Pros & Cons After 4 Years as a DIGITAL NOMAD (honest opinion)

[00:00] 4 years that's how long I have been

[00:02] living as a digital Nomad constantly

[00:04] moving working remotely and experiencing

[00:07] life in different countries but is it

[00:10] actually worth it in this video I will

[00:12] give you my honest opinion on the pros

[00:15] and the cons of this lifestyle should

[00:17] you become a digital Nomad or would you

[00:19] be better off just moving abroad as an

[00:21] exper or in some cases is it actually

[00:24] better to just stay in your home country

[00:26] and travel occasionally by the end of

[00:28] this video you will know whether this

[00:29] life that is worth all the hassle or is

[00:32] it just an overhyped

[00:36] [Music]

[00:38] dream so first of all I used to think

[00:41] that just moving to my dream place to

[00:43] live it would just solve all my problems

[00:45] but that's definitely not the case and

[00:47] perfect place definitely doesn't exist

[00:49] there's different problems and your

[00:51] personal problems comes with you

[00:53] anywhere you move but definitely if

[00:55] you're like me and you don't really

[00:56] connect with the nature or the weather

[00:59] the people the mindset whatever in your

[01:01] home country it's really good idea to

[01:03] think of the different options for your

[01:06] life to live in different places and try

[01:08] different Lifestyles so let's start with

[01:10] my raw take on the lifestyle as a

[01:12] digital Nomad first for me this is quite

[01:15] perfect because definitely like as many

[01:17] people like I like to travel I like to

[01:18] experience new places and I get kind of

[01:21] like bored in one place like I notice it

[01:23] after many years now that anytime I'm

[01:26] more than like two three four months in

[01:28] one place I kind of all the days feels

[01:30] the same and I get like less inspired

[01:33] and like I I don't know like it just

[01:34] doesn't feel the most exciting in a way

[01:37] and that's why it's so nice to every few

[01:39] months move to a new place and get that

[01:40] feeling again that wow like I'm so

[01:43] inspired and excited about life and like

[01:45] experiencing these new things in a new

[01:47] placees new flavors new smells new

[01:49] tastes like it's just like new people

[01:52] also like you meet a lot of new people

[01:54] with different mindset like it's just an

[01:55] amazing lifestyle in this way and also

[01:57] the nice thing about the D nor lifestyle

[01:59] when you're moving around and like be

[02:01] free to go anywhere anytime is that you

[02:03] can avoid any like bad Seasons like most

[02:06] places have rainy season or typhoon

[02:08] season or something like that you can

[02:10] avoid all that like I do like I always

[02:12] go based on the season so I'm always in

[02:14] sunny weather most of the time not right

[02:17] now but like usually and also with this

[02:19] lifestyle you have a lot of freedom when

[02:20] it comes to like optimizing your taxes

[02:22] and your setup because you can be

[02:24] anywhere anytime and you don't need to

[02:25] be in one place for a whole year so

[02:27] that's a lot of the positives which are

[02:29] of course amazing but there's of course

[02:31] a lot of negatives also and the way I

[02:33] would explain this is that if I compare

[02:35] my lifestyle to someone who's an expat

[02:38] so they just move to a different country

[02:40] for example Indonesia they move to Bali

[02:42] and they just stay in Bali all the time

[02:44] what I'm kind of jealous of those people

[02:46] is that of course when you stay in one

[02:47] place all the time you get to like build

[02:50] connections and Community around you

[02:52] make good friends and like a friend

[02:54] group and have your routine and really

[02:56] learn so much about that one destination

[02:58] I of course have got a lot of those

[03:01] positives in Bali because I have stayed

[03:02] way more there but it's just that

[03:04] feeling always like you build your

[03:06] circle around and then you leave so

[03:08] that's sometimes that for all the

[03:10] positives I love leaving Bali and

[03:11] traveling and trying different places

[03:13] every year but also I feel a bit sad of

[03:15] like okay like now I'm leaving again and

[03:17] trying to find new friends in the new

[03:19] places of course you always meet so many

[03:21] people so it's not a problem but like

[03:23] having the Deep connections it's a bit

[03:24] struggle and by the way specifically for

[03:26] this problem I created my new school

[03:28] Community The Nomad TR to make a space

[03:30] that is more like for those deep

[03:32] connections with like-minded people so

[03:34] even if we travel around we always have

[03:36] one place to go to ask questions meet

[03:38] people on the calls and have meetups and

[03:40] just have like more deeper connections

[03:42] with people because it's definitely a

[03:43] struggle a little bit when you're digal

[03:45] Nomad this is what most people say so

[03:48] I've been thinking a lot lately that

[03:49] would it be just better to actually live

[03:51] in one place as an exper and lose some

[03:54] of the positives of the full digit NAD

[03:56] lifestyle but for example Bali like it's

[03:59] pretty good place to live long term like

[04:00] the weather is year around the best

[04:03] option and also for me like as a home

[04:05] base like it's my favorite with the vibe

[04:08] and the people and the culture and

[04:09] everything like Bal is really good in

[04:11] that way and there's a lot to do like it

[04:13] doesn't get boring and then every now

[04:15] and then I can still do like travel like

[04:16] I can still do trips from Bali like if I

[04:19] have home in Bali I can still do some

[04:20] trips anytime I want and I can go for

[04:23] month or two during the rainy season

[04:25] anyway so in that way you would get like

[04:27] most of the positives of the G noral

[04:28] lifestyle without getting so much of the

[04:30] negatives and I noticed also after a few

[04:32] years that I love the feeling of coming

[04:34] to a new even like a place that I have

[04:36] been before like dang like I just love

[04:38] the feeling coming back here like

[04:40] changing environment like is so nice but

[04:43] that feeling kind of like I lose it

[04:44] after one week two weeks and then it

[04:47] feels the same again like not so

[04:49] inspired so is it better to chase that

[04:52] new feeling all the time after year

[04:54] after year or is it better just settle

[04:56] down more in one place and still can

[04:57] travel and experience places without

[05:00] losing the community and the people side

[05:02] of staying in one place and by the way

[05:04] one of the best travel hacks I have

[05:05] found as a nomad is using eims Wi-Fi is

[05:09] still not always reliable and of course

[05:11] you need mobile data when going around

[05:14] and honestly I don't even bother with

[05:15] physical SIM cards anymore using eims is

[05:18] just so much easier and hasslefree you

[05:21] can set up your eim just before your

[05:22] flight to have a working intern at the

[05:24] second you land in your destination no

[05:26] need to search for SIM card at the

[05:28] airport and deal with topups and by the

[05:30] way the steam cars both at the local

[05:32] shops or at the airport are often quite

[05:34] unreliable they might just stop working

[05:36] after a while but with Holly the sponsor

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[05:41] unlimited mobile data in over 200

