I arrived at las cascadas magicas de Copalitilla outside of Huatulco hours before anyone else thanks to taking public transportation and some lucky hitchhiking. I had the joy of witnessing these majestic waterfalls completely on my own and literally started crying with gratitude – nature has a way of doing that to me.
I carried around everything I owned in a 50lb backpack for a 30 minute hike to the side of the road to get to the airport at Puerto Escondido. Once on the road I haggled with a couple of different taxi drivers under blazing sun and oppressive humidity while wearing a face mask because of Covid.
Friends hosted me for weeks at a time and I had the joy of getting so much closer to them! I had the pleasure of cooking for them, watching strange sci-fi and pet sitting.
I needed to use a bathroom because of indigestion and there were no public bathrooms in sight. I asked the owner of a small store if I could use hers, and then waited 15 minutes while they prepped it for me. A young boy had cleaned the toilet seat and filled a tub of water so that I could flush it. I remembered both my parents grew up without running water and felt grateful this family allowed me into their home.
Often people will tell me they wish they could travel and live abroad like I do. Above are examples of some of the best parts, the annoying ones, and the humbling ones from the past 13 months of my digital nomad (aka hobo) experience.
One way to live abroad is to literally move abroad. Mo Stone, a friend of mine since childhood, lived abroad as an English teacher for 5+ years, first in Turkey then in Japan. You can read about her experiences over at A Stranger in Paradise.
Then there’s the cute story of Irem and Batu who were dating long distance and decided to “move in together” by traveling as nomads! You can follow their story through their YouTube channel Organic Koalas.
Are you thinking of being a digital nomad?
If your work and financial situation allows for it, take a trial run. Go abroad for at least 4-6 weeks and see if it’s for you.
There’s always going to be reasons not to try something, yet regret is heavier than trying something out and finding out it wasn’t for you. I’m always going to be the person to tell you to go for whatever your heart desires, and to do it in a way that is financially empowered.
It’s important that as a tourist or someone living abroad you are respectful of your host country. When I initially wrote this article I did not pause to wonder whether host countries wanted digital nomads until a friend pointed me to Vox’s exposé: Mexico City and the Pitfalls of Becoming a Remote Work Destination. Mainly, gentrification, foreigners that look down on local customs, entitlement, and an ongoing feeling of white supremacy and colonization.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.
– Mark Twain
While individuals cannot solve collective problems inherent in extractive capitalism, there are ways we can minimize harm and actually contribute to repair. The rest of the article covers key areas to consider when becoming a digital nomad: logistics, lifestyle, and community.
The Logistics
Can’t be a digital nomad without the digital…
I’ve been a digital nomad where wi-fi is spotty and it is VERY stressful. That experience taught me to do thorough wi-fi research before setting my heart on a place. If you visit any “best places to be a digital nomad” lists you’ll get a good idea of what places to visit. It’s also really helpful to pick cities with co-working spaces because they often have internet back-up, including satellite internet.
If you want to go to a remote area where wi-fi is known to be spotty it’s best to take time off to enjoy your time there. In Mexico it’s possible to buy a hot-spot but because it also relies on local connections it will be as spotty as whatever wi-fi you have where you’re staying.
How much will this cost?
Well, it depends… The most expensive part of being a digital nomad is being nomadic. Every time you move you need to pay for transportation and will probably need to stay at hotels or AirBnBs for short stints while you find a place you want to rent long term.
In order to make sure I contribute the most to the local economy I prefer to rent with hosts directly. This can sometimes actually be cheaper, but you’ll loose the consumer protection of complaining to AirBnB. I opt for renting in spots that were built to hosts tourists to hopefully reduce the housing shortages my gentrification is creating.
When you’re traveling, daily and weekly lodging is more expensive than monthly. I’ve been able to find furnished one bedroom apartments near the center of town for $400-600/month in Mexico including utilities. Obviously some cities and countries are more expensive than others. I live in areas where I feel safe, have easy access to public transportation, and can walk to a grocery store. These areas are often already digital nomad havens.
The best way to keep nomading costs down is to stay put until you’ve built up reserves to move again.
I fell in love with Oaxaca City, Mexico last year because of the culture, the nearness to nature, and I bought a giant bouquet of flowers for $5 which would’ve cost me $35 back in Philadelphia. Overall groceries, eating out, cultural events, and most everything follows a similar cost breakdown. On average my life costs about a third of what it cost back in the US.
There are some notable exceptions, like electronics, shoes, and some toiletries where things sometimes cost the same or even a bit more because they’re coming from abroad.
Have a clear understanding of your current bougette / spending plan and then do research on how much those things would cost in whatever country you’re going to. If you love yoga, research online what yoga classes cost where you’re going. If you want to learn a new skill like scuba diving, consider how much that’ll be and whether it means that you’ll need to stay put longer to manage costs.
Lifestyle Goals
Be clear on why you’re going abroad and what you want to experience. I moved to give myself more financial freedom to build my business, because I love being in nature, and I love exploring new places. I prioritize visiting places that are noticeably more affordable than Philadelphia, with access to local day trips for hiking, and a lot of cultural activities.
