WEBVTT - Digital Slomadism on a Dime w/ Becca Siegel #821 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:01.360 Welcome to Had a Money. 0:00:01.400 --> 0:00:03.520 I'm Joel and I am Matt, and. 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:06.560 Today we're talking digital nomadism, if that's a word on 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:08.399 a dime with Becca Siegel. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:29.800 Yeah. So you've heard about being a digital nomad, right. 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:33.000 You've probably seen it in the headlines where they're talking 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:36.040 about it over like at CNN or MSNBC. I feel 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:39.560 like there's always like these future articles like featuring somebody 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:41.840 awesome looking doing something really cool, and you probably thought 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:46.919 to yourself, nobody actually does that wrong because we are 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:50.960 joined by a real life digital nomad, Becca Siegel from 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:54.520 Half Half Travel. And of course Becca is a well 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:57.720 traveled photographer and digital content creator. She's got a unique 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:00.760 approach to travel, blogging, and remote work that we're going 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.279 to spend a lot of time discussing today. She has 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:07.240 contributed her travel expertise to various publications like USA Today, 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:10.800 Huffington Post, and her and her husband have been featured 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:14.560 in the Oprah magazine, Lonely Planet, Travel and Leisure, lots 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:17.360 of other places. And today we're really excited to talk 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.400 about the ins and outs of being a digital nomad, 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.440 how to go about doing it, how to find that 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:27.160 flexible job that remote work. But then in addition to that, 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.760 we're going to hopefully talk about like choosing where to 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:32.679 go and even traveling with a baby. Maybe we'll have 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.479 time to get to that as well. But Becca, thank 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:37.839 you so much for joining us today on the podcast. 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:40.039 Thank you guys so much for having me. 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.679 As you know, I am a huge how to money 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.480 fan and being here is just super cool for me. 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:47.119 So thanks for having me today. 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:49.680 Yeah, I was telling you before we start recording, most 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:51.520 guests are like, I don't even know who you guys are, 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:53.520 but I joined you because you asked. But yeah, the 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:55.800 fact that you actually listen is awesome, So thank you 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:56.000 for that. 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:58.720 Like, honestly, that's what was so cool about podcasts at 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:00.720 least our show is. I mean the fact that like 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:03.960 one episode we can we can talk with an editor 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.480 at a highly esteemed publication whose work we've been following 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:09.960 for years, and the next week we're able to talk 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:11.640 to somebody that we would not have otherwise known if 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:14.280 it wasn't for the podcast because she listens to us. 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.239 It is so cool. Such a I don't know, accessible medium. 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:19.240 It's small one of the many reasons I like podcasting. 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:22.040 Yeah, no doubt, Okay, The first question we have to 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:24.079 get to with you, Becca, as you know, is what's 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:25.040 your craft beer equivalent? 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:25.520 What are you. 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:28.320 Spending money on cheap? Answer will be trappable. What are 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:31.200 you spending money on proactively in the here and now 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:32.919 while you're also doing the smart thing, you're saving and 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:33.880 investing for your future. 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:35.960 So I thought long and hard about this, and I 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.560 thought I would mention flights, but that has been said 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:41.000 a lot of episodes recently on your show. 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:42.400 So I said, I have to be different. 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:46.799 I think that my craft beer equivalent is shelter, and 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:48.640 that is because I have spent a lot of my 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.359 life in high cost of living areas. And while many 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:54.000 people in the country might think, hmm, that's not for me. 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.160 I want my money to go to other places, you know, 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.320 like whatever they else, whatever else they enjoy in life. 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:02.760 For me, living in places like New York City and 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:06.720 like Metro New Jersey right near Manhattan has been really 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:08.960 important and has added value to my life. 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:12.120 So that is somewhere that I put a lot of value. 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:17.079 Is that because of like proximity to cool stuff or conveniences. 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:19.239 The what's the main reason you're willing to spend more 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:20.400 on shelter than most folks. 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:22.480 I might be biased, but having been born in New 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:24.960 York City and having spent a lot of my twenties 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:27.920 and thirties living there, it is the greatest city in 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:33.880 the world. Sorry, Atlanta, but I think there's just a 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:35.720 lot to be said about being in the biggest city 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:39.360 like in the country, with all of the work opportunities there, 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:41.920 the culture, and then of course, as we were saying 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.160 before we started recording, there are three major airports in 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:47.200 New York City that you can't really beat if you 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:50.960 want to be leaving New York City. Even living in 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:52.960 New Jersey, you know, I still get my pick of 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.080 those three. So that's really cool for just you know, 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.760 having a big array of flights to choose from when 0:03:58.800 --> 0:03:59.520 you want to get away. 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.800 That's right, And we want to hear about your history 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:05.480 because from what I understand, you met your husband Dan 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:08.600 at a craft beer bar, which is something that we 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:10.720 love to hear. Can you can you kind of share 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.000 your story how y'all met and kind of how that 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:15.840 led to the company, the site that y'all found it together. 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:18.039 Yeah, our story is a bit of a unique one. 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:20.599 So we met actually a very run of the Millway. 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:24.320 We met on a social dating app on our phones 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:26.640 in late twenty fifteen. 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:29.760 So we met and we our first date was at 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:31.320 this craft beer bar. 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:33.360 That no longer exists, I don't think, but it's called 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:36.480 or It was called Upright brew House in the West 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.120 Village in Manhattan, and at the time it was a great. 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:39.719 Place, very cool. 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.600 So we met and within a few of our first dates, 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:45.880 Dan said, you know, I'm really interested in traveling. I 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:48.240 haven't done that much of it, and I want to 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:51.680 go away for a year on this digital nomad like 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:54.520 program I found where you can work and travel travel 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:56.320 the world with a group of seventy five people and 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.120 take your job with you. And I said, that sounds amazing. 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:00.560 You know, you should totally do that. 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:01.480 And this was before we. 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:04.680 Started seriously dating and realized that that might cause us 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:08.200 to date long distance. But I said, you know, a 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:10.400 big part of me is that I spent two and 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:12.880 a half years living in East Asia in my twenties. 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.120 I studied abroad in Hong Kong, and then I worked 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:18.719 abroad in Shanghai for two years twenty ten to twenty twelve, 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:20.440 and a lot of it, you know, shaped like who 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:21.880 I am as a traveler who I am as a 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:25.359 person a professional, and so Dan and I kept dating, 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:28.920 and then eventually in May twenty sixteen, he left for 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:31.760 twelve months to go to twelve cities around the world 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:35.320 working remotely. He took his New York City job with him. 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:39.680 He's a web developer, and during that time we were 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:42.040 dating long distance, and that's when we started the Instagram, 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:43.960 which if you check out our Instagram, which is half 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:47.760 half travel spelled just like that. We have two sides 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:51.400 of photos that pair together different things from usually two 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:54.599 very different places. And so that was like the project 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:58.760 that we started, and unbeknownst to us, we actually got found, 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:00.479 you know, as we gained a little a little bit 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:03.560 of traction on Instagram, we wound up in Oprah magazine, 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:06.000 which was really surprising but very cool. 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:07.240 I'm sure your mom was impressed. 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:11.880 My mom was blown away. There was very cool stuff 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:13.960 that happened to us. Around that time. We were in 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.880 Travel and Leisure and Cosmo and Conde Nast Traveler and 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:22.120 Business Insider, and around the world. Actually we started getting 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:25.440 featured in Japan and Taiwan and Spain, and we were 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:27.560 in the news kind of everywhere for a little bit 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:30.920 of time in like twenty seventeen, and from there we said, 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.000 you know, we kind of created like an audience, kind 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:35.800 of by mistake, but we love this because Dan loves 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.039 taking photos and he's a web developer, and I love 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:41.839 writing and I enjoy social media, and so we put 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:44.039 all that together and we said, let's start like a 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:45.920 travel blog. You know, people do that and they share 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:48.560 tips about where they've been, and they shared travel destination 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.279 guides and they share travel advice. And so we started 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.440 doing that and we were both working full time for 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:56.520 companies in New York, and we never meant for it 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:58.919 to become more than a hobby, but it kind of 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.240 just goes to show that when you put your mind 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:05.040 and your effort and a lot of your creativity into something, 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:06.440 it becomes bigger than. 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:07.479 You could have ever imagined. 