Two weeks ago I got a hit and crashed. I knew it’s gonna happen as apparently all digital nomads get it – sooner or later. I did cry and spoke with few friends that helped come up with the “self-rescue” plan, as you call it in kitesurfing đ Eventually human beings are kind of social, seek human connections and some sort of stability? Well, at least a little bit. Apparently I have a digital nomad syndrome!
So .. What’s next?
I reached the level where I want to pick one place to stay for 6 months minimum. Get more stable social life, âmaybeâ hunt a guy and do bunch of sport stuff. Reset. Do some work on not too shitty wifi and execute another (few) of my never finished zillion biz ideas projects.
The ideal place should …
- kitesurf spot near
- mountains near
- local language that I know or locals can speak it (eng, es, pt, de, balkan lang; I think I will say no to russky and leave arabic challenge for another time)
- easy on visa (not willing to do visa run every 30 days, or rules like 60 days within 180 days are no go)
- it doesnât need to be Cambodia cheap đ (but Iâm not complaining about $0.25 happy hour beer, doh!)
- I prefer warm & sunny weather than Iceland cold
- Internet đ
- Short, dark, horny and from correct continent (or let say ⌠âcorrectâ language speaking – learn it, you still have a chance!) ⌠or at least to qualify in three out of those four requirements if it is exceptional *guy*. The 5th condition – NO to developers, like really NO NO NO (unless super qualified in first four …). F* it, I know what are my priorities. La la la (my hormones are just a little bit ⌠hahaha)
Here goes my list (internal one was with photos ..)
Lisbon, Portugal
Was my escape hub when I was studying in Tomar. Look on the map why. Is nice, friendly people, food is ok. Kite beach is not far away. If no wind I can surf too. Mountains are dunno where. Or maybe I will just hike around the lovely villages and feed myself with pasteis de nata (I think one pastei is the most my stomach can handle ..). Nice and warm weather, winter is not that bad too. Has a decent IT hub, coworking, startups, occasional nomads. Might be a bit too big .. or just feeling nostalgic of crazy time I had in Portugal .. not sure who is faking what or I just want to give my eyes a blaze on portuguese guys.
Fuerteventura or Gran Canaria, Canary Islands
Great weather all year long, great beach, great mountains, great food. Letâs be honest – spanish food is better than portuguese. Never been to Canary islands before. Apparently a bit overrated nomad hub, ha. I donât care. Might be too many tourists. Local and expat mix, dunno the age range of it. In case I feel like I miss mainland for no reason there is bunch of flights everywhere. Donât be selfish, I will have a guest room in case this is next.
Granada, Spain
Heard bunch of nice stuff about especially about tapas. Close to the mountains. One hour to the beach and kite. Cold winter in spanish flat without heating. Seems they have bunch of coworking spaces and the city is a size of Ljubljana.
MedellĂn, Colombia
Ha, is apparently a very cool place with nice hills around. Whatâs Chiang Mai in Asia is Medellin in S America for digital nomads. Good food, friendly people. Mild weather all year, seems I will need to get another shirt. Bunch of nature around. Oscar is claiming here is a lake to kitesurf too, hope you are not faking that as find nothing around.
Eligible for tourist visa 180 days in calendar year. Than find another visa.
ValparaĂso, Chile
The hidden hipsterâs capital. Colorful, artisty and creative. Just âa bitâ hippie ⌠Lol. Not too big, nice weather all year. Kitesurfing just outside of the house, national park on the other side. Undiscovered by nomads, yes! Chilean Spanish is like Azorean Portuguese, yet almost another language .. Oink oink. ValparaĂso seems to be like Barcelona on acid, but on good one. Like, really. Look at all those colors and graffiti. ???????? Easy on visa, 90 days on arrival & can extend for another 90 days without leaving the place .. apparently you can do that indefinitely with occasional escape over the border. Chileans are nice people too. It just seems to be a bit far from Europe. And I can start building my hippie van too.
Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
âTinyâ spring island always in flowers. It has more than 1000+ km of trekking paths along levadas. I think there is no kitespot, maybe something shitty in Santa Cruz. Portuguese food. Last time I was there, majority of population was ehm .. 50+? đ Funchal seems big enough though .. Iâm pretty sure I will âenjoyâ Ronaldoâs photos everywhere around. Lol. I donât think it is a nomad hub such as Canarias.
Have another idea?
Iâm pretty sure you know of another hidden spot I never heard of on this planet.
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I removed Azores islands from the list, for a reason – no kitesurfing (except kamikaze level), shitty rainy winter, might be too small too … I did have a look to!