When most people think of the modern work environment, it seems like there are only three options - at the workplace, working from home, or full-fledged digital wanderer living in a new and exciting place every month. Truth is, there are many different ways to work, and many different ways to digital nomad. Of course, the term nomad does refer to wanderers, so maybe some new terms are needed.

Traditional Nomads

When we think of nomads in history, we are generally thinking of warm weather, even hot desert people, living in some sort of tent or other movable structure. Think of Abraham from the Bible, or modern Bedouin people. Modern digital nomads tend to be associated with warmer climes, for sure. These are the true adventurers, the ones who decide after a few months that they want to live somewhere else. Maybe it is visa laws requiring them to move, or just a search for adventure, but they are the ones with no one “home base”.

Before you take this path, think it through carefully. Is this really the life you want? For many, the answer is: YES! New places, new people, new adventures - what is not to like?

For some that constant sense of ‘newness’ feels like a lack of familiarity. Some need to feel they know their environment. Where is the nearest ATM, hospital, or pharmacy? Which grocery store carries that tea I like? If I had to get back to my family, employer, or client, what is the flight schedule like? Live in one place for a while, and these things become second nature. In a new place? Not so much. Simple things like a craving for a favorite food, or needing a new charging cable, can become a chore in a new place.

For those who don’t tend to get attached - if they can’t find the right tea, no biggie, another brand will do - this might seem trivial. But ask yourself - how do you respond when your routine is disrupted? True nomading can be a life of constant change. For some, that is literally its appeal.

Digital Vikings

Modern society glamorizes the Vikings, but much of what they did would literally be war crimes in today’s world. Still, they definitely ventured far from home. Thing is, they still had a home. So they would head out, find a new land, with new people, and take what they wanted. Specifically, they would take it back home.

The modern digital Viking isn’t about robbing and pillaging - but he is about travel and adventure. Leave home, travel to some distant place, live and work for a time, then return. A few months later- repeat, but with a new place and new people.

Think of what this offers - extended, deep travel. Really getting to know a new place. Not just on the surface, like a tourist, but getting a sense of the people, the culture. Being able to say you “lived” someplace. And yet, getting to return home, spend time with family and old friends. Scuba diving Cozumel until you know the Santa Rosa and Palancar reefs as well as you know the streets of your hometown, then heading back to that home town. Then off to see what the Philippines offers above and below the water. And back again. Taking back from your adventures not gold, but memories and experiences. Living the uncomfortable life of a visitor until you no longer are one, then returning to the place that made you.

The downside? As with the nomad there is a lack of deep connection, at least half of the time. If you need those late nights telling old stories with people who knew you before you became who you are today - this lifestyle can be rough. Zoom, Teams, and Facetime are not really substitutes. They help, but there is a difference between looking at each other on a screen and just hanging out. Passing a guitar around a campfire and reliving old stories is something you miss while you are away. But at least you come back to it.

Digital Monarch Butterfly

As much as my Nordic heritage, and stupid guy machismo, would like to identify as a digital Viking, I am afraid I am more of a monarch butterfly. Each winter I leave the cold country of my birth and head to warmer climes, returning to the same two destinations each spring and fall.

This has a lot of advantages - I always know where to get my favorite things, I can find a hospital or pharmacy in both homes, and if I have to get from one to the other there are plenty of flights. What’s more, I have real connections, real friendships, in both places. I earn dollars and spend pesos. In both destinations I have roots.

That also speaks to the downside - I have two homes. This means added costs, keeping stuff in two countries. It could be done cheaper, but I do like my stuff. Nothing fancy, but I like what I like, and am not keen on living with someone else’s stuff for half the year. Also - while I have two homes, it sometimes feels like I am never home. In either destination there are people I always want around. Some of those people are always thousands of miles away. If I ever choose a full-time home- I will be saying goodbye to half of my people.

So for as long as I can, I will be a Monarch, flying between my two homes. It takes a toll. Moving twice a year is tiring. Never having all of my people close can be hard. And yet, I have a larger, more rich life because of it. I have gained much more than I have given up.

So what are you? A Nomad, a Viking, or a Monarch Butterfly?