Experience from a Digital Nomad Family, part 1: Starting as a Remote Worker, and how we failed

Since 2009, when I met my husband, we’ve talked about living long periods in other countries and working remotely. This, even before we heard about Digital Nomads. Being a digital nomad has become popular over the past decade, but the concept first appeared in 1997 in the book “Digital Nomad” by Tsugio Makimoto and David Manners.

In fact, we never thought of being truly nomads, but rather, spending a few months away from our permanent residence in Sofia. If there is another term for this variant, please leave a comment below.

From idea to practice: 2 failed attempts as a “digital nomad”

Aside from the long-distance work that often comes with vacations (certainly you know what I’m talking about), we had two small experiences, these planned, in 2011 and 2012, before we had children. My husband would work remotely full time and I would develop photographic projects.

In March 2011 we spent 10 days in Nice, France, where my husband’s paternal family lives. And in May 2012 a week in Skopje in North Macedonia for me to do a photo report on the Skopje 2014 project. Both experiences were not very positive.

Nice, old town: the apartment of darkness

In Nice, we rented a small apartment in the old town. The location was fantastic, very central and at a good price. What we weren’t counting on was that a first floor in a very narrow alley barely sees the light of day… obviously. In other words, my husband spent his days clinging to the computer, getting depressed, stuck there. Well below the experience envisioned by a digital nomad. My experience was great as the weather was fantastic and I was walking around the city for a good part of the day. The most positive thing was being able to be with family and friends at night and on the weekend. Right then, we started to reconsider the feasibility of working remotely. Either we would have all the necessary conditions, a house with a terrace with a fabulous view, with shade, socket to connect the computer, high speed internet, or it wouldn’t be worth it. It is really important to think in advance where we are going to work.

Many of the houses in the historic district of Nice, located in medieval alleys, barely see the light of day. The worst that a digital nomad working all day from a rented apartment could wish for.

Skopje: medical urgency at the end of the first day

We returned, however, to have a small experience in 2012 that would only be for a week. In Skopje, the apartment wasn’t so depressing anymore, but it wasn’t so central either. However, here the week ended right at the beginning. At the end of the first day of walking non-stop and carrying photographic equipment, when we were both going to have dinner in the historic center, I got such a bad cramp that the only reason I didn’t fall to the ground was because I held on to my husband. I could no longer walk alone. We returned to the apartment in the car we had just parked. We called the therapist who was already treating me, he indicated some exercises to relieve me that night and the next day we went back to Sofia in emergency mode and directly to his office. I had been having back problems and sciatica for a while and after this episode I had intensive visits to neurosurgeons, tests and recovery treatments including acupuncture and yoga. Actually, they wanted to operate on me, but I thought I could recover without the surgery and I have managed to control my hernias to this day. My photographic career ended up there even before it came to fruition. I thought it was a sign that I should stop.

I went to photograph the construction related to Skopje 2014, but on the first day I walked around the whole city photographing the housing of the communist regime. And I didn’t have the opportunity for the rest of the project I had in mind.

Time for reflection, financial recovery and parenting

The idea of ​​“living” in another country then remained “in stand by”, also because these were very demanding times at work and we became parents in 2014.

We got serious about it again during a weekend in Malta in December 2018. For me, Malta was perfect for spending some relaxed work time by the sea. But my husband didn’t really agree because he wanted a destination that made sense for his company’s projects. In fact, he still had some difficulty separating himself physically from the rest of the teams because after all it is much easier to have face-to-face meetings than online. Now, after the Covid experience, the company has processes that make remote work even easier. We hope that soon we will be able to think about “living” somewhere else.

Though, Malta’s conversation in 2018 ended up materializing in 2019 in a month with our 5-year-old son, in Tokyo, Japan. To read more about it, have a look at the next article on our experience in Tokyo with the family.