Our lifestyle is pretty unconventional and as a result we get some strange and sometimes funny reactions from people we meet along the way.

For most people, job and travel are completely separate. They work at a full time job to save up money, then they go on a vacation or a longer term travel adventure and focus on having fun. Then, when they get home it’s back to work.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but we do things a little differently.

I am a full time freelance writer, which doesn’t require me to work from any particular location. So, I spend my time slowly moving around the world, working on my writing career and doing cool stuff in my free time.

I have a great work life balance and I have a lot of amazing experiences in my downtime, including rappelling down waterfalls in Ecuador, piranha fishing in the Amazon Jungle and drunkenly cycling around wineries in Argentina.

My freelance writing career is an actual job and I have a decent volume of work that I do for my clients around the world. I love my job and I find it interesting, challenging and exciting. Depending on the week I probably work between 30-40 hours.

However, unlike most people with a full time income I have the freedom to earn that income from anywhere in the world, which is what makes it possible for us to travel.

Some people get it – but some people really don’t. Which is why I get this question a lot:

Have You Been Sitting in Front of that Computer All Day?

I think it’s the fact that I am doing my work while sitting in a hostel or a hotel that confuses people.

They see me tapping away on my keyboard on a workday from 9am until 5pm. But instead of assuming that I have a non-location based job, they assume that I am on a holiday like them yet wasting my adventure time on Facebook or Reddit.

If I had a dollar for every person who has made a comment about how I am always sitting there typing on my computer – well I could probably retire.

“You’re still on that computer? It’s a beautiful day!”

Yup – and tomorrow on my day off it will also be a beautiful day and I will go to the beach and relax because my work for the week is done.

“You’re always sitting here, typing away… when will you go out and explore?!”

I will have fun in my time off, just like anyone else with a full time job.

“You’ve been working for the last three days? When are you going to get to take some time off?”

*sigh*

Don’t Feel Sorry For Me!

I don’t know what to do when people say these things. I explain to them that I am a freelance writer and digital nomad. I explain that we are travelling slowly around the world and have been working remotely and backpacking for 8 years.

I explain that it is my freelance writing work that allows us to go wherever we want, for as long as we want. I explain that I have managed to find a way that I can pursue my dream career AND my dream of traveling the world at the same time.

However, often this information doesn’t stop them from making these comments.

Some people understand, but others still seem to feel sorry for me. It’s bizarre and frustrating when people give me a look of pity while I am living my dream life.

“Awww… you are still working? It’s a shame you have to work!”

No, it’s not a shame. It’s AWESOME that I get to work in a job that I enjoy and that allows me the freedom to work from anywhere.

To better understand how annoying this is, imagine you have a great job that you love and you are in your office at 11am on a Tuesday morning happily getting along with your work. Now, imagine someone standing there feeling sorry for you.

“Poor you, you have been there for two hours already just typing on that keyboard. It’s a beautiful day, aren’t you going to go relax?”

Freelancers and Digital Nomads Have Real Jobs!

I don’t really blame people for not getting it, most are unfamiliar with the concept of working in this way.

It’s already a common misconception many people have about freelancers, even those who work from one location.  So, I’m not surprised that it happens even more to me when I am working in a location where most other around me are on their holidays.

I’ve heard many freelancers who work from home say that their friends and family assume they are free at all hours of the day to meet up for lunch, run errands, have long phone conversations, etc. Often, the work that freelancers do is invisible and not taken seriously, because it doesn’t happen in an office, during set times, under the supervision of a boss.

However, even though we don’t work in a cubicle, freelancers are often busy as hell! We may be flexible with our hours, but we still need to get the work done. My workday needs to be just as productive as anyone else with a full time job, even though I am doing my work from a café in Lima or a hostel in Kuala Lumpur.

So, next time you are in a hostel and you see someone typing away on a computer, consider that they might have a full time location independent job – rather than assuming they are some weirdo who travelled all the way to Bangkok, Berlin or Bogota just to surf the web and never go outside.

Digital nomads – do you get these comments when you are working and travelling? How do you respond?