The hardest thing about full-time travel

Hear us out on this one. Full-time travel has a lot of perks, but one major drawback: loneliness. Here’s the emotional journey we typically take:

Joy: “This is so much fun! You know who would really enjoy this? (Insert friend’s name)!!”

Longing: “I miss hanging out with them. Have you talked to them lately?”

Sadness: “It’s hard not having friends nearby.”

Resignation: “It was the same in Latin America. It was good when we had roommates or when we were taking classes, but otherwise it was hard to make friends.”

Doubt: “I mean, as long as this is our life, it’ll be like this. If we stayed in one place for a while, it would be easier.”

Stubbornness: “I love the life we’ve built. I don’t want to go back to how it was. Why should we have to go backwards?”

Exasperation: “Besides, before we never saw our friends anyway. All of us were just at work all the time. If we went back to San Francisco, it would be the same.”

*NEW!* Grief: “Before we at least we had Holly to keep us company. I miss that girl.”

Gratitude: “It’s a good thing we like each other a lot!”

Determination: “There’s got to be some way we can meet other people who are like us.”

Curiosity: “But how?”

How to Meet Other Digital Nomads

Meeting other nomads is inherently challenging because everyone involved is nomadic. Plus, we have good friends we stay in touch with and don’t want to replace. What we’re really looking for are people to hang out with.

Here are ideas we’re exploring so far:

  • Meetup.com: Do people do these?
  • #nomads: It’s a digital nomad chat community where you can find other digital nomads locally. However, it looks like it’s mainly people abroad.
  • When staying at Airbnbs, look for shared living spaces so we have roommates to chat with.
  • Maybe when we’re passing through cities we could stay in hostels.

Any other ideas?? Please share. Maybe these photos from Savannah will get your creative juices flowing.

 

Driving in Savannah

Just a Savannah street

 

Savannah Buildings

Downtown Savannah architecture

 

Savannah Waterfront

The Savannah River separates Georgia and South Carolina

 

River St Savannah

River Street in the historic district

 

Savannah City Hall

Savannah City Hall

 

Oglethorpe

James Oglethorpe, who founded Georgia as the 13th colony, a refuge for Britain’s poor, and a buffer between the British to the north and the Spanish to the south

 

Foxy Loxy

The Foxy Loxy Cafe, recommended by one of my LinkedIn blog readers

 

SCAD bikes

Bikes parked outside one of the many Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) buildings; I’m sure their students would have edited this photo way better than me

 

Tybee Island

The beach at Tybee Island, one of Georgia’s many barrier islands

 

Whitemarsh Preserve

Mid-morning at Whitemarsh Preserve

 

Beaufort Waterfront

The waterfront in Beaufort, South Carolina

 

Chris BBQ

Chris barbecued some delicious chicken that we ate with buttermilk biscuits and roasted carrots and parsnips — too bad our friends weren’t there to partake!

  6 comments for “The hardest thing about full-time travel

  1. 2015-05-11 at 11:36 pm

    Ive got a good one that had worked so well for us! Couchsurfing. Now I dont mean using it to stay with people but just sending messages to meet up for coffee or a drink or to go to an art show! We made some really good friends this way and even are visiting one in Italy right now! Most people in couchsurfing want to meet new people too, especially travelers, and we have found they are more responsive and available for a meet up than hosting you. We are very selective (only picking people we think we will really like haha). There are often couch surfing events in big cities too where everyone gets together at a bar or something. Hope this helps! Love your blog!!

    • Tamara & Chris
      2015-05-12 at 3:06 am

      Great idea! Grazie, fellow traveler 🙂

  2. Amabelle
    2015-05-12 at 1:42 pm

    Well, perhaps you could ask your current friends, since you like them, if they have friends in places you’re in or traveling to that they think you would get along with as well. Remember the math rule, if a=b and b=c, then a=c. Miss you both!

  3. 2015-05-17 at 9:42 am

    There’s a new online community for RVers that was partially created by the couple at Techomadia http://www.rvillage.com/ . It apparently advises you when you are parked near other members to facilitate introductions and meetups. I am not yet on the road and have no personal knowledge of how it works, but might help you meet some like-minded folks.

    • Tamara & Chris
      2015-05-17 at 9:52 am

      Thanks so much for the lead, LaDonna! Really appreciate it. Also, we noticed you said you’re not “yet” on the road — so best of luck when you do hit the road. Cheers, Tamara & Chris

  4. 2017-12-14 at 10:18 pm

    Travel could be an opportunity to reconnect with friends who have moved away, as you’re passing through their area. Plus they’ll probably know lots of neat local things to do.

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