The world of travel is a fascinating place for those who choose to pursue it full-time. Each country has its own culture and customs. Yet without cultural adjustment, the transition from living in the United States can be difficult. Discover ways to adjust to culture shock and other new norms with these tips for the digital nomad lifestyle.
6 Cultural Adjustment Tips for Digital Nomads
Becoming a digital nomad is a journey unlike any other. The lifestyle allows you to experience new cultures at a time in your life when you can embrace them, while also indulging your sense of wanderlust. What makes this career all the more exciting is that you can choose how much culture shock you can handle. From the Buddhist stupas of Sri Lanka to the laissez-faire attitude of the Caribbean, you can pick your own adventure.
However, adjusting to cultural differences isn’t as easy as pushing a button. Each country you visit requires a balancing act in tune with local customs, legal issues, and other unfamiliar situations. To reach your top tier of productivity while immersing yourself in a foreign culture, here are a few cultural adjustment tips for aspiring, budding, and experienced digital nomads.
1. The Visa Situation
Gallivanting around as a tourist is a far cry from finding your temporary workspace as a digital nomad. While you can purchase a round-trip flight as a tourist and visit 177 countries either visa-free or with a visa on arrival, digital nomading requires some careful planning to avoid deportation, legal issues, or being denied entry at the border or airport. Keep in mind that many foreign countries have far stricter laws—a cultural adjustment you’ll want to remain vigilant of.
Visa-Free Countries and Extending Your Stay
Even if your country of choice lies within these 177 options, you should still research long- and short-term visa rules. In these 177 countries, you typically receive a tourist visa stay between 30 and 90 days. Some countries also allow you to extend your stay. So if you love where you’re living, a visit to the country’s immigration site is worth the effort.
Visa Runs
In my time in Southeast Asia, the phrase “visa run” was rampant. Many people chose to stay in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia because of the friendly people, warm temperatures, tasty food, and exquisite culture. While Vietnam has recently opened a one-year tourist visa for Americans, other countries in the region have not. This necessitated a major cultural adjustment known as the visa run.
The visa run is a legal, albeit roundabout way to stay in a country for an extended, undetermined time. To complete a visa run, simply book a round-trip ticket to another country for a minimum of one to two days, then return to your country of origin for a renewed visa. Some digital nomads I met reported that visa runs that lasted only a day or two aroused suspicion from customs officers. As a result, you may want to book a five-to-seven-day trip to avoid the appearance of a drug mule or overstayer. Otherwise, you may have to sit through lengthy searches and uncomfortable interrogations.
Other countries have grown wise to the visa run. In these instances, you may get a tourist visa for the standard length followed by a certain amount of time you have to remain out of the country. This rings true for any of the Schengen countries of Europe (can only stay for 180 days in a 360-day period), as well as New Zealand (270 days in a 360-day period) for example, even if you’re living in a van.
Still, visa runs remain an option in countries that don’t offer six-month or one-year visa options to visitors.
Consult the Embassy or Consulate
Before you decide to stay in a country for an extended length of time, consult the foreign country’s embassy or consulate in the United States. Some of these government offices may take constant emailing to get information, but you’ll find the advice helpful. More than anything, respect the visa and immigration laws of each country. Then, you won’t have to deal with any less-than-ideal scenarios.
2. Be Aware of Local Customs
When I first made my way through the dizzying array of motorbikes, alleyways, and general chaos of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam—my first-ever landing spot as a digital nomad—I didn’t notice that several intersections seemed somewhat devoid of traffic. Chalk it up to being in Vietnam for the first time or soaking in the moment, but locals began to tell me how tame the traffic was despite the thousands of motorbikes chugging along. I then began to notice that many of the shops and restaurants in a city of over 8 million people were closed. I was baffled.
After a discussion with my Vietnamese sister-in-law, I figured it all out: I had landed in Vietnam during Tet. Also known as the Chinese New Year, Tet is a time of reflection and family gatherings. As such, many of the locals had traveled to the country and other destinations for family events. This meant fewer cafés to find Wi-Fi, almost no open restaurants, the closure of many government buildings, etc. Ho Chi Minh City was certainly no ghost town, but it also wasn’t a place to get pressing work done. This was one of the biggest cultural adjustments, especially coming from the United States where almost everything is open even on many major holidays.
This is just an isolated incident on the digital nomad radar, but an important one at that. Certain countries may all but shut down during holidays, close everything on Sundays for church, or celebrate an event where you won’t find food, internet, transportation, or other services. The only answer is research. By doing proper research, learning the customs, and planning accordingly, you won’t miss deadlines or important dates due to unforeseen cultural differences.
3. Learn a Bit of the Language
The spread of English to many developing nations had made it easier than ever to travel as a digital nomad. Even people in small Asian villages had at least a slight knowledge of English, making the cultural adjustment easier and providing an effortless way to eat delicious local delicacies. Sometimes, a mix of nodding and hand gestures is enough to suffice and even entertain both sides of the conversation. But nothing beats learning a few phrases in the local language. At the least, grab a foreign language app to help you navigate the country and communicate.
