Random Question:After how many countries did the spark of nomadic lifestyle start to fizzle out?I recently reached #47 but I can honestly say after about 30 everything started to look/feel the same and the magic of travel began to wane. My observation is most people that are well traveled usually sit somewhere between 30-50 countries. It made me curious if I am alone in my thoughts or if this is a common experience and what factors contribute to it. Is the nomadic lifestyle sustainable long term or just a phase?

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It's human nature. Anything is exciting only while existing in opposition to its counterpart. Going daily to a Michelin star restarant will make every heavenly gourmet food tast bland after a while.But going only once in a while, through opposition, makes the experience thrill.The travel thrill or any other experience we humans chase is ONLY possible in duo with its opposite. The opposite has to be present in your life too.

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If you had stayed 6 months in 47 countries, you would have been traveling for almost 24 years - I take it, that is not the case? So you might be rethinking it - nomadic life is not just rushing from country to country. It is making a home in a country for a period of time. Getting to know the people, the food, the culture, the music, their fears, their joys, see the world through their eyes. If I were to nomad the way you nomad - FAST, I would tire after 4 countries.I travel until I find a place where my soul says "Stay a little longer" and then I stay there for 3-6 months, sometimes longer. You could try that - think of all the places you have been to and go back to that first place, where you felt "stay a little longer" 💝

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The pleasure of travel will fade if you’re traveling to count countries or to show off to people. If travel is deeply rooted in your identity, happiness and lifestyle it’ll never fade. You might need breaks here and there but the desire to travel will remain long term. I’ve traveled to around 70 countries and live out of the states full-time and still love it like I did when I started. I love going back to destinations that I fell in love with years ago and sharing those experiences with those who haven’t traveled as much just to see the look on their faces when they get to experience an incredible destination. If you’re burning out, I would ask yourself what specifically is it that’s making you tired of travel. For me in the beginning it was loneliness from doing so much solo travels so now I focus most of my travels with people I love or new people who I’ll meet up with.

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I've written and spoken at conferences and on podcasts about this for several years now. The term 'nomadic' itself, is a misnomer. Young people especially, tend to love the mobile aspect of the digital nomad lifestyle a lot at first, but after a while, we all crave community and solidity of some sort. So after getting most of the travel out of their systems, they realize that they actually really like about 3 or 4 places. So they set up a life where they still travel and explore places, but generally rotate every few months between the places they love and where they know and have familiarity with neighborhoods, people, shopkeepers, cafe and bar owners, etc. I call it 'Nomadic Roots'. It happens. The lifestyle remains, but at a slower pace while cycling around fewer, more select locales.

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I'm not a digital nomad because I would go mad being a permanent traveller. I have the best of both worlds. I live in central London (which is one of the most exciting cities to live in) for half the year enjoying all it has to offer and then spend the other half abroad. That is broken down into 3 months of wintering somewhere hot and another 3 months of travelling. The reason I do that is because like most you can easily get stuck in a rut of just visiting the same countries over and over again. I am determined to see 100 countries which will force me to go to countries I never thought of visiting and also stop me being lazy. Quite frankly I think I have the best of both worlds and it means I don't get bored at all which is good, since I retired at 40 :-)

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