Digital Nomad Lifestyle Concept - Between Myth and Reality

Guess I have to thank Upwork for this lovely term. They had a series of blogs or something like that with this catchy words combination popping up. Yet, what does it mean for real? It sounded to me like some new fancy term you want to use in order to avoid the stigmatizing and notorious term freelancer. Either way, it's better to say that you're a digital nomad than a freelancer, isn't it? The first thing to cross your mind when you hear a word freelancer is cheap. On the other hand, when you say a digital nomad, it does sound some kind of noble and even prestigious, although it eventually comes down to the same. Yet, I have no intention to discuss semantics between terms digital nomad and freelancer.

You put a laptop in your backpack and you hit the road. You work where you are. You get paid where you are. You can work in a jungle as long as you get the decent Internet signal there. So, it's a dream come true for every true independent spirit? If it wasn't for the two things to spoil the nomad party, at least for me. The first one is this boss thing. You're either your own boss or you don't have one boss. Both are true. It's also true that instead of one, you're very likely to end up having dozens, if not hundreds of bosses, more than one giving you orders at the same time. My wife likes to say, why do you keep complaining when thanks to this lifestyle you can just hit the button if you don't like a guy or project and you're free again. True. Nothing to add.

The second thing is my favorite - the time. You don't lose a track of time, you just don't think of it in the terms of regular business. There are no working hours. Yet, there are also no working hour limits. When the letters start dancing on my screen, then I know it's time to call it a day. This is the moment for my wife jumps in again with the most appropriate moment of Zen for this problem. Can you please stop complaining because we're on this lovely beach and some people envy you for this being able to work in the "office," such as this? A laptop is on my lap, my wife is giving me advice while dancing in the water, and it's like a thousand degrees while I write. Yet, I shouldn't be ungrateful. Those were some of the best rest breaks at work I could possibly imagine.

Sometimes I think that this should have been my lifestyle from the day one I got my degree. I wouldn't have to go through all of that corporate paradise with all ups and downs. This could've been such a smooth ride, but it isn't. I remember that one warrior wrote something like, I couldn't do this work, if it hadn't been for 10 or 15 years of my previous full-time work experience. True. I was in sales for more than a decade. What's that got to do with writing? I have gained some invaluable experience I could use for my book. Or, I know how to sell. This time it's me and my writing. That's one of the legitimate ways of looking at things, but it doesn't mean it's the best one.

Not sure if I'm right but 10 and especially 15 years ago the digital space was reserved for developers. Were there writers back then? I mean, freelancing is an old concept, maybe even older than the Internet itself as we know it today. I would like to know if it was possible to be a freelance writer 15 years ago. You couldn't definitely be a digital nomad because you need some decent technology related conditions for such a lifestyle. On the other hand, you can be a freelance writer no computer. For example, you can write for some newspaper from your home and use regular mail system for submitting your work. I'm just saying.

So, I'm free to say that a digital nomad lifestyle isn't just a myth. Yet, it's definitely not a fairy tale. It is what you say it is for you. For me, that was something like a temporary solution until I find something better and more serious. This last word sounds a little bit awkward, doesn't it? What's serious today? So, this temporary phase has been lasting for the last five years now. I already have a perfect excuse for the next stage. I'm too old for a change in my life. Also, I like that saying, writers don't retire. So, it's not all that bad this digital nomad stuff as long as you allow me to call myself a digital nomad rather than a freelancer, of course.