Digital Nomad Lifestyle (but introversion?) 🥹
🍥 Life
Hi friend! How’s it going??
Back to SF now! Munich and Salzberg was amazing and I’m like 80% convinced that I want to try out the digital nomad lifestyle. ✈️
I feel so inspired travelling and learning new things, which I think actually makes me more productive too! Tbh my only fear is what if my introversion hits and I just sit there by myself and talk to nobody. 🥹
Yeah, I gotta summon up the alter ego. ⬜⬛
🌻 Learning & Productivity
Soooo I tried for the 3rd time to finish Aristotle’s Poetics but I fell asleep again…Alas I think I am not cultured enough to appreciate its wisdom. 🥲 I watch videos on his philosophy tho and they are quite insightful.
BUT what I can read really fast is manga. 😅 I read Uzumaki by Junji Ito in 1 day lol. It’s a horror manga about…spirals.
It’s about this small town called Kurouzu-cho that is cursed with spirals. The spirals are everywhere and have consumed the town and its inhabitants. It’s quite bizzare and terrifying. If you’re into horror manga you probably already know about it, but definitely recommend. Has anyone watched the anime? 😵💫
👨💻 What I’m Working On
I’ve been achieving the goals I talked about here (tbh I’m quite surprised too lol) but it’s definitely because I said it publicly (so I have to do it) and stare at the scorecards everyday.
📷 Uploaded 1 video and sent 1 newsletter a week!
🤾♀️ Started exercising again and lost 3 pounds so far (~1 pound/wk)
🐙 Planning for a Lonely Octopus conference on data & AI careers!!
Speaking of which, the Lonely Octopus Age of AI cohort has officially finished, although many octopi are continuing on and we’re having the majority of freelance client presentations now.
🎉 They were so good that both businesses actually asked them to stay on as freelancers and consultants. 🎉
🤖 AI Coding Tutor for Stratascratch
The team built an AI coding tutor that can provide walkthroughs, edge cases, hints, and solutions. Here is Matt’s post!
Congrats on an absolutely amazing job Matt, Vy, and Tomiwa. Can't wait to see the full implementation on the platform!! 👏👏
🩻 Analysis to identify revenue losses and growth opportunities for a Bay Area acupuncture clinic.
So impressed by how thorough y’all were Julian and Stephanie!! Winson, the client, took the presentation back to his team and are implementing your suggestions. 🎉
Next part of their study plans will include how to write proposals and negotiate paid gigs. 😉 I still remember my first freelance project where I literally spent 100s of hours and got paid like $200 - it is truly a skill in itself.
Here’s also a post that Jinjing shared about her freelance project on automating content creation for businesses in the health & wellness industry. Her team is presenting next week! 🤩
We’re just so proud! 💜💜
P.S. All constructive feedback is greatly appreciated :)
-Tina
Digital Nomad since 2017, here. I think it's worth trying. My only regret is not paying close enough attention to the legal and tax stuff early on. Getting that right later in the game makes life unnecessarily complicated and expensive. Also, I wish I had gotten comfortable with Western Union sooner. Their page and app are older than dirt, but when it works it's a great resource.
IMO, SEA(and specifically Bali) offers a more fulfilling experience as a digital nomad compared to European cities that I'm currently visiting. It was easier to meet-up with people at events to find a community with amazing co-working spaces in Bali and affordability was a definite plus. However, given my introverted nature, making friends always poses a challenge no matter where I go.