Digital Nomads: Sandra - Part 2

This is Part 2 of the interview with a Digital Nomad: Sandra

If you haven't read Part 1 please click here!

How was your life and decisions and motivation affected after the pandemics?

The pandemic completely changed my plans of life. Funnily enough, when it started, I was in the center of it all. I was living and working in China, and in February of 2020 my boss insisted me to fly back to Spain for ‘a couple of months’ until things resolved. Almost 2 years later I’m still waiting to go back to China. However, things have worked out perfectly for me. I still get to teach for the university where I was teaching in China, just that now I do it online and can finally taste the freedom of being a digital nomad!

How is you stay in İstanbul? Is it a good spot for global nomads?

I had always wanted to live in Turkey (Covid ruined my plans, but I was supposed to live and volunteer in Gaziantep after closing the Chinese chapter of my life), so I figured out I’d take the chance to live in Turkey now. I initially came to Istanbul for one month, but when the 90 days I’m allowed to stay as a tourist were coming to an end I decided to get a 1-year residence permit, so that’s very telling of how much I like it here! Istanbul is a unique and modern city located in my two favorite countries. Turkey is one of the safest countries I’ve ever been to (which was a very positive surprise for me, and I’ve travelled all over the country so I feel confident about making that generalization). People are also kind, respectful and friendly. Many parts of the country live off tourism, so despite being in a foreign country you’ll never feel totally alien and it’s really easy and comfortable to travel around the whole country. Also, unluckily for the locals, the Turkish lira is very weak, which in turn makes life here very cheap for us (with ‘us’ I mean people from Western European or in general from countries with a stronger currency). All in all, it’s cheap, safe, the culture is amazing and the people are great too. It’s a yes for me!

What will be your next stop?

I’m not totally sure about what I’ll do when my tourist residence permit expires, which will be on 1st March. I’m thinking about working remotely at the same time that I actually travel and move between different countries every 2-4 weeks. The countries in the Caucasus looks like an appealing option to me now, as some Eastern-European countries and my neighbor Portugal do.

What are the downsides of the nomadic life? Do you miss anything from your past way of life? Do you consider to go back to settling somewhere or your home city?

I wouldn’t choose any other life for now. You definitely have to give up on things, but I’m more than ok with that. The upsides outweigh the downsides, and by far, at least for me. I can’t see my dear ones too often but we still communicate daily. I can’t form long-lasting relationships of any kind now and it’s also not a big deal for me, I got used to the thought that sadly I might not see some people again. On the more petty side, I can’t buy all the clothes or stuff I like because my life has to fit in a backpack/suitcase so I choose not to have many belongings because it doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know if I’ll ever settle down. My biggest dream (which might come as a surprise after reading all the previous answers) is forming a family, so I might settle down eventually or might bump into someone like-minded and… form a nomadic family? That would be like a dream, but to be very honest, I wouldn’t mind at all settling down (wherever that is) if I have to.