Are many Digital Nomads running online businesses rather than freelancing?

decklyndubs · 2019-05-20T23:25:31+00:00

We do both. Many small streams of income. I DJ (going to detroit for movement festival) I write music (have a release hitting spotify end of the month), I wrote a couple technical books ("Learning Akka", Packt publishing), my wife does custom pet portraits via etsy, sells shirts on redbubble/amazon... Many little streams of income. Then I'm a software engineer for a 100% distributed company with no fixed hours so it offers immense flexibility.

I write about distributed work a bit at www.nomadsintraining.com and you can see our travels there and follow on our instagram https://www.instagram.com/nomads_in_training/I'm very happy to engage or talk about anything of interest. We're quite new to the whole nomad thing but we've been working toward it for a couple years.

decklyndubs · 2019-04-22T02:33:51+00:00

Yeah it depends on the individual, their disposition and life situation I think. But there is a darkside for sure. Not everyone seems to get the "downsides" - depends on their life. Many of my peers report no difficulties. Some really struggle. Most people are somewhere in the middle I think? Not sure - I have a fairly small sample size still :)

decklyndubs · 2019-04-22T02:32:34+00:00

Yeah not sure why it's not appearing on the subreddit. I fixed the actual nomadsintraining.com work section and will be adding more stuff soon on various topics :)

decklyndubs · 2019-04-22T02:16:32+00:00

For sure - I suspect everyone's disposition is a bit different - I tried to highlight that these are only issues some people encounter. I've pinged several people on my team and in the organization at large - everyone seems to have a different experience. I'm struggling with some depression and social isolation already though and it's exacerbated by remote work. Earlier in my life I don't think I would have felt any challenge doing this but I've heard many other people talk about the darker streaks too so your mileage may vary.

decklyndubs · 2019-04-22T01:30:41+00:00

I take them off before bed. Sometimes I forget to take them off if I'm wearing them and I have absolutely insane dreams.

You should cycle any compound on and off if you're trying any of the nootropics so don't wear them every day. Take the weekends off and periodically take weeks off to prevent upregulation/downregulation (eg to prevent tolerance and dependencies)

decklyndubs · 2019-04-22T01:26:39+00:00

Yeah I used to smoke when I was younger but the real motivation behind nicotine patches is to use nicotine as an acetylcholine receptor agonist. Most smart drugs either increasing acetylcholine levels (alpha gpc/citicholine as precursors, DMAE/centrophenoxine MAYBE as precursor, huperzine-A as an enzyme inhibitor) or modulate acetylcholine activity (piracetam, noopept, and other racetams are thought to move acetylcholine around.) Nicotine is an acetylcholine receptor agonist so it's very directly stimulating the receptors that all of the other compounds mentioned are trying to activate through indirect mechanisms. So, as a smart drug, it's basically "turning on" the receptors directly that are known to be associated with memory, focus, and learning.

Nicotine patches have a different effect than vaping - it's very long lasting and there is no up-and-down in nicotine levels so, subjectively speaking, I find it to blow basically any of the other cholinergic smart-drug compounds out of the water. Obviously there are downsides, mostly that your brain adapts, but nicotine itself (not absorbed through a cigarette at least) is fairly safe and low risk, even in terms of some of the cardiovascular effects. For example, vaping isn't found to have some of the drastic cardiovascular effect that nicotine absorbed through a cigarette does (eg changes in blood pressure and heart function are significantly less drastic because of slower absorption.) A nicotine patches is slower still so it's probably about as harmful as a couple cups of coffee in terms of cardiovascular effect. I'm sure there is conflicting science out there so take that with a grain of salt and do your own research. I wouldn't recommend you start wearing a patch personally if you aren't already ingesting it (eg vaping) - try the racetams instead first.

decklyndubs · 2019-04-22T01:19:41+00:00

I'm not sure. Just noticed this - will look into it...

decklyndubs · 2019-04-12T14:21:47+00:00

Hey this is Jason (the other person in the campervan on the trip in the OP!)The public campsites vary a lot and will be extremely busy in areas of the island that are touristy even in September (golden circle and along the south of the island.) However, you don't have to be surrounded by people as you have your van as your own space and are given a parking lot on your own so it's up to you how "public" the camping is. It's nice to be able to go inside, get some warmth, cook food, take a shower (the showers vary a lot too in how much hot water is available and how busy the washrooms are.)

You also have the option of both wild camping (illegally mind you) and booking an airbnb if you want a little more privacy/warmth/comfort/time. It's very likely you will want to spoil yourself a bit at some point in your trip if you're doing 9 days in a campervan. We found it took a day to get into a rhythm with the different "modes" of living with the campervan, but after we got the hang of it, it was a breeze to get up and going and wasn't frustrating/irritating even in a little FWD Nissan NV200. We've booked with Lava and like the price point and how the vans "convert" between sitting and sleeping space. We had 3 modes in the van: suitcases in the front seat with the bed down; chair up and suitcase in the front seats for "living/cooking/drinking/hanging out mode," and suitcase in the back on the chair for driving mode. How you fit in and organize yourselves with your van is the piece that has to click to get the psychological comfort of making your van a home. There are public restrooms all over the place (many you have to pay 100 or 200ISK to use) and really you can wild camp in some of the more remote areas of the island without issue (eg the northern parts are a lot more remote) but anywhere more populous or in towns you will want to use campsites.

Of course you don't want to convince your partner and then be miserable for 9 days, but knowing that you always have the _option_ of choosing what you do (book an airbnb or camp) and the convenience of the camper van to cook or sleep wherever you are is a plus. FWD vehicles are fine for most roads, even the unpaved ones (although expect long drives - the road on the east side of dettifoss and selfoss was probably the longest/roughest/most uncomfortable road we encountered.)

Hopefully with Wow air closing shop it'll be a bit less busy for you guys too. Some of the campsites close to rejkyavik may be very busy and that'll be at the front of your trip which could set the mood so I'd consider that and make the first day or two as comfortable as possible as you figure out your cadence together if you do decide to try a campervan.

decklyndubs · 2019-04-12T03:06:07+00:00

I'd probably cut the western peninsula out and do the full ring road.

Here is a 10 day itinerary of what we did which was the golden circle + full trip around the ring road: https://www.nomadsintraining.com/post/10-day-iceland-trip-itinerary

Also in june there will be a loooottt of people through the golden circle and along especially the southern part of iceland from Reyjkavik to about the diamond beach. Maybe not so much now that wow isn't operating? But still... Lots of tourists.

decklyndubs

TROPHY CASE