I was a digital nomad for 3 months in Europe. Would I do it again?

As the pandemic ended, the world started opening up. Even though things weren’t quite back to normal, travel began to rebound. Europe was reopening around this time, finally allowing me the chance to explore a continent I had always wanted to visit. With my N95 masks, CDC vaccine cards, and COVID-19 tests in tow, I felt ready to try something new: being a digital nomad in Europe.

Traveling through Europe for such a long period of time will be a memorable experience I will always cherish in my life. Few people get the chance to travel for over a month in different foreign countries, hopping from one place to another. However, just because it sounds cool doesn’t mean it’s actually viable. Was being a digital nomad worth the hype?

Where did I go?

My trip was mainly for western Europe, but I ended up spending a lot of time in other parts of Europe. I started by taking a flight to Paris. This is what we call a “positioning” flight. What better place to start my journey than from Paris? C’est la belle vie!

From Paris, I traveled to the following cities in the following order:

• Barcelona
• Athens
• Istanbul
• London
• Berlin
• Vienna
• Munich
• Zurich
• Rome
• Milan
• Nice
• and finally, back to Paris

Along the way, I spent varying times in each city, in varying types of accommodation. Why did I choose these places to go to? I’ll explain further below.

Income sources

While I was in Europe, I worked as an independent contractor with a few income streams. This way, I could fund my travels without breaking the bank.

I tried to concentrate staying in places with lower cost of living, in terms of housing and food. Additionally, I was cautious to comply with the Schengen Area’s 90-in-180 rule. That means for every rolling 180-day period, I could only spend a maximum of 90 days in the Schengen Area. The Schengen Area encompasses most of the European countries I wanted to visit, so this significantly influenced my final itinerary.

Being an independent contractor gave me the flexibility to do work on my own terms. That didn’t mean I could simply neglect my jobs; I still had to find time to complete them. I will admit that it was sometimes difficult to focus on working when I was surrounded by a place with lots of fun. However, I did use my time difference to my advantage. Most of my work was linked to the U.S., so I was able to explore during the day and work in the afternoon or evening.

The downside of being an independent contractor is the absence of a steady income. To compensate, I had multiple income sources. Some of them were paid hourly, while others were paid by the task. I optimized my time to focus on what would give me the most amount of money. Worst case scenario, I had a healthy amount of padding in my bank account. Thankfully, I was able to make good money throughout my time as a digital nomad, and I was indeed able to fund my trip through my work.

Managing spending

As a digital nomad, you never officially live in the same place for any period of time. This gives you both the benefit of not being bound to one specific landlord, but also the curse of never having a stable domicile. I faced this question every time I went to a new city.

When I went to a new city, I always considered the city I was going to and then looked at the kind of options available. For instance, when you’re in Paris, you better be enjoying the attractions, not your hotel room! Meanwhile, if you are in a lower cost of living city, might as well splurge for less, right?

Living + working in the same place

One recommendation I got from a digital nomad is for a hotel chain catered towards digital nomads, called Selina. They are essentially a hotel + WeWork combination. With Selina, you can book a room, whether a private one or a bed in a shared room, and then rent out a desk to work from. This lets you focus on your work and living arrangements. I stayed in a Selina in Athens and it was totally worth it because the location was really good (about a 15 minute walk away from the Acropolis) and the room was really cheap too, about $50 a night. They had even cheaper choices for people who were willing to share a bathroom and bedroom.

Splurging and enjoying

Because I worked, I could afford to spend. I also started to play the points and loyalty game to stretch my dollar as far as possible. I did a few things to facilitate this.

Airline loyalty status

First, I worked to qualify towards AAdvantage Platinum, allowing me to leverage my oneworld benefits on British Airways. With this, I traveled Europe without having to pay baggage fees. Plus, when I flew on British Airways, I could also access the lounges with my plane ticket. Or, alternatively, I could also use my Amex Platinum’s included Priority Pass to gain access to certain lounges in airports.

