Three Things That Surprised Me About Digital Nomads
Not all of them were good.
I fell into the digital nomad community by accident. I’ve been a freelancer for six years, and for most of that time, I lived the life of a backpacker. I worked a couple of hours a day from a tent in the middle of the mountains, from a packed train, from a hostel dorm room. I hung out with locals from whatever country I was in or with people who had quit their jobs to explore the world.
Amongst the latter group, I was the only one working, the only one who saw this lifestyle as something that could last. This was a wonderful time, a time of many adventures, but also a time of slight loneliness, as no one had quite the same lifestyle as I did.
This changed once Covid began. I ended up on Koh Phangan island in Thailand, where many of the people who remained throughout the pandemic were also making money online. I suddenly realised that there was a whole community of people like me — people who unironically referred to themselves as digital nomads.
Soon enough, I did, too.
I was intrigued to find out more, so I moved to one of Europe’s most popular digital nomad spots, a small town in the mountains. Since then, I have made it my base. I have a flat there and a close group of wonderful friends. The digital nomad…
