Resolving the Emotional Conundrum of Being a Digital Nomad

Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

1211

Abstract

ket for India, which I’m excited about for other reasons. I’m excited to return after a 3-year hiatus. I’m excited to be back in the town that I had to abruptly leave at the height of the pandemic. I’m excited to be with other spiritual seekers.</p><p id="745d"><b>This is what it means to be human— to hold seemingly contradictory feelings.</b> To feel sad for the fleeting nature of what is and to feel excited for what is to come. To want to hold onto something, a place, people that have been a part of my life for the last month <i>and</i> to recognize that I need to let go to make space for the next place I visit and everything that comes with new territory.</p><p id="6dad">I know that I can always come back to Da Nang. At the same time, I recognize that it will never be the same for I will be a different person when I return. The place will be different (especially with its hyper-development) and the people I once knew here (many travelers and nomads) will be scattered around the world.</p><p id="cb61">So yes, I can come back, but I would be coming back to something different and this knowing makes me want to hold onto <i>this</i>, whatever this is, even more. But, like sand, the more you gr

Options

asp at it, the harder it is to retain.</p><p id="bec9">Like sand, if you just let it rest in your palms, it will fall into place and it can just be. And so maybe the answer is to just be and recognize that even as things are changing moment to moment, if I can be fully present to it all, the more likely I will be able to carry these moments with me as memories etched into the crevices of my mind.</p><p id="49c5">Thanks for reading! If you liked this article, you might like the one below too:</p><div id="1f42" class="link-block"> <a href="https://betterhumans.pub/4-ways-a-decade-of-solo-traveling-has-shaped-my-life-for-the-better-d0349deb5bf8"> <div> <div> <h2>4 Ways a Decade of Solo Traveling Has Shaped My Life for the Better</h2> <div><h3>4 ways I’ve learned and grown as a solo traveler in the last 10 years</h3></div> <div><p>betterhumans.pub</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*z_XOo6kO3GAJC_nVdf8hnQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Resolving the Emotional Conundrum of Being a Digital Nomad

Da Nang, Vietnam at golden hour (Photo courtesy of author)

In less than 48 hours, I’ll leave Da Nang, Vietnam for Rishikesh, India. Had I left Da Nang a week ago, I think I would’ve been okay — I would’ve left with fewer attachments. What a difference a week can make.

Earlier this week, as I entered my fourth week in Da Nang, something shifted — things started clicking for me here. New friends I made during my time here started asking to hang out again. I discovered new venues for live music, something I love and something that makes me feel incredibly present. So, as I’m getting ready to leave Vietnam, I feel the attachments forming and there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to leave. There’s a part of me that just wants to stay — to go to the beach when I please, to listen to live music in the evenings and to deepen my relationships with newfound friends.

But, as life would have it, I, instead, have a one-way ticket for India, which I’m excited about for other reasons. I’m excited to return after a 3-year hiatus. I’m excited to be back in the town that I had to abruptly leave at the height of the pandemic. I’m excited to be with other spiritual seekers.

This is what it means to be human— to hold seemingly contradictory feelings. To feel sad for the fleeting nature of what is and to feel excited for what is to come. To want to hold onto something, a place, people that have been a part of my life for the last month and to recognize that I need to let go to make space for the next place I visit and everything that comes with new territory.

I know that I can always come back to Da Nang. At the same time, I recognize that it will never be the same for I will be a different person when I return. The place will be different (especially with its hyper-development) and the people I once knew here (many travelers and nomads) will be scattered around the world.

So yes, I can come back, but I would be coming back to something different and this knowing makes me want to hold onto this, whatever this is, even more. But, like sand, the more you grasp at it, the harder it is to retain.

Like sand, if you just let it rest in your palms, it will fall into place and it can just be. And so maybe the answer is to just be and recognize that even as things are changing moment to moment, if I can be fully present to it all, the more likely I will be able to carry these moments with me as memories etched into the crevices of my mind.

Thanks for reading! If you liked this article, you might like the one below too: