Back before everyone had a supercomputer in their pocket, only a very few people were able to finance their travels by working from the road. This was usually done by writing, and meant long stretches of lonely research and a bag of handwritten notes you had to turn into a book. People like legendary travel writer Joe Cummings paint a colorful picture of what it was like (especially when he was a guest on the Bangkok Podcast), but things have changed so drastically that an entire new classification of travelers has arisen – the ‘location independent entrepreneur’ or digital nomad. And I hate them.

Okay, I take that back – I don’t hate them. In fact, some of them I love. But I hate the assumption that the sit-on-the-beach-with-a-computer existence is the only existence worth chasing if you’re an expat, especially in Asia. Sure, it’s a neat dream if you can make it work, but many don’t or can’t make it work. Much has been written on how it’s actually a rather romantic pipe dream. Despite the reputation that Bangkok (and other cities) have, it is quite possible to have a real, productive, enjoyable career here that has nothing to do with the tropical beach-bum lifestyle. And that’s totally cool.

As an example of what I’m talking about, see this Tweet from Nomadic Matt:

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To be fair, I’m not picking on Matt, a solid dude who talks the talk – that was the name of the article on Mashable.* But this rather negative view of office work is very prevalent these days, especially when you tell people you live in a tropical country like Thailand, doing pretty much the same thing your friends are doing back home.

So let me say this right now: I really like my 9-5 office job in an air-conditioned office. I really enjoy working with my coworkers, a fun, smart, interesting, and culturally diverse bunch of folks. I like the steady paycheck, the health insurance, my decorated cubicle, and – most importantly – the day-to-day structure that it brings to a lazy guy like myself who is too easily distracted by ooh look, a bird!

I’m not saying I wouldn’t enjoy working from a beach in Asia or a cafe in Europe, but the work I do is interesting, enjoyable, and challenging, and I definitely don’t think of it as rotting in an office. Unlike this guy.

work-meme

However, while it’s hard to find that sweet spot between career and vacation, it can be done. The guy in this interview seems to have found it and is enjoying a pretty sweet life, which is great.

Point is, one lifestyle choice does not fit all, and thinking that doing anything else other than digital nomad-ing is a waste of time is a myopic way of looking at things. If it’s your bag, then enjoy it, but for me and many others, I have a rich and rewarding home/work balance that I quite enjoy. And that’s totally cool.

*Incidentally, the Greg Jorgensen mentioned in that Mashable article is not me, but another Bangkok expat with the same name as me. Who, incidentally, is also another solid dude.