Travel couples start your digital nomad journey right: begin with peace of mind

by admin | Jun 1, 2022 | Anat and Orr

Travel couples start your digital nomad journey right: begin with peace of mind

Starting a digital nomad journey can be a scary step to take. Even more so when you decide to take that leap of faith with your partner and are unsure how this might turn out:

Will both of you like this lifestyle? Could you deal with being together 24/7? What will happen if only one of you is miserable? Could you support yourselves working from afar while still living the lives of your dreams?

Instead of being excited for a new chapter in your lives, you find yourselves worried and stressed from endless worst-case scenarios. In this article, we suggest tools you can use to address the fears you might have before starting your digital nomad journey as a travel couple.

Double the trouble: Why you might be more concerned to start a digital nomad journey as a couple.

Becoming a digital nomad is a decision that changes your life. It means leaving the safety net of what is safe and known and creating a new life away from your friends and family. Understandably, worries and fears will accompany a change like this. 

If you’re starting your digital nomad journey as a couple, some of your fears may be connected to the fact that you are traveling with another person. Fears like how your relationship will look like in your new lifestyle or how you will support two people financially when one or both partners are transitioning jobs. 

Addressing those concerns and questions can reassure you about starting your digital nomad journey. 

The problem is that communicating all of these is not as easy as you might think. 

Orr and I had quite a few conversations before starting our digital nomad journey where we tried to share our concerns, but it felt like the other person didn’t understand them. We left each of those conversations feeling even more uncertain and worried about this new lifestyle. 

In hindsight, we can say those conversations didn’t work because each of us had some assumptions we didn’t think to share, thus making the other worried after seeing only one piece of the puzzle. 

I told Orr I was unsure how my workday would look and how filled it would be starting an online business, and instead of getting some console, it only made his financial worries worse. He told me about his financial concerns, and I told him we would be fine without sharing my thoughts on how we could make it work.

After a few failed attempts to get our message across, we tried a different more methodical tactic: We shared our reasons for becoming digital nomads, what we would like to accomplish during this period, what we are afraid of, and we created a safety net to feel more secure starting this journey. 

After that conversation, all our concerns became excitement about starting our digital nomad journey! If you would like to do the same with your partner, here is how we did it.

Step 1: Why do you want to go on this journey?

This is something you probably already discussed, but it can be very useful to get it more precise and share it with your partner. What is the core reason you want to become a digital nomad? Are you longing for the freedom to do whatever you want at your own pace? Do you look forward to leaving the 9 to 5 grind and having some serenity? Are you excited by the security of saving more money while working less hours? 

No matter the reason, remembering why you are starting this journey can help you understand your priorities and concerns as a couple. For example, if you are searching for freedom, you might prioritize having more free time and working fewer hours. But if your partner needs to have security to enjoy the digital nomad lifestyle, you’ll need to create a way to make them feel secure even if you’ll be working fewer hours.

The practical solution to this hypothetical situation can be many things. You can follow your income and expenses to make sure you are saving money, or you might choose to travel to cheap destinations until your income increases. Or both. Or none of these. 

As long as you are both aware of the reasons you’re starting this journey, you can make

adjustments to your plans to ensure you will have all your core needs met. It is important to mention that even if you talked about your reasons for becoming digital nomads, you might have different interpretations of what they mean. Because of that, we suggest taking the next step.

Step 2: What would you like to accomplish?

What do you imagine yourself doing while being a digital nomad? What are the things you would like to do during this time? Think about those questions and share your answers with your partner. Besides the added value of getting you both excited for things you will do when you start your couple’s nomad journey, sharing the things you would like to accomplish can eliminate some concerns about the change you’re embarking on that were connected to your partner.

When Orr and I got to this part, I shared my wish to make my yoga online business a stable income. Hearing that, Orr became much less worried about financial problems because he understood that I would give the yoga business my all and not laze off for half a day. He then became much more able to provide me with the console on how to make my dream come true and imagine what a workday can look like to me.

Step 3: What are you afraid of?

One of the most important parts to discuss before starting your couple’s digital nomad journey is your fears. Remember the concerns and worries you had before starting this conversation? Now it’s time to deal with them head on.

Usually, our fears will either reflect an opposite scenario to the reason we would like

to become digital nomads, or it will be something complementary to that reason. For example, Orr’s reason for becoming a digital nomad was to be free to live the life he wanted, but his greatest concern was to find out he was losing all of his savings. For him, losing his savings meant he couldn’t do as he pleases because he wouldn’t feel safe. Understanding his fear from this point of view allowed me to realize how important this issue is and to find a solution for it with him.

The key point in sharing your concerns is to show empathy towards your partner’s fears. Even if their fears do not worry you at all, remember that you are starting this journey as a couple, so it’s crucial that both of you can feel reassured in becoming digital nomads. Expressing empathy toward your partner’s fears will make them feel heard and allow you to think together on safety nets to start this journey with peace of mind.

Step 4: Create a safety net

Now it is time to find practical solutions for dealing with your concerns and ensuring all of your core needs are met. I like to look at safety nets as composed of three parts:

1. Practices or actions you can take to make you feel at ease (like setting a regular date night to look at your balance).
2. Red flags to help you avoid worst-case scenarios (like deciding that if we reach an overdraft of 20,000 $, it is time to fly back home).
3. Things that are always good to remember (like the option to stop being digital nomads at any point and instead do a fantastic two weeks of backpacking).

There are endless possibilities on what can be your safety net and what actions you can take to start your couple’s journey with peace of mind. The only rule you have to follow is to make sure the solution you reached works for both of you.

Final thoughts

Starting your digital nomad as a couple can be exciting and worries free. If you and your partner are going in circles of concern, give the tips we shared in this article a try. 

