Is being a digital nomad worth it?
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✏️ ON MY MIND
🌍 Why my wife and I gave up the digital nomad life after 18 months (back in 2018)
Ever thought about living the digital nomad life?
A few short months after our wedding in 2017, my wife and I packed our bags and boarded a one-way flight to Penang, Malaysia.
Over the next 18 months, we travelled to 9 countries... living and working out of beautiful locations like Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh, Bali, Cebu, Osaka, Tokyo, Luang Prabang, Montreal, Koh Phangan...
We were living the dream! But it's not all just IG highlights.
Here are some pros and cons to consider:
✅ Pros:Cost-effective living: You can live comfortably for less in many countries.
Travel opportunities: You get to explore new places and cultures.
Unforgettable memories: The adventures and experiences you have are priceless.
❌ Cons:Missing loved ones: Being away from family and friends can be tough. Especially when birthdays, weddings, funerals and important milestones come around.
Time-consuming planning: Travel planning and settling into new places takes time and effort. This can take up a lot of energy, time, and mental focus. (Kudos to my wife, who managed most of it so I could focus on delivering client work!)
Difficulty maintaining routines: Constant travel can disrupt your routines.
"Experience numbness": Seeing amazing places all the time can make them feel less special.
After those 18 months, my wife and I agreed that if we were to attempt the digital nomad life again that we’d do it differently. We’d commit to staying at least 6 months wherever we went.So here I am writing this to you from sunny Danang, Vietnam. We landed here in July 2022 (mid-way through one of the toughest years of my life mentally).
I tweeted this last Nov:
5 months ago:
😫 Stressed out in Sydney
🧟♂️ Negative mental space
😟 Worried about the futureToday:
🏊♂️ Daily joy and peace in Danang
🙏 Focused and grateful
🌞 Positive about the futureIf you're feeling stuck in a rut, get out of your comfort zone and into a new environment.
.. and I’m still feeling that it was the best decision that we’ve made in a long time.
We’ve been here exactly 12 months now (11 to be precise, as we spent 1 month in Sydney earlier this year). Seeing as we’ve been in one location all this time, I’m not even sure if I can technically call myself a "digital nomad” anymore?
The digital nomad lifestyle isn't for everyone, and it's not always as glamorous as it seems. But it might be worth a try if you value freedom and adventure.
Vancouver 2022
What are your thoughts on this? Could you see yourself living as a digital nomad?
(This newsletter was drafted with the help of GPT-4 and edited by yours truly.)
🔨🧰 MARKETING TIP
👍 3 THINGS THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION
1/ Read: ChatGPT writes for South Gippsland newspaper Sentinel-Times, MEAA raises ethics concerns
So it begins… are journalists’ jobs on the line?
2/ Listen: AI Expert's Urgent Wake-Up Call : Unveiling the Silent Threat w/ Mo Gawdat
EP #51 of Moonshots and Mindsets with Peter Diamandis and AI Expert Mo Gawdat is a fascinating and urgent wake-up call about the silent threat of AI.
Here are the key takeaways from their insightful discussion:
The probability of inevitable bad things happening due to AI is high, and it's crucial to understand and prepare for them.
Jobs will be disrupted, affecting their meaning, compensation, and purpose, leading to significant changes in our work landscape.
Truth and democracy will face serious disruptions, highlighting the need to navigate the implications of AI on the dissemination of information.
In the next few years, there will be a concentration of power that could have far-reaching consequences.
This is not a dystopian movie scenario but a real-life shift that signals the end of the way we have lived in the 20th and 21st centuries.
3/ Watch: How the Modern World Makes Us Mentally Ill
💸 WEALTH BUILDING TIP
🐦 COOL SOCIALS THIS WEEK
Source: Vladimir Blagojević / Linkedin
Great tweet on this story, further demonstrating Meta's COMPLETE lack of care about privacy!
My best advice if you're playing the entrepreneurship game:
Get comfortable with uncertainty.
🔧 TOOL OF THE WEEK
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🤔 PARTING THOUGHTS
Anfernee Chansamooth
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