Ran into a former nomad in a coffee shop in Chiang Mai who changed everything for me

I was sitting at a place near the old city last month when this older guy named Dave sat down next to me. He asked what I did for work and then told me he'd been a digital nomad for 12 years before burning out and buying a house in Portugal. He said the biggest mistake he made was trying to work from 15 different countries in 18 months and that killed his connections with people. Anyone here ever felt like moving too fast actually hurt your work or friendships?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor_patel2d agoMost Upvoted

Knew a guy named Kevin who did the whole move-every-three-months thing for about two years. He showed up at a friend's wedding last summer and couldn't even remember half the people he'd supposedly been close with in Bangkok or Medellin. The wild part was hearing him talk about how exhausting it got, like he'd wake up in a new city and already feel the clock ticking before he even unpacked his bag. He told me once that he stopped bothering to learn people's last names because what was the point. It really hit me how moving that fast can make you feel lonely even when you're surrounded by people all the time.

olivermason2d ago

Moving between places too fast turns relationships into transactions instead of bonds (you show up, you leave, repeat). Dave's 15 countries in 18 months sounds like sprinting through a museum without looking at any painting. The real cost isn't just lost friendships but the way your brain stops trying when it knows you're already halfway out the door.

emma_wells832d ago

10 countries in 2 years here and my friendships actually got stronger through planning trips together.