The Nomad on FIRE Podcast - #04 | Michael Constable | The Pros and Cons of Various Lifestyles, Full Circle from Settled Lifestyle to Digital Nomad & Back

#04 | Michael Constable | The Pros and Cons of Various Lifestyles, Full Circle from Settled Lifestyle to Digital Nomad & Back

Explicit content warning

02/05/20 • 54 min

The Nomad on FIRE Podcast

Guest Bio:

Michael Constable of Michael Wings It is one of my good friends from college and was a huge inspiration for me to begin living the Digital Nomad Lifestyle. I think you’ll really enjoy this episode. We discuss Michael being unhappy with his life situation in Austin, TX, joining a year-long Remote Year Program and then continuing to travel on his own for an additional year until finally coming full circle into currently living a more settled life in San Fransisco, California. We discuss the Pros and Cons of each lifestyle and Michael's recommendations for beginning the digital nomad lifestyle!

Links Mentioned:

Michael Wings It, Michael's blog and travel stories
Remote Year, a work and travel program for digital nomads! Michael was one of the big inspirations for me starting to live the digital nomad lifestyle and begin my journey through traveling with Remote Year
Michael traveled through Thailand with Drew Binksy. Check out his articles here and here on the trip! Also, check out Drew’s video about the trip.

Show Notes:

Michael Constable, Welcome to the Nomad on FIRE Podcast! 00:30
Michael was the inspiration for me joining Remote Year and beginning to live the digital nomad lifestyle 00:45
Michael’s Background, travel history and how he first joined Remote Year 01:05
Michaels travel blog and experience traveling with Remote Year at Michael Wings It 05:15
Michael’s opportunity to do a tour around Thailand with Drew Binsky 13:30
We dive into Michael’s journey where he goes full circle from settled lifestyle corporate job to traveling in a group with Remote Year to solo travel and then back into a more settled lifestyle. We discuss the pros and cons of each lifestyle 14:30
- Remote Year Pros
  - Autonomy and flexibility over your schedule
  - Fewer office distractions
  - Biggest pro- opened my mind up to what was possible for me
  - The people you meet and the community of digital nomads all traveling, living and working together for a year with the same group of people!
  - Network of people
  - Perception of time while traveling
- Cons
  - Finding a consistently healthy and productive routine
  - Removed from friends and family back home
  - Feeling tired from trying to do too many things and see to many places at once
Traveling on your own 28:30
- Pros- freedom to go wherever you want
- Chance to meet many new people and locals in the places you’re visiting
And much more...

Significant quotes:

“I think both the nomad life and the stationary life both have their pros” 04:40
“I started writing on Medium because I was Wordpress illiterate at the time, it was much easier and cleaner to publish on Medium and its great for photos” 06:00
“Blogging opened up a lot of doors for me” 07:10
And much much more...

Guest Bio:

Links Mentioned:

Michael Wings It, Michael's blog and travel stories
Remote Year, a work and travel program for digital nomads! Michael was one of the big inspirations for me starting to live the digital nomad lifestyle and begin my journey through traveling with Remote Year
Michael traveled through Thailand with Drew Binksy. Check out his articles here and here on the trip! Also, check out Drew’s video about the trip.

Show Notes:

Michael Constable, Welcome to the Nomad on FIRE Podcast! 00:30
Michael was the inspiration for me joining Remote Year and beginning to live the digital nomad lifestyle 00:45
Michael’s Background, travel history and how he first joined Remote Year 01:05
Michaels travel blog and experience traveling with Remote Year at Michael Wings It 05:15
Michael’s opportunity to do a tour around Thailand with Drew Binsky 13:30
We dive into Michael’s journey where he goes full circle from settled lifestyle corporate job to traveling in a group with Remote Year to solo travel and then back into a more settled lifestyle. We discuss the pros and cons of each lifestyle 14:30
- Remote Year Pros
  - Autonomy and flexibility over your schedule
  - Fewer office distractions
  - Biggest pro- opened my mind up to what was possible for me
  - The people you meet and the community of digital nomads all traveling, living and working together for a year with the same group of people!
  - Network of people
  - Perception of time while traveling
- Cons
  - Finding a consistently healthy and productive routine
  - Removed from friends and family back home
  - Feeling tired from trying to do too many things and see to many places at once
Traveling on your own 28:30
- Pros- freedom to go wherever you want
- Chance to meet many new people and locals in the places you’re visiting
And much more...

Significant quotes:

“I think both the nomad life and the stationary life both have their pros” 04:40
“I started writing on Medium because I was Wordpress illiterate at the time, it was much easier and cleaner to publish on Medium and its great for photos” 06:00
“Blogging opened up a lot of doors for me” 07:10
And much much more...

Next Episode

#05 | Nicole Hudson | From Corporate Life in NYC to the Location Independent Lifestyle

Guest Bio:

Nicole Hudson is a digital nomad from the US and a consultant in the financial industry. In this episode, we discuss how to take your job remote and overcoming a "Resume Gap". We also discuss how to continue to grow and advance in your career while being a remote professional. We also discuss personal development and discovering so much about yourself while traveling.

Links Mentioned:

Show Notes:

Nicole Hudson, welcome to the Nomad on FIRE Podcast! 00:30
How Nicole and I met. Nicole is a "Citizen" or alumni of the Remote Year program. Nicole and I met in Medellin, Colombia when she joined our program 01:05
Nicole's work history 1:30
Conversation with her employer on how to work remotely 04:15
How you can grow in your career by taking a break to travel as opposed to being worried about the "Resume Gap" 06:30
So many opportunities to collaborate with fellow digital nomads 07:30
Nicole's conversation about going remote with her employer 09:00
Nicole's history of travel and working remotely 15:15
Nicole's 4-month Remote Year Program in Europe 16:45
Reverse culture shock 17:40
Nicole's future travel plans 21:15
The flexibility of the digital nomad lifestyle and ideal time in each location 22:15
Benefits of being a Remote Year citizen and jumping in with other groups 25:30
Balancing between group and solo travel 27:00
What Nicole has learned about herself and how she has changed as a person 28:20
The importance of taking some time for yourself 31:15
Nicole's Perfect Day 33:00
Importance of journaling 35:00
#1 Takeaway- Take the leap! 36:45
And much more...

Significant quotes:

"Pretty much everyone I spoke with said if I had the opportunity to do that I would go" 05:10
"I'm not losing my skillset, and I'm not losing my network" 06:07
"I had a goal every year I was going to take an international vacation" 15:40
"When you come back from traveling your change is all internal" 20:00
"One thing that I really learned and its changed me as a person and I love it is that I'm much more spontaneous" 21:50
"One month allows you to get a taste of the culture but not get ingrained in the culture" 23:30
"New ideas are really good; I'm not always going to be right" 30:20
And much much more...