If your social media feed has become awash with digital nomads showcasing their relaxed lifestyles of working by the beach, enjoying sunsets and soaking up exotic cultures, you’re probably not alone.
But it turns out the lifestyle might not be all it's cracked up to be … at least for some.
Danish content creator Adam Karlsen and his partner Sally have recently quit the digital nomad life to return home to Copenhagen after eighteen months spent mostly in Indonesia, Thailand and Italy.
Both Adam and Sally worked freelance jobs while being nomads. Adam worked in video and photo production and Sally did social media marketing gigs.
In a video uploaded to YouTube titled Why I STOPPED being a Digital Nomad (it's been viewed more than 200,000 times), Adam said that while the couple had incredible experiences, being away from family and friends for long periods of time was the most difficult part.
“We would miss big dates, birthdays, weddings you name it. And that sucks.
“Being a digital nomad is not as glamorous as it can seem when looking around online.”
Admin, Wi-Fi problems and stimulation overload
Contrary to what we all see on social media, Adam notes the digital nomad life is actually a lot of arduous admin, involving spending huge amounts of time on mundane things such as researching destinations, booking flights, and sitting in transit.
In another video titled, Becoming a Digital Nomad: 7 Things I wish I knew, Adam talks about the challenges accessing quality Wi-Fi while nomadding and the lengths he and Sally would go to make sure they’d have it.
“Our backup solution would be to buy a local sim card each with the carrier that has the best coverage rating and preferably get unlimited data, " he said.
But now that I think about it we did spend a lot of time worrying about having and finding a reliable wifi connection.Adam Karlsen
He also said by the end of their time nomadding he and his partner had become “experience numb”.
“Because we were doing so many amazing things and seeing incredible places all the time it would just become the norm, " he said.
“We wouldn't be that amazed when we would go to an incredible waterfall or stay in an incredible villa.”
Adam's video explaining why he stopped being a digital nomad has attracted many comments on Adam’s candid description of the lifestyle.
One user said, “This is the first digital nomad I've seen on YouTube that isn't just selling the lifestyle. Thanks for the real talk.”
Another said, “Been a Digital Nomad for 10 years and yes 100 % agree.”
The rise of digi-nomadding
There are more than 1.2 billion views on TikTok videos containing the tag #digitalnomad and an estimated 35 million digital nomads in the world.
They are often well-educated people escaping nine-to-five life to live in countries with a cheaper cost of living with the allure of experiencing a new culture as soon as work ends.
And, it’s being incentivised.
The lifestyle involves moving from city to city every few months and boomed during COVID-19 as people sought to escape lockdowns and working remotely became commonplace.
Why are other people quitting?
Adam and Sally aren’t the only ones demystifying some of the glamour of the digital nomad lifestyle.
Andrea Valeria spent four years travelling and working as a digital nomad through Latin America between 2015 and 2019 before she said the lifestyle became “unsustainable”.
The 35-year-old was born in Panama and later lived in the United States for study and later work.
Andrea spent time in Chile as a digital nomad.
“I did that job for two years and I wasn’t very happy so I thought there has to be a better way.
“I just started brainstorming things and asked my bosses, ‘Can I work while travelling?’ They were like, ‘absolutely not’.
“And then eventually I convinced them.”
Andrea then worked many different jobs as a digital nomad, from a role in human resources to being a translator and even starting a cleaning business.
Ironically, it was when she started her own business teaching people how to work remotely that she had to stop doing it herself.
“I would spend so much time researching the next place, making sure it had good Wi-Fi and was safe because I was a solo female traveller,” she told The Feed, adding she could have spent that time on growing her business.
For most of 2018, Andrea moved to a new city each month. Each time she moved had to figure out where her local supermarket was, find a local gym and co-working spaces.
Things like that slow down your productivity.
Andrea working in Bogota, Colombia.
“I wish I would have lived under my means a little bit because I would have been able to save some money and maybe start my business sooner and just not spend everything," she said.
After a few years, she was done. “It was during that time I also realised this is exhausting and thought that in the future I would like to get a home base.”
So, have we reached peak digital nomad?
Paul Green is a senior anthropology lecturer at the University of Melbourne who has been researching digital nomads for seven years.
He has interviewed many digital nomads based in South East Asia - a popular location for those nomadding from Australia.
Paul Green has interviewed many digital nomads in the course of his research.
“Often I’m met with silence, (when asking about income). They don’t quite know how to respond to it.”
“Some people are making a pittance from running vlogs on YouTube and quite often people are living off savings in the first place.”
Paul also said that some of the issues raised in Adam’s video are common in the digital nomad community.
“The initial idea you might have is that travel is so exciting. But it (travelling) can get really wearing and suddenly travel can become a form of work or labour, " he said.
The initial idea you might have is that travel is so exciting. But it (travelling) can get really wearing and suddenly travel can become a form of work or labour.Paul Green
Finding a more permanent home
Andrea has now settled in Mexico City, where she has lived for three years.
Andrea in her home office in Mexico City.
Since being there she has been able to start her business, build a client base and recently bought an apartment.
“Once I stayed in the same place, I had extra money that I was investing towards my business.”
