The wandering life of the digital nomad
the young german Fabian Dittrich he has crossed Africa in a Mercedes, he has passed through France, Romania, Turkey, Thailand and England. He has lived the magic of Morocco, Mali or Jamaica, and although he has been working in the north of Chile for some time, in the next few days he will cross Peru hand in hand with his project Startup Diaries . In his backpack, and after four years deciding what his next destination will be, he carries the memories of more than thirty countries . The engine that drives him is the passion to discover what is different. He believes that "The world is a book and whoever does not travel only reads a page", as Saint Augustine would say.
His philosophy of life is that of a digital nomad, the profile that perfectly defines hundreds of young people, mostly freelancers, who work on the Internet and prefer to travel the world with a computer in their backpack rather than stay stuck and collecting dust in an office chair. They all share something: their works are related, in one way or another, to technology and the digital world.
The young German had to convince the bosses of the company where he worked to allow him to constantly change residence, work offshore and in the cloud. Later he founded his own, which he invoices in Germany . “I take the office behind the wheel, I have partners in Romania I travel by van and work with large clients, those in shirts and ties. They think I'm wearing a suit too, but really I'm in flip flops,” he recounts.
The wandering life of the digital nomad
He never lacks work and your profits are high : His clients are always the same and the money he earns never varies, although he admits that he is not the typical self-employed person who generates just enough to live on.
The Spanish case Paul Villalba , also a digital nomad, he is known: he founded a startup, Teambox (an online task manager), with which he achieved success and a hefty income. Later, wanting to try something different, he embarked on another project: 8Fit, a sports application designed for those who usually feel little attracted to fitness. A project that he has taken to his team (now eight people) for Thailand, Bali, Hong Kong, Canary Islands and Berlin , and that he plans to travel to South Africa and continue exploring Asia.
"The idea was for 8Fit to become a nomadic company," Villalba tells us, allowing those who make it possible to travel and always enjoy the most pleasant weather, without giving up teamwork to share space and ideas.
ColinWright, for his part, he is a designer and a writer. He launched the advertising agency Asymmetrical Press in 2012 and runs it with mouse clicks and a lot of skill with various digital tools. He is currently in **Missoula, Montana**, but has traveled to over 35 countries with his laptop. His Exilelifestyle blog is a good example of the works he later publishes.
IS TRAVEL EXPENSIVE?
For about 850 euros you can rent an apartment, eat “and even party” in some Asian countries, which are among the favorite destinations of these intrepid travelers, explains Dittrich. Bearing in mind that these professionals usually they earn between 1,300 and 1,700 euros on average per month Who wouldn't want to change their life? Peru is also an affordable option, although if you don't mind spending a little more you can always try London, San Francisco or Hong Kong.
Is it expensive to live traveling?
“For me it is profitable because I am able to do my work from anywhere with an internet connection”, says Wright. Maybe others have it more complicated. Sometimes Dittrich spends days without sleep working nights to get everything ready. "The important thing is to enjoy" the journey, says Wright.
Although it is true that some look to the future with fear, he believes that "you can go in any direction." He knows the story of people who traveled for a long time to end up choosing a destination to stay indefinitely. you can always change the direction of the compass taking into account your resources.
Others are afraid to face new things. Where will I sleep? What will I eat? Will there be internet? “The Internet is the most important thing. We cannot travel to countries where the connection of Skype it's bad, because we couldn't do our business,” explains Dittrich. Regarding accommodation, he always waits until he arrives at his destination, and once there, he decides on the fly where he will sleep.
For those who prefer not to take the risk, there are countless pages that recommend certain places, that explain what the Wi-Fi connection, where to find a spike to connect... They also organize digital nomad gatherings by country, and even look for cheap flights anywhere. Community members are always willing to lend a cable to other nomads, whether experienced or new.
Finding the Internet anywhere: the challenge
CAN ANYONE BE A NOMAD?
Wright he explains that to become someone like him you need to determine how much you are willing to spend, how much time you are willing to invest in your work, if you can do that work and if you will adapt to the demands of your clients. “We only look for good weather, good cost of living , a good connection and the possibility of finding a space to work”, explains Villalba.
But most importantly, according to Dittrich, is to have a job that really allows you to live in such an unstable way. The most common is something related to the internet, but also occupations with which you teach something to others (such as being a teacher or a cook). "You can also invent something," says the German. Although the most numerous are the developers and programmers who work on the Internet, there are even psychologists who treat their patients online hundreds or thousands of kilometers away.
As Villalba points out, the family situation does not always favor this way of working. Neither does the market you are targeting always does: “If your market is in Spain, maybe it doesn't make sense for you to go to Thailand”. His new company works to offer a product directly to the user, through the web and mobile, without the need to deal with a client who demands to take into account time differences or communication barriers.
You dare?
The best thing, according to Dittrich, is that you don't think about it too much, that you move away from the dogmas and the things that "usually have put into our heads". The stories, the people and the cultures that are out there, to discover, are worth it. Villalba is more cautious: he recommends that those who want to become digital nomads plan everything in advance and that they are not two or three weeks in each place, but three or four months to take advantage of one hundred percent of the experience.
What? Do you dare to take your backpack and work from an exotic beach on the other side of the world?
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