[05:43] destinations and they have also Regional

[05:46] plans so if you're traveling around ASA

[05:48] for example you can just get one eim

[05:51] that works across multiple countries so

[05:53] no more worrying about running out of

[05:55] data or any surprise fees so if you're

[05:58] traveling soon check out all fly and get

[06:00] an eim for your trip I will leave Link

[06:02] in the description trust me it just

[06:04] makes life so much easier and by using

[06:07] my discount code yours at The Nomad you

[06:09] will get 5% off and help support my

[06:12] channel and one thing also now after a

[06:14] long time I noticed like if I think of

[06:16] like just staying in a home country in

[06:18] some cases like it's just so easy like

[06:20] you citizen in the country where you

[06:21] live like you're from there you know how

[06:24] everything works the taxi setups like

[06:26] you really save so much hassle when you

[06:28] just live in your home country like

[06:30] there's less risk and less like worry

[06:32] about like how things going to change in

[06:34] the world and in a way when you travel

[06:36] from your home country every now and

[06:37] then you really do enjoy the travel I

[06:39] remember traveling from Finland like to

[06:41] Bali or Philippines back in the day when

[06:43] I still lived there like I was just like

[06:46] it was amazing to travel like the best

[06:48] experience like I was just like happy

[06:50] tears almost like every day it was just

[06:52] amazing feeling you know to finally

[06:54] travel to a new place like that but when

[06:56] you do this all the time you kind of

[06:57] lose that like magic of traveling like

[06:59] it's still nice and it's amazing but

[07:01] it's not as like incredible like it was

[07:04] back in the day so I would say that if

[07:06] you don't have any place that you really

[07:08] want to live instead of your home

[07:09] country if you're kind of happy with

[07:10] your home country it can be even make

[07:12] sense to just stay living there because

[07:14] like yeah that mindset of like okay if I

[07:16] move to this new place things going to

[07:17] change and be so much better like it's

[07:19] not really like that it can be because

[07:21] you meet new people you get new

[07:23] opportunities you develop your mindset

[07:25] and all that of course but in a way it

[07:27] can be also pretty good to just stay

[07:29] your home country if you have your close

[07:31] friends and family and really enjoy your

[07:33] life there and have all the positives

[07:34] with that and also more about the topic

[07:36] of health of course when you move to

[07:39] these places in Southeast Asia for

[07:41] example in some ways you can be way

[07:42] healthier because you're in a like

[07:44] outside in nature with good weather like

[07:46] surfing or like eating nice food in the

[07:49] restaurants eily like really healthy

[07:50] options but of course there's also like

[07:53] the negatives like you can get food

[07:54] poisonings easier in Bali for example

[07:57] you can get like a tropical disease like

[07:59] dangi fever from the mosquitoes you can

[08:02] easier get like into scooter accidents

[08:05] or something so there's definitely like

[08:07] there's lot of like Risk when it comes

[08:09] to health also and I definitely have to

[08:11] say that I haven't always been the

[08:13] healthiest when I live in Southeast Asia

[08:14] because of all these things and that's

[08:17] why I would recommend get a good travel

[08:18] medical insurance of course when you

[08:20] travel the one I'll be using is Link in

[08:22] the description you can check it out

[08:24] like that's what I would recommend and

[08:25] nowadays I used to complete plan that

[08:27] means basically is best for this moment

[08:29] that are long-term living this lifestyle

[08:31] because you have more Comprehensive

[08:33] Health Care with that so it's not really

[08:35] a problem when it comes to Health Care

[08:37] like in Southeast Asia there's good

[08:38] hospitals so it's not really something I

[08:40] would be too worried about if you get

[08:42] this insurance for long term so my

[08:44] opinion based on my own experience I

[08:46] would say that it's really good be like

[08:48] it's been amazing to live this lifestyle

[08:49] for the past four years and I will

[08:51] probably keep doing it for at least one

[08:53] or two years more but after that yeah I

[08:56] based on everything that I already say

[08:58] like I've been thinking that would would

[08:59] be better to have a home in Bali or like

[09:02] in some place that I love the most and

[09:04] change the lifestyle a little bit like

[09:06] that especially if I build a family one

[09:08] day that I definitely looking forward to

