I’m a professional psychotherapist who is starting out in this lifestyle and I’m curious to hear what specific psychological struggles people had to overcome while making the transition to life as a DM. Also, what do you do to stay mentally healthy while traveling to foreign lands. I’m interested in hearing any insights people may have, especially since I am working on a book on psychological resilience and I can’t think of a more stressful transition than moving from a static to a nomadic lifestyle. If you’re not comfortable putting your experiences on a public forum, feel free to PM me.
🗯 Forum replies
tl;dr: introduce yourself in this thread.
We must all get sick of the same backpacker travel questions when we meet new friends, I know I do.
You know the ones - where are you from, where’ve you been, where are you going, what do you do, how long have you been doing it - etc.
The novelty of answering these questions wears off after maybe a week, but they’re nonetheless insightful and no matter how much we hate them, we find ourselves asking others.
So let’s bring the dreaded backpacker questionnaire to NomadForum and introduce ourselves shall we?
**
- what’s your name?
- where are you from?
- how long have you been away from home?
- what do you do?
- where are you currently?
- where are you going?
- what has been memorable for you so far?
- will you go home anytime soon?
- what have you learnt during your time as a nomad?
- [insert your own question here]
**
No need to answer them all if you don’t want to
But the more you share… The merrier!
The last few years I’ve spent mostly in Asia (Thailand/Indonesia) and Europe (Spain/Italy), but I run a company in the US and need to coordinate with 10 US based employees and business partners. The time zone issues between EU/US and SEA/US are exhausting even if I love the locales.
I’d really like to try romping around the Americas for a while, but I’ve never been south of Baja California and really can’t find much positive having been said about remotely working from CA/SA as a DN.
I know some hippy, surfer, artist, musician, yoga teacher types calling various locals home, but no one making a living online… more than a few people have told me it’s fabulous down there until you go to Thailand/Bali and then you wonder why all those ExPats are suffering in CA/SA. Of course you only really know when you go yourself.
I’d love to see nomadlist.io get filled out with more details on Central and South American cities. It seems really sparse coverage at the moment, but maybe that’s simply because it’s not good and no one stays there for long.
We’re researching places to use as a home base next year, and are leaning towards Mexico or Panama for 10 months (with 1 week “vacations” to explore surrounding countries)
But, I want to settle some place where the infrastructure is good enough for fast, reliable internet - fast enough to run live webinars without worrying that I’ll be S.O.L due to internet issues when it’s time to go live.
And ideally, I’d like to be on the coast… I like to have ocean/beach access without the need for a drive.
And not in a malaria zone (just saying, since Panama in particular has many areas that I’d rule out simply due to the need for malaria prevention meds)… it’s one thing to take that stuff for a few weeks long trip, but I don’t want to take it for months on end.
Thoughts?
Thanks for reading all
I’m going to travel to Mexico by the end of february and i would like to know which place do you recommend to stay at for a month or so. Which one would fit better for a digital nomad? Pros and Cons for each place are welcomed
thanks!
I worked out a few times a week back home, but haven’t been able to figure out how to make it a part of my routine now that I’m living out of my backpack in hostels. I’ve always gone to gyms, but I’d be open to trying bodyweight exercises. I thought that I might be able to do bodyweight exercises in parks/etc, but the past few days in London have been wet and miserable and I can’t find the motivation to go do push ups in wet grass. Any advice?
✨ Recommended destinations
This is an algorithmic recommendation based on @kalitherapy's trips history to find places they haven't been to yet that other people with similar travels as them also went and liked.

