Help I can't become a digital nomad, I have too much stuff
fireshouter.substack.com
fireshouter.substack.com
The sense of eradication Nomads are looking for can bite you back quite bad. This is something seldom discussed in DN circles, especially by hyper-positive (or toxic positive) digital Bromads of the “I dropship therefore I’m an Internet Entrepreneur” variety. Digital Nomadism is also very often a form of postcolonial and Western privilege. A lot of DN-targeted content focuses on the individual radical choice of going against the typical societal expectations (settle down, get a house, own stuff). What they mostly miss is how this choice is made possible by the inequalities between the West and the rest of the world.
That said, I still regard Digital Nomadism as a positive movement that could benefit from a bit more self-criticism.
I've lived in various mostly developing countries for the past 7 years, and I'm not one to get hung up on the "white privalege" that's currently talked about in the west, but it is hard not to feel guilty at times at the tremendous advantages I have with a western salary and background while living here. And that's before even considering the rampant fetishization of white men in some countries that results in endless dating opportunities. It doesn't seem far removed from the colonial past.
What kind of backlash are you thinking of? When I think of a digital nomad, I'm thinking of a rich white kid spending their money in a holiday destination year round.
1. The same people who are highly concerned about economic inequality and "social justice" within western countries today.
2. Locals of developing countries who do no benefit from the foreign spending or are even hurt by it (e.g., middle or upper class locals who lose their relatively privaleged status to foreigners).
3. Local men who see foreigners as "stealing" their women.
Some digital nomads chafe at being charged "farang prices"(foreigner's prices) but the alternative is that locals are priced out.
Its similar to what I call hipsterization. Rich and privileged persons moving to an undeveloped area they deem cool, fancy cafes are opened and real state prices skyrocket.
Curious to hear what you mean by that?
It's something that came about as a result of domestic inequalities. Digital Nomads wouldnt be anywhere near as common if property/rents werent sky high back home.
It feels a bit wrong to emphasize privilege for things that also come about as a lack of privilege.
The vast majority of digital nomads I’ve seen absolutely /do not/ have money problems. They’re all really well-off with good safety nets.
Moreover, potential lack of privilege in their home countries is not really comparable to the massive privileges that come with this kind of nomadism.
I did it in my 20s with a view to avoiding inner city rents. Probably with inflation adjusted 1950s property and flight costs I would not have done it.
For me, it was less about "going against" and more about "escaping from".
Of course we have Western privilege. But when I travel, I'm not being an ass and throwing money as I step on locals. I meet locals, eat at local places (as well as touristy/western). From my experience, it seems my presence is welcomed and appreciated. My Western privilege is providing additional income and opportunities for locals. I also avoid the obnoxious DN-bros, because in general I dislike any bro-culture (or overt superiority complex people).
I am still not forgiven for throwing away one half of Johnsons dictionary, the one with the "oats" joke despite it being mostly damaged, beyond repair and unsellably filthy.
I'm writing this looking at a 15th or 16th C wooden stool my mother rescued from a skip. Kondo would have done for it when Chippendale or Sheraton were alive if not before. Now I have a 21st century flat with 21st century life and a 500 year old oak stool I still use to change light bulbs.
1. germinate new oak trees from genetic material recovered from lucky stool (1-20 years, say) 2. tend to trees as they mature (40 years) 3. fell trees, craft new generation of stools. (~1 year) 4. use stools until only a handful of lucky stools survive (500+ years) 5. iterate
if all goes to plan, by year 2600 or so the third crop can be underway
I think anyone CAN make a good stool like that if they can find the materials and some hand tools, it's just that nobody can be bothered and nobody wants to pay someone to put in the effort. Or that nobody has access to tools and/or a space to do the work. There does seem to be a bit of a renaissance in woodworking though.
Jokes aside some IKEA stuff really is pretty good quality and lasts decades. Other stuff is cheap crap but you don't have to buy the cheap crap.
No, we make them better. That old thing is lucky to have survived - most things we've made in the past broke. Wood? Oh, yeah, that'll dry out and crack and break in ways that it is easier to buy something new - or buy large woodworking tools. And honestly, if you are worried about long-lasting furniture, be more choosy and spend money for quality.
Also worth mentioning that old furniture was made for a different lifestyle and housing and isn't always as useful as modern furniture is.
For the last 15 years, almost all of my computer work, gaming, Netflix, etc. stuff is done standing. I find sitting unpleasant now (which makes 12 hour flights a literal pain sometimes). I'm almost never tired standing, even after an entire waking day on my feet.
There’s this chastising of owning things (‘the things own you’) that comes up every now and again, but I think that could be reserved for when these objects stop being something you cherish and start to be something you consume: fast fashion, consumer electronics upgrade cycles, etc.
In this article not owning things seems to be a prerequisite for a certain lifestyle of hopping around the world with a laptop, but if that’s your thing, why not simply rent out your apartment? It seems unlikely to be something you’d want to do for years on end. Although I’d be curious to see some data on that, digital nomad churn rate.