Hotel loyalty status

Second, I heavily used my hotel chain statuses to my benefit. My Amex Platinum card gave me Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold statuses. Because I found that Hilton hotel prices tended to be the most affordable, I booked with them for the majority of my trip. The number of hotel stays I had with Hilton was so high, it eventually brought me up to Diamond status. This gave me various perks, such as free continental breakfast at 4-star Hiltons, free room upgrades, executive lounge access, and fast Wi-Fi. The executive lounges and executive floor rooms gave me a great place to get my work done.

I also stayed at hotels that were not Hilton-branded. In those cases, I didn’t get the amazing free continental breakfasts the hotels served, but I was perfectly content with getting a humble cheap breakfast off the street. After all, it’s Europe! The food is amazing (almost) everywhere! As long as I wasn’t in London, I had no trouble finding yummy breakfast foods nearby my hotel.

Points and miles

Third, I played the points game! Sometimes, I would find a good Hilton points redemption opportunity. With all of the places I was staying at, I was earning lots of Hilton points that I could start to redeem. Combined with a small boost from my Amex Platinum’s Membership Rewards points, I was able to book a very nice room at the Hilton Vienna Park with Hilton Honors points! I used my Amex Platinum’s annual hotel credits to book discounted stays in Barcelona and Rome, with cushy benefits such as complimentary room upgrades and free meals at the hotel restaurant.

Did I succeed in managing spending?

At the end of the day, I worked to make my travels financially sustainable. Technically, I did not have to work while I was in Europe. However, I’m not the kind of person to sit idly and watch my bank account’s balance drop precipitously.

To make the most out of my experience, I subscribed to the philosophy of work hard, play hard. When I stayed in a low cost of living city, I would get a decently comfortable room and focus on work rather than play. If I spent a few days in a high cost of living city, I would limit the number of days I spent in the city while also maximizing enjoyment.

While I wouldn’t say I was a frugal traveler by any means, I think I was able to save a lot more money than one could save today for a few reasons.

First, COVID-19 restrictions were still in place, meaning I had to wear a mask everywhere. Many people either didn’t feel comfortable traveling at this time or they didn’t have the correct documentation to travel with proof of vaccination. (Unlike many parts of the U.S., Europe actually enforced mask mandates and vaccination requirements in public places.)

Second, I traveled during the off-season. The weather might not have been amazing, but there were much fewer people than during the peak travel season in the summer. January and February were cheap months for me to be in Europe, whereas March started to get a bit pricier.

Having fun as a tourist

Being a digital nomad is only worth it if you can be a tourist too! I never lost sight of the primary purpose of my long excursion to Europe: to have fun!

I planned my trip to stay longer in low cost of living cities so I could do some work there while paying less for food. Notably, I spent most of February in a suburb of Istanbul. Even though I was in a place where basically nobody spoke English, I was able to save lots of money on both my room and my food. I also spent a week in Athens at the Selina Athens Theatrou for this reason.

Looking back, I would have much preferred to spend more time in Athens. Firstly, I was much more welcomed by the Greeks than the Turks. Secondly, it was much easier to communicate in English in Athens than in Istanbul. However, I had to stay in Turkey longer because I didn’t want to reach my 90-day Schengen limit by staying in Greece. Turkey is neither part of the EU nor the Schengen Area, so it let me get some “buffer time” on the clock. It is true that Istanbul was cheaper than Athens, but honestly, not by much. If I could have stayed longer in Athens, I would have.

Then, when it came time to have fun, I changed my approach. I only spent a few days in each of the fun cities I wanted to travel in, but I made them count. While I was in those cities, I worked less and spent more of my time exploring as a tourist. I would splurge for a nicer hotel if it meant benefits like free breakfast and a room upgrade.

Challenges of living abroad

While the life of a digital nomad is often glorified, a lot of the actual logistical challenges are typically unknown to the casual observer. For me, the challenges ranged from inane to significant.