Bali is amazing, but Canggu isn't really that great -- actually there are SO MANY better places, like Uluwatu, Gili Islands or even Ubud that I can't understand the hype. As almost everyone said below, beaches are crappy, roads are terrible, sidewalks are non-existent and having a motorbike is a must. On the other side, food is great and cafes are pretty reasonable with all those incredible bowls. Anyway I wouldn't recommend it for more than a week.
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 37° 99° 30° 86°🥵AQI 350$1,384 / mo23Mbps
Berlin is overall a great city to be. Food is cheap and everywhere, easy to go out and have fun/meet for business. Rent has crept up but still far better value than where I came from. Internet: 36 EUR/month get me 450/40 mbps (cable -> DOCSIS 3.0) Public transport is 2.70 EUR/ticket. No woman I know has said they felt unsafe. Some really odd, xenophobic sounding comments on here. Biggest downsides IMO: service quality at restaurants - not that people are rude, but they don't seem to particular
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌦 Feels 1° 34° 2° 36°AQI 320$3,066 / mo33Mbps
Chiang Mai used to be N.1 for the digital nomad life. It is still great and you can find really cheap apartments (300-400$) and restaurants (2-3$ for a main). Wouldn't recommend staying there during the burning season. The best area is Nimman, but it's also the most expensive. You can stay in the old city that's very nice but that gets noisy during the weekend for the night markets. Last but not least, very safe city. All in all would go back in a heartbeat.
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 29° 84° 28° 82°AQI 122😷0$1,111 / mo22Mbps
They say you get what you pay for. After having traveled the previous 4 months in India, Cambodia, VietNam, Myanmar and Thailand, Singapore was so easy! The subway system is a marvel, streets signs were easy to read, everyone speaks English (that just makes it easy for me as an English speaker) it is safe, clean, and parks are gorgeous. I was there as COVID 19 was breaking out fairly fast and that put a damper on my time but I was so happy to be there anyway and plan to go back. For digital
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 37° 99° 30° 86°🥵AQI 610$2,871 / mo91Mbps
During winter is quite safe plus much cheaper. Some nightclubs are free and yet there is still a lot of people. Great por lgbtq+ community.
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 13° 55° 14° 58°AQI 390$2,937 / mo30Mbps
Honestly, this is an awesome place to be if you're actually trying to get work done. It's a bit of an older vibe than Canggu, and there's certainly a big chunk of yogi's kicking around — but I liked it much better than Canggu and found it less pretentious. Plus, you can drive down there in 45mins whenever you want some beach or party vibes. As others mentioned, there's some great coworking spaces, cheap warungs, some really nice spots to stay cheaply if you go just outside of the mad tourist
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 34° 93° 29° 85°AQI 360$1,086 / mo13Mbps
London is a SO beautiful city. The historical center is cute, but also majestic and luxurious. You feel the culture at every step. British people are really kind and welcoming! Plus, more than just one, you can enjoy TWO skylines 😍 so many skyscrapers, nothing beats its collection in Europe.
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 1° 34° 3° 38°AQI 500$4,130 / mo19Mbps
One giant tourist trap. Giant hordes of rich Europeans vacationing with their parents credit cards.
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Having lived in the Montreal region almost all my life, here are a few things to note: - Smoking is prohibited in all public buildings (restaurants, bars, stores, underground shopping malls, business and residential building (excluding your own living spaces), public transportation, etc. - English is harder to come by outside Montreal and certain parts of south shore but very common in the west end of Montreal - Montreal has 2 English universities: McGill and Concordia both of which are centrall
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -17° 1° -11° 13°AQI 93x$2,670 / mo22Mbps

For the most part, pretty amazing. The beaches are usually not overcrowded, and the natural scenery is pristine. It's very walkable, and there are tons of great restaurants on nearly every block with reasonable prices. I came in mid-November, and it was still uncomfortably warm and humid then, even at night, so beware if you struggle with heat. The evenings started to get cool and pleasant in late November/early December. This is Mexico, so I was expecting it to be gritty, but it was worse tha
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 24° 75° 24° 76°AQI 611x$1,772 / mo21Mbps
Don't believe the prices on here for an apartment. 686 usd/month refers to an apartment in a high class condo, right in the city centre and seconds away from the BTS(train station). Just remember this, people working at supermarkets make 2 usd/per hour. If you want to live like a local, then you can save a lot of money. If you don't mind a 5-10 minute walk from the BTS, then you can easily get a one bedroom apartment for 300 USD per month, in a high class condo, plus with free golf cart ser
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 36° 97° 31° 88°🥵AQI 124😷1x$1,461 / mo22Mbps
Boston is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the capital of the state, the largest city in New England, and the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The city proper is home to about 617,900 people, making it the largest city in New England and the 26th largest in the United States.
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For the most part, pretty amazing. The beaches are usually not overcrowded, and the natural scenery is pristine. It's very walkable, and there are tons of great restaurants on nearly every block with reasonable prices. I came in mid-November, and it was still uncomfortably warm and humid then, even at night, so beware if you struggle with heat. The evenings started to get cool and pleasant in late November/early December. This is Mexico, so I was expecting it to be gritty, but it was worse tha
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 24° 75° 24° 76°AQI 613mo$1,772 / mo21Mbps
Don't believe the prices on here for an apartment. 686 usd/month refers to an apartment in a high class condo, right in the city centre and seconds away from the BTS(train station). Just remember this, people working at supermarkets make 2 usd/per hour. If you want to live like a local, then you can save a lot of money. If you don't mind a 5-10 minute walk from the BTS, then you can easily get a one bedroom apartment for 300 USD per month, in a high class condo, plus with free golf cart ser
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 36° 97° 31° 88°🥵AQI 124😷2mo$1,461 / mo22Mbps
Having lived in the Montreal region almost all my life, here are a few things to note: - Smoking is prohibited in all public buildings (restaurants, bars, stores, underground shopping malls, business and residential building (excluding your own living spaces), public transportation, etc. - English is harder to come by outside Montreal and certain parts of south shore but very common in the west end of Montreal - Montreal has 2 English universities: McGill and Concordia both of which are centrall
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -17° 1° -11° 13°AQI 91mo$2,670 / mo22Mbps

Boston is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the capital of the state, the largest city in New England, and the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The city proper is home to about 617,900 people, making it the largest city in New England and the 26th largest in the United States.
⭐️ Score💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -7° 19° -2° 28°AQI 257d$3,630 / mo33Mbps