowhere with no way to communicate with my client, I frantically asked other foreigners if they had service to no avail. I missed my client deadline and learned an important lesson: WiFi availability is everything to my business.

Here are the steps I now take when traveling:

  • Always double-check that the hotel, hostel, Airbnb, or rental has wifi before booking.
  • Purchase a SIM card as soon as I land in a new country. I have found these booths to be reasonably priced with generous data packages.
  • No scheduled client deadlines during the same time frame I am moving locations or taking an excursion.
  • Communicate with my clients and team members ahead of time if I will potentially be off-grid.
  • Forward my cell phone calls to a virtual assistant if I am out of service.

Kayla Gray MBA helps powerful people like you build the digital service-based business of their dreams. Obsessed with location-independent passive income, Kayla has been coaching digital entrepreneurs in starting and scaling their business while traveling the globe. Her step-by-step, hand-holding, never-wonder-what-to-do support has transformed the lives of hundreds of individuals in living a life they love.

You can find Kayla online on Instagram.

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Kayla of Kayla Gray MBA

Digital Nomad Life Doesnโ€™t Solve Mental Health Issues

Iโ€™ve been traveling for 12 years now. And the biggest struggle Iโ€™ve encountered in all this time has been managing my mental health on the road.

Itโ€™s important to know that wherever you go, youโ€™ll be right there. With all the baggage, anxiety, trauma and issues you faced in your last destination. I had believed for years that if times got tough, I could just move on and everything would be rosy again.

Wrong.

Acknowledging that I was carrying baggage, literally and emotionally, was the game-changer. Ashamedly, Iโ€™ve only really begun my healing journey in recent months. I became reclusive in each new destination, I sabotaged relationships, became withdrawn from community and had a huge wake-up call.

I by no means am saying that you shouldnโ€™t travel if you have any kind of mental health issues. What I am saying is that the lifestyle doesnโ€™t alleviate the symptoms and can often heighten their power over you.

Getting myself a remote therapist, coach, practicing self-love and making a concerted effort to truly connect with others has been pivotal in my healing and recognizing that running away has been my go-to โ€˜remedyโ€™ for so long. I believe that a lot of digital nomads have similar patterns, as much as they wouldnโ€™t like to admit.

Awareness is key and thereโ€™s no shame in taking advantage of the immense privilege we have to see the world. But stopping to ask why, and how, on occasion, is immensely helpful.

Hannah Dixon is the founder of Digital Nomad Kit. Sheโ€™s also a Business Mentor and Strategist who has helped over 8000 millennials create location independent lifestyles through education in freelancing and entrepreneurship. After 12 years of continuous travel, she is considered a โ€œdigital nomad thought leaderโ€ and expert in all things virtual assistance. She also works one on one with influential entrepreneurs, devising innovative launch strategies & managing remote teams. You can usually find Hannah in a hammock eating a burrito. Join her free Facebook group.

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Hannah Dixon โ€“ Digital Nomad Kit

Travel is Easy, Creating a Sustainable Location Independent Lifestyle is a Struggle

I see many people in their 20s set out to become โ€œdigital nomadsโ€ and travel the world while living out of hostels and managing a small budget. Problem is, they leave behind thoughts of health care, future security, and the development of a community.

I know because I was one of them.

The issue is that this is not a sustainable lifestyle. Eventually, the allure of hostels runs dry and you start to want your own apartment.

You begin to experience the diminishing returns of travel. You get older and start to develop medical issues that need treatment you canโ€™t receive on the road.

At this point you will quickly find yourself back home with a desk job, blaming the lifestyle, having decided that digital nomad life is not a real long term lifestyle but just something young people do in an attempt to delay the onset of responsibilities.

So, the question is, how does one take the digital nomad life we all enjoy and love, and frame it in a way that it can grow with you?

Fortunately, all these issues can be relatively easily resolved with money.

With enough cash, you can establish what I call โ€œsafe housesโ€ around the world. Pulling from James Bond movies these are places where you have a property or trusty Airbnb, high quality of life, a supportive community, and a good work environment.

