Forever Nomad by Tynan
Summary in 3 Sentences or Less
Practical tips for digital nomadism and how to do it sustainably for a long time (forever). It covers practical tips from minimalism and credit card rewards to remote work (written pre-pandemic). And emotional tips on how to build, and maintain long-lasting relationships when you travel full-time. And how to find your “why” behind travel.
Review
It's a short read and probably could've been a blog post. It was written two years before the pandemic, so it’s a bit outdated. It’s also mainly targeted at US citizens, so some of the tips—like credit card rewards or the idea that travel is cheaper than living in your home country—may not apply to non-US citizens. Nevertheless, I still found some valuable nuggets and novel ideas, especially around the mental side of long-term travel, which can be both exhausting and stressful.
Highlights
Chapter 6 Go Deep by Derek Sivers
So to get smarter, you need to get surprised, think in new ways, and deeply understand different perspectives.
Form deep friendships with locals. Ask lots of questions. Ask them to explain everything, and show you how it’s done. When they state a fact, ask how they know. When they state an opinion, ask for examples.
Chapter 18 Where to Stay
If you’re looking for an Airbnb in advance, it’s a good idea to send a message to the host and ask them for a discount. Even a simple message like,“Hi, I’m considering a few Airbnbs in the area and yours is a little more expensive than others. Would you consider a discount for these dates: _____” will get results more often than not. If you’re going for weeks or months you can sometimes get a very significant discount. Find 3-5 Airbnbs that you’re interested in, ask them all for discounts, and take the one that ends up being the best value.
Chapter 28 Troubleshooting
The point isn’t to go to more countries than your friends, to see everything, to stay away from home, or to get some imaginary Digital Nomad merit badge. It’s to expand your definition of“home”, maybe to the entire world.
But because the novelty of traveling is so powerful in the beginning, we forget that there’s no inherent point in going to any one place. We should be traveling for a reason, not traveling first and then trying to shoehorn the experience into something it’s not.
If you’re bored while you travel, ask yourself why you’re doing it. Why did you start? Are those reasons still important to you? Maybe you need to get back on mission, if so. If they’re not important, is there anything you still want out of travel? Most people who start down the nomadic path find more and more reasons to travel, but not everyone does. Maybe you’re done. Figure out why you’re traveling, work towards fulfilling that goal, and you’ll lose your boredom.
Focus on building your nomadic lifestyle and aim to have it be whatever you dream it to be in three years. Do the hard work now to make it that way. Live inexpensively, focus lots of your time on building an income, and appreciate the things you can afford now. Be glad that you can just hop to another less expensive country to cut down your expenses, as that’s a luxury a lot of people back home don’t have.
The best way to think of travel is to think of it as multiplying your freedom. Your world goes from one or two cities to, well, the whole world. So if there’s something in this world that will fulfill you, you now have access to it.
I have a friend who just loves Amazon culture and is always going off to the jungle there for extended periods of time. That culture doesn’t resonate with me, but it doesn’t matter because I can find another one. That’s the whole point of having a lot of options—to figure out the ones that click with you.