After careful consideration, Natasha Gooch and her husband sold their house in the U.K. with a plan to travel in a motor home with their three cats for a year. Four years later, they’re still seeing the world from their RV.
The pair are digital nomads – people who live in RVs or hop from Airbnb to hotels to places that offer flexible leases. They have no home base, enabling them to have a travel-heavy lifestyle.
Gooch, 37, called from Germany where she and her husband had been living since the beginning of May. She feels like for the first time, she’s finally found something that makes her happy. That fits her. She’s struggled with her mental health most of her life, and “I’ve managed it, but I feel like moving into the van and being able to travel on our own schedule and break the norm, it’s been really good.”
The digital nomad lifestyle certainly sounds appealing. Immersing yourself with local cuisine and culture by day; beautiful beach sunsets by night. Working remotely instead of being trapped in an office.
It is, of course, more complicated than that. “Working remotely” is still working and weather is never perfect every day and not everyone you meet is going to be thrilled you’re encroaching on their turf.
And what’s more, the lifestyle won’t work for everyone. While some may thrive as digital nomads, others may find their mental health disintegrate without a routine or close access to loved ones, experts say.
“If you’re someone who needs a space to call home to feel grounded, or needs physical proximity to the people you love, making the choice to live as a digital nomad might not be right for you,” says Regine Galanti, a clinical psychologist.
‘Sometimes we need to leave’
Mona Eshaiker, licensed marriage and family therapist, says mental health benefits for nomads include perspective change, stepping out of one’s comfort zone and developing new friendships.
“Sometimes we need to leave our current environment in order to gain perspective,” Eshaiker says. “Additionally, travel is usually associated with developing a global mindset and can expand one’s cultural humility and awareness.”
Galanti adds, “This lifestyle could work very well for someone who already works and lives relatively independently, who mindfully maintains their connections to the people they care about, despite physical distance and who knows they like to travel.”
When Aline Dahmen heard about the term digital nomad about seven or eight years ago, she quit her marketing apprenticeship in her home country of Germany and set off on a nomadic lifestyle.
“I noticed that I’m just not 100% aligned with people I used to surround myself with,” Dahmen, 29, says. “I always was a bit of a different.”
She started out as a virtual assistant and now hosts retreats for entrepreneurs and runs the Nomad Soulmates community online, a space for single nomads and remote workers to meet.
“If I would have stayed at home in a 9 to 5 job, I think that would have made me actually very, very unhappy,” Dahmen, who has since settled in Bali, says.
Be ‘mindful about the realities’
Most people didn’t think Gooch and her husband would last this long on the road. But when three people in their lives died in the span of four months, they knew they wanted to go all-in on travel and not wait until retirement.
Be cautious about big decisions after life-altering events, Galanti warns. “Making the decision to become a digital nomad on the heels of a big life change, like a breakup or health issue, might seem like a great way to reset your life and see the world, but consider what you actually need to cope.”
For some, these decisions are easier than others. Justin and Courtney Orgias (and their two young children, Xavier and Whitley) are new digital nomads who opted to leave Georgia behind last year given the sociopolitical climate in the U.S. among other factors. They sold their home “and the vast majority of the things in it and (booked) a one-way ticket out of the country,” says Courtney Orgias, who does onboarding and implementation for a tech company. Her husband Justin works in tech sales.
They’ve since been to countries like Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, staying in Airbnbs and condo-style hotels. Xavier is turning 4 soon, and they aren’t so keen on having him attend school in the U.S. given gun violence. “I feel like my children are safer when they’re not in the U.S.,” Courtney Orgias, 30, says. “My children’s safety and wellbeing and happiness, and their capacity to thrive is a top priority for me.”
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The mental health pitfalls for digital nomads
Watch out for loneliness when you embark on a digital nomad lifestyle. “Even if you meet new friends, sometimes we crave the comfort of an old friend or someone who you feel completely free to share your authentic self with,” Eshaiker says.
Galanti adds, “You might choose to travel for the mood boost, but find that spending 40 hours a week alone with your laptop in a foreign city is even more isolating.”
Also be careful you’re not running away from something, but toward something else. Still, “plucking yourself out of your environment and traveling can be a wonderful opportunity to spend time with yourself, gain perspective, get the chance to think deeply and make informed decisions on next steps,” Eshaiker adds.
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