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.800 So now we're reaching millions of viewers on half half 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:13.840 travel dot com, where we share everything from you know, 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:16.960 what we're packing, to guides to places we've been to 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:19.760 nowadays how to travel with a baby. And we also 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:21.600 share a lot about remote work and how we've done 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.320 it while traveling, and how to be a nomad, and 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.480 you know, things just kind of unfolded from there, and 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:30.040 so Dan and I got married in twenty twenty and 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:32.280 then again in twenty twenty one because during the pandemic 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:34.160 you got to have three weddings and they're both very tiny. 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:37.720 And then we had our first child at the end 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.960 of twenty twenty two, so she's sixteen months and now 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:42.520 we all travel as a family. 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:45.400 Yeah. No, that's so cool, and like the way it started. 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:47.720 I think if it is stitching. 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:50.800 Your love together from abroad, you know the photos, it's like, 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.160 that's just a cool way you're apart. This is a 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:56.240 way to kind of have a shared endeavor and continue 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:58.720 to communicate and create something. It's like it was like 0:07:58.720 --> 0:07:59.720 your first baby almost. 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:01.240 Yeah, it was well. 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:05.000 Okay to talk to us specifically, maybe about Dan's first 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:08.040 stint remote traveling. He did the twelve month thing. He 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:09.800 did it with through a company called Remote Year. Is 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.080 that right, Yeah, tell us more about that program totally. 0:08:12.240 --> 0:08:13.280 Remote Year still exists. 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:15.720 Anyone can do it as long as you have a 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:18.920 remote job. So Dan did it back when the standard 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:21.040 offering was a twelve month program. He got to go 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:26.320 to twelve cities around the world in Europe, South America, 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.760 and Mexico, which is in Central America, and he also 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:33.000 spent a month in Morocco, which is in Africa. 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:33.040 Of course. 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.720 And during that time, I was living and working in 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:37.679 New York. Like my life hadn't changed, except I had 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.480 a long distance boyfriend in twenty sixteen and seventeen and 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.520 I got to visit him. So in those twelve months 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:46.560 we only saw each other five times, but in those 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:48.920 in four of those five times, I was visiting him 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:55.280 in Spain, Columbia, Portugal, and Argentina, Buenos Aires and Corduba. 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:56.120 So that was super cool. 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:58.880 Remote Year versu kind of DIY digital nomadism. What is 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:02.200 it the remote year off, I guess, versus kind of 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:06.200 trying to do your own thing, like just booking your 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:09.959 own Airbnb or just kind of deciding on your own destination. 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:12.240 What is it that an organization like Remote Year has 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:12.560 to offer. 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:14.800 Yeah, this is the perfect question, and it's the perfect 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.080 segue into the fact that when Dan and I, So 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.920 I should backtrack a little bit. When Dan got back 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:21.720 from a remote year, you know, of course, it was 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:23.440 great and we got back together and we moved into 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:26.560 our first Brooklyn apartment together and everything was nice. Then 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:28.200 a few months later, he was like, you know, we 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.240 should really do that type of thing together. And I 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:32.320 was like, no, that's crazy, Like my job is in 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:34.120 New York and I live in New York and you 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:35.680 can't take me out of New York even though I 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:36.439 love to travel. 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:38.720 And he was like, no, I mean we could really 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:39.280 make it work. 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.960 Quit your job and I was like no, Dan, like 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:44.600 that's ridiculous. We need money and like, you know, we 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.680 need to have careers, and he was like, I'll. 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:48.360 Quit my job too. I was like, no, this is 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:49.280 getting out of hand. 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:53.320 Eventually, Dan and I negotiated with each other and he 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:54.680 was like, you don't even like your job, and I 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:57.520 was like I know, but like you know, life, we 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:00.480 both the same kind of week, put in now notices 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.920 with our jobs in New York, and we negotiated with 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.760 those jobs to let us go part time and remote, 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:10.040 which in twenty eighteen was kind of wild because if 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:12.680 you think about it, the pandemic and COVID made everyone remote, 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:16.160 but before then people didn't really like work remotely, kind 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:17.760 of just like on a whim, like you had to 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:19.920 really be asking for it or it had to happen 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:24.560 to you. And so in June twenty eighteen, we left 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:26.599 on a one way ticket for Europe. We were in 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:30.520 the Netherlands, Portugal, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:34.360 then back to Spain, working from our laptops kind of 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:36.080 like on our own hours and making it work. So 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.000 then we went to Latin America. And this is where 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:40.600 I'll answer the question because I know this has been 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.520 really long winded, But in Latin America we did four 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.440 