Digital nomad lifestyle on social media and reality

It has never been easier to travel full time and work at the same time. Many people already do it. Many want to, but they’re still uncertain how to do it and if they want to risk their full time office job.

Social media are full of amazing images people with laptops on a tropical beach or other stunning location. It creates an illusion that this is how this lifestyle looks like. But is it really like that?

Life is beautiful

We all know (I hope) that what we see on social media platforms is not the reality. Those are only very curated moments to lure people to the profile, YouTube channel, etc. Yes, there are moments in digital nomad life that you simply can’t believe it’s true, but those are only moments and all should keep that in mind when thinking about taking that leap.

Priceless work tool

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that in most cases, laptop is your most important tool for work. You wouldn’t risk damaging it with a sand or water on the beach, would you?

In reality you leave your laptop in the apartment and take only a phone, maybe a camera with you for your adventures outside work. Even if you’re making money on films or photos, you still leave your laptop safely home because it is the only way to send those videos and pictures to the web.

Finding work

Those who are freelancers constantly looking for a new job, have even less time for relaxing. They spend half of their day (if not more) looking for a job, fulfil it and back to looking for another one.

Maybe I am a bit too old for this, but I’d never commit to this lifestyle without the assurance that I have a job and money for tomorrow. I know some people do that with better or worse results, but this is risky and definitely not for me.

And there are influencers of all kinds. I won’t pretend I know how their day and life looks like. I have no idea, but I imagine they are the ones that create a dreamlike illusion of the digital nomad lifestyle.

Vloggers, bloggers and Instagram influencers make you think that every day is magical and non stop ecstatic. I know, I really understand they make money on those amazing videos and stunning pictures, but not all of us can live like that.

Not all will be lucky enough to make money out of it, yet many think they will. And that’s unfortunate. Many end up begging for money for tickets to go back home (or another adventure maybe? ) Asia is a poor country and “begpackers” don’t help much there.

The shameless #begpackers of Seoul are still squatting on the floor begging for your money to travel. Except they've now changed their sign, saying they are selling travel cards. Either way, same trick. In front of actual poor grandfathers living in squalid conditions next door. pic.twitter.com/JdAcYFpQmW

— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) October 30, 2019

Nomad life

So, how our day looks like? Pretty much the same like at home: get up, food, work, sleep on weekdays and travelling, visiting interesting places on weekends. I am pretty sure if you come for a week holiday to Thailand and spend all the time there on sightseeing you’ll see much more we’ve seen in a month.

On the other hand, since we stay in each country a month or longer we can actually feel the local vibe, try much more local food, even learn a bit of the language. Simply, experience the country differently than the usual tourist. We need to worry about appropriate health insurance and still be extra careful in case we’re not fully insured in some place.

We need to do some extra research about countries we go to to make sure we know what we’re getting into. Most of digital nomads don’t have a full time home so we carry all our belongings with us as we worry about them being lost, damaged or stolen. Not everything is made of bliss and sparkly moments but I can’t imagine myself in a normal home and 9-5 job anymore. This lifestyle is not for everyone, that is for sure.