Many nomads I’ve talked to have one major sticking point that keeps them from either moving back home or settling in a new country.
For me, it was Mexico City’s air quality and altitude that turned me away, despite the city’s appeal.
I also knew someone in Poland who wanted to put down roots, but the thought of not fitting in was a barrier too big to ignore. She moved on, found a partner, and settled elsewhere.
So, what’s your story? Is it a single hurdle or a combo deal that keeps you from calling a place home?
- Dating as a nomad is hard. You meet wholesome humans but everyone is more or less transient. Even if dating a nomad, chances are you’ll want to travel differently. Dating is not a priority for most people in this lifestyle. It’s difficult to date someone from another culture because if you don’t feel understood or you can’t relate, you can’t really bond. If I’m still single in 2-3 years, I’ll consider settling down in a large city to give myself the chance to find a life partner.
- In some locations, internet / electricity / data is unstable and it creates major, major stress if you have big projects coming up or important call. Recently, I interviewed for a role and there was a power outage for 5 hours where I was nomading (latin america). I drove 2 hours to another town, booked a phone booth in a coworking space and barely made it to the meeting. I didn’t get the job and I blame my poor interview performance to being so stressed.
- Missing my family, my culture, my friends back home. I met great people but I don’t feel like they’ll be around forever as they are nomading too. I have friends all over the world now so we need to travel to see each other. However, at home, I have a “sure-thing” community. It feels warm to have that, I don’t take it for granted and want to go back to nurture my people
- The logistics of traveling take up a lot of headspace. If I weren’t moving this much, I’d have free time to take up new hobbies, learn more skillsets, increase my knowledge and maybe even start a business.
- Traveling and adjusting to new places regularly doesn’t allow for routines. It’s really hard to figure out how / what to cook, where to shop and do laundry, where to work from and hang out, which gym has the best equipment
- It’s sooooo expensive to travel. I save up while in some countries because cost of living is low but I can imagine that depending where you earn from (US vs. Europe vs. a country with low wages), it can be a different experience. If you’re making +100K a year working in tech for a US-company, you’ll probably save while abroad. If you’re from Indonesia making 10-15K a year, your entire income will go on flights and temporary accomodation. That’s not sustainable if you want to grow your networth and find financial safety
- Networking is hard as a nomad. As your career evolves, you need to be in the right rooms physically. There are even roles that are challenging to do remotely. For example, if you want to climb the corporate ladder and become an executive, you’ll probably need to be in the office. Unless you’re in tech, many roles require in-person representation.
- Don’t have kids but can imagine if I had them, they’d probably want to stick around their friends. I know some children adjust well when they are little. I met a few nomadic families that loved to travel and others that settled down once their kids (teenagers) expressed they didn’t want to leave their friends.