Why I Became a Digital Nomad

The journey to becoming location independent.

Right now, I’m sitting in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Watching Haligonians go about their Sunday morning routines through the windows of a coffee shop on Spring Garden Road. It’s unexpectedly sunny and many are grabbing coffee with friends, out for a run, carrying bags of groceries from Pete’s, or on their way to work. All things part of a normal Sunday morning in Halifax.

For me, it feels different. I’m sitting 5,900km from where I last lived. It’s the day after I finished exploring over 1,300km of the Nova Scotia coastline, and a month after I was doing a similar drive along the Florida Keys. Two months ago I was living in Vancouver complaining about the price of pineapples at Urban Fare, and four months before that I was in the Andes Mountains in Chile petting Llamas.

At the same time, my routine this past month hasn’t been that much different than the locals. I’m not here for a day, or a week, and this isn’t a vacation. I live here. I’ve grabbed coffee with friends, been out for a run, carried overpriced bags of groceries from Pete’s, and walked to work near the boardwalk. I stay in on stormy days and go explore on sunny days. I live the same life as I would in any other city.

But next month I’m going to live in Montreal. Grab croissants from my favorite boulangerie, reconnect with friends, have nightly walks through the streets in Old Montreal, and do the things I do when I live in Montreal. I might go to a few restaurants I’ve been meaning to try, or plan a day trip out to Quebec City again for some photography.

To me, it matters more about how you live, than where you live. Being able to connect with friends across the world, experience new cultures, and hike varying landscapes I feel adds more to my life than becoming stale of a single location. I can always come back, and I always have the option to stay if I find a place I like.

So far, it’s been 5 years since I’ve lived somewhere I could permanently call home. A place where I wouldn't be forced to leave and could acquire furniture and ‘things’ like normal people do. But it never stayed that way. It wasn’t something that happened overnight, and it wasn’t necessarily something I was seeking. It just happened that way.

So here I am, living in one place of many I can call home.

My journey to becoming a Digital Nomad wasn’t straightforward. It was a sloppy mix of timing, mindset, and opportunity. But there are clear components that made it happen.

Desire to See The World.

I grew up on the West Coast of Vancouver Island in a coastal city overlooking the mainland. It was geographically isolated, yet staring nightly at the glowing lights of Vancouver across the Strait of Georgia. The rest of the world felt like it was right there—just a 2 hour BC Ferries ride or discounted Harbour Air ticket away. But that rarely seemed to happen.

In highschool, a substitute teacher once gave a 20 minute lecture (rant?). He bluntly stated that “You’ll either grow up and die here, or leave and never come back” when talking about the city.

The lesson was clear: make sure you leave the shire.

Growing up being geographically isolated also meant being culturally and economically isolated. Island Time became real, and I always joke the news cycle can be boiled down to “Local boy loses balloon” – easily losing focus on anything beyond the natural water borders.

I stayed for 22 long years until I was done University, then swiftly left in search of work. For the majority of the years after I made several moves following wherever work took me.

Have Less Things.

After moving a few times between and around cities I quickly learned that it’s expensive to move and furnish new places. IKEA is great but it can only get you so far. It was also abundantly clear that it’s easy to collect a lot of crap that you either don’t use, or don’t need. Seriously, where does all the stuff come from?!

One of the mindsets I aligned with even before I became location independent was learning to live with less and accepting minimalism. At first it was just about space, then cost, and then being more environmentally friendly. I eventually found a few documentaries and communities that helped expand my knowledge and rationalization of what I own.

I’ve now come to realize that things are a burden. The more you have, the more places you need to put them and the more clutter they create both mentally and physically. We can easily become attached to things, but we also over-value items when we have them versus when we don’t. That makes us reluctant to let them go, even though we would forget about them in a week if we lost them.

Being in Marketing, consumerism had also always been front and center to me. The creation of false-urgency to buy the next thing that’s supposed to make us happy. Minimalism adds balance by making us question the underlying reasons of why we purchase. It helps both recognize and avoid the marketing tactics that attempt to prey on us.

For me, minimalism can increase happiness, decrease cost, and help be more environmentally friendly. When I think about minimalism, I think about three things:

Keep Less. Be happy living with less. Things only weigh us down in the long run. They require space to keep them, time to think about them, and cost to replace or upgrade them. Reduce, sell, and consolidate where you can.

Keep What You Use. Only keep what you use. Things have a lifespan, and if they’re not being used they’re being wasted. If you’re not using them and other people can, they should be sold so someone else can enjoy them while reducing environmental waste. This can also help recover costs.

Keep What Brings You Joy. Consider keeping things that often bring you joy. Items that have the purpose of making you happy should be kept. But weigh the value it brings you versus how often it does that, and the space and cost to keep it.

It took years of adopting minimalism to get where I am today. But it’s the reason I can fit everything I need into a carry-on suitcase for months of travel at a time. It’s helped me consolidate, limit, and optimize my travel loadout without limiting what I can do or wear.

