Review of our first month as nomad workers
We’ve been digital nomads (i.e. we work and travel at the same time) for a month now. The balance is really positive
The rhythm
We purposely work between 2 and 3 days/week, to have time to travel. We work from Monday to Wednesday, to have a complete break between Thursday and Sunday. Having 4 days off (in a row) per week does us a lot of good because it allows us to take a real break & go for a weekend in another city if we want
However, during the 3 days I work, I still pick up some bad habits: eating breakfast too quickly and sometimes working until late at night. One day, after 9 hours of almost non-stop work, my left eye was starting to show strange halos, that’s when I realized I was doing too much. I would like to point out that if I work so much, it isn’t only because of the deadlines but because I really love my job
I think one of the solutions that could help me is to force me to go out for lunch, or go to work in a co-working space instead of working from my bed or dining table
During the 4 days of free time, we visit less things than we would have done during the world tour. The week where we had 3 days of work + “Auschwitz” and “Warsaw” in a row, we came back home exhausted. Whereas if we were only on a world tour, we could have visited more than that, and be at the top of the top
Personal development
I thought I could get back into Spanish and reach level B2 by 2018 but the reality is that I don’t have the time right now. I’m reviewing the vocabulary I already have every week, but I’m not learning anything new
I preferred to use my free time to train on new programming languages and the use of new software. I hate being slow, so my priority is to master all these tools to feel comfortable in my new job. Within 15 days, it will be done, and I will be able to boost my Spanish (I can’t wait!)
The destination
Krakow suits us very well. It’s a nice little town, very pretty. It is this kind of cities that attract us, but we will see after Prague and Budapest if we can survive in the metropolises. Our little month spent in Paris made us understand that we couldn’t stand Paris or the Parisian subway anymore
Budget
I realize that I misjudged the budget, especially the temporary rental of the apartments. Even if I doubled the price of a long-term rental, the reality is quite different when you approach the high season. Thus, we had to pay 750€ for Krakow (cheap), but 1100€ for Prague in July and 1250€ for Budapest in August. Of course (1) it’s the Airbnb fare (2) we are demanding (3) it’s the high season
Fortunately, all this is largely compensated for by the very low rates for food, commodities and even transportation. For Krakow, we spent in total (rent, weekend in Warsaw and the different visits included): 1950€ for two/month => or 65€/day for two
We also think that a large apartment will also save us the cost of renting a co-working space (200 to 300€ saved per month)
Thus, depending on our revenues, we can vary several parameters to reduce expenses
- duration: the monthly rent for 6 months or for 1 month isn’t the same
- countries: Asia still beats all records (we haven’t been to Black Africa yet)
- period: maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to go to Eastern Europe in the summertime
- and lately: lower our standings if we really have no choice
Internet
Working at a distance requires us to make more regular phone calls than if we were on site. Thus, a good Internet connection is NOT NEGOTIABLE. For Krakow, we have a 4G connection via a small box (provided by the owner). This little thing is so capricious: as soon as it rains, the connection is significantly reduced
Our (huge) consumption of the Internet will also determine the countries where we want to settle. With calls, we need about 3Giga per day. If we count replay, YouTube etc. we easily reach 4Giga per day
From now on, when you rent an Airbnb, you first ask (1) for the connection speed (2) if Internet is unlimited
Work
Most digital nomads in SEO/SEA work for their own sites. So, we thought of launching our own (and why not, sell my creations on Etsy) (with the risk that it won’t work 🙂 But we are lucky to have many friends and former colleagues who support us. Finally, we were able to sign freelance contracts, which correspond to us 100%. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this will continue.