In the past few weeks, the Switched ON Living blog has presented several stories about starting our own businesses. We’ve also met two successful entrepreneurs who each began their business after the age of 60 – Margaret Manning and Paul Tasner.
Today, we have a very different take on entrepreneurship, one that’s totally 21st century – becoming a digital nomad.
Digital nomads are people who are location independent. Typically, they rely on digital technologies to provide freelance or contract work while they travel the world, staying longer or shorter in any location as their mood and circumstances allow.
We might think of digital nomads as funky types in the 20s, but Palle Bo proves that there’s diversity in the digital nomad community. He’s closer to 60-years-old, and in this long interview with Kristen Wilson from the Traveling with Kristin YouTube series, he tells us that he’s been living as a digital nomad for nearly a decade.
His story began back in his native Denmark, where he had a wife, two teenage children and a successful career as a graphic artist and radio engineer.
While his job allowed him to travel throughout Europe, Palle was getting restless to travel much further afield, and to stay longer and live the life of an ex-pat.
So once his daughters finished high school, Palle was off. He sold EVERYTING and on the recommendation of a friend, he headed for Cape Town.
His initial plan was to travel the world for two years, but nearly 10 years later, we meet him and Kristen on a beachfront in Brazil and still 100% committed to the digital nomad lifestyle.
Palle is an interesting guy and he has a very interesting story to tell. I’m sure many Switched ON Living members would consider him brave for going ‘all-in.’
For me, there are several important takeaways for Switched ON Living members. The first is where Palle talks about his relationship with his daughters. He says not only do they accept his digital nomad choice, the quality of their relationship is better than ever and they remain in close contact.
The second lesson is about finances. Palle is able to earn enough money to fund his accommodation and travels, but it can’t compare with what he would have earned back in Denmark.
Very importantly for me, Palle doesn’t have much as far as retirement savings so that seems a little too precarious for my temperament. But as Palle says, his weapons are his smile and his common sense and his wealth is the depth and quality of his personal experiences.
It’s very common in Australia for people once they retire to hook-up a caravan and head-out to see as much of the wide, brown land as possible. For sure, there’s a lot see.
But maybe I’m a little with Palle. I certainly won’t make it to 73 countries the way he has, but I think and I believe that sometime soon I will get the opportunity to actually live and work and experience another country and another culture for an extended time.
