Ask any travel enthusiast in a traditional employment situation if they would embrace a nomadic, laptop lifestyle if given the opportunity, and it's a safe bet a good number of them will say yes. The freedom to explore the world at your own pace with few restrictions is a powerful siren's song. Whether you leverage your mobility for full-time travel or go for a more hybrid approach to incorporate additional local activities into your daily life, coordinating your career via your laptop has its perks and quirks.
Connectivity: Compared to daily life in a cubicle or a business that requires you to stay rooted to the same spot every day, using worldwide internet access to earn a living can seem like a dream come true. The flexibility to experience a destination at your own pace, solve career and client problems without having to fly home and share your vacation memories in real time with friends and family via social media offers a chance to achieve the work-life balance considered by many to be a lifestyle gold standard.
The challenges? Always needing to be connected and available for clients, product promotions and project deadlines can take its toll even under normal circumstances. Living your life behind a camera lens for social media purposes can also be exhausting. While all of the trade-offs for this lifestyle may feel like they are worth it in the beginning or overall, there may come a time when you feel differently.
However, doing the internal and logistical work as well as the financial preparation to carve out a life of full-time adventure is no small task. Rather than jump immediately back into the lifestyle you worked so hard to leave, consider taking the time to sort out a solution that allows you to continue to live your dream while meeting your newly developed set of nesting needs.
Time: Increased personal time is one of the most powerful rewards for completing the long-term task of extricating yourself from the suburban commuter grind. No longer needing to schedule a rushed two-week getaway, or stress about delayed flight connections and how your boss is going to react to an extra two days of missed work when those snags inevitably occur is indeed a career prize worth coveting. For many people, the ability to take an entire month to explore a country or five months to see an entire region of the world is a dream that can seem nearly unachievable prior to the standard retirement age. Actually achieving the goal ahead of schedule is praiseworthy indeed.
The quirk? Realizing the limitless life possibilities that come with having increased control over your schedule is addictive. Over time, you realize just how long it can take to properly delve into a destination at a deeper and more meaningful level. Once that happens, the 90-day ticking visa clock in many host countries can start to feel a bit restrictive. Longer-term adventures that may need to occur off grid can be more difficult to coordinate if you need to be constantly connected to clients who are located in your home of record. There are strategies for working around these issues, but they take time and a financial commitment as well. While the life experiences you'll have access to can certainly be worth the extra effort, it pays to know in advance just what you'll need to do in order to bring them to fruition.
Friendship: For those who tend to prefer deep travel and connecting with locals via private vacation rentals, the opportunity to create new friendships around the world is absolutely priceless. You'll meet people from every sort of background, with every type of interest you can think of and a few you can't. Some of my favorite memories include singing Bob Dylan tunes in the Kuwaiti desert with a Syrian construction contractor named George, having dinner with a local Cambodian family in Battambang, and barbecuing fresh tuna at a beach party on Guam with a group of Croatian fishermen. Most recently, I spent my last night in England enjoying an invite from a local couple who took me to a fundraising concert to restore a vintage organ at their 950-year-old church.
The downside? Support systems that people with ties have access to due to years of living in the same place are no longer part of your reality. There's no calling a friend for a quick solution to a problem that arises as you enter the country. You need to develop all of your support contacts from scratch. Ditto with your automatic solutions to everyday problems. Your favorite mechanic, hair stylist, doctor and health food store are no longer just a short drive away. They aren't even in the same time zone, and the chances of getting your hair cut in a language you speak can be slim to none.
Bottom line? After a couple of years of full-time adventure you may find yourself seeking a way to achieve that sense of feeling grounded again, while at the same time maintaining the mobility and fast-pivoting responsiveness that lets you take advantage of last-minute opportunities or get out of Dodge quickly when an emergency presents itself. For me, some sort of basic command center and modest home base in a location where I can be productive and regroup is starting to look like it needs to be part of my personal equation.
Also, while I have diversified online income sources as much as possible, the addition of revenue streams which that offline sources of cash flow is becoming a priority. The types of travel experiences I am ready to have require me to spend less time being tethered to my computer, which means I will need to step away from constant connectivity and toward longer periods of time where I am without access to communication.
However you want to design your laptop lifestyle, be prepared for the end result to require the occasional tweak or modification to meet your changing needs. New opportunities typically come with the need for new personal boundaries, and it's important to establish ones that work for you.
