How to maximize your digital nomad experience
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As a digital nomad, your location-independent work style puts you at risk of becoming a "digital hermit." Here's how to connect with the places you travel, if only for a short time. **Please check the NOTES section for detailed explanations and stories.
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How to maximize your digital nomad experience
- 1. How to milk your digital nomad experience for all it’s worth Digital Nomading Café Numérique NYC Lauren Mobertz @moMobertz GenerationLimbo.com
- 2. Digital nomading can sometimes look like this
- 6. …But sometimes, it can look like this
- 10. The freedoms we associate with digital nomads…
- 11. The freedoms we associate with digital nomads… • Work for an existing company from wherever the sun is shining.
- 12. The freedoms we associate with digital nomads… • Work for an existing company from wherever the sun is shining. • Found a company wherever you want, and take it where you find funding.
- 13. The freedoms we associate with digital nomads… • Work for an existing company from wherever the sun is shining. • Found a company wherever you want, and take it where you find funding. • Work for yourself, on your own terms and your own schedule.
- 14. …Are not without growing pains.
- 15. …Are not without growing pains. • Your internet speeds might suck.
- 16. …Are not without growing pains. • Your internet speeds might suck. • You work…
- 17. …Are not without growing pains. • Your internet speeds might suck. • You work… And stare at your computer thinking you should work…
- 18. …Are not without growing pains. • Your internet speeds might suck. • You work… And stare at your computer thinking you should work… And nothing else.
- 19. …Are not without growing pains. • Your internet speeds might suck. • You work… And stare at your computer thinking you should work… And nothing else. • You don’t know where to meet new people.
- 20. …Are not without growing pains. • Your internet speeds might suck. • You work… And stare at your computer thinking you should work… And nothing else. • You don’t know where to meet new people. • Basically, you start to feel like a hermit.
- 21. Side note: about those internet speeds…
- 22. As nice as it is to work digitally
- 23. Digital nomads need real-life connections, too.
- 24. Don’t become a Kermit.
- 28. Find events.
- 30. • Co-working spaces • Couchsurfing.com
- 31. • Co-working spaces • Couchsurfing.com • Meetup.com
- 32. • Co-working spaces • Couchsurfing.com • Meetup.com • Eventbrite
- 33. • Co-working spaces • Couchsurfing.com • Meetup.com • Eventbrite • Local event sites/venues
- 34. • Co-working spaces • Couchsurfing.com • Meetup.com • Eventbrite • Local event sites/venues • Sports
- 35. • Co-working spaces • Couchsurfing.com • Meetup.com • Eventbrite • Local event sites/venues • Sports • Tinder
- 36. • Co-working spaces • Couchsurfing.com • Meetup.com • Eventbrite • Local event sites/venues • Sports • Tinder. You read that right.
- 37. Host your own events.
- 38. Additional resources • nomaddestination.com • nomadlist.com • digitialnomadcommunity.net • nomadspirit.net • nomadicnotes.com
- 39. Art Jonak / Flickr
- 40. What does “milking it” mean to you?
Editor's Notes
- Working in cool cafes
- Traveling to cool places.
- Tired
- Aggravated
- Lonely. When you place yourself in a new environment where you know no one and you can work from home, sometimes you forget to socialize. Remember all the effort, the years you put into making friends where you used to live? Being a digital nomad means you have to put in all the effort again, for each new place you live. And if you are only living in a place for three months, as opposed to 25 years, you have to put in that effort at hyper speed.
- I was effectively fired from a company I had been working for remotely because I could never really get conferencing software to work on my end. Words from the wise: make sure you go somewhere with a good connection so what happened to me doesn’t happen to you!
- Words from the wise: don’t become a hermit. One of the things I’ve learned is that even if you are planning to stay in a place temporarily, you should still milk your time for all it’s worth. Use those 3 or 6 months you are planning to live in a city and try to meet as many people and experience as many places as you can – otherwise, why are you traveling in the first place? If you don’t take the time to get involved with a place, you’ll end up with an empty feeling - imagine living a year, two years, three years without making any new friendships? Or spending all your days working and getting Thai massages? I don’t think that’s why we all became digital nomads. As a digital nomad, and not just a traveler, you have the unique advantage of staying in places longer and really getting to know them, all without dumping all of your savings, because presumably you are continuing to earn even as you spend on your travels. This will involve putting yourself out there. It feels awkward at first, but it really creates a snowball effect: one person you chat with in a cafe today can introduce you to 5 new people tomorrow, who in turn can bring you to 10 interesting places, and so on. So here are some ways to connect with your city, or wherever you are living, at first.