Small challenges

One of the silliest challenges I encountered was making sure my monthly $15 Uber credit from my American Express Platinum Card wasn’t going to waste. You see, I couldn’t use it abroad, because the $15 credit was 15 dollars of credit. As in 15 United States dollars. Uber did not allow for currency conversion. As a consequence, I had to book Uber Eats orders for my family on the last few days of each month I was in Europe.

Speaking of credit cards, I had to make sure I was using my credit cards with no foreign transaction fees. A very minor annoyance, but one to remember nonetheless.

If you’re not a fan of doing laundry outside of your home, I have bad news for you: get used to laundromats. Thankfully, no matter where I went, I could either find a laundromat that had English instructions or a cheap laundry service offered by the hotel (like at the Athens Selina).

With all of the stuff I was doing, and with the length of time I was going to be staying in Europe, I needed to carry a checked bag. The problem is, everything’s bigger in the U.S. In Europe, I simply looked like an idiot with my huge checked bag on the trains and in the streets. Huffing and puffing while carrying bags up stairs made me look very stupid (and very American, but not in a good way).

Bigger challenges

There are, of course, more serious and annoying things to worry about.

For my cell plan, I had to roam consecutively for over 2 months. With T-Mobile, international roaming was painless, but they started sending me messages threatening to cancel my service if I roamed “excessively”. Thus, I had to rely on either local SIM cards (in Turkey) or eSIMs that cover multiple countries (in all other countries). When I finally had enough of slow, bad internet, I bit the bullet and bought a 30-day 15 GB plan through T-Mobile for my last few weeks in Europe. While expensive, it was worth it.

The most serious matter was my wellbeing. I wondered if I would be able to access healthcare while abroad in case I became sick or injured. Also, I had to ensure I carried enough maintenance medications with me for the trip, meaning I couldn’t pack light. Before I left for Europe, I had to tell my doctor to prescribe me a 6 month supply. That was annoying.

The biggest challenge of them all: loneliness

Something I did not really realize until I spent a week in Turkey is how lonely this was getting. I was going to be stuck in a country for weeks with very few people able to speak English. The different cultural context created cognitive dissonance for me. Soon, it became rough for me to endure it. By the end of the trip, I was starting to really miss my family, friends, and my home country.

I remained in touch with my close friends during the entirety of my trip. One of my close friends in particular was able to call me very frequently throughout most of the trip, but even he wasn’t always available. When I was unable to reach out to people back home, my lifeline was basically cut. I felt despair being stuck in a foreign country and not having close friends or family be with me.

Loneliness is no joke. In fact, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General of the United States, recently proclaimed there to be a loneliness epidemic in the U.S. and warned about the dangers of being lonely.

As soon as I got back to the U.S., I made up for the loneliness and spent as much time as possible with my friends and family.

Would I do it again?

It’s not an exaggeration when I say this was an epic, once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will forever cherish. However, I don’t think I would do it again.

At first glance, the beautiful sights to behold should be mesmerizing enough to make it worth it. If I go to a low cost of living area, then the delicious cheap foods and comfortable living arrangements should make life very enjoyable, right?

Beneath the surface-level glamor lurks the reality of being a digital nomad. Simply put, being a digital nomad was not worth losing two more important things in my life: my loved ones and my culture.

I have no gripes about the work part of digital nomadism; in fact, I still work while traveling from time to time in my current salaried job. Additionally, I am not saying growing old, getting married, and having kids disqualify one from this lifestyle. It’s because I personally think the fun I had did not outweigh the amount of effort it took to stay abroad for longer than 2 weeks by myself.

I learned so much about myself from this trip. Although I learned about so many different cultures, I was so glad to go home at the end of the trip. It’s cool to travel through places that speak six different non-English languages, but actually staying in those societies for a long time can get isolating for English speakers. Thanks to this trip, I knew for certain that my rightful home is the United States.

In the future, I want to return to Europe again. I also want to spend a good amount of time traveling to other continents. However, I now know that extended solo trips abroad are not my cup of tea.