My Digital Nomad Story
Touring the inside of the coliseum in Rome, Italy back in 2021
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It was late summer of 2020 and the world had been closed for a long time. My friend group was trapped inside tiny apartments in Los Angeles and it was the era of Zoom hangouts and game nights.
At the time, I was producing scripted podcasts and working with a team of friends on these creative projects while also growing my freelancing business.
“It would be so nice to do some of this stuff in person,” I mused to my then-friend and soon-to-be-partner Kyle over the phone. Then, I pitched my grand plan: “Airbnbs are pretty cheap everywhere since no one’s traveling: what do you think about doing a road trip with our friends and we can work remotely from places in nature?”
That thought kicked off our first two trial trips: first, a stay in the Colorado mountains, and second, a month at an amazing home in Palm Springs with a group of our friends who were also working remotely. The success of these first two trips spurred a 5-month road trip around the United States, and then a 3-month Europe trip.
While we were in Europe, we got to experience some of the magic of low tourism at the time. Venice, Italy was at 5% tourism and we wandered the empty moody canals every day — mostly just us and the locals. We stayed in breathtaking places for budget prices, and fell into a rhythm of work and travel.
There’s a moment when you start traveling and working remotely when everything changes. For me, it was in Peshastin, Washington: I woke up to the sound of the river outside of our Airbnb, and then greeted our friends for breakfast. I hopped on my calls for the day, and then in the afternoon we all went white water river rafting together. The combination of once-in-a-lifetime adventures blended with “everyday” routines felt extraordinary.
Why didn’t everyone do this? I thought. But as I continued to travel and zip all over the world with my partner Kyle, I faced challenges in keeping up with all of the incoming work my freelancing business was receiving, and I had to find a better structure of balance and spontaneity while on the road.
Finding a Holistic Work-Life-Travel Balance as a Writer-Entrepreneur
A tired-yet-wired Amy hanging out in Florence, Italy and trying to figure out how to manage the balance between work and play.
My first year of being a digital nomad was all go-go-go, and I had to take a beat as I entered year 2 of full-time travel to assess how to travel more sustainably and manage the high volume of work I was tackling with my partner Kyle in our businesses.
It was in Florence, Italy when my partner Kyle and I sat down and sketched out our ideal lives. What are we doing? How quickly are we traveling? Where are we going in the world? What does community look like to us as we travel?
There were a few things that helped make travel more sustainable for us as we entered 2023:
Spending a month in each place we visit. This allowed us to really get to know the city we were in, and establish a routine. In previous years I did a lot of 2-week trips, but found it was hard to focus on my writing when I was constantly changing locations, and preferred a bit of a slower pace. Every nomad is different, but there’s definitely a sweet spot you need to find that works for you when it comes to the pace of travel!
Get a gym membership. Listen, I became an at-home workout gal during 2020-2021 just like everyone else, but in my mind nothing beats going to the gym. I like running outside when there are some nice paths, but I find most cities I’ve gone too have treacherously slippery cobblestone sidewalks or crazy traffic, and as an afternoon runner I prefer the treadmill to dodging pedestrians in crowded areas. If there’s no gym nearby, I’ve also gotten unlimited yoga memberships and used that as a substitute, and as a last resort I have some at-home workout videos I turn to. Getting a workout in most days per week is pretty important — even if you’re nailing your 10,000-step goal just by existing, strength training and stretching are magic ingredients to feeling your best.
Take occasional trips with travel communities. There are many travel groups out there geared towards digital nomads, and they’re a great way to meet fellow long-term travelers. As an introvert, I like mixing up my year with a combination of more low-key trips paired with months that are adventure-forward with travel groups where I’ll be meeting lots of new people.
During 2023, I traveled to some beautiful places like Cusco, Peru, where I completed the 4-day Inca Trail, and Athens, Greece, where I partied on a boat with a bunch of fellow nomads in the Mediterranean and watched some stunning sunsets.
This year, we’re starting 2024 with a greater feeling of balance. We spent a month in Buenos Aires, Argentina — one of my favorite cities we’ve been to so far! — and we have trips lined up for South Korea and Japan this spring. I’m so grateful that I took the leap to travel the world a few years ago: my life has changed completely, and can’t imagine living any other way.
Anyone Can Be A Digital Nomad
“You’re living my dream life!” is the exclamation I often hear from non-travelers when I tell my digital nomad story.
The truth is, anyone can live their dream life — it just takes some planning, a laptop, and a passion to see the world.
Want to learn more about how to travel the world as a writer? Check out my blog posts below, or get my book Six-Figure Freelance Writer.
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