Freedom Fatigue and Decision Paralysis: The Gift and Curse of a Location Independent Lifestyle
Chances are, if you are living a nomadic lifestyle, or even considering one, you don’t want to be stuck in one place forever. You want that sweet, sweet freedom to go where ever and whenever suits your fancy.
Not gonna lie. It’s pretty fucking awesome. But sometimes that freedom can be really overwhelming! With so many places to go, choosing your next locale can easily be affected by decision-making paralysis. I am absolutely guilty of this myself, and have definitely fallen into a rut. So let’s talk about some of the things you can do to break out of that rut.
First off, let’s explore reasons for falling into decision paralysis:
1. You might be traveling too quickly because you feel the pressure to keep your social media feeds interesting. I recall some years ago watching a documentary about a couple who renovated a school bus so they could live the digital nomad lifestyle through the US and Canada. After about 4 months, they called it quits because they were exhausted from all the travel. But what I noticed here is that they never stayed in one place for more than 3 days! No wonder they were exhausted! And never mind is that kind of travel exhausting, but also documenting and videoing and blogging about it all at the same time. You’ll see in other posts of mine that I am a HUGE proponent of slow travel. I prefer to stay in one place for at least a month (preferably 3-4 months is my personal happy place). This way I can really get to know the area I’m in, I have time to work, I have time to do touristy things, I have time for a routine, I have time to do nothing without feeling guilty that I’m missing out on something. And most importantly, I have time to meet folks and begin to build a little bit of a community (this also helps combat the loneliness that many digital nomads suffer from as well). And another pro for this is that you feel less rushed to make a decision, and have time to do a little more planning for your next destination.
2. But maybe you don’t enjoy planning. This lifestyle is contingent around tons of planning, and I find that most nomads I meet love the planning aspect, as I do. But ok, you’re not into planning. Further along in this post, I’ll address ways that you can make the planning aspect more fun, and maybe even into a game.
3. Maybe your visa is about to expire or you’re forced into it for another reason and you have very little time for planning. I’ve absolutely been put in this situation before. For a few years before Covid, I was spending my winters in a lovely little surf village in Ecuador called Ayampe. At the end of 2021, wrapping up some petsits in Denver, I was all set to go - had my flight booked and my apartment reserved. But about 2 weeks before I was supposed to go, I got a really nasty case of Covid. Ecuador had really strict rules in place at that time, so even if I was recovered, I wasn’t sure that I would test negative on the required PCR test for entry. So I needed to redirect. Where could I go 2 weeks from then that had different entry requirements, once I felt better and wasn’t contagious? I spent quite a few days and nights researching and asking my well-traveled friends for recommendations… and that is how I came to find Roatan, which, 4 years later, I now consider my winter “home”. (So much so, that I ended up getting a residency in Honduras so I could stay longer (if I want to) than the standard tourist visa - of which the length seems to be arbitrarily up to the immigration officer anyway!)
4. Which brings us to the final point of decision paralysis - maybe you’re enjoying your stay too much. So stay! If you can, that is. Living a nomadic lifestyle is not about proving to everyone else what amazing places you can go. It’s about being in the places that feel right to you at the times they feel right.
Next, let’s talk about the ways you can break out of decision paralysis:
1. One of my favorite ways to let the universe decide for me when I’m feeling particularly indecisive is to play what I like to call the “direct flight game”. This is an especially great option for those of you who don’t enjoy the planning process (though it does still involve a little bit of planning). When I can’t decide where to go next, I go to flightsfrom.com (btw, not a paid link, this is pure unabashed recommendation). This site lets me enter the airport nearest to where I am and will tell me what direct flights are available from there. I’ll make a list of all the places that are appealing within those options, and then I’ll start price checking. Whatever the cheapest direct flight is, and assuming I can easily get a visa to travel there, is where I’m going! Sometimes you just need to let an external influence make those decisions for you!
2. Another way to break the paralysis is through petsitting. Trusted Housesitters is one of many sites out there where you can find petsits in the areas you want to travel to. Applying to sits doesn’t lock you in, so you can apply to as many sits as seem interesting, and the one you get chosen for first, might just be that direction you need. (Disclaimer: the link provided is my personal referral site, where both you and I get a discount for using it to sign up).
3. How about finding a friend to travel with? Maybe they’re not a nomad, but they just want to go on vacation with you. And maybe they have a good idea of where they might like to go. Join them for the ride, and use that opportunity to see if this, or somewhere else nearby, is a place you might want to consider dropping in for your next nomad home.
4. Maybe you want to learn a new skill or hobby. For instance, you could go train Muay Thai in Thailand, where many of the camps have very affordable housing, and a bonus of it being a great way to meet people. A couple years ago, I wanted to get my yoga teacher training certification. After some research, I ended up at One Yoga in Koh Phangan, Thailand, where not only was I able to obtain the certification, but the cost included housing and meals for a full month (on a private beach!)
5. Or you could volunteer or work with an organization that is doing something meaningful to you, some of these are jobs you get paid for doing and some of these simply offer housing and meals rather than direct payment. There are also many sites that aggregate the positions, some of my favorites for volunteering are Worldpackers and WWOOF. And my favorites for paid jobs are Jobs Abroad Bulletin and Coolworks. (I have no affiliation with any of these organizations, these are just my recs based on what I use myself).
6. Finally, maybe you want to try a new mode of travel, like train travel or a ferry to a new place. In 2020, just before Covid really showed up in the western hemisphere, I met some friends down in Barbados and decided I wanted to explore more of the eastern Caribbean. I played my “direct flight game” because I wasn’t sure which island to begin at after Barbados and ended up in St Vincent. I wasn’t terribly crazy about St Vincent after about a week, but I could easily hop on ferries that took me to the other Grenadine Islands, which I absolutely fell in love with.
May this post ease you out of your decision paralysis and freedom fatigue and on to many more happy travels!
