Last week marked Marie’s 1-year anniversary as a digital nomad! She celebrates this milestone with sharing some reflections on social media:

“Last week marked my 1-year anniversary as a digital nomad!
One year ago, I quit my rental apartment, packed by belongings into a storage and set out with my necessities to explore countries, myself and give my career a boost.

Looking back, it’s been a very interesting time, with plenty of possibilities and a few disadvantages.

A couple of reflections – here’s what I learnt:

The pro’s:
🌞Without social obligations, my career has soared as I’ve been able to say yes to more things.
🌞 Always being able move to a different country literally tomorrow is freedom and empowerment
🌞 It’s been a great adventure to explore new locations and cultures and meeting new friends
🌞 I’ve actually got to spend more time with old friends as I see them on my travels or when they visit me in my new location
🌞 My business has been stronger as I’ve been able to ‘camp out’ at clients for a week at a time and provide more value than I would have had remotely

The neutrals:
☁ I’ve been able to find cheap, furnished rents, which has completely offset the cost of my storage
☁ I haven’t really moved around as much as I planned. I’ve traveled so much already that I have just been quite happy the times I’ve been home and could focus on other life things. In addition, I’ve had (and still have) so much to explore locally

The con’s:
🌧 I miss some of my stuff, but honestly I got used to not having 95% of it very quick
🌧 I did end-up rebuying a couple of things I already have in storage for comfort
🌧 It’s hard to have the same deep social connections when I travel a lot – my new friendships do not run as deep as they usually would.
🌧 I need to take extra care to ensure physical activity happens no matter where I am without the same ability to just build and follow a routine

All in all, I think the lifestyle fits me as a person, who is always eager to explore, focus on my career and test my boundaries. I don’t think it’s for forever, though – at some point I will want the luxury of living in my own home again with all my stuff. For now, however, I’m just going to keep on living and thriving 😎”