Reflections — Three Years Of Being A Digital Nomad
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As I look back at the first two years and compare it to the last year, nothing remains very constant in this lifestyle.
Our first two months were still back in New Zealand. It was a great overall six months with family, saving up and preparing to head overseas again.
We then continued with the theme of prioritising family and went to Europe to see Kie’s family. We hadn’t been to Europe since 2019, pre-pandemic. Doesn’t that feel like a lifetime ago?
First, we spent two exceptional weeks in Turkey with Kie’s older brother, his wife, and their child. Then it was on to the UK for two more weeks of family time in Birmingham, Bristol and London. The UK in May surprised us both. We spent most of our time taking walks in the gorgeous countryside.
Then, back to our new home — Kuta, Lombok. Kie spent the next six months in this one place. Tania did have to leave to see the dentist twice, but they were just short trips to Malaysia.
Once we were back in Kuta, Kieron’s work transitioned from working with a not-for-profit, back to the finance industry.
Going into this year, our big plan was to build on our piece of land in Torok Bay. Instead, we invested in a whole new project: this time, a house in Kuta. Kuta has much more going on than Torok, so it felt like the right decision to build something we can live in now and save Torok for when we’re ready.
After six months, in December, Tania’s parents sold their house of forty years. It was time to reset our visas anyway, so we parted ways. Tania went to New Zealand for two weeks to help with the move and Kie went to Thailand to learn more about Thai history.
We reunited in Hong Kong to dogsit for Christmas. It was two weeks of cold, festive city vibes, which made such an interesting change of pace.
We then bounced around a bit, probably too much. Two weeks in Hua Hin (don’t recommend), two weeks in Siem Reap (can’t recommend enough) and a week in Singapore (worth a visit). It was great to miss the wet season with all this travel, but if we’re going to do it again, I think we’ll be more considered and well-planned.
The final month of the third year of being digital nomads was back at our house in Kuta, Lombok. How nice it feels to have a home to come back to.
We managed to catch the tail end of the wet season and see what all that was about.
We visited nine countries in the year and spent long periods in one place. We slowed our travel down further, which means we’re now getting the comforts of having a home base while still getting to have new experiences.
We’re ending the year saving for our house in Torok Bay, the same as a year ago. But so much has changed in between.
Here are our reflections from the past year. You can read more of our reflections here.
What would you have done differently?
Tania: We did a much better job of balancing travel and slowing down this year. We made a great decision to invest in a second property. We left our planning of the break in December and January a little late to stay flexible, which didn’t work out that well in the end. We plan on going away for the wet season again this year, but we’ll be more organised about it.
Favourite excursion or activity?
Tania: I finally got to go to Siem Reap and see the temples of Angkor. I was meant to do it as a birthday trip several years ago, but it got curtailed. I’m so stoked I finally got to see them.
What have you learnt?
Tania: I’m really excited to expand our horizons beyond Asia. There are some practical reasons why that’s our focus for now, but being in Turkey and the UK allowed us to see a whole new world. I want more of that!
Also, saving money is hard when you’ve changed your life to spend (and earn) as little as possible. When you’ve got a large salary, you often spend money on extras because you can. It’s relatively easy to remove some of those extras or find cheaper versions. You can eat out less or buy more affordable items in your weekly grocery shop. But because we’ve already done all that, finding ways to save money is much harder now.
What have you loved?
Tania: I loved being in the UK in the summer. It was a glorious time to be out walking in nature. That’s something that’s harder here in Indonesia as there aren’t parks. We have beautiful beaches instead, but I much prefer walking in greenery - forests, parks and trees.
I loved Siem Reap and hope we can return there again soon. It was such a great second city.
A pattern I’m seeing is that I love exploring new places — Hong Kong, Siem Reap, UK countryside. I know I need to continue to include that in my life going forward.
What do you never want to do again?
Tania: The only place I didn’t love was Hua Hin, but I wouldn’t have known that if we hadn’t gone. So although I don’t want to return, it’s hard to know how you’re going to feel about a place before you’ve visited.
What surprised you?
Tania: How much we enjoyed our time in the UK. That definitely wasn’t expected. It brings up an intriguing possibility of spending more time in the UK in future to be close to family.
Also, that we visited nine countries this year. We slowed right down and spent months in one place. But still managed to see a lot of the world.
Favourite country?
Tania: I said Indonesia last year, so I’m going to say Cambodia this year. Of the new places we visited, it was my favourite.
What would you have changed?
Tania: We saved up a bunch of money in New Zealand, which we then spent all of going to Europe. The trip was great, but I think next time we go to Europe we’ll keep it simple and focused on family.
What’s your priority for next year?
Tania: I’m just going to leave my response from last year here: I really want to get the house build underway, ideally within the next six months. It’s a big ask and we’ve still got a lot to sort out on that front, but I feel like with how quickly we acted on the land purchase, we can do it.
Advice for anyone becoming a digital nomad?
Tania: Make sure you’ve got your financial cushions sorted. We’ve had to dip into ours in this last year and I’m so grateful that we had it sitting there ready to go. Otherwise we would’ve had to reshape our entire lives.
Also, you never know how things will pan out. Kie didn’t think he’d get a job in the financial services industry remotely, but it happened.
What did we get right this year?
Tania: Building our place in Kuta, Lombok was a win for us. Knowing we have a property we can either live in or rent out for the next ten years gives us security.
