Navigate Nomadic Life With Friends
I'm still in Canada ...
There's a few reasons why I'm still here. It's allowed me time to focus on my YTF business and kickstart the projects I've been wanting to launch when I was on the road. There's capacity to take exploratory meetings, a consistent workspace (which has been great to start recording our podcast) and ultimately more brain power thanks to Productivity Pals .
I am energized to begin a familiar nomad journey soon taking a 2 month road trip throughout British Columbia, which is the most western province in Canada and a province I actually lived in for 10 years. I will primarily be house hopping, which I'm so thankful that friends and acquaintances have said yes to open their doors for me 🥺. Although I can't repay the favour right now, I know in the future I will have an epic international base where I can host them and friends of friends in the same manner.
I am extremely thankful for my hosts and friends but I wanna talk about how it changes my day to day structure being under someone else's roof. I find myself somewhere between a visiting guest, yet I know the area, I don't really need to be hosted, but also need the updates tips of where to go, how we're eating (or not) together and how much time that person wants to spend with me. What has helped me with this unknown feeling is being a firm communicator and asking my/friends how they expect to spend their day.
I try to make it clear when I need to do work sprints (for meetings or focus time), which I usually try to schedule when my host has some personal commitments or admin to attend to. For this trip I will maximize local libraries and coffee shops because it creates a clear divide that I am unavailable to hang out, I can focus for a few hours and return to be more present with my people 🫶🏻.
I plan on bringing this conversation up in the next Community Call of how to handle being hosted versus being a friend versus being a short term roommate and ways to express gratitude in different cultures.
If you missed Sunday's Community Call , you can read the highlights. It was a fantastic discussion with people joining from three continents! 🔥
Wherever you’re reading this from, I hope you're having a great day and this blog post found you with your favourite beverage in hand. ☕️