Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By Jordan Bates
Introduction
This short guide is divided into two parts. Part One is a 50-sen-
tence introduction to digital nomadism intended to highlight the
boons of the lifestyle. Part Two is a more general guide to exiting
the world of traditional work by any means necessary in order to
live a higher-autonomy life. There is some overlap between Part
One and Part Two; when information is repeated, it is of especial
importance.
If youre not particularly interested in exiting the world of tra-
ditional work (or even if you are), I highly recommend looking
into the Effective Altruism movement, as well as the career-selec-
tion tools offered by 80,000 Hours, an Effective Altruist organiza-
tion. These resources can guide you to a more meaningful and
globally impactful career.
This guide is not meant to be comprehensive. It was construct-
ed as an introduction to the subject of higher-autonomy lifestyles.
It is intended to function as a launching-off point and to get the
wheels of your mind turning. It is my sincere hope that this guide
broadens your understanding of the possibilities available to you
and helps you to live a life that aligns with your core values.
Part One: 50 Sentences on
the Opportunity of Digital
Nomadism
1/ Traditional notions of work have vastly restricted your sense of
what is possible.
6/ These workers realize that many jobs are now online, and
they see the emerging potential for higher autonomy in work and
life.
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7/ One study projected that 40% of the American workforce
over 60 million peoplewill be freelancers (contingent workers)
by the year 2020.
14/ Having been a digital nomad for about one year now, I can
tell you that the radical degree of freedom is quite liberating and
intoxicating.
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16/ As I write this, Im staring out over the Mediterranean Sea
from the balcony of my beachside apartment in Durres, Albania.
17/ Ive been backpacking Europe for nearly 4 months now and
have made it to the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium,
Greece, and Albania.
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spare time.
27/ Ive found that the best way to really learn these skills is to
actually build things.
29/ In the ideal, one of these side projects will take off and be-
come a profitable business that can form the foundation of your
career as a digital nomad.
31/ The key thing to realize is that with each project, youre
honing your existing skill set, gaining new skills, and building
your portfolio/resume.
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32/ Once youve built up a marketable skill set, a fair chunk of
experience, and some kind of resume/portfolio (or simply are able
to demonstrate your expertise), you can begin hitting job boards,
listing yourself on freelance sites, or attempting to launch a small
business/company.
36/ At every step of the process, Google is your best friend. Ask
questions continuously.
38/ For good measure, heres one of the best no-nonsense arti-
cles Ive seen on navigating a job search (read the comments too);
heres one of the best introductions to entrepreneurship in exis-
tence; and heres the greatest series of essays Ive found on the
ways in which software/the Internet are changing the world of
work.
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39/ Dont forget to balance all your reading with action and ex-
perimentation. Again, learn by doing.
40/ If youre dedicated and smart about how you train, its pos-
sible to start from square one and gain the skills necessary to find
online work in roughly 6 months to one year.
42/ Dont let this discourage you. As Bill Gates put it, Most
people overestimate what they can do in one year and underesti-
mate what they can do in ten years.
45/ You probably dont want to have this life handed to you on
a platinum platter. It's more meaningful to earn it.
46/ The reward for all of your hard work is among the sweetest
nectars in the human experience: freedom.
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48/ For a certain type of person who thrives on structure and
familiarity, this life wont hold that much appeal.
49/ But for those who crave the opposite, such a life will seem
more than appealing; it will seem like everything.
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from a modern life that is characterized by endless structure,
scheduling, bureaucracy, trivialities, and busyness.
Fascinatingly, many people who read this meme suggested that
the life depicteda life of significant autonomy, leisure, relax-
ation, and free playis the substance of fantasy or a post-retire-
ment destination. Several people responded with variations on if
only, or when I retire, or some other phrase expressing help-
less longing.
In light of this response, it seems it might be worth stating that
high-autonomy lifestyles are more attainable now than ever be-
fore. In this essay, Ill elaborate upon a number of ideas for exit-
ing the world of traditional work and claiming a freer existence.
So far, my life experience has served as strong evidence that if
you make a high-autonomy lifestyle your overriding priority and
are willing to make sacrifices and do unconventional things in or-
der to attain it, its much more possible than you think.
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hours per week for HighExistence (and another 5-50 hours on
my personal projects)a company I co-own and my main source
of income. I go to sleep and wake up whenever I want. I set my
own hours. Im free to travel wherever I please. About 18 days
ago, I moved into a cabin on a commune/maple syrup farm about
an hour outside Montreal, Canada. Ill be living here for 3
months. I found the place on AirBnb and am paying just $470/
month for rent.
Possibilities exist; find them if you want them badly enough
thats kind of the moral of the story here.
In this essay, I want to touch upon two general routes one
might take if one wanted more than anything (important because
otherwise you probably wont make it happen) to maximize au-
tonomy and create plenty of time for leisure/relaxation/free play:
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odd jobs, doing online/freelance/remote work of some kind, or by
starting some kind of business.