months with Remote Year and we joined a smaller program 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:49.440 of four months. But the question was what's the difference 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:51.720 between doing this type of thing, this type of remote 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.400 work with a group, either on your own versus with 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:57.360 a program. And the difference is actually pretty big. Because 0:10:57.400 --> 0:10:59.920 I will detail this by saying when we were in 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:01.440 and I forgot we went to Ireland. We went to 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:03.760 Ireland too. When we were in Ireland, we were kind 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:05.679 of just like, you know, let's try to work from 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:07.319 our Arabian b and then we were like, oh, it's 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:09.600 not so comfortable. Okay, let's go to a Starbucks. Uh, 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:12.280 you know, the espresso machine is really noisy. Okay, we 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:15.120 have to move again. We didn't have a coworking space, 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:16.160 which is really. 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:16.400 What you need. 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:19.079 If you kind of want to spend like a regular 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.480 business day working somewhere with all the comforts of an office, 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:25.120 it's kind of ironic that you are going somewhere else 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.400 just to like be in another office environment. But at 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:29.880 the end of the day, working from a dining room 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:32.160 table in a chair that's not ergonomic is going to 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.040 break your back and strain your neck. So it's kind 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:36.800 of like humans were meant for offices in a very 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:41.360 sad So the difference between us going about on our 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:45.520 own versus going with a group where you're paying for, 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.640 you know, everything to be arranged for you, meaning the 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:51.080 co working space has been vetted, the flights have been booked, 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:54.240 your accommodation has been chosen, is kind of like, okay, well, 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:55.520 I don't get to choose these things. 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:59.840 But time is money, and so we spent so much time. 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:02.240 Figure out how we were going to get from Taiwan 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.800 to Vietnam and which Airbnb we were going to book 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:06.480 in Taipei. And that's a story of its own because 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.840 we spent we spent time doing that. But whereas if 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.760 you are signing up for like a group travel trip, 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:14.400 and there's so many of those now that you can 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:16.440 do with remote work and remote years just one of them. 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:19.480 There's quite a few others. All of those types of 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:23.719 chores and tasks are completed for you by someone. 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:27.000 Else, so they handle a lot of the travel arrangements, 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:29.520 they handle the co working spaces. 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:31.400 Or turnkey right, and it's all been vetted, so you 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:33.240 don't have to do that research and you don't have 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:34.440 to make mistakes either, like you. 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.920 Don't have to pick a coworking space that closes. I 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:37.240 don't know. 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:41.000 Just as an example, in Vietnam, we were actually working 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.400 some eastern hours, so we were working like nine pm 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.880 to two am, and if you wanted to be going 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:48.199 to a co working space, we actually didn't, but we 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:49.199 knew people who were. 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:50.079 You would need a. 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.200 Place that was open twenty four hours if you needed 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:53.480 to talk to your boss. 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:55.040 In New York or in LA or anything like that. 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:57.839 So there are a lot of considerations to have based 0:12:57.880 --> 0:12:59.800 on the demands of your job. 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:01.520 Right, So that was back in twenty eighteen. Do you 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:03.520 feel that things have gotten better when it comes to 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.240 being a digital nomad just given the pandemic, given the 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:08.000 fact that it's become something that's more popular. 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:08.920 I think it's gotten better. 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.800 Yeah, and I say that confidently because even if you 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:15.480 look on Airbnb nowadays and hotels also, they will like 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.080 kind of boast about the fact that they have a spot. 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:18.640 For remote work. 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:21.760 Like I've looked at Airbnb listings, and you know, you 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:24.839 can choose one you can filter by has a desk 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.480 space for you know, sitting for a few hours getting 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.079 work done. A lot of airbnbs also, because we were 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:34.080 recently looking for I guess airbnbs in either Mexico or Columbia. 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:36.920 A lot of airbnb hosts will even show a screenshot 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:39.120 of their internet speed or they'll say that they have 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.080 high high speed Internet, and they'll even quote you on 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:43.679 what kind of carrier they have. 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:45.400 So it's kind of like the. 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:49.080 World is gearing a bit more toward the remote working 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:52.160 professional and how that person can keep traveling and keep 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:54.520 having the same type of confidence that they'll be able 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:58.320 to have a ergonomic and fast Wi Fi workspace where. 0:13:58.160 --> 0:13:58.760 It makes sense. 