- If you can run your own business or hold your own as a remote worker, chances are you have skills many organizations would love to tap into. Offer consulting services for a local organization and see who you meet! Do it pro bono to create good vibes and avoid breaking your visa regulations – in my experience, this has led me to long-term friendships and many referrals for paying clients. To give you an example, when I moved to Buenos Aires, I immediately got involved in teh startup scene by searching their local incubator, NXTP Labs, for an interesting company to work with. This is how I found citibuddies and its multi-talented founder, Darja, who is a constant source of referrals to this day and who actually let me crash her couch for 8 nights in Berlin this summer. If that’s not friendship, I don’t know what is!
- I actually know someone else who donated her skills in Buenos Aires in a HUGE way. Lisa Besserman was working at a tech startup here in New York. She hadn’t taken a vacation in about 2 years when she decided she needed a break. She asked her employer at the time if she could work remotely while she lived somewhere warmer for the New York winter. Well, like many who move to Buenos Aires with the idea of staying temporarily, she fell in love with the place. Her initial two months turned into years – by now she’s married an Argentine and has permanently set up shop there. Part of the reason was because, coming from the startup scene here in New York, she saw a lot of opportunity and needs among startups in Buenos Aires. She saw a lot of talent, but no way for local startups to find resources. So she asked around, who are the movers and shakers here, what is missing from this startup scene, what can you guys provide? She quit her job and used her life savings to start her own company, Startup Buenos Aires. Started originally as a resource hub where local entrepreneurs could exchange skills like design, marketing, strategy planning, etc., it has since evolved into a community space and connector between international parties and local startups, a liaison for bringing international events like hack-a-thons, startup weekends, and social media weeks to Buenos Aires. SUBA has partnered with Google to bring Buenos Aires its largest-ever pitch competition and an opportunity for startups in Buenos Aires to win up to $650K in funding and prizes. Keep in mind that SUBA is only a year-and-a-half old–who knows what else Lisa and her team will accomplish!
- So, how to find an organization to work with? Search local incubators and startup directories like Angel List. Idealist.org is another great start to find NGOs to volunteer with in your area.
- A simpler way to meet people is to attend existing events. Here are some resources you can use.
- Perhaps the most obvious is to try coworking spaces. Many major cities like Berlin, Budapest, and more have these now, and they are a great place to get yourself out of the house and socializing each day. Plus many offer after-hours sessions. betahaus in Berlin, for example, offers woodworking hours.
- Couchsurfing - Is active in certain cities like Buenos Aires and Munich. It’s not just for crashing on someone’s couch, although that is a great perk; it’s also for meeting up with other friendly, internationally-minded people.
- meetup.com - Good for language meetups, professional and interest-based networking, etc.
- Eventbrite - Another good site for professional networking events and even art openings
- Local event sites like heyevent.com can put you in touch with events of all kinds, from gallery openings to networking events to movie screenings to DJ sets. If anything, attending events in different neighborhoods will get you started in a new city. It will take a bit of research to find the right event sites for your city, but this also gives you an excuse to strike conversations with strangers - only locals will know how to find events! Look into the venues where people from these networks host events - chances are they are probably interesting on their own. Get to know their baristas, bartenders, and event managers just by thanking them for putting on the event and asking them their story.
- Sports. Watch major sporting events from bars or, in some cities, hostels, and chat with people during commercial breaks.
- Tinder. I’ve heard this is a great way to have some fun when you’re new in town :D Then there’s always Twitter. Search your city’s hashtag on Twitter for events and locals to meet. I just named 9 ideas for connecting with local events, but there are more!
- So you can attend events, or host one of your own. Was there an event back home you loved attending, but don’t see anything like it in your current city? Is a founder friend visiting you, and you think locals could benefit from his/her story? Or maybe you have a passion, like playing ultimate, and you’ve love to get to know others who like it, too. Find out where people currently host events, and reach out to local incubators, book stores – whoever – about a space for hosting your event. If you don’t need a private space, just people, consider posting to CS, etc.
- These sites offer filterable directories of recommended cities for digital nomads, complete with internet speeds, weather information, coworking spaces, freelancer-friendly cafes, and more.
- These are just a few of my suggestions. But you’ll have to think outside the box for solutions that are best for you.
- I gave you guys a ton of ideas for how to milk your digital nomad experience for all it’s worth. But by all means, don’t do every item on this list. Find what “milking it” means to you. And do that thing. Maybe you want to find a group to play ultimate every weekend. You don’t have to donate time to an NGO or go on Tinder dates. Do what makes YOU happy. I just hope I’ve given you a starting point.
- Thanks for checking out my presentation. If you would like to learn more about getting involved in your community as a digital nomad, please feel free to email me through my website, or reach out to me on social media. And if you have any story of your own to share, please reach out!