6 Pros & Cons Of Being a Digital Nomad

As someone who has had the opportunity to work remote in different companies with very different work cultures, I’d like to share some of the pros and cons of being a digital nomad along with some tricks of the trade. 

Maybe you’re stuck in a job you hate and crave a change of scenery. Maybe you love your job but suffer from extreme wanderlust. Maybe you aren’t sure what I mean by digital nomad, but you’re curious and listening. Whoever you are, this is for you.

Let’s start off with the basics.

What does being a digital nomad even mean?

To be honest, it’s a fancy term for something quite simple. It just means you are able to work online, so where you work from doesn’t really matter as long as you have internet. You can have your own business as a freelancer and work for clients all over the world, or you can work for a company that has a remote work policy. 

In any case, each company has its own work culture so expectations will vary accordingly. I’ve had jobs where I had complete flexibility over my hours as long as the work got done. And I’ve also had the absolute opposite, where I was working with very strict hours independent of my own timezone. 

Pros of being location independent

• You’ll have the flexibility to travel and your new location can serve as a travel hub to visit new places.
• You can work from wherever, that means you’ll get to know the best coffee shops around and if you have flexibility over your hours you won’t have to feel bad about the 11 a.m. surfing class.
• You’ll have friends all around the world.
• Remote job opportunities keep growing.
• You can choose to live in a cheaper city and save money.
• You might be more productive with less people and interruptions around you.

Cons of working remotely

• Not having colleagues around to brainstorm or help might feel lonely.
• Constantly making new friends might get tiresome.
• Depending on location, Wi-Fi may be unreliable.
• Some people, especially older family members won’t understand that you actually work and will dismiss you as a bon vivant.
• Things can get messy when it comes to bureaucracy, contracts, taxes. Eww —all that awful adulting stuff.
• You may occasionally have small existential crises and ask yourself where is home. 

So here are some tips:

• Practice discipline. Make sure you’re keeping a balanced lifestyle that includes work and play. If you don’t have set work hours then impose that on yourself.
• Sign up to work from a coworking space. This will help you make new friends, give you a much needed sense of community and even help you meet potential clients. Nowadays there are coworkings of all types and sizes. Find the one for you.
• Make sure the time zone you live in is compatible with the time zone you work in.
• Make sure you have reliable Wi-Fi wherever you’re working from.
• Get comfortable speaking over the phone or video call.
• If you’re working from a coworking space or cafe that may get relatively noisy, make sure you have good pair of headphones with you to block out any extra sounds.