The 3 Traits Determining Who Can Survive As a Digital Nomad (From 1.5 Years On The Road)
On a daily basis, I get asked how to become a digital nomad.
It’s a very simple answer…buy a one way plane ticket.
Becoming a digital nomad is the easy part. Thriving as a digital nomad is the hard part.
When I became a digital nomad, I pictured myself working poolside from paradises around the world. I didn’t realize the amount of sacrifice, self discipline and trust in the process this would require.
This sacrifice, self discipline and trust makes or breaks how long someone can live as a digital nomad.
The Sacrifice
I had to sacrifice everything familiar to me and unless you are a digital nomad, you will not understand how difficult this transition can be. After a year and a half of living as a nomad, my new normal is an ever changing landscape of views and people. As a new digital nomad (especially traveling solo) this sacrifice can bring you lower than you ever knew before.
The Self Discipline
Yes, working from beaches around the world can be extremely distracting as there is always a more enticing offer on the table but this isn’t the self discipline I’m talking about. The self discipline I’m referring to is the mastery of having self discipline when nothing in your life is ever the same. Gym routine? Regular meditation practice? Every day writing routine? This is all really easy when you live in the same house, in the same city with the same coffee shop down the road.
It’s not easy when you have to figure out how to work out in the middle of the Costa Rican jungle, or meditate in a hostel dorm with twelve other beds in it or write on Medium when you only have Wifi for two hours per day.
When you can create the self discipline of working out, meditating, writing, etc. while the environment around you consistently changes, you are lightyears ahead of non-nomads.
The Trust
I know this sounds like fluff, but you will not survive as a digital nomad if you don’t trust that everything is working out for you. Wifi down for three days? Trust the process. Plane delayed ten hours? Trust the process. Have your stuff stolen on a chicken bus in Nicaragua? Trust the process.
To be a digital nomad, you have to let go and let live.
You only have one absolute certainty: nothing is certain.
Becoming a digital nomad is the easiest part of the entire lifestyle. You buy a ticket. Being able to live as a digital nomad long term is something only few people are really capable of.
