How Does Your Life Change When You Fly Far Away?
I think I used to imaging traveling as a ‘big change’. New food, new people, new culture, new language, new schedule, new x, y and z… basically, new everything.
But, having been the stereotypical ‘digital nomad’ for 3 years now, I know that most things stay the same, even when you’re on the other side of the world.
You may be in a new country, and you might have a ‘new home’ each month, but how much has really changed?
1. You open the same laptop everywhere you go. If you work online (most digital nomads either freelance online or run an online business) and if you work a lot, this may be 8+ hours/day that have no change.
2. You still talk with the exact same people. (family, college buddies, clients) You continue to post on your own blog and social media accounts, and the same people comment and ‘like’ your posts.
3. Apps – If you played Candy Crush in California, you will still play Candy Crush in Colombia.
4. Podcasts/Media – It’s all on the Internet. You still watch Gary Vay-ner-chuk, or The Walking Dead, or Silicon Valley.
5. Your routine didn’t change much. If you liked coffee at Starbucks in San Francisco, then you’ll drink Thai Iced Coffee in Bangkok. If you worked out regularly in your college dorm room in Boston, you will work out in your AirBnB in Bolivia. You will still sleep in a bed and take showers. Every breath will be oxygen.
6. Your goals probably didn’t change either. Not everyone has that 4-Hour-Work-Week moment, “I don’t want to be a lawyer, I want to be a surf instructor now.”
You can go visit a shaman or do a meditation retreat or eat the weird street food, but change is not thrust upon you. Especially if you focus on your devices, you can travel from Los Angeles to Lusaka (capital of Zambia) and you’ll only notice changes in temperature, humidity, and wifi speed. When I’m working a lot, I sometimes feel like only the backdrop behind my computer screen is changing.
Why Am I Telling You This?
I’m writing this because before I started traveling, I felt like this was ‘too much change too soon’ and I actually canceled my flight to Bangkok, almost killing my dream to “see the world, start a business, build wealth, be free.”
I wrote this for anyone who is itching to start traveling but is scared for one reason or another. Rather than a motivational piece, I hope it can be a practical example explaining simply that there is nothing to worry about.
Even if you fly 1-way to some small country in Asia or Africa, not much changes unless you want it to.
Travel long enough… and everywhere starts to feel like home.