Traveling back to Prague.
Just spent nine days in Bangkok.
Three exploring the city: sweating, eating street food, trying not to get ripped off.
And the other four days in a fancy, air-conditioned hotel attending
a conference for digital nomads.
What’s a digital nomad?
It’s new.
Kinda.
Nomads have been around forever.
The Gypsies used to be nomadic. They would travel from here to there without a permanent home.
Now add to that someone who has an online business — a blog, a store, someone who develops software or coaches, or runs an online agency — and you’ve got a digital nomad.
Just a few years ago this would not have been possible. But with tools like laptops, the internet, Paypal, Amazon, Skype, etc., it’s easier than ever to have a business and be location independent.
This was a small meeting for these types. It was only the eighth year of the conference, but I have a feeling it’s going to be around for a lot longer and going to get a lot bigger.
And why wouldn’t more people join this group and adopt this lifestyle? If you don’t have kids, and you can make it happen, a laptop on a beach sure beats traffic and a mortgage.
I met people from around the world who agree. Men and women from Israel, Brazil, China, Denmark, Poland, Thailand, Estonia… and of course the US, UK and Australia.
And every conversation I was a part of — it didn’t matter where they were from — it was always in English. This wasn’t a rule. This just happens.
That same trip I was standing in line to buy a metro ticket. The guy selling the tickets was of course Thai and the guy in front of me was Asian, so I assumed, seeing just the back of his head, that he also must be Thai. But when he got to the front of the line I discovered I was wrong. I don’t know where he was from, but it wasn’t Thailand, because he started speaking in English, the only language they had in common.
I know a guy in Prague from Sri Lanka. I didn’t know this before I met him but there are two official and many non-official languages spoken on the island, which is not even as big as Ireland. And they’re not different languages like Czech is different from Slovak; they’ve each got their own alphabets. But when a Sri Lankan from one part of the island wants to talk to a Sri Lankan from another part — surprise!- they speak English.
But you already know how important English is.
That’s why you read these emails every week.
That’s also why you’re improving your skills every day.
You’re doing your SDIs, practicing the Holy Trinity, using Dead Time, and marking your Habit Calendar every day…