You can check out my post on how to Travel Smarter by Optimizing What You Pack.

It Was the Right Timing.

Sometimes timing really is everything. Becoming location independent doesn’t necessarily mean selling everything you own today and taking on the world tomorrow. For me, that was never the intention. Instead, it was a series of moves for work and the global pandemic that created the opportunity to become a Digital Nomad.

It started with first being forced to be semi-nomadic. Meaning I moved with the knowledge I’d have to move back in a short-period of time.

Semi-Nomadic in 2018

In April of 2018 I moved from Vancouver to San Francisco for work under a temporary TN1 Visa. As part of the requirements, I was not allowed to seek permanent residency in the USA and would be required to move back to Canada. The opportunity to work in Silicon Valley even temporarily was worth it for work, but it meant that whatever I took with me and acquired would be coming back to Canada.

In preparation for the move, I went through the greatest culling of everything I owned. I sold, gave away, or recycled over 90% of what I had. What was left was either coming with me in my Mazda 6, or being put in storage until I got back. My Facebook marketplace listing was on fire, with all furniture, cookware, electronics, and BBQ going out the door in a matter of weeks.

Semi-Nomadic in 2021

The pandemic hit. I was living in another country, faced with heightened political tensions, questionable healthcare system, changing immigration laws, expiring visa, and closing borders. I made the call to move back to Canada before July 2020. It was meant to only be temporary before moving back to San Francisco. This meant I couldn't situate myself in Canada permanently and ended up finding a furnished suite in Victoria for much of 2021.

After moving back, the world had changed and remote work became more accepted. I switched jobs, never moved back to San Francisco but also had nowhere specific to be.

At that moment is when I decided to become a Digital Nomad. I had already sold most of what I owned, could work from anywhere, had nowhere specific to be, and British Columbia had a looming housing crisis. I just thought “Right now of probably any other point in my life I have the most freedom.” and decided to give it a try and not pass up the opportunity.

I Like Planning Trips.

Being a nomad isn’t necessarily hard, but it does require planning with the ability to adapt. Plans can change as fast as pricing for airlines or accommodations.

Over the years I’ve encountered two ways of being a nomad. EIther you move up to a few times a month, or you stay somewhere for more than a month.

I Prefer to Live Somewhere, Not Visit.

I typically aim to live somewhere between 1 to 3 months. This allows me to have a proper routine and become a local. It also means avoiding tourism taxes while being able to rent a fully furnished place at local rates. Full kitchen, in suite laundry and everything else I’d normally have at home. Given the cost of housing in Vancouver, more often than not it’s cheaper than if I had stayed in British Columbia.

Having The Right Gear Makes All The Difference

The right items can make all the difference. I wouldn’t say I have a lot of things, but I feel I have the right things. I’ve spent a lot of time researching and optimizing my loadout over the years. It’s the reason everything fits in a 40L Away Carry On and an 8.5L AER Backpack. Infinite travel with less space than a typical hiking backpack without compromising on anything I’d actually need.

I still have a full work setup with a height adjustable stand, keyboard and mouse. But I also have workout clothes and shoes, gear for hiking, a portable espresso machine, and a small camera and drone for photography which brings me joy. I can’t think of anything I’m missing in my life.

Avoid Uncertainty, Reduce Anxiety

Not knowing where you’re going to be living can be stressful. The easiest way to offset this is to plan well in advance. This also often means cheaper rates on rent and flights. Many of the places I’ve rented also allow you to extend as much as you’d like with 30 days notice. You could just stay in the same spot and not move if you really like it. I did that with Halifax when I discovered how beautiful Nova Scotia is!

It Let’s Me Sample New Places to Live.

The great thing about being location independent is that it doesn’t need to be forever. It gives the opportunity to sample and try living in new places to find the one you really love. You can then either settle there, or make it a home-base and still travel for 6+ months of the year. Right now Vancouver is my home-base until I find a better one.

Being somewhat forced into this lifestyle, stopping can also be somewhat daunting. It would mean finding, renting, and furnishing an entire place. For me, this keeps me traveling to find the one place I really want to stay and a reason to stay there.

Vancouver is beautiful, but I don’t know if it’s my long-term home. It’s expensive and I feel as though I’ve done everything in the city. It’s become somewhat stale and lacking the excitement I get when visiting places like Montreal or Halifax that have a much more rich culture and history.

It’s a Freeing Experience.

Being a Digital Nomad isn’t for everyone, but given the right opportunity and planning it can be extremely freeing. I’ve never felt so independent to move where and when I want. To experience new cultures, meet new people, and see new places. It gives me a lot more appreciation for our little world.

At the same time, it can be challenging from needing to adapt travel plans on the fly, planning an intricate working of bookings, and starting each location with no connections. but these challenges can also be easily made into opportunities to improve upon.

For me, all I know is that this is right for now. I still have a lot more of the world to see.