When people talk about the nomadic lifestyle, they often focus on the combination of travel and work. But to me, the nomadic experience is more about a mindset of travel and learning.
Traveling is a great way to learn and gain first-hand experience. By immersing yourself in a new culture, language, and way of life, you can earn a unique perspective that can’t be obtained from books, articles, lectures, or online courses.
Traveling allows you to meet people from all different backgrounds. There is a saying in Hebrew that says, “Who is the wise person? The one who learns from every person.” By listening to others and trying to understand their perspective, you can gain a deeper understanding of the world than you would from any other experience.
These learnings could also be very practical and might even allow sustaining your traveling lifestyle. How?
Exploring unique learnings while traveling
- Lose yourself in the Chilean villages along the Carretera Austral, trying to interact with the surroundings and taking your first steps in mastering a new language.
- Volunteer in a permaculture center and learn all you can about food sustainability. See where everything we eat comes from and the stories behind the hands that produce it. Learn how we can protect the land that feeds us and develop the need to do something, however small, to protect our future.
- Spend some time in a faraway village, just living your day-to-day life while interacting with your surroundings. Get to know the locals and discover the similarities between cultural differences.
- Trading your skills for accommodation – trade your capabilities with businesses worldwide. WWoof, HelpX, and WorkAway are only a few of the organizations that could help with that.
- Get to know local businesses and the entrepreneurs behind them. Each could provide endless learnings from a beer brewery to a fintech company in a new market. Joining local communities and meetups in the fields of your interest is a great place to start.
- Teach and share your knowledge. What I love the most about giving a lecture, especially while traveling, is that you always get to meet new people. After each class I’ve given, I’ve always made at least one valuable contact.
- Invest. If you are also one of the lucky ones to have saved some money for academic or investment purposes, imagine the learnings you could achieve by investing in a company in a different country than your own. Investments are all about relationships. Nurture the relationships with the people you encounter along your travels. The learning/investment opportunity will arise.
Since I started my journey in 2015, I could provide my skills remotely while maintaining a nomadic lifestyle. My journey has allowed me to cross paths with many entrepreneurs. Over time, these relationships transformed into partnerships.
By traveling with a learning mindset, I have allowed my timeline to intersect with others. Each entrepreneur has a story. Each story is a vast list of learnings. Travel to meet the people behind the businesses, and you will have an endless source of knowledge and wisdom.
I have learned a lot by starting businesses and investing in new markets, often in Latin America. Some of these ventures have been successful, while others have failed. But I have learned valuable lessons from all of them.
I am sharing these learnings here => The Nomad MBA.
While traveling through Latin America, I met countless entrepreneurs in varied fields. I asked, “what could I help with.” I took an active role while investing my learning budget into these companies. At Manya, I’ve learned what it takes to lead a team in a new language. At Foodbox, I’ve learned what it takes to introduce a new product in a new market. At Green Dreams, I’ve learned what it takes to get an entire village to collaborate. Bricks of knowledge form into towers along the way.
8 years and more than ten companies since I started my nomadic journey, I still believe traveling is the best way to learn. I encourage you to explore, get lost, meet new people, and, most importantly, keep learning.
Some thoughts to consider
- What are the needs and wants of the locals where you are now?
- How could you contribute to the betterment of their lives or business?
- How can you use that to create a sustainable traveling lifestyle for yourself?
- What has been your experience with learning by travel? let me know through a tweet or a comment.