[09:10] do and want to do it would be much

[09:12] better to stay in one place and can

[09:14] still travel but settle down a little

[09:16] bit and in Bali for example there's good

[09:18] international schools so that would be

[09:20] kind of like what I'm seeing for the

[09:22] future and by the way if you're getting

[09:24] value out of this video please like the

[09:25] video and subscribe to not miss out on

[09:27] all the future content about this dig

[09:29] normal lifestyle in different places and

[09:31] of course one positive that I need to

[09:33] mention is that when you live this

[09:34] digital normal lifestyle you can live

[09:36] anywhere you can save a lot of money

[09:38] like cost of living is so much cheaper

[09:39] in some of the places in Southeast Asia

[09:41] for example compared to Western

[09:43] countries that obviously you will like

[09:46] you don't need to make that much money

[09:47] to live a really good lifestyle so

[09:49] that's the opportunity but of course the

[09:50] challenge is like can you make money

[09:52] online like without needing to be in a

[09:54] specific place because in most cases you

[09:56] can't really get like a job in b or

[09:58] something like that you need to work

[09:59] online and if you can make it happen

[10:01] it's really amazing setup but it can be

[10:03] a challenge of course and also like the

[10:06] world and the countries and you you

[10:08] don't really know how things going to

[10:09] change with climate change also like how

[10:11] different countries going to develop to

[10:14] better and worse conditions for living

[10:16] so that's why it's nice to have this

[10:18] freedom of like I can kind of just

[10:19] choose whatever makes sense for me

[10:21] whatever I see is the best option I can

[10:23] go there and have the freedom and

[10:24] flexibility so that's definitely a big

[10:26] positive about this lifestyle and one

[10:28] thing I have been thinking that it would

[10:29] be nice like if I'm getting a home in

[10:31] Bal of course would be nice to own it

[10:33] like would be nice to invest into a

[10:35] property but it's not that easy because

[10:37] inali is always lease hold so it kind of

[10:39] like lose value by time so it's not like

[10:41] a long-term investment in that way so

[10:44] that's one negative that in my home

[10:46] country of course I would buy a property

[10:48] it would be really good long-term

[10:49] investment so there's not really that

[10:51] kind of opportunity when you as a

[10:53] foreign or in a foreign country so

[10:55] that's one negative but of course like

[10:56] you can also make good business with

[10:58] properties opportun ities in Bali like

[11:00] you can build lot of properties and like

[11:02] have different businesses around that

[11:04] but for a simple investment as one

[11:06] person buying one house like it's not

[11:08] that nice that it would be in Western

[11:11] countries when you actually own the land

[11:13] and own the house so yeah every

[11:15] lifestyle every place have the pros and

[11:17] cons you just need to choose something

[11:19] that is like for you the pros are more

[11:21] important than the cons that's just how

[11:24] life works and for me dig nor lifestyle

[11:26] yeah it's it's been a good choice like I

[11:28] really I'm like I'm happy that I did

[11:30] this and I make all the effort to be

[11:32] able to live like this and for most

[11:33] people I would also recommend doing this

[11:35] at least for one or two years to kind of

[11:37] also see like you can't really know what

[11:39] is your favorite place to live before

[11:41] you try many like just moving to Bali or

[11:44] just moving to one place and just settle

[11:45] down there like how could you know that

[11:47] you wouldn't in actually living in

[11:49] Thailand way more so that's the positive

[11:51] of trying many places that you can

[11:52] actually find like what is the best for

[11:54] you where you feel the best where you

[11:56] meet the best people for you like most

[11:58] likeminded and then choose one place for

[12:00] long term because I would say that most

[12:03] people wouldn't want to actually live

[12:04] for the rest of their life digit nor

[12:06] lifestyle of course like most people

[12:08] want to build some kind of community and

[12:10] home and family in one place instead of

[12:12] always traveling like it can get a bit

[12:14] exhausting always changing place and

[12:16] never settling down somewhere so yeah in

[12:18] the end of the day I would always

[12:19] recommend trying to build some kind of

[12:20] business online to give you the freedom

[12:22] to choose because that's really the

[12:24] greatest feeling ever so yeah I hope to

[12:26] see you in the no man tribe like And

[12:28] subscribe and see you next week