I'm gonna keep this brief.

Almost exactly 10 years ago I left a job I hated to pursue my dream of becoming a full time writer.

That horrible job experience also laid the first brick to build the wall between myself and my homeland.

I began to despise it and, by association, I began to realize I wanted to become a 'digital nomad'.

Except, back then, no one ever used that term. It was 'invented' later.

So all I know was I wanted to be a full time writer, and I didn't want to do it in my homeland. I wanted to do it online, and for a foreign company.

Ten years later, this is exactly my reality. I am working online, and I am a full time writer, and my company is indeed based 'offshore'.

It wasn't easy at all. For two reasons. First, for years and years and years, I was broke af. I had very little money and it was nigh on impossible to find paid work. I had to survive on gigs and odd jobs.

And second, this was the hardest part, so many people, including friends and even family, were NOT taking me seriously.

I want to stress this because it is important.

In a best case scenario, they were not taking me seriously, telling me to find a 'real job'.

But sometimes, in a worst case scenario, they were openly mocking me.

And I want to stress this again. It was not random people. It was friends and family. Imagine that.

Now who's laughing? I am. For sure. Because I'm writing this from a beach.

Some of those friends aren't friends anymore. They can go get f**ked.

The family members who were making fun of me more or less pretend like they were always on my side.

So no, I'm not going home. And I don't apologise for being in a position where I can work from anywhere in the world.

BUT.

At the same time, I totally understand and sympathize with locals who hate 'digital nomads'.

I try to be frugal, but some people earn outrageous salaries that dilute and ruin the local economy.

You can move to a country where the average salary is $500 with your $10,000 salary as an IT specialist, but you should respect the locals.

The first thing digital nomads should do is stop saying "oh this is so cheap!".

It may be cheap to you, but it isn't cheap to them.

You always have to respect people around you.

And put things in perspective.

With my salary, I can afford to live in some countries, but not all of them. I couldn't survive in the UK or the US or Scandinavian countries for example.

But I can comfortably live in a capital city in Eastern Europe and occasionally travel to places where they write 'digital nomads go home'.

These people who wrote this message, I support them fully. I may leave here, but I won't go home. I'll go somewhere else. I won't go home because I don't like being home and I can afford not to be home.

And it wasn't given to me. I earnt it.

Sorry, rant over. Normal service will be resumed shortly.