4 Things I don’t Like Being A Digital Nomad
After being a digital nomad for 1 year, I have 4 reasons not to do it again. A digital nomad is more suited to people who are working as an artist, a writer, a photographer, or a YouTuber. If your job is very technical, for example, analysts or engineers, which requires long hours of concentration on debugging and diving deep, being a digital nomad might not be the choice for you.
Sacrifice Ergonomic Office Equipments
I found it extremely difficult to work on a laptop without an ergonomic chair, a monitor and a keyboard because I might need to sit in front of my computer for at least 3 hours with breaks in between.
- My back hurts a lot after sitting on the wood chair for an hour.
- It’s not very convenient to debug the issues without multiple windows open and displayed on one big screen.
- I barely can tolerate the keyboard of a Macbook which feels as thin as paper.
The minimalist’s solutions
- I tried to find Airbnb home with an office chair.
- I got a HDMI cable and a Macbook adapter so I can connect my laptop to the TV.
- I bought a compact keyboard.
The Unexpected Living Condition
Noise
A beautiful Airbnb home with excellent reviews won’t tell me the unexpected new constructions out on the street. If you are going to have an important meeting, you might need to find a relatively nice hotel to avoid the noise on the street.
Slow WiFi
Working as a digital nomad depends on stable and fast WiFi. It created a lot of frictions and misunderstanding during meetings when my Airbnb home WiFi is not in the mood. I am glad that I was always in the city but I can’t imagine being a digital nomad in some tropical island without stable WiFi.
The minimalist’s solutions
- I bought a SIM card with an extra data plan for important meetings in case WiFi of my Airbnb suddenly becomes a ghost.
Switch Your Mindsets Quickly
When I am not working in the office, I find it difficult to switch my mood from relaxing to working. I will feel regretful if I am not going out for a walk in a lovely sunny day but staying at the desk and working on numbers and programming.
The minimalist’s solutions
- Meditate between tasks so I can switch my mindsets to the work mode
Inconvenient Daily Supplies
After being a digital nomad, my skin care products are down from 30+ different bottles of serums and moisturizers to 2 products only. I experienced quite a lot of skin problems at the beginning of being a digital nomad because I did not make the right choice for the limited number of skin products I can carry around.
Sleeping with bad pillows in another big problem in life. I experienced very severe headaches a few times after I slept on flat pillows.
The minimalist’s solutions
- I finally settled down on two or three skin care products from drug stores after having a few failures during my skin care experiments. I chose drug stores products because I want to make sure I can get them in any cities.
- I bought a pillow once after I know I will stay in that city for a few months.
Lose The Opportunities of In-depth Learning
As a digital nomad lives with 2 bags of luggages without owning any hard copy books or notes. I used to make notes of quotes for encouragement and put them on the wall of my bedroom to remind myself of being positive. It’s a much more empowering irreplaceable tool than writing on a Google doc or Google Calendar. I used to own a bookshelf and hand write my notes because writing on a piece of paper and reading hard copy books help me organize my thoughts better and avoid distractions on laptops or cell phones.
The minimalist’s solutions
- I bought thin notebooks with 30 pages and tore the papers to pieces when I did not have enough space in my luggage.
