How I became a ‘digital nomad designer’
And why I advocate for this label. My journey from the office to wherever there’s wifi.
Well…at least, this is the label that more accurately describes my current situation right now. Let the dictionary work:
Digital 👨💻
Electronic technology that generates, stores, and processes data
Nomad ✈️
A person who does not stay long in the same place; a wanderer
Designer 👨🎨
A person who plans the look or workings of something prior to it being made, by preparing drawings or plans
This is also my first post on Medium and one of the reasons that I’m writing it’s because it might work as a reference source when someone asks me about WTF I’m doing right now (and it can also be an intro for what might be coming next).
You know, one of the first questions people ask each other when they first met or after a long time it’s…
‘What do you do for a living?’ 👨🏻💼
I’ve been named ‘Drug Dealer’, ‘Modern Hippie’ and sometimes the less accurate and worthy: ‘Freelancer’
So I’d define myself as a ‘Digital Nomad Designer’. And we can add more tags here like ‘UX/UI Product Designer Cosmic Universe Specialist’ but let’s just say: ‘Designer’.
Anyway, let’s see how it all started. I’ve always been passionate about travelling and I imagined myself living somewhere else and out of the comfort zone. I mean, getting to know new cities, landscapes, people, food and so. Living it more than just watching landmarks.
I was 30 and had just moved my girlfriend. Our first experience living together in an apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
And 2 weeks later we were ready to go travelling! 😂 😂 😂
It wasn’t so fast as we had a different scope and we were about to change everything in a second. So it took about a looong year to make it happen.
Ok, there were a lot of learnings in the meantime. Having a clear goal for the short/mid/long term is crucial to achieving something different. And this one was very clear and pushed by two brains and hearts.
I was working for a multinational corporation and I used to interact with colleagues from the US, Canada, England, Australia and Brazil. Although I spent most of the time at the office (1 home office per week at that time) I had to meet with people outside of it 95% of the time. Indeed I was looking forward to work like that while speaking English (yo hablo Castellano/Español).
It was 2017, and then 2018 and I was using Zoom (why didn’t I invest in it?). I had the hypothesis that virtual meetings could be more useful and focused than the usual, recurring meetings with lots of people in a single square room.
Most people doubt online meetings can work, but they somehow overlook that most in-person meetings don’t work either.
People would get out of these forgetting what they had to do and so. What about doing a walkthrough over a complex task with its user journey. Let’s say it’s about new tax regulation that applies to a specific user and you don’t know anything about taxes, new regulations and…accounting. But you have to make accounting software work. Well, having the ability to record meetings allows you to rewind and listen/repeat everything until you get it. And if there’s something you forget but want to know more/forgot to ask you can review it and leave a chat with the corresponding guy.
A couple of books I’d strongly recommend
Ok, let’s do it! ✈️
Sorting out many of these challenges make me feel confident in pursuing this idea of travelling while working although I wasn’t sure how I would achieve it. But that was part of the process. So I ended up leaving a comfy full-time office job and started doing some freelance design stuff. Everything online. And that was not a hassle for me. On the opposite side, it was something I was always very connected with such as working with personal and freelance projects and sharing my knowledge and experiences.
The simple willingness to improvise is more vital, in the long run, than research
Travelling and working as a couple 👫
My girlfriend Regina did the same thing and, being a fashion designer, took the plunge out of the office to start a freelance career as a textile pattern designer which is successfully growing day by day under the name of Reina Patterns
We also both agreed on many items so it was not just about travelling and uploading pictures on Instagram (anyway I do it if you wanna check my Instagram account and watch the fancy side of things). In fact, travel was something secondary if you ask me.
Today the pandemic forces many of us to work from home where you can easily detect issues and routines you have to keep/respect as you might be working in the same place with your partner, your kids, your dog, your cat and your noisy neighbours. We share the same environment on a daily basis so there’s a need of getting along and separating the home from the office.
Our small wishlist
- Skip the Commute (2 hours a day spent on the bus/train)
- Change scenery/routines on the week and weekends
- More balanced and healthy lifestyle
Someday (“someday I’ll do this, someday I’ll do that”) is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.
I had built my career in UX/UI Design working mostly for big companies and I enjoyed working and improving a specific product/company. Now I felt ready to challenge myself working on different projects and stuff that would be suitable for this called ‘lifestyle’. It would require both me and my customers/colleagues/companies to be aligned with it and respect each other’s values and so. I didn’t know how it would end up going but I knew I could make it before so it should be very possible. The goal was so clear for me that I said ‘I will figure it out’ all the time.
It was January 2019 and we were ready to take a flight for our first destination (Florianópolis, Brazil 🇧🇷) with a lot of mixed emotions on our shoulders.
As some said, ‘our life had to fit in a suitcase’
…and a couple of bags too!
Since then, anything that you could have had planned might change and the idea of uncertainty was exciting, challenging and scary at the same time.
We visited many beaches and cool places while working on our projects.
But we never carried our Macbooks to those places!
One of the most rewarding routines we experienced in the short term
Skipping the commute and drinking some coffee while watching some green in the garden. Adopt the habit of eating healthy breakfasts featuring local fruits (usually I’d skip them and jump and grab a snack from the office machine). Taking a walk in the afternoon or during lunch and say ‘Hi!’ to our neighbours from the animal kingdom. Easy way to lose some weight without subscribing to a gym and never ever go back after the first time!
I fancied the idea of having green hills and a peaceful atmosphere around. Having spent all my life in a big city (despite living in a more peaceful but ever-growing neighbourhood) pushed me to breathe something different.
Getting out of the comfort zone leads you to experience new routines, habits and things you can maybe decide to adopt later. It’s growing up while sitting in the same place and with preconceptions.
What if we get bored or something? Ok, we’ll move to another place and figure it out!
This was just an intro post and I cannot describe everything in a single post. So stay tuned for more pieces of it!
