JB & ANH ON ... LEAVING THE SEDENTARY LIFE BEHIND Q: WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF TRAVELING AS A COUPLE? A: I don’t feel there are any particular challenges. It’s powerfully revealing to travel together. In our sedentary life before, we separated every morning to go to work before seeing each other again in the evening. The longest “nonstop” periods we spent together were 2 or 3 weeks for vacation. In our way of life now we live together uninterrupted. That goes well, or it doesn’t. We’ve been traveling for 2 years, and it’s still working for us! Q: WHAT’S THE BEST CITY TO BEGIN YOUR NOMAD ADVENTURE IN? A: To start as a digital nomad you do not necessarily have to travel outside your home country. Why not start in a new region of the country you’re currently living in? You can try out this new way of life without encountering any cultural or language problems. Personally, in terms of European cities, we really enjoyed Central Europe. Budapest in Hungary, Prague in the Czech Republic or Krakow in Poland are magnificent cities that are perfectly adapted to digital nomads. Q: WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES DIGITAL NOMADS CAN EXPECT TO ENCOUNTER? A: A digital nomad life has two aspects. There’s the “nomadic” aspect that doesn’t work for everyone. Maybe being a permanent traveler isn’t your dream. Travel for a long time before you launch your new life to test this. If you’re eager to return home after 3 weeks of summer vacation, this lifestyle may not suit you. The “digital” aspect, or the idea that you can earn an income working anywhere, can be difficult for some occupations. For others, there are many possibilities. You can even remain with your current employer. We are fortunate to work in an industry that lends itself well to teleworking, but this isn’t the case for everyone. Q: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MINIMUM INCOME YOU NEED TO START OUT AS A DIGITAL NOMAD? A: In the year we began being digital nomads, we lived in countries with radically different cost of living. From Siem Reap in Cambodia where we stayed in a 3-star hotel for €600 a month to Osaka, Japan, where we had a tiny apartment for €1700 a month. “We’re still spending less than when we had our sedentary life in Paris, which is one of the most expensive cities in the world.” An advantage of our lifestyle is that you can decide where you want to live based on your income and how that evolves. We can now live comfortably as two people for €1000 in Vietnam. That would be impossible in Singapore. 17 ● JB & Anh ● From France/Vietnam ● www.tourdumonde5continents.com ● Marketers (SEO and SEA) ● On the road since 2016 ● Currently in Portugal ✈ ✈ ✈ EXPERT TRAVEL TIP “Traveling in Europe is easy for Europeans because it requires very little preparation. Then, once you’ve gotten some travel experience, it doesn’t matter where you settle next. Today we can just as easily move to Tokyo for a month as Turin .” ✈ ✈ ✈ EMBRACING MINIMALISM “Being a nomad means a more minimalist life with less comfort as a result. I used to work with two large screens. Today I only use a 13-inch laptop. We’ve also considerably reduced our social life by seeing much less of our friends and families.”
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