One might also consider buying and living out of a van or RV
for a period of time. Those who would dismiss such an idea as
hippie silliness are probably not sufficiently dedicated to the idea
of a high-autonomy/nomadic lifestyle to ever actually make it
work. A big van would be pretty cozy; I dont think it would be
that hard to do, and I may try it at some point. I also know of
folks who have purchased and live in sailboats, which is another
decent option for a somewhat-affordable mobile home. Hell, you
could even look into repurposing a bus.
I really wish there were better, more mainstream options for
people to buy some kind of cheap, simple home. The other day, I
posted the following on my Facebook:
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This also seems like a potentially far more sustainable mode of
mass society.
Where are the people working on this? ReGen Villages is the
closest thing I can think of.
If no one really is, is it a matter of a lack of political will? Lack of
space? Lack of funding? Strict building codes?
Some semi-scattered thoughts. Ive been thinking about this on
and off for a few months. Curious to hear anyone's input.
This post resulted in a lot of really interesting replies/links, and
I highly recommend reading the thread (and following/friending
me on Facebook and/or Twitter). A lot of people pointed out that
the sort of thing I was referring to was occurring on a smaller
scale in many places. Though I was hoping to find some larger-
scale efforts, this was still valuable information. Finding and liv-
ing in one of many intentional communities out there is another
route one can take to escape/reduce rent/debt and become much
more self-reliant. One time I lived in a cabin on a commune in
Canada for 2 months.
The point of any one of these options is, again, to stop paying
rent. If theres one thing that keeps people reliant on an endless
cycle of working and spending, its rent (or mortgages or any sort
of debteliminate debt at all costs and avoid it forevermore if
possible). Many folks are paying upwards of $2,000/month for
rent alone. This is absurd and keeps people completely dependent
on their present situation. If one owns some sort of living quar-
ters, however unconventional, this is a serious game-changer. At
that point, one only needs to find money for food, water, beer,
electricity, and Internet (or whatever your necessities are; those
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are mine). Cutting out all unnecessary and luxurious expenses
and learning to become frugal is the most efficient way to start
living a simpler, higher-autonomy lifestyle.
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and will be for the foreseeable future. The sort of skills I men-
tioned in Part One:
In short, begin by honing some of the following practical, mar-
ketable skills: writing, graphic design, illustration, animation, pro-
gramming, copywriting, SEO, social media marketing, project
management, blogging, viral content creation, growth hacking,
email marketing, podcasting, basic business skills, WordPress,
data analysis, copyediting, and/or customer service.
One or more of these skills is probably going to be necessary to
find online work, and having multiple of them is preferable. If
you dont have any of these skills, everyone has to start some-
where. The best way is to learn by diving in and doing.
NoExcuseList.com is a spectacular list of pretty much all of the
best online education resources if you want to teach yourself a
new skill. With the power of the Internet, you can teach yourself
virtually anything nowadays. This is an important thing to under-
stand, as your success working online will likely depend heavily
on your ability to diligently teach yourself new things and apply
them.
If you already possess one or more of the skills I listed, you
might be able to find work. We Work Remotely and Working
Nomads are a couple of job websites solely dedicated to job list-
ings for remote/online work. There are many other sites like this.
Google is your friend. Craigslist, Indeed, and other more tradi-
tional job sites also have plenty of listings for online/remote work.
You should be willing to scour these websites for promising leads,
and you should be well-versed in how to effectively play the job
application game. If you arent, start doing some googling. This
brief guide to applying for jobs from Wait But Why is one of the
best succinct guides Ive seen.
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Teaching yourself relevant skills and hitting the job search like
a hell-bent juggernaut is a reliable, systematic approach to finding
online work. If you go this route and are very persistent, you will
almost certainly find results.
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build on the Internet is now just as much your resume as the
piece of paper listing your work history. In many ways, its a bet-
ter resume, as people can see plenty of examples of your work by
which to judge your skill and expertise.
So, one roundabout way to end up working online/remotely is
to build awesome shit on the Internet that catches other humans
attention. I dont necessarily recommend this route if its your sole
strategy, but its a good thing to begin doing on the side, regard-
less of what line of work youre in. Create a website/social media
accounts and share your writing, drawings, photography, music,
etc. Whatever it is, put it out there. You dont know whos going
to find it and what opportunities might arise as a result. 2,000
years ago, the Roman philosopher Seneca said, Luck is what
happens when preparation meets opportunity. I believe that an-
cient fellow was onto something.
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niche itch that you know many people would like to have
scratchedand designing a product or service specifically tai-
lored to that demand. So rather than focusing on finding an audi-
ence first, you focus first on your productwhat people are going
to buy from you. Theres much more I could say on the topic of
starting/running a business, but an in-depth guide to entrepre-
neurship is beyond the scope of this book. Again, I highly recom-
mend diving into /r/entrepreneur. Reading Paul Grahams classic
essay, How to Make Wealth, might also be a good idea. Also
this.
