Some might be familiar with the term “digital nomad“, “vagabond“, “tech nomad“, or simply “web worker”. And then of course there is Tim Ferriss, who made the concept of “mini-retirements” popular in his book The 4 Hour Workweek. Whatever you call it, there have been a few smart people living this way for quite a while. Steven Roberts, for example, has been working remotely via bicycle, kayak, and ship since 1983! Check out his beautiful new sailboat HQ, the Nomadness.
Location independence is a form of lifestyle design, consciously building a business that one can operate from anywhere in the world to support you in your ideal lifestyle—whatever that means for you. Although the popularity of this lifestyle is seeing some big growth right now, it’s definitely not a mainstream concept. So I wanted to start off our journey with a video introducing myself and my experience with living nomadically, and talking about why you should care about location independent living.
Since taking my business on the road in November 2008, I’ve traveled to Hong Kong, throughout Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
What were my motivations for building a location-independent income stream? And what might motivate others to pursue a location-independent lifestyle?:
To see the world, of course! (2:40): Obviously, a lot of people simply like the ability to travel freely, experience foreign cultures, and expand their worldview. Many people dream of “saving up enough money,” but slow travel is actually much cheaper than you might think. So why follow the deferred life plan and wait until retirement?
Geo-arbitrage (3:05): For any serious business owner or freelancer who’s bootstrapping his own venture, extended travel and living overseas presents some advantages if you can leverage the economics of geoarbitrage: cultivating the ability to earn in strong currencies while you live somewhere where the cost-of-living is low.
Freedom of location, time, choice (4:30): For many “LIPs”, a big motivating factor is the freedom to choose where you live—some dream destination, permanently traveling, or even simply a remote community where you grew up. Additionally, if the exchange rate is in your favor, it is possible to be more picky about what projects you take on and free up more personal time to spend on non-work activities or projects that don’t earn you income (I work with my friend Dwight on charity fundraising for causes throughout Thailand and Southeast Asia, for example).
Personal growth (6:15): Becoming an expat—living abroad for an extended period of time—will change your paradigm. Being in a new environment will spark your creativity, and getting outside your comfort zone will expand your resourcefulness and self-reliance.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos of my travels, and future thoughts and insights on working and traveling anywhere.
Feature photo credit: Stuck in Customs
You rock and your story motivates and inspires me. Let me know if you want to be a guest blogger on the bold life in the future.
Great explanation of the l.i. lifestyle. I think it might be interesting for people who are new to the concept (like me) to learn more about how living abroad expands your comfort zone. I believe that expanding your comfort zone is a great way of personal development.
One suggestion: next time please turn up the volume a little bit (or is my music that loud?
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Great and inspirational video, thank you!
I’m bookmarking this to watch later, sounds like my cup of tea.
Thanks for the encouraging words everyone!
@Tess, would love to guest post sometime!
@Jesse, good question/idea! I’ll try to touch on comfort zones in an upcoming post. You might tune in for my call this Thursday with Cath Duncan where we’ll talk more about overcoming fear. But stay tuned to Viralogy Experts and ThrillingHeroics.com for future videos!
Love what you’re doing. A bit impractical for me, being 50+, married, with a daughter in college. But I would love to learn the concepts of independence and apply it to my situation in a way that works for the family. I know it can be done. Any thoughts?