Travel Writing
My New Journey: Learning How to Be a Travel Passionista Without Being a Digital Nomad
Have you ever had moments where you’ve changed course to start a completely new chapter in your life?
I was a digital nomad for years, traveling in 2017, 2018, and 2019 with no bounds. I was abroad more often than I was at home in the US.
I learned many things and met incredible people.
During the pandemic, when life felt too unpredictable to travel, I worked on myself. I grew as a person. I learned my likes and dislikes. I stopped needing other people’s opinions of me to define myself. I grew out of my FOMO (fear of missing out). I learned to say “no” without feeling paralyzingly guilty.
After so many years of growing but not traveling, I wondered,
Do I still want to be a digital nomad?
It turns out that the digital nomad life is no longer for me.
This summer in 2023, I went on an international adventure after three years of the pandemic. I came to visit friends and family in Europe.
With this adventure, I realized that returning to a life of constant movement for months on end is no longer for me.
I need more stability in my life.
When I was a digital nomad before the pandemic, my source of stability was my job. As long as I had money coming in, I felt stable. Now, in 2023, I know I need a place I can call home.
It’s an exciting change. For so long, I have considered myself a long-term traveler, a digital nomad. But now, I find myself in need of a home base. In need of community, of familiarity. Where I can rest. That I can count on.
Because travel has always been unpredictable during my years as a digital nomad. I’m constantly researching new bus and train routes. New Airbnbs and hotels. I regularly have to adjust the meals I cook based on whether my current accommodation has a stove or a microwave (or not). Constantly figuring out these and other aspects of traveling to build a cohesive itinerary now disrupts other areas of my life that have grown during the pandemic years, like writing. I’ve basically had a third career as my own travel planner.
Also, after working on my personal growth during the pandemic, my relationships with my friends and family got deeper as my relationship with myself grew healthier. I’ve realized I want to live somewhere my mother can fly to visit me easily.
So this is my new adventure, my new challenge.
I will learn to be a travel passionista without going 100% all-in on traveling as a digital nomad.
Because I still love to travel.
And I don’t travel to escape a boring life. Neither do I travel to show off on social media.
What I love about traveling is conversing with locals and learning about their culture through their eyes. I love walking through museums to learn about a country’s history, which shaped the country into what it is today. I love seeing architecture that takes my breath away.
Whenever I’ve chosen to do something, I’ve always tried to dedicate 100% of myself to it. That’s why I was a digital nomad — to travel 100% of the time.
My new challenge is to learn how to balance being a devoted, passionate traveler while having a home base. Who travels as much as possible to visit family and friends and to continue learning about new countries and cities. Just without being a digital nomad.
And I’ll continue to write about memorable experiences I’ve had while traveling and helpful travel tips.
I’m sad, grieving my past life of constant travel.
But I know that this is the right decision for me. I’m ready to start this new chapter. I’m excited about what the future holds.
Here’s to new beginnings, everyone!
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I’m an engineer and freelance writer. I’ve worked remotely for five years and have traveled worldwide as a digital nomad. And guess what? If you want to get in touch about writing or travel, my email is: [email protected]
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