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determination, youll likely enjoy the process and surprise your-
self with the success you find in time. Patience is key too, but you
have to balance patience with an ability to make things happen.
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possible to point you in the direction of more information about
particular paths:
1/ Teach English
I taught through a program called EPIK in South Korea.
2/ WWOOF
Work part-time on organic farms worldwide in exchange for
housing and food.
3/ Peace Corps
Make a two-year commitment to live and work in a developing
country.
5/ Be an au pair
8/ Blogging/freelance work
I discussed this route earlier in this essay.
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9/ Become a yoga instructor
13/ HelpX
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21/ Become a massage therapist
23/ Fruit-picking
24/ Day-trading
25/ Housesitting
27/ Haircuts
28/ Bartending
32/ Photography
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33/ Corporate work
In Sum
I think far more people could do the things Ive mentioned here
but are held back by fear, cognitive distortions, and lack of
knowledge/realization of the feasibility of these options.
To clarify, I dont fault anyone for living however theyre living.
I dont think the lifestyles Ive described are inherently better
than some other lifestyle, and I dont think theyre for everyone.
It isnt all orgasms and star dust. There are trade-offs and sacri-
fices you will need to make if you want badly enough to live a
high-autonomy lifestyle.
At least at this stage of my life, high-autonomy models of liv-
ing seem to suit me much better than the day-job-centric model
most people exist within, and I know many others feel similarly.
Thats why I thought it would be useful to share these thoughts in
response to the meme with which I opened this essay. I hope
youve found some useful food for thought in these words, anony-
mous friend from the Interwebz.
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Footnotes:
1. Except perhaps during periods of pre-history in which the hu-
man population was relatively low and everyone was a hunter-
gatherer. Its possible that during this time most people had a sig-
nificant amount of free time and autonomy, though this is unclear.
2. I say this as a single/childless American and recognize that
what Im suggesting is less attainable in other life contexts. Ideal-
ly Id like to see high-autonomy lifestyles become feasible for all
humans, but at this point thats certainly not the case. I do not
take this opportunity for granted, but rather try to learn as much
as possible, share what I learn, and help others in the process.
3. Im not sure if anyone else has coined this term, or something
similar. A quick Google search revealed nothing. It seems appro-
priate here, as I enjoy much of the work I do for HighExistence
and engage regularly in imaginative play through my work. There
are certainly other aspects of my job that are more tedious/labori-
ous, but much of it feels like work-play. Alan Watts sentiment
seems relevant: This is the real secret of life to be completely
engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And in-
stead of calling it work, realize it is play.
4. I should make a distinction between working online/remotely
and adopting a digital nomad lifestyle (working online while trav-
eling the world). One can certainly do the former without doing
the latter, and there might be good reasons to prefer a stationary
lifestyle to a nomadic one. Again, though, many people who work
online are attracted to the idea of travel, especially since they can
live more cheaply abroad.
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Conclusion
A final thing that I want to mention in concluding this book re-
lates to overcoming an outdated work paradigm in favor of recog-
nizing the world in which we now live.
Many people yet find themselves afraid to take chances or do
unconventional things career-wise because they remain rooted in
the old paradigm that says, You must decide now what you will
do for the next 40 years of your life. What you decide to do now
is likely going to dictate the direction of the rest of your life.
I wont argue that what you choose to do now doesnt have impli-
cations for the rest of your life, but I will argue that this is far less
true than ever before. Far, far less. If you feel overwhelmed in the
face of the futureif you feel you have to make some kind of per-
manent decisiontake a deep breath. This is no longer true. Its
never been easier and more doable to do something for a few
months or a year then totally change direction to something else.
Research suggests that young people today will have twelve to fif-
teen jobs in their lifetime, on average.
Realizing that my next decisions are not my final decisions
helps me not to feel so overwhelmed by the dizziness of freedom.
Whatever you do next, you will learn from it and it will give you a
better idea of what you really want to do/become. Experimenta-
tion and tinkering are becoming more and more essential to find-
ing one's place in the emerging world of work. Don't feel bad
about not knowing exactly what you want. Just do something
and discover as you go along.
And, consider doing some unorthodox things. Consider at-
tempting some of the options discussed in this book. The risk in
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doing so is decidedly low, and the payoff is potentially colossal: a
far freer and more interesting life than you would have had other-
wise. No harm in attempting. Failure is only feedback.
Now go forth, take care, and be free.
Further Study:
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Refine The Mind Discussion Group:
Join us in the Refine The Mind Discussion Group, where you
can ask questions about anything and draw on the knowledge of
our community to learn about high-autonomy lifestyles and any-
thing else youre curious about.
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