6 Surprising Things I've Discovered about being a Digital Nomad
If you’re following along with me on Instagram, you know that my hubby and I are presently in Spain, test driving a new lifestyle – dedicating certain months of the year to working remotely from various cities around the world. We’re currently in Barcelona. It’s an incredible city and we’ve settled in to our Air BnB and set up a new routine that we love. So far, the digital nomad experiment is a rousing success! But, that’s not to say there haven’t been some surprises. Blending work life with being a tourist is a balancing act, and I’ve already made a few discoveries that I want to share with you, in case this lifestyle might be one you wish to try, too.
Surprise #1: Expect to work longer work days – (possibly a lot longer)
I’m sharing a lot of fun travel pics on IG, but don’t want to be misleading. We’re working here - a lot. If you’re changing time zones, you’re probably going to be putting in more working hours than you thought. Because of the time change, (6 hours) David and I are putting in 10-12 hour work days here in Spain. We have colleagues and clients on both the East and West Coast of the US, and must accommodate those time zones while weaving ourselves in the rhythm of living “la vida local”…which in Spain, means late evenings.
On a typical day here, we wake up around 8 am, check overnight emails, work out, walk to la Boqueria (local open-air market) for juice and a baguette, come home and crank out more emails and work until 7-8 pm (which is still only mid-afternoon back on the East Coast, so people back home are still emailing and calling us.)
The colleagues and clients who actually know our whereabouts this month conceptually “get” that we’re working from a different time zone, but because we’re only here a few weeks and they’re so used to getting hold of us during the normal workday that we typically share with them, they continue to expect the same pattern of responsiveness from us both. I think if we truly moved overseas permanently, people would pay more attention and catch on that our availability looks different, but because it’s only a ew weeks…expectations and habits don’t change that fast. This means working and being available for a few more hours into our evening than we’d anticipated. While we usually head out for dinner and adventures around 8 pm, we don’t fully exhale and completely go off the clock until 10 pm or so.
But, there’s an up-side to these long days, too…
Surprise #2: In many ways, life is also a lot simpler
In Barcelona, David and I can knock out quite a bit of work before our friends and colleagues back home have even stumbled into the kitchen to pour their first cup of morning coffee. As I’m writing this blog post, it’s 3:15 AM back home! The new batch of emails, texts and phone calls won’t hit hard until well after lunchtime here, so I can work, explore and write pretty much uninterrupted. I’m putting in more hours, but it’s a great feeling to know that I can fly under the radar and really focus for the first half of the day. It’s all mine. Bliss!
Also, there’s a simplicity in being away from the micro-responsibilities of home. We have only a handful of things within our control here, and therefore a greater ability to experience all the little things that make living in a new place so special. No house repairs/maintenance (there’s a loose board in our Air BnB that David keeps eyeing - but his toolbox is 4,000 miles away and -- more to the point--it’s not his problem!) Same for me. Back home there are oodles of little distractions and micro-tasks that eat up my day and mental bandwidth. Here, we only need to think about keeping on top of our professional responsibilities, and experiencing the local life. Everything else, for now, is stripped away.
Surprise #3: Elbow Room is Key
Podcasting from our living room sofa
This also relates to ensuring that our work productivity doesn’t take a hit while we’re working overseas. David and I need elbow room during the work day. European apartments are typically compact and un-carpeted (e.g. noise carries). The apartment we found is very minimalist in decor, but quite spacious. This means we have separate areas in which to spread out and take our individual work calls without worrying about overhearing/interrupting each other. As a podcaster, I’m especially sensitive to background voices and ambient sounds that might carry over to my mic, and David doesn’t need to hear me conducting an interview while he’s on a client call.
Surprise #4: Central Location is Everything
When we first considered a month-long digital nomad experience in Barcelona, our #1 priority was finding an Air BnB with excellent WiFi. When you’re working abroad, great internet is the name of the game if you’re going to keep paying your bills!
We researched charming apartments in more residential parts of the city, but learned from guest reviews that the internet was often shared with adjacent units and not 100% reliable. Earning a living as a digital nomad requires function over form, every time! It turned out that the apartment we chose not only has excellent internet, but it’s right in the heart of the gothic quarter – the part of the city we most wanted to experience. The reason this is key is related to #1 above. With long work days, we would not have wanted to commute after work to experience all that this city has to offer. In our central location, we are steps away from fresh air markets, charming squares, live music, old cathedrals, museums, the waterfront, and countless cafes. It is definitely the tourist hub, but at the end of the day, we are tourists, ourselves. If we were in a more residential part of the city, we’d be spending precious time trying to get here – and on the days that have run especially late, we’d possibly just forego the effort or have felt that getting out to explore was more of a chore than a delight. I definitely advise anyone trying digital nomad life to stay in a central location close to the things you’re most curious to experience, rather than in a quiet suburb. It will save you so much time, and encourage you to get out and explore all that your temporary hometown has to offer.
Surprise #5: Windows are Important!
I was used to big windows and a birds-eye view of the neighborhood bustle back home
I never thought about this until I got here and settled into my long work days. Back home, we had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city of Raleigh, and I felt connected to the outdoors and all its hustle and bustle. In Barcelona, our apartment faces an interior courtyard, so while it’s quiet and there are no distractions, the hours can slip by all too easily. Maybe I’m just a hermit, but I have to be mindful to step away from my computer during the day – even in a new city. I do wish I had that extra visual nudge of looking up to see the world go by outside my window, reminding me to come join it for a few minutes. And, catching views of the local scene throughout the day is a valuable part of experiencing the flavors of local life. I’ll definitely take that into consideration the next go-round. On the plus side though, there’s a distinctly European charm to having pigeons cooing in the courtyard below my balcony!
Surprise # 6: The EU Cookie Never Crumbles
If you’re working from the EU, you’ll almost certainly be using the internet a lot. They have a little thing called the GDPR over here, which purports to be the world’s strictest data protection regulatory framework. While I admire the spirit of protecting each individual’s data privacy, in practice it can be quite clunky. For example, every time I go online, I have to accept cookie settings, for… Every. Single. Web portal. Every time. Ugh. You end up accepting all the damn cookies because… who really has the time and patience to review and approve cookie settings over, and over, and over again! If you end up just hitting “accept all cookies” every time in order to make the internet function, is that really any protection at all? Plus there are a few perfectly legit websites back in the US (e.g. our state’s DMV and an insurance website) that we haven’t been able to access at all from here. So, just thought I’d pass that along!
So, there you have it. We’re well into this adventure and we truly do love it! I’m so glad we chose an easy-to-navigate, completely walkable city for our first stab at digital nomad life. I’m savoring every single day, (along with an endless array of delicious local Catalonian tapas and wine!) Travel gives me new life in ways that feel very meaningful. I’m reminded of just how blessed I am to have carved out a work arrangement for myself that allows me to spread my wings. If you’re a little bit of a gypsy soul like me, I know you will love it, too!
Footnotes:
Here are bonus tips since I wrote the original post :-)
If you have family or friends visiting, I advise you to really try coordinating their visits during the same timeframe. Our 3 daughters visited in overlapping stints, and while it was an amazing and wonderful life celebration to share our new city with them, we ended up repeating some activities with each of them, which got a little pricey. In general, you’ll also still need to accomplish your work but want to be good hosts, so try to compartmentalize guest visits, as much as possible.
If you’re really able to be flexible, I’d recommend working overseas during a time that will encompass a major US holiday. November turned out to be ideal for us in Barcelona, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. It freed us up to be a bit more touristy - even exploring the nearby principality of Andorra with two of our daughters - and not feel as pressured about work, because folks back home were taking time off, too!
