Life keeps happening back home. If you have friends and family you’re definitely going to miss some stuff. And even if you make the effort of keeping in touch, long distance relationships usually deteriorate over time.

You also won’t be able to discuss experiences and problems that arise from the lifestyle on a deep level with most people. It’s getting more popular, but we’re still a rare species.

I would say there have been times where I’m homesick for sure, but largely the biggest downside is having to put yourself out there and force yourself to meet new people to make new friends.

Feeling of isolation is the #1 risk but there are very effective strategies to fight it. The thing is they take work, and imo most people who end up feeling isolated just aren’t doing the work they need to be doing.

Signing up for a language class, cooking class, dance class, finding a rec sports league to join, going out and actually breaking the ice and talking to people when you’re at a bar or coffee shop, finding meetups for something you’re interested in.

They all require work and energy especially if you’re introverted and/or exhausted from work or travel it’s its own challenge. But you can be doing it and if you have thick skin and are persistent then it will work at making you meet people and feel more connected to a place.

Idk about other countries but there’s a big culture of normalizing depression/anxiety in the US and lots of memes about “when u get invited out, but stay in instead, lololol” which is understandable to an extent, but it is taken too far, and it’s bullshit and leads to a less fulfilling life.

Get out there when you have the time and be social.

I would say it might not be for everyone. It might look interesting from the outside. I am very introverted and it suits me well. I also like working alone. As a kid we moved cities every year or two. Nowadays, I move once a month or a few. Totally random. I just wander and I love it.

Homesick for sure – but mainly because of the lack of good Indian, Middle Eastern food – I’ve been Slowmading in LATAM for a couple years now. And there’s a very limited choice of Indian / Middle Eastern food. Prior to this, I lived in the Greater Toronto Area for 15 years and there was a lot of choice :)

I’m one year in and I can’t seem to completely untangle myself from obligations to family and friends. I’m constantly having to plan my DN locations and timing around upcoming weddings, birthdays, holidays etc which all take place in my home country (U.S.). Furthermore I haven’t done a great job of managing friends’ expectations that I can just be anywhere, anytime.

I think most people on this sub will agree that the best way to do this lifestyle without burning out is to stay in each location for at least a month, if not several. But I’ve had to compromise on that on multiple occasions when traveling abroad (for example, two weeks out and then back), not to mention the sheer amount of time I’ve had to spend bouncing around cities in the U.S. I love my country, but I didn’t work my ass off switching careers to get a remote job, just to travel to a bunch of American cities I’ve already been to. It’s also expensive to do that.

So I guess my point is, depending on how connected you are to your people back home, wherever that is, you may have to make some tough decisions about how you spend your time. My closest friend that I’ve known since childhood recently became a dad. Do I want to visit them more often and be a part of his child’s life? Yes. Do I also have a never-ending list of countries that I want to visit? Yes.

1.) If you can travel with someone do it. I travel with my GF. This paired with a few good video calls to family and friends has made the loneliness non-existent.

2.) Brainstorming with colleagues sucks. You won’t miss it.

Extreme difficulty in getting promoted or establishing a career. The old adage “Out of sight, out of mind” applies to people who are producing even good work from places like Buenos Aires or Bankso. You can wish it weren’t true but human nature doesn’t change much. The guy right outside the CEOs office is the likely next CEO. And companies are always formed where the money is. That would be northern CA. If you happen to find a venture capitalist in a cafe in Medellin hold onto him! DNing as described in this Reddit is a pipe dream.

Accommodations that don’t live up to the expectations when you booked them.

You’ll be staying in a few shitty apartments with crappy work stations.

Some are dirty and can’t really be cleaned.

having to read posts like that every week its the biggest one

You can still brainstorm with colleagues. Zoom exists.

I’m nomading with my wife, so I can’t really talk about loneliness. Was lucky enough to find a great partner. However, there are still some downsides -

1. You are never home. Sure, you rent apartments, you even cook meals, but it’s not your home. Sometimes I miss buying stupid stuff like towels or picture frames.
2. You can’t have pets. We want a dog for quite some time now, but the constant moving makes it impossible.
3. Every so often you have to build a new routine - a new coworking space, new gym, find a new supermarket, get used to new currencies.
4. The shift you have to make from vacation mode to every day life mode. No eating out everyday, no sleeping as much as you want. You have to build your own routine, and “live there” instead of simply vacationing.

Shitty internet, shitty working setup, you work on wooden chair.

Whenever you get a new place, you never know what will be shitty about it, there’s always something. Might be a shower that lose its hot water randomly, might be a squeaky bed, maybe there aren’t any pots and pans. It gets annoying. Normally you can just throw some money to fix your problem, but DNing, space is extremely limited so you can’t carry too much.

You end up doing a lot of planning and it can get annoying. I’m travelling pretty slow but you often have to look for new place, new transports ect…

You might feel guilty when you don’t go out, you’re in this incredibly exotic place, and all you want to do is spend the weekend doing fuck all inside. The truth about DN is that you’re kinda living the same-ish work-life, but in a different country (geoarbitrage is pretty neat tho). YMMV

Grass is always greener, I wouldn’t exchange it for anything.

It can be very tiring both mentally and psychical.

Lot of laws are not build around perpetual travelers living in a Grey area.

Lots of short term rentals sucks.

You nailed the top 2.