When you get sick, you can use medical tourism to travel to the best hospital to treat whatever issues you are experiencing by the top experts in the field.

If youโ€™re just getting started you should travel, see, and taste as much of this world as you can while keeping an eye on the ultimate goal โ€“ making this a sustainable long term lifestyle, not just something you do for a few years.

I believe the way to do that is to eventually slow down, and focus your time and efforts on building a business or skill base that will provide for you for decades to comeโ€ฆno matter what turns you take in life.

Mitko Karshovski is a college dropout and location independent entrepreneur who has worked with 6 and 7 figure businesses ranging from eCommerce and productized services to digital agencies. His podcast, That Remote Life, is focused on covering the location independent revolution and helping people quit the cubicle and live life on their terms. It has been named as one of the best podcasts for digital nomads in 2020. Follow Mitkoโ€™s adventures on Instagram.

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Mitko Karshovski โ€“ That Remote Life

Lack of Community Can Create Feelings of Loneliness

One of the biggest challenges I have encountered myself and that I know my nomadic friends struggle with too, is the lack of community, both personal and professional, and the lack of accountability and a feeling of loneliness that comes with it.

We donโ€™t have colleagues we see every day at an office and it can become really lonely working for yourself at your Airbnb or from cafes. Itโ€™s also hard to stay focused and self-motivated when there isnโ€™t anyone else telling you what you should be doing and when every day. Of course, thatโ€™s part of the freedom and appeal of this lifestyle, but it can be hard as well.

The solution for me has been building my community both offline and online. Offline means traveling with friends as much as possible, joining retreats and other events.

But what has been most powerful online is Virtual Coworking. We do this daily in my membership community for women. We meet online on Zoom, set goals together, work in 25-minute Pomodoro chunks, and in the breaks we chat, ask for feedback or help or just catch up.

Itโ€™s very productive because it offers accountability, but also really fun. The girls have formed real friendships and strong professional bonds this way. Itโ€™s been incredible to see many of them working together, meeting up in real life, and even traveling together.

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Janny Lachs โ€“ Digital Nomad Girls

Jenny Lachs is the founder of Digital Nomad Girls, the first community for location independent women. In her โ€œold lifeโ€ Jenny was a chemist but she swapped her lab coat for a backpack in 2013 and has been traveling full time since. Jenny believes the Digital Nomad life is more fun and meaningful together. Through her Virtual Coworking Community, the DNG Inner Circle, and in-person retreats, she creates connections, accountability, and support for nomadic women worldwide. She also helps beginners get started with her brand new course, โ€˜Stop Dreaming, Start Packingโ€™. Join her free Facebook group.

Maintaining Old Friendships is Hard

Maintaining old friendships is one of the biggest, unexpected struggles weโ€™ve faced as digital nomads. Like it or not, long term travel changes you. A year from now youโ€™re not going to be the same person you are today, and two years from now youโ€™ll barely recognize yourself.

When you go back home things will feel different, and yet so very the same. Painfully the same. Your friends will ask you about your adventures, but it wonโ€™t be long before their boredom with your stories becomes evident, and eventually, the conversation goes back to the minutiae of day to day life.

Itโ€™s not their fault, they werenโ€™t there, they havenโ€™t had those experiences, and they canโ€™t relate. And soon, you donโ€™t relate to their experiences anymore either.

Worry not though, there is a bright side in all of this. Youโ€™re going to make so f$%&ing many new friends along the way, that it wonโ€™t even matter. Your new friends will support you, and theyโ€™ll be excited for you every step of the way.

Within a few years, youโ€™ll have a global network of amazing people you know and trust. And the friends back home? Theyโ€™ll always be right there where you left them.

Adam and Gabi are originally from New York, but they donโ€™t usually tell people that right away. They typically spend their days in some exotic destination, running their blog with a cool beverage in hand, and managing social media for brands. Late at night, youโ€™ll find them editing vlogs or binging yet another NetFlix series. For 3 years before becoming digital nomads, Adam and Gabi funded their adventures through seasonal work in places like Alaska, Colorado, and Arizona. Ainโ€™t nothing gonna hold these two down! Visit Adam and Gabi on Youtube and at LocalNomads.com

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Adam & Gabi โ€“ Local Nomads

Know What Fulfills You and Make Time For It

You canโ€™t be a digital nomad just because you โ€œlike to travel.โ€ Itโ€™s fun for a while but traveling just for the sake of travel can lead to burnout and youโ€™ll begin to question what youโ€™re doing. Figure out what fulfills you and make time for it so you have the energy to keep going.

