One Year as a Full-Time Digital Nomad: The Myths vs. The Reality
What nobody tells you about leaving it all behind to travel the world
One year ago today, I handed over my keys, got rid of my apartment, and became a full-time digital nomad. No home base, no fixed address, just a suitcase, a laptop, and a plan that was loose enough to be terrifying and exciting in equal measure.
A year in, I've learned a lot. About full-time travel, about work, about myself, and about how many misconceptions people have about this lifestyle. So let's get into it. Here are the four myths I hear most often, and what the reality actually looks like.
Myth #1: Full-Time Travel Means Full-Time Vacation
This is the big one, and I understand why people think it. My social media is full of beautiful places, cool experiences, and adventures that look effortless. What it's not full of is me sitting at my laptop for eight, nine, ten hours straight, or making a late-night McDonald's run because every restaurant in the neighborhood has closed by the time I finish working.
This life is not a vacation. I have deadlines, client work, content to produce, and a business to run. I just happen to do it from different cities and time zones instead of the same desk in the same apartment or office. Yes, I get to explore incredible places in my spare time. But I also do laundry, go grocery shopping, and spend entire evenings on the couch watching TV because I don't have the mental energy to navigate a foreign language tonight. The backdrop changes. The responsibilities don't.
Myth #2: You Must Be Rich
If you knew what I was paying to live in New York City, you would get it.
Full-time travel, done intentionally, can absolutely be more affordable than a fixed life in an expensive city. I cover most of my flights with airline miles. I choose accommodations and destinations that fit within my budget. I'm not staying in five-star hotels or flying business class everywhere. I've just redirected what used to be rent, utilities, and the general cost of New York living into travel living costs instead.
And as we just established, I'm not on vacation. I'm working. The costs of my life at home have shifted to costs of travel life. The math just looks different now, and in a lot of ways, it works out in my favor.
Myth #3: You Must Be Lonely All the Time
This one is more complicated, and I won't pretend it isn't.
It can be lonely, yes. I'm not always great at keeping in touch with people back home, and missing birthdays, holidays, and the everyday moments of people I love is genuinely hard. There's a real cost to this lifestyle, and that's part of it.
But the other side of that is also true. I have friends who live in different countries, and this life means I actually get to visit them. I have other traveling friends I can meet up with in cities around the world. And I've found ways to meet people on the road, through coliving spaces, tours, and just showing up, that have led to some of the most meaningful connections I've made as an adult. Loneliness is part of the picture. It's not the whole picture.
Myth #4: It's Not "Real Life"
This one actually gets to me. Who decides what’s “real life?”
I used to have what most people would call the traditional version of life. A good corporate job, a nice apartment in New York, friends and family nearby, a clear path forward. I know what that life feels like because I lived it. And then adventure started calling loudly enough that I couldn't ignore it anymore, so I made a different choice.
This life is unconventional. It's not the path most people take. But it is my life, and it is very real to me. The experiences are real, the challenges are real, the relationships are real, the work is real. Calling it something other than real life says more about how narrowly we tend to define that phrase than it does about the validity of the people living outside of it.
Real life is the life you're actually living. This one just happens to have better views.
A year in, I have zero regrets, a lot of stamps in my passport, and a much more honest understanding of what this lifestyle actually involves. It's not for everyone, and I'd never pretend otherwise. But if it's something you've been thinking about, I hope this gives you a clearer picture of what you're actually signing up for.
Here's to year two!