And more nomad stats here: https://nomadlist.com/digital-nomad-statistics
For me it’s hard to imagine living this way because I like to feel connected to where I live, and that takes more time and investment. And I feel it’s better for where I live, because I can get involved in local initiatives, learn the language etc. But I think that’s a common sentiment, that’s why I wonder about how long people tend to do the nomad thing.
I do know plenty of people who have one place as a kind of base station and often end up working in other places for short periods, that might be a nice hybrid model.
I definitely don't imagine doing this forever though. It's stressful, and disorienting (because social circle changes so often, how things work changes often). I'm 29, and already feel like I could really use a permanent home.
Good luck with finding your model! These last years must have been an enriching experience whichever way.
I don't just want to own a guitar and a recumbent trike, I want the hobby of hacking on guitars and bikes.
Even the tools are their own hobby. I don't just want to rent a few hours on a 3d printer, I want to hack on 3d printers.
And forget my vintage computers, those are right out. They need shelves full of irreplaceable ancient spare parts, and acessible not off in storage.
Tourism is nice for a while but to be a tourist barely sampling your own life perpetually?
But there's also a value in having those things available when you want them. And value in simply having the utilitarian flexible space for projects.
I know a number of people who have like a 650 square ft condo and maybe a 90-110 square foot storage unit, and the actual amount of junk and clutter they own is far less than people living in 1800 square foot houses with two car garages in the suburbs.
Perhaps the clearest example of this is Uber, where it's not guaranteed to be available at all in your area at a time of your choosing, but the pre-booked cab service that costs 2x more will near-flawlessly arrive on time, every time.
1) We recently moved from a 80m² flat to a ~145m² house, plus 50m² of basement (860 -> 1560+540 sqft). We had a lot of stuff but it fitted well. Now the house is already equally full with things, but the only non-house-related item we got that takes up more space than before is the super automatic coffee maker. Thinking about it, this is because the actual living rooms did get only marginally bigger: A lot of the additional space is "hidden" because now each of us has a room of their own instead of a shared office. Which, for us and our relationship, is a tremendous boon.
2) Most of things we rarely use derive their value from being available on-demand. Especially for maintenance and repairs: When we rented a flat, all these tasks were the duty of our landlord. Now owning an older house of our own means we have to do that, and often having the proper tools & materials available is a huge boon. The most bulky item: The ladder for cleaning the roof rails. And then there is about a palette of various building materials I still need for all the necessary repairs/maintenance/improvements that we need to do.
I keep stuff in my storate unit largely because it's a cheap way to declutter my owned flat. A lot of my hobby retro tech is something I'll end up repurchasing at some later point anyway (except in worse condition and for far more than I would want to spend on it), so that's another argument.
Forget to pay the bill. Problem solved.
Traditional nomadic life was about entire communities or extended families (rather than individuals), usually carrying their entire home and possessions with them either on travois or animals and/or carts, and travelling between home sites as the seasons changed or the food source moved.
In current times it's not too challenging to carry one's entire digital possessions in a back-pack if you trust to there being an always-on quality network connection, but it'd be far more comfortable to kit out a mobile home, caravan, recreational vehicle, boat, or similar, if you want basics with you such as favourite clothing, personal items, and physical documents.
A challenge of this minimalisation is overcoming built-in obsolescence of most digital devices that often leads to collections of older 'stuff' kept 'just in case', as well as connectors, adapters, wires, and other bits. Oh, and avoiding buying 'convenience' single-purpose devices.
Having Siberian Huskies I once tried to figure out if I could live off the back of a sled and have the huskies be my means of transport. The sled would have needed to be 5 meters long and about 2 tall so I abandoned the idea!
perhaps you just needed a few more huskies. is there anything like a rocket equation for dogsledding? e.g. each husky requires some mass of supplies which must be hauled which implies additional huskies.
Once you analyse what is required to be truly self-sufficient and self-reliant, even for short periods of time, the amount of equipment needed is quite surprising.
In settled life many of those things are externalised costs or can be obtained on-demand.
I'd still love to give it a go at some point - but would need to move to Alaska to do it (Only rain and mud in the UK!)
My take is that we’re talking about minimalist expats here. While they value 21st century conveniences, they don’t value how those conveniences are maintained.
Maybe the symbolic necessity to become a digital expat destination is an Apple store. Which rules out a number of continents.
I know I can live with just two backpacks. So now I have a lot of decent/nice/expensive stuff that I don't really need but don't really know how to get rid of properly (without great effort).
If I could find a reliable person or service who would try hard to find a good home/buyer for each of my items, I would happily give up 50% of whatever money was collected. But I just don't have the time or motivation to try to list and sell all my stuff.
My whole life fits into a few boxes and I don't aim to change that until I buy a house that is explicitly the house I want to die in. Even if I rent an apartment or buy a house to stay in a city for a few years, I'm keeping to my "it has to fit in a 5x5 storage unit" or be cheap enough that I'm okay to give it away or leave it when I move.
No thanks.
My philosophy is merely that I hate clutter and kipple.
I usually just tell people "I travel while working with a startup remotely" because I'm aware of the term's reputation, but it seems to be an apt description to me.
It is after all just a circumstance. I know many people who would classify for whom this is just normal life and entirely unworthy of labelling themselves under some status banner.