Prior to last year I had no idea what a digital nomad was. By definition, a digital nomad is someone that travels freely while working remotely, having minimal possessions and staying in temporary housing.
Yes, yes and yes.
There are some digital nomads that maintain this lifestyle indefinitely and there are others that do it short term and return to their more permanent dwellings. The cool thing about this particular lifestyle, you can tailor it to be exactly what you want it to be.
While this chapter of my life is providing me with an incredible opportunity to explore the country and places I likely would only have the chance of vacationing to. There is a much larger picture behind my desire to live temporarily in such diverse communities.
Before this year, I was more than comfortable with my life and living in Cincinnati. However I knew that it was not a place I wanted to settle down, buy a home and get even more comfortable. Up until this point, this was only my second city of residence since living in my hometown of Ludington. MI. I didn’t want to blindly move to another city without experiencing a few more options first!
So while I am traveling to see and experience so many new things, I am also traveling to find a place that feels like “home”. It has been important for me to allow myself enough time in these locations to gain a better understanding of what daily life in these locations is really like.
Are they places I would fit in if I were to really live there?
I have found that an eight week time frame per location is ideal. It gives me just enough time to feel settled and comfortable in the community. It is hard for me to not feel guilty for being on the go every single day and this amount of time allows for some flexibility if there are days that I do not feel like being an adventure woman.
As of recently, I have gotten into the routine of booking rentals that fit within this time frame but there have been stops where I have stayed less than or more than eight weeks. It has gotten to the point that when I am nearing the end of my eight week stay, I am already anxiously looking forward to my next stop!
It is important for me to capture the feelings and vibes that I am getting from these locations so I can look back and see which spot would be the best fit for me. I keep a running list of things that I have enjoyed doing in these locations along with a list of things I would like to do should I ever have the opportunity to return.
Taking things one step further, there are a few things that I like to pay particular interest in throughout every city that I am in. These are the overall feeling of the city itself, the impressions of locals, the food and the ease of transportation. If I were to consider a city to be one that I see myself in for an extensive period of time, it is important that these items are all pretty high ranking. Just like that, the destination ranking system was born.
Now please take these rankings with a grain of salt as they are formed from my own experiences and viewpoints.
If I was forced to choose a place to live forever based off of the locations I have traveled to so far this year, I would undoubtedly choose Savannah, Georgia. The people were amazing, the food was 12/10, the history within the city and the activities to do both in the city and surrounding areas were wonderful!
Only problem is, I am still curious as to what the rest of the country has in store for me. I am also not looking to slow the traveling roll anytime soon, I am having entirely too much fun!
I am excitedly looking forward to continuing this journey through 2024 and seeing if there are any places that I would want to someday call home.