The First Thing I Look For In A New City (How To Travel As a Digital Nomad)
I look for a community of like-minded people.
If you’re a solo traveling digital nomad, you know that working solo from coffee shops around the world can get old. The Instagram pictures will continue to look great, but the creeping loneliness that comes with the lifestyle will start to wear on you.
My largest mistake as a digital nomad was in traveling so fast that I wasn’t able to create a community around me.
After making that mistake for six months, I finally realized that if I stayed in one place for a longer amount of time I could have friends and my own little home in a foreign country.
I stopped trying to rent one bedroom apartments and I initially continued to live in hostels.
Soon, I found that hostels, though I was surrounded by other travelers, weren’t giving me growth I needed. I needed to be surrounded by other travelers and professionals, not just one or the other.
In November of 2018, I moved to Los Angeles without knowing a single person who lived there. I knew exactly what my first move was, find my community.
After a quick Google search, I found a co-living artists community in Hollywood. I applied, was accepted and found myself living in a Mastermind House.
Everyone here has something to offer and is looking to learn something new. Together we collaborate on projects, give each other constructive feedback and help our freelance businesses grow. Having a community of driven, intelligent creatives surrounding me has catalyzed my goals.
New digital nomads need to look for a community of like-minded people in whatever city they choose to live in.
Chang Mai, Thailand and Canggu, Bali are massive digital nomad hubs for those first getting into the digital nomad lifestyle.
From one and a half years on the road, I can promise that this will make or break your success as a digital nomad.
