There’s No Place Like Home

You’ve just spent months, maybe even years, living and working abroad. You have literally survived in places where you don’t speak the language, have paid your bills there, and have successfully navigated your way through the TSA’s security line to visit your family back home for a few weeks. Whether it’s 4 weeks or 6 months, it can definitely feel twice as long when you’re home. Here’s some tips on how to survive a visit back home as a digital nomad.

Meet Up with Close Friends and Make New Ones

Depending on where your family lives, you might be spending more time in the house while working, or spending time with family. Getting cabin fever is a real deal in this case and can increase tensions with your fam – you know, the people that love you but drive you insane?

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Oh geez 😅 What can I say about the last few weeks? We've been working away since our last conference and gearing up for another trip to #sanfrancisco next week. We're hyped, but it's been a lot of work! . . It's been tough though. 😓 We've been hunkered down in our hometown, here for a few more weeks before going abroad again and it can be a challenge to keep up that adventurous spirit when you've got obligations like family or health related appointments. . . Yesterday during #victoriaday it was raining and kind of tragic 🌫️🌧️ but we decided to make some calls and found this House of Ping Pong! 🏓 It was awesome. Worked up a sweat after we looked up the rules of the game 😂 . . What do you do to keep the sense of adventure alive when you go back home for a visit? How do you keep it fresh and exciting? Comment and let us know! Seriously, it'll keep us motivated too! 😂😅🤔✈️

A post shared by Carolina and Jonathan (@inspirenomads) on May 22, 2018 at 8:06am PDT

Plan a Work Related Conference and Side Trip

Chances are you can’t stop working, that doesn’t mean that you have to chain yourself to your parent’s dining room table for 2 months. Take this down time to visit one industry specific conference or symposium to meet with other industry pros in your niche. This’ll provide you with new business opportunities and much needed momentum for when you’re feeling a little trapped by comfort.

Get out of the house by reconnecting with old friends over coffee, visit free art gallery show, or engage that New Experience muscle that you’ve been developing while travelling abroad and go to a local event and meet some new people. Join in on a weekly pub trivia night and get to know your fellow locals and soon you’ll be calling them the next time you’re in town.

Explore like a Tourist while being a Local

One of my absolute favourite things to do is to find an amazing restaurant and tell all of my local friends about it. There’s something thrilling about it: Exploring an area in town that you rarely go to, talking to people you’d otherwise never communicate with, and then sinking your teeth into something truly delicious. Just thinking about the possibilities makes my mouth water, and sparks some serious curiosity. Maybe restaurant hunting isn’t your thing. Maybe going to concerts, attending art shows, or visiting local breweries and wineries are your thing. If you love a specific sport then sign up to that local chapter in your hometown. Whatever it may be, your hometown has something to offer your curiosity if you look for it.

Jonathan and I went to a 1 week trip to GEOINT 2018 in Tampa, Florida and of course, we spent 3 days in Disney World. It’s all about balance.

First part of the week

Stay busy and Plan Your Next Trip

Parents are quick to revert to treating their adult children as teenagers while they’re under their roofs, and before long, you’ll be gone sooner than you think and for longer than they’d expect. Stay busy and focused with work, and keep planning events and meet ups while at home and you’ll find that it’s no different than being abroad.

Unless you’re planning on staying, this is the perfect opportunity to keep planning your next trip. In fact, right now Jonathan and I are planning our next trip to Asia. We’re really excited about it and having this moment while living with our family means that we can get planning and get them excited about visiting us abroad. What better way to share time with the ones you love by creating new memories together? In the meantime, try not to stress each other out too much while staying at your parent’s place!

Thanks for reading!
– Carolina & Jonathan

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