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:01.920 So, Okay, we all see the cool picks from the 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:05.680 excursions that anybody who's traveling, but it's even digital nomads, 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.280 right we see, Oh on this trail today, Look how 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:10.840 beautiful the sunset is which is awesome, But you're still 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.720 working too, like you just acknowledged, so like that makes 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:16.800 funding those excursions possible, being able to work during the day. 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:20.000 But can you give us a peek inside of the 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:23.680 daily life of a digital nomad Monday through Friday's one thing? 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:27.320 Like weekends, are you jet setting for other locations? I mean, yeah, 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:28.360 what's a typical week look? 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:28.520 Like? 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:32.760 What comes to mind is like two pretty different nomad 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.480 experiences we've had. So we had like the ten months 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.680 of traveling and working remotely, and four of those months 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:41.120 were doing it with a group and having. 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:43.360 A lot more structure actually, because we did have a. 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:46.080 Co working space every single day of those four months 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:48.840 with remote year in Latin America, and the other times 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:50.920 I don't know if we actually spent so much time 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.040 renting out our own co working spaces on our own 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:55.360 just me and Dan kind of like rumping around the 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.880 world and figuring out. We went to a lot of cafes, 0:14:57.920 --> 0:14:59.800 and if we had to take a meeting, sometimes we 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.920 did it from our accommodation, which sometimes was a hostile 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.600 private and sometimes was an airbnb, And we might have 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:06.680 stayed in some hotels too. 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:08.800 But what I'm thinking of Is. 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.280 In twenty twenty two, we spent a month in married 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.240 on Mexico, which I recommend for anyone who loves hot weather, 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:16.120 because this is like the hottest place in Mexico. 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.280 Like it is just so hot you like the sweat, Yeah, 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:20.000 this place is for you. 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:22.440 The week we got there was a little after Christmas, 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:23.880 and it was like ninety six degrees. 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:25.280 That's really hot. 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:28.720 Wow, Like yeah, that's like sweat your face off, get 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:30.440 me inside type of hot. And then we were there 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:32.280 for all of January and it got a little better. 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:33.200 It was like mid eighties. 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:35.120 Some days were in the seventies and that people were 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:36.400 freaking out and thought it was winter. 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.840 Oh, very laughable for us. But there. 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:42.400 So we traveled completely on our own to Marrida. We 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:46.120 were there for about four weeks, and we we bought 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:48.280 like day passes or a month pass to a coworking 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:51.080 space there. That was really awesome. And so what I'm 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:52.800 what I was saying is at that time we were 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.680 both working totally full time. The website was, you know, 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:57.440 a nights and weekends thing. But I was working for 0:15:57.440 --> 0:16:00.560 a tech startup in New York and Dan was still 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:04.960 working for the company. He had been with prior years, 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:07.760 but like I needed to work nine to five and 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:08.920 he pretty much did too. 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.320 So our daily life and our you know, what we. 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:15.400 Could expect day to day was I actually would walk 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.680 sometimes to the corking spots alone if I had like 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:20.280 earlier meetings than Dan did, and we would go to 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:22.480 a phone booth take those meetings. We would sit at 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:24.520 these long tables like hot desks. 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:26.000 We would make our coffee. 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:28.680 I would dip out for lunch and maybe pick something 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.560 up or bring something from home. It's kind of like 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.840 you almost lead your life at home, but you are 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:35.200 leading it else somewhere else. 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:36.840 That's what I was going to say. That doesn't sound 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:40.720 all that different than I mean, the kids in the carpool, 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:42.760 and you know, a couple of other things. But it 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:44.560 doesn't sound all that different than like Joel and I 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.920 showing up at at our little carriage house, our little 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.480 clubhouse here, going to get coffee, coming back and doing 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:50.080 the podcast. 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:51.960 I think it depends how much work we would have 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:54.160 on our plates. And then sometimes in those four weeks 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:56.320 in Maridith, and this was only two years ago, we 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:58.160 would take off like a Friday, and I'd be like, 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:00.720 I want to go see Mayan Ruins would go do that, 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:02.600 and that's kind of where things are a little different, 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:04.920 or like, we really should go to the beach. We've 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:06.760 been working really hard and we deserve a beach day, 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:09.359 so we would take an uber out to the coast 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:10.760 from where we were staying. 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:14.320