Sitting on the beach all day with my laptop, sipping cocktails. That’s the image many people have in their heads when I tell them that I work remotely – wherever and whenever I want.
This idea sounds very tempting, but unfortunately it’s not quite true.
Last year, I got a taste of the digital nomad lifestyle and was totally hooked. Working in the winter on a terrace in Portugal with the laptop in the sun, exploring the area after work, going to the beach or watching the sunset at the sea in the evening is definitely more pleasant than sitting in the office and coming home when it’s already dark.
HOW? NOT JUST LYING ON THE BEACH?
Still, it’s not like many imagine that you’re only at the beach all day, because there are rarely sockets there 😉 so you can only work there for a limited time.
Besides, have you ever looked at the screen outside in the blazing sun? Now and then you can even see something on it. And by the way, it doesn’t do the laptop much good in the heat with possible sand between the keys.
Especially when you have a lot of work to do, you can’t just drop everything and go to the beach. There were also days that I spent only in the apartment to work on my projects. However, it was more relaxed for me because I knew that I had enough time and that I could enjoy the surroundings once I was done.
In my opinion, you definitely need a lot of discipline for this life. I really enjoyed spending my lunch break walking on the beach. Likewise, I often just laid out my free time according to the weather. Took surfing lessons and worked in the evenings for that. But you have to be able to resist all the tempting activities. If you don’t do that, work tends to stop. After a few days of coworking with other people, I noticed that I needed some peace and quiet to concentrate on my work.
As a digital nomad, you can work from anywhere. All you need for your job is your laptop.
That’s true – especially with my 16″ Macbook, it was very pleasant to work with the big screen. But I couldn’t always concentrate completely. Every now and then I’m really happy to work in my fully equipped office at home. On the road, you often just have a dining table or even work on a coffee table … that sounds nice too, but if you do that all day, you already don’t know how to sit.
Depending on where you work, you may not always have as stable and fast internet as you do at home.
In summary, the digital nomad life has many advantages, but also disadvantages. I think a mix of being able to work location-independently, but also having a fixed home and workplace that you can return to at any time, is the best mix of both worlds. In any case, I’m already looking forward to the next time I can combine traveling and working.
