Here’s why being a digital nomad is not as glamorous as it seems

For many of us living in an increasingly digitized world, chances are high that we’ll end up working at a desk-bound job. Like many corporate dwellers who are chained to their desks, traveling and exploring the world becomes a once-yearly affair when the boss actually allows us to take our meagre annual leave.

And then there are those who get to have their cake and eat it too. These remote workers have the privilege of being in a company that doesn’t believe in IKEA desks and morning meetings. Instead, they choose to cut loose the chains and let their employees work from anywhere in the world they want to.

On a tuk-tuk in Angkor Wat.

Meet Niel de la Rouviere. He works as a front-end developer at Buffer, a social media management service. Buffer’s employees are spread out across the world, and this suits Rouviere just fine because he’s always enjoyed the idea of traveling and working at the same time.

“It’s almost a testament to our generation and what the possibilities are. It’s empowering and humbling at the same time,” he tells Tech in Asia. “I was also hugely inspired by people like Benny who travel the world, learn languages and still make an income along the way.”

As you can guess, joining Buffer was a dream come true for him. With the opportunity to try the digital nomad lifestyle first-hand, he decided to embark on a two-month-long Southeast Asian trip en route back to his homeland, South Africa.

Rouviere would soon find out that the reality of being a digital nomad is not quite as glamorous as it’s made out to be.

The reality of being a digital nomad

When Rouviere decided to take up Buffer’s job offer, he was studying Chinese and linguistics at a university in Taiwan. The reason: a genuine fascination with Chinese culture and language.

“My girlfriend and I wanted to improve our Chinese, and at the same time live and absorb some Chinese culture,” he explains. “When our time ended in Taiwan, we knew we had to explore more of Asia, especially since it’s so far removed in terms of distance and culture from South Africa.” That was when they made the decision to take the long way back home.

Rouviere admits that while he was extremely excited about the prospects of being able to explore the world while having an income, he had some apprehension about whether he could pull it off. It was unknown territory to him, illuminated slightly by the accounts of those who have gone before:

At that time I knew it would be an interesting journey, especially in trying to balance traveling and working at the same time. I was incredibly excited to visit the many different Asian countries, with a little hesitance if I could maintain my work-travel balance. I must also admit, I didn’t really take into account some of the admin of traveling so often.

17 locations, 1 indescribable experience

Not for everyone