Since starting my digital nomad journey, Iโ€™ve learned the two biggest things I need are:

  1. Time with people I love, doing the thing I love most โ€“ seeing live music
  2. Community

I never realized how much I took these things for granted until we started traveling full time.

In order to avoid loneliness and burnout, we plan our travels around the tour dates of our favorite bands. This ensures that I get some time with my favorite people and feel like Iโ€™m a part of a community. This can only happen in the USA except for the rare occasions when our favorite bands play shows in another country. Then we get to bring our friends into our world, which is the best.

When weโ€™re on the road, I turn to my online communities that I find through Facebook groups and paid memberships. Weโ€™ve been focusing on something that Mitko mentioned above, setting up โ€œsafe housesโ€ in different parts of the world. For the last three years, Puerto Vallarta was that place for us. Weโ€™re on the hunt for another place to add to that list.

So my advice to you is to figure out what fills your cup and make time for it. Find something that youโ€™re passionate about besides travel and do more of that thing. Then find your communities both on and offline.

This will ensure you live a meaningful digital nomad life.

From yours truly! Rachel Story is a digital nomad, an online English teacher, and a lover of live music. She runs this blog, Grateful Gnomads, with her husband Sasha. They moved to China in 2010 and havenโ€™t moved home. Theyโ€™ve also lived in Indonesia and Mexico and traveled to 20+ countries together. When theyโ€™re not out globetrotting, you can find them in the USA chasing their favorite band Phish around the country. Follow their adventures on Instagram and subscribe so you can get their digital nomad tips and strategies straight to your inbox.

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Rachel & Sasha โ€“ Grateful Gnomads โ€“ heading into a Phish concert

Final Thoughts

As you can see, digital nomad life isnโ€™t all unicorns and rainbows.

Letโ€™s summarize all the awesome things we learned:

  • You canโ€™t work on the beach but you can work near it.
  • Staying productive on the road is a challenge. So slow down and spend more time in each place.
  • Working with your life partner is tough so split up your roles and be patient with each other.
  • Itโ€™s lonely out there so find ways to meet people like joining coworking spaces or language classes.
  • Finding solid accommodation and a suitable workspace is the best way to stay focused. Use Airbnb and housesitting.
  • You canโ€™t work without WiFi so donโ€™t schedule important work things when youโ€™re traveling to more remote places.
  • You still need to manage your mental health so find a remote therapist and donโ€™t forget to practice self-love.
  • Focus on creating a sustainable location independent lifestyle by building your own online business.
  • Find communities both on and offline to combat loneliness.
  • Maintaining old friendships is hard, but youโ€™ll make new friends
  • Be passionate about something besides travel and make time for it.

Now that you know what to expect, letโ€™s get you set up for digital nomad life:

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10 thoughts on โ€œ11 Things No One Tells You About Digital Nomad Lifeโ€

  1. Haha, I think this article is brilliant. Itโ€™s definitely a common misconception that digital nomads are constantly working on the beach. While the digital nomad lifestyle undeniably offers many benefits, working on the beach is often impractical and unproductive. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  2. Iโ€™ve never become truly untethered (like Mitch and Day). But I was lucky enough to have managed a career which took me to live in 13 different countries (I was a lawyer.), which enabled me to visit many more countries I can highly recommend being a slowmad! You gain so much from actually staying put for a reasonable amount of time โ€“ in terms of getting into the culture, learning the language, making friends for life and having time to explore. And you have all the pleasures of being a nomad.

    1. digital nomad life

      Wow, Rosemary! 13 different countriesโ€ฆ.thatโ€™s amazing! I totally agree that being a slowmad is a fantastic way to travel. Hope youโ€™re staying safe and healthy out there ๐Ÿ™‚

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