Think of your favorite activities and find places where it’s easy to do those!
You get to live in a place that fills ALL your needs, even if after a while you’re ready to try a new place out. I love bike riding and that was one of the first purchases I made when I landed in Oaxaca. It will also be the most difficult thing to get rid of once I’m heading out, yet it has been a good investment for me.
Staying Put, Moving On, and Going Back
At the beginning of 2022 I spent time in Tijuana in northern Mexico because my mom offered me her house rent free, but the city has very little of what I’m looking for and after trying it out for a few weeks I realized it was time to move on.
I came back to Oaxaca City and decided to stay all summer because nomading can be a headache and honestly I was hesitant about managing my finances with a new business. I now see that four months is too many months in one place for me at this time. This fall I go back to the US for work conferences, time with family, and to spend the holidays with my community. I plan to come back to Latin America next January and imagine I’ll be moving every 4-6 weeks as I make my way from Veracruz, Mexico to Argentina.
I’ve heard from other nomads similar experiences of needing to figure out the balance between settling into a location and nomading. One person told me they prefer to have a base in a big city and then travel from there. Another friend told me they didn’t want to stay in a place for longer than a week. One of my neighbors decided to go back to a city where they met a special someone to give the relationship a try.
Community
I am an extrovert who loves spending quality time with people I care about, this means that being without my community has been the toughest part of nomading. I’ve recently begun learning about Contact Nutrition to make sure I don’t get depressed. I swear I feel like I wilt without enough people activity in my life.
When I’m single I often get massages and go salsa dancing to avoid becoming touch starved. This was also part of my regular life back in the US, and it’s something I quickly seek out when I land in a new city. Again, this is an invitation to truly imagine your best life and know what you need to set up to support it. If, like me, you need massages on the regular, find out how much they cost in your target city (Facebook will give you a good idea) and make it a goal to find a good masseuse once you settle in a city.
I don’t feel particular angst about the harm I cause as a tourist by the resulting commercialization of local customs because I am also contributing to local repair, in more ways than financially. I am also uniquely positioned because both of my parents grew up in Mexico and I am a Mexican citizen both culturally and legally.
I had a friend visit towards the end of my stay in Oaxaca and she was scared of being in Mexico when she first arrived. We talked about the violence we’ve experienced in the US (I was mugged in Philly) and universal racism (she’s Black).
After the first day in Oaxaca City she had relaxed and when she left I told her that every person who comes to Mexico afraid and leaves in love, is a win in my heart. She’d experienced kindness with locals despite the language barrier and truly saw the economic unearned privilege of her birth. Her experience of the world is richer thanks to travel.
Talking to locals
Because I’m trilingual (Spanish, English, and French) there’s a lot of places where I can easily live and communicate with locals. If you’re not fluent in the local country’s language I recommend you prioritize learning the language or go to places with a lot of foreigners. Wanting to learn a language can be a fun activity and a reason to move somewhere. I’m learning Portuguese so that I can spend extended time in Brazil.
There’s also ways to meet others beyond talking to people off the street. The Couchsurfing app has been an awesome way to meet locals and other travelers, share language skills, and find a place to stay for free. I started using it recently and got wonderful travel advice through it.
On the other hand, it’s possible to travel without ever experiencing the local culture, the local economy, and the local infrastructure. You could stay at a resort town or go to cities that are built for tourists like Tulum and Sayaulita, both in Mexico. It’s okay if that’s what you prefer, just be aware of your enormous unearned privilege. Treat others as equally worthy even when they don’t understand your mangled Spanish, there’s no running water, and nothing runs on schedule.
If you do want to experience the local everything, see it as an adventure and focus on the kindness of human interaction. Learn about colonialism, the history of US relations with the country you’re visiting, and withhold assuming people hate you or love you for being from abroad – just be here now with an open heart. The randomness of birth location and access does not speak to anyone’s inherent worthiness. Be respectful of the people you interact with, defer to elders, follow local cultures, and DO NOT haggle.
Is nomading for you?
While prepping for this article I reached out to a couple of friends who’ve expressed wanting to be digital nomads to ask about their concerns. One of the interesting responses was the need to be fully in the moment, without thinking too much about the past or the future.
Travel magically expands time because there is so much novelty in your day to day that a week can feel like a month. The future can feel like it’s just coordinating flights, long terms stays, friend visits, and tours. The past can become trying to remember whether you have that thing that you used once in storage or whether you need to buy a new one.
Novelty can get tiring. During my first vacation as a digital nomad where I completely unhooked from work, after five days I hit a decision fatigue wall and postponed deciding where I was spending the night until the last moment possible because I just had no more decisions left in me.
Not everything is meant to last forever. At some point the 10th magical waterfall will lose its appeal and you’ll realize it’s time to set roots somewhere. Or maybe you won’t get to that point and just keep traveling. Regardless of how long you nomad for, I say go ahead and start. The world is so beautiful it would be a shame to deny yourself the chance to fully enjoy it.
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