When you take the time to learn how to say hello, thank you, how are you, or goodbye, you’ll be surprised how much locals open up to you. Many want to practice their English, while others simply smile and correct your (probably terrible) accent. With just an hour or so of study on the plane ride to your next destination, you’ll learn how to communicate with people, endearing yourself to them and eliminating the ungrateful or pretentious reputation that follows many American travelers around the world.
4. Balance Newfound Excitement with Work
One of the most pressing issues you’ll find as a digital nomad is a work-life balance. In most instances, you’ve become a digital nomad for an improved work-life balance, a lower cost of living, or a different experience. However, this can become a troublesome aspect of the lifestyle.
Typically, your first instincts when you move to a new country are to check out the most famous attractions, sample the cuisine, or grab a drink and people-watch. Interacting with locals and discovering the digital nomad and expat community is also high on the list. Whatever you decide to do, getting to work probably isn’t high on your priority list, at least at first.
With so many distractions, it’s easy to get lost in the hullabaloo and excitement. That’s why you need to set boundaries. You may want to factor in a day or two for exploring or partying, but after that, you need to get down to business. Set deadlines for finding permanent accommodation, when you’ll get back to the grind, and other tasks to keep you functioning and earning a living. In cases of extreme culture shock, you may also want to pencil in a timeframe for cultural adjustment based on customs or religion.
5. Make Changes to Adopt Religious and Cultural Adjustments in Everyday Life
Though you may not practice religion or you’re used to a liberal day-to-day life, you may have to make some concessions at your new home. For example, many religious countries require women to wear attire they’re not used to. In addition, entering a temple may require females to cover their legs or shoulders. These are signs of respect to a god and the locals, and shouldn’t be viewed as oppression. Other countries may extend their religious beliefs to areas outside of temples or religious buildings. In some countries, even men shouldn’t walk around shirtless or with short shorts on. It may take you a while to get used to these cultural adjustments coming from America. But they remain an important way to gain the respect of your hosts.
6. How to Choose Your Next Home
Before choosing a city or country to call home, you should conduct ample research. This includes the pace of life, attractions, and people, and also some topics you may never have considered. Here are just a few of the most overlooked.
Currency and Exchange Rate
If you’re earning money from your home country but living abroad, your adopted home’s currency and the exchange rate is still important. This goes beyond accidentally handing someone a $100 bill when you meant to give them a $10. It directly pertains to your cost of living and quality of living.
Places such as Europe and the United Kingdom have currencies that are currently more valuable than the U.S. Dollar, lowering your spending power. Interestingly, the U.S. Dollar is far stronger than the Australian or New Zealand Dollar, yet the cost of living Down Under effectively neutralizes this advantage. In stark contrast, US$1 equals roughly 24,000 Vietnamese Dong, giving you a larger budget for accommodation, food, and entertainment.
Because of the variability and volatility in the exchange rate and cost of living, understanding just how far your income will go will give you a better guess on where you’ll excel as a digital nomad.
Warranties and Equipment Malfunctions
If you’re a digital nomad, odds are you have an expensive piece of hardware in your luggage. Whether you have a new laptop, a drone, or an expensive camera, you’ll want them protected when you’re abroad.
Always check the warranties before you decide to buy a certain product. If the country where you want to live is omitted from the warranty, consider a third-party option. Purchasing a third-party warranty will help relieve stress and get your items repaired or replaced more quickly.
In foreign countries, cultural adjustment lies within trusting repairmen if you don’t buy a warranty. Sometimes, trademark infringement is 100% legal. So when you walk into a store with the Apple sign to get your MacBook repaired, you might find people with no formal training. In this case, ask around to see who’s reputable and whose tinkering could cause you to buy all-new equipment.
Time Zones
While they aren’t necessarily a cultural adjustment, another of the most overlooked aspects of digital nomads are time zones. At first glance, time zones don’t seem like that much of a difference. And while the problem with time zones is heavily reliant on your position, odds are you didn’t travel half a world away to work the graveyard shift.
If you work on deadlines, knowing the time zone is still important to get your work in on time. But if you need to be available at a set time during the week, you’ll want to understand what you’re getting yourself into. A Google search of “time in __” is enough to know if you’re making the right decision based on your location.
Wi-Fi and Internet
Every digital nomad needs a reliable Wi-Fi connection to complete projects. In the Western world, this is seldom a problem. Even if you don’t have Wi-Fi at your accommodation, you can still find connections at cafés, restaurants, libraries, and bars.
In developing nations, reliable internet is a coin-flip. Some nations may surprise you with the quality and low price of the internet for your home or phone, while in other places, the internet is either slow, high-priced, or non-existent. The problem is that you can’t always determine where problem areas lie. To combat the problem, grab a local sim card or a pocket Wi-Fi system so you always have a decent connection via hot spot.
Cultural adjustments are just one of the many parts of becoming a successful digital nomad. How you adapt to them and embrace them is an integral part of your experience overseas. The more effort you put in, the more you’ll get out of your experience.
Are you a digital nomad who has had to make some cultural adjustments as you travel around the world? Connect with Virtual Vocations on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to tell us what you think. We’d love to hear from you!
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