You all would be knowing what a ‘nomad’ means and the meaning of digital. So, we get the definition: A nomadic lifestyle of living where people leverage today's technologies to perform their work duties. It is a way of living where people don’t stay at a particular place while they are working.
We all know the benefits of travel. It changes the way you think about life, the society and yourself. I won’t start vouching about travel here, we all know that. And if you don’t, just google ‘How travel changes you’, and you’ll know. Going for a 9-5 job has its benefits, but that doesn’t even compare to what all this lifestyle offers you. I recently wrote about Why you shouldn’t work in you regular office.
I think it’s pretty simple and obvious, but people somehow seem to forget/ignore it, thinking that they can not achieve this.
Talking about this lifestyle, it’s pretty unconventional today, at least in India. I have been reading a lot about it for the past 3-4 months, going through each and every forum on the internet. It’s very rare to spot an Indian in these communities.
But, outside India, people are doing it. It’s not a large number but the community is growing. It takes a lot of courage to leave your current job and go out in the unexplored territory. But more and more people are doing it today, which in turn, is inspiring a large no of others too. Having a good number of successful examples in front of them, people have started realising that this can be done with the current technology. It’s becoming increasingly popular all over the world and that fact that a Harvard professor is conducting a study about it kind of substantiates it. I am sure that after 5-6 years, this culture is going to spread at a quick pace.
Now, let’s address the first question that often comes to mind if anyone hears about this for the first time:
What do these people do for a living ?
There are mainly three ways in which these people earn :
- working as a freelancer (writer, consultant, software developer etc.) There are plenty of options.
Majority of the nomads are doing this, and this is the safest option to start according to me. Whenever you feel that you have enough contacts to provide you remote work, you can leave your current job.
- working for a company that allows remote work
In these companies, the employees usually meet once or twice in a year. These companies have to be very selective in hiring, to find a good culture fit, but the results have been good according to them. Each of these companies use a set of internet tools to communicate effectively, such as this page lists a few important ones used by Buffer. Finding a remote job today isn’t as difficult as it used to be earlier. There are many sites out there that list these jobs like remoteOk and work from home.
- starting something of your own
It’s a bit risky if you are beginning with this lifestyle, but if this works out (you know the probability), IMO this is the best option as you would be independent in taking most of your decisions. If you search for it, there are many examples of people who have successfully achieved this. Levels launched 12 startups in 12 months.
The next question is :
From where do these people work?
- Cafes/restaurants that provide wifi
I recently wrote about the cafes in hyderabad where you can take your laptop with you. There is an increasing trend of wifi cafes that is coming up today, even in the less developed cities.
- Co working spaces in the city.
Not many cities provide these kind of spaces, only the metro cities probably. With the rise in this culture, people are coming up with a number of these kind of spaces, like this.
- With their own 3g dongles
This is always a good backup option, in case you land up in a place where both of the above options are exhausted.
This lifestyle has just started, but it’s how the companies will be working in future. We are moving towards a more connected world and the boundaries between the nations would soon be just lines on the map. In fact, as I always say, we shouldn’t take these boundaries defined by the communities so seriously :). I went to Tokyo last summer for a software developer internship. It was during that period this lifestyle drew my attention (read 'fascinated me’). Right now, I am planning something similar for this summer and will share the plan once I am ready to leave.
By the way, you must be having various questions about this lifestyle, such as what all do you need to start this, what all places you can go to, so I’ll point you to appropriate resources below:
http://nomadforum.io/ : a forum where nomads from all over the world discuss about their lives. You don’t need to necessarily ask anything there. Just go and read some of the threads there. That should be enough to get you started.
http://nomadlist.io/ lists cities in the world where you can go and live like this.
When I started reading about it, following certain people helped me a lot. So, here are some of the people you might want to follow if you find the concept interesting enough.
> Making It Anywhere : A couple (Mish and Rob) who is travelling the world while running an online business.
> Joel : He is the founder of Buffer.
Do share with me how it goes with you :)
Cheers !
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