Remember that human beings are complex, and we do not mind readers – you cannot know what goes on in your partner’s mind until they tell you. If you share your thoughts and concerns with your partner in a way they can truly hear them and you can genuinely listen to theirs, you are sure to begin your digital nomad journey with peace of mind. 

So, do you feel ready to start your journey?

Finding the right home for digital nomad couples

by admin | Jun 1, 2022 | Anat and Orr

Finding the right home for digital nomad couples

Digital nomads are no strangers to the neverending search for a perfect temporary home. For the mid-tempo nomads, we pack ourselves up every month or three, change location, and search for a new accommodation we can call home begins. But finding a suitable space for you can be a daunting task as it’s time-consuming, stressful, and could have a huge impact on the quality of your stay. It becomes more challenging when looking for a place for two people, each with its own list of conditions and different priorities.

Using all of our experience (and mistakes) traveling around the globe, we created a guide to finding the right home for you and your partner. We hope that this guide makes your next transition as easy and as smooth as possible. So let’s get started!

Research before arriving (you will learn a lot from it)

Whenever you’re thinking of moving to a new destination, doing the research before your arrival can go a long way. First, by making sure that the destination works for you, and secondly, by helping you find your new accommodation quickly. 

For example, my partner and I are thinking of spending the summer in Europe and debating where our base should be. We made a list of cities we would like to visit and then researched them answering questions like:

1. How expensive is a month of living over there?
2. How fast is the wi-fi?
3. What is the weather during summer, and do they have options for vegans?

This research helped us narrow our list from 10 optional destinations to 3. You can also check this article for more things to consider when choosing a destination.

But the insider information we find comes from locals, expats, and other digital nomads that live in that destination. We asked via social media what areas are the best to stay in, how we can find a good apartment, and what we should know before getting a place. Using expats and digital nomad groups on Facebook, we found out that in Sarande, you find good apartments by using an agent. In Thailand, you need to look for places with a bike, and in Sri Lanka, you must make sure the place has a fiber connection and a backup generator. 

You can also find other options for accommodation on social media that might be cheaper than third-party websites. We found a few apartments using Facebook groups. Other traveling couples use Reddit and Instagram as well. Take advantage of the social media you already use to find the information you need.

Create a base to continue researching your home

You researched and found a few options for places you think can be your new temporary home. Should you book one of them for your stay? Well, yes and no.

Even if you found a place you love online, the things you see on the internet might not be the same in reality. Things like water pressure or the comfort of the bed cannot be assured with just online research. So if you’re planning on staying in a place for more than two weeks, you should see the place you’re considering with your own eyes before committing.

We usually like to book a place as a base to go apartment hunting for four to seven days. This gives us enough time to check all the options for a new temporary home while also not worrying about where we will stay the next day. It also helped us avoid a house with a major leaking problem, an apartment too small, and rent a space off-platform for a much lower price.

Know what you need and understand each other’s priorities

The most effective way to make your search for an apartment effective is to know what you need from your accommodation. 

When we started looking for houses in Thailand, we weren’t sure if we would even need a kitchen because food is so cheap. But I learned from living in a space with no kitchen for a week that I lose a big part of my autonomy by not being able to do things at my own pace in the morning. We also found out that we need a place that feels like a home with a living area separated from the bed and comfortable working areas for the both of us. 

If you are a new nomad couple and struggle with finding accommodations quickly and aren’t sure what you are looking for, make a list! This is something that helped us when we just started. We created a list of the things that are a “must-have” for you, a “makes me feel good” list and a “would be nice” list. Share what you wrote with each other to understand what you’re looking for as a couple. 

The must-have items from both lists will be your priority while searching for a place. For example, the first question we ask an optional accommodation is if they have rooms with a kitchen. If they don’t, we don’t even look at the rooms, even if the place is beautiful and within our price range.

Now the “makes you feel happy” list and “would be nice” list are the ones that help you decide on a place between a few good options. For instance, Orr, my partner, loves to live in a space with a beautiful view. It is not a “must-have” for him, but it does make him feel really good when it happens. In Thailand, we were looking for places near the ocean, but those apartments tended to be more expensive. We started looking in different areas, but not having a view bumped Orr. So even though it wasn’t a “must-have” item, we put more effort into finding other options that met all of our requirements next to the ocean because it made Orr happy.

Of course, the items you have can move from one list to another, new items could be added or could be subtracted entirely. The important thing is for you to communicate with your partner when changes like this happen so the hunt for your next home will be as productive as possible.

Tips and tricks for digital nomad couples

Every digital nomad have a way they like to do things. This is our shorthand on how to find a midterm accommodation for a couple:

1. Research before arriving at the location you would like to stay at to ensure it fits your needs.
2. Figure out from locals, expats, and other digital nomads on social media how to find a good place and where it should be.
3. Book a place for 4-7 days to be used as a base to see apartments with your own eyes.
4. Like a couple, know what you are looking for: make a list of the must-have things to quickly know if an apartment fits your needs. Use the things that make you feel good and are nice to have as a way to decide between good options.

Also good to know:

• You can book a place you are interested in from a website for a few days and then negotiate a price for a month directly with the owner and usually get a better deal.
• Checking a space’s utilities before commenting can save you a lot of trouble: What is the wi-fi speed? Is the bed comfy? What is the water pressure? Is there an a.c/heating? Is there a washing machine\lunderry service? Is the apartment well equipped (bed sheets, towels, kitchen equipment, cleaning tools…), etc.
• It is always an option to extend a stay at your temporary base to find a space you love. Staying at a place you don’t like for a month only because you felt pressured for time just sucks. 

Do you have tips and tricks of your own to find a temporary home? Any best practices that we missed? Let us hear about it in the comments!