Introduction
Recently I went back to a buddhist retreat in Plum Village (France) and while I met a lot of new people, people ask me where I'm from, it's always a difficult question for me to answer, I would say "I'm from Germany, but I live in Korea now!". My roots are in Germany where I grew up and spend most of my life there, recently moving to Korea I usually say I live there.
The follow up question I get is "So you moved there for work?" I answer "No I moved to Korea because I wanted to live in Korea". That's when I realized most people still assume and have the notion of Work and Country of Living most be connected or attached.
Most people are taken aback and still don't get it. I told them I live in Korea, but I work globally! "What?! How?!" As I live in a bubble of with digital workers and many friends work in IT. They all get it but most can't comprehend it.
In this article, I share my personal journey from being a curious university student who first discovered digital nomads in Taiwan to successfully establishing my own company in Korea, exploring the realities, challenges, and freedoms of living as a location-independent worker.
The Digital Nomad
A digital nomad is a person who works remotely using technology and has the freedom to live and travel in different locations around the world. Rather than being tied to a traditional office or specific geographic location, digital nomads leverage laptops, internet connectivity, and cloud-based tools to perform their work from anywhere, whether that's a café in Seoul, a co-working space in Bali, or an apartment in Berlin.
Digital nomads typically work in fields such as software development, design, writing, consulting, marketing, or content creation, essentially any profession that can be performed online. This lifestyle offers independence and flexibility, allowing individuals to choose where they live based on personal preference rather than job location, though it also comes with challenges like managing different time zones, maintaining work-life balance while traveling, and dealing with visa requirements.
My First Encounter with Digital Nomads
I first met digital nomads in 2015 while traveling to Taiwan. At the time, I was still in university studying electrical engineering, unsure about my future career path. I met several digital nomads in a hostel, who completely changed my perspective. One would go on bike rides around the world while writing software online. Another created websites at night, while exploring the city during the day. I was intrigued, it opened up a whole new world I had never considered or thought possible.
With this newfound knowledge, I began searching for ways to make this lifestyle my own. I wanted to live somewhere I truly loved without my work dictating my location. I wanted to see the world while still earning a living. Most people assume digital nomads only work in software or IT, and while that's largely true, they were definitely the pioneers of this lifestyle. These days many other professions can be done remotely: content creation, consulting, coaching, design. Basically anything you can do with a laptop and internet connection.
The Realities of Digital Nomading
A couple years back, I finally made the jump, equipped with the working holiday visa in Korea, I was able to live abroad while working online! It's an experiment to check if I want to live in Korea long term, but also check if working online with some time differences to other countries would be possible. While I was on my working holiday, I traveled across the country, moving to a new place every month. The excitement of being in a new location and meeting new people was real.
Sounds too good to be true! Right?! But I noticed something important: the constant movement affected my work. Every time I moved, I had to adjust everything, find a new café to work from, locate a new gym, figure out where to eat, introduce myself over and over again.
While the experience itself was valuable, not everything was as rosy as one might imagine. Yes, you can live out of a medium-sized suitcase with all your belongings and maintain maximum flexibility. But there's also constant pressure to go on adventures, and the loneliness that comes with being alone in new places. One major realization I came to: even though you have the flexibility to work whenever you want, taking a proper vacation where you don't work at all and just fully immerse yourself in a country is often better than trying to balance work and exploration simultaneously.
Building Stability While Staying Flexible
Through my constant travels, living out of a suitcase, I discovered something important about myself: I thrive on routine. I need my regular café, my consistent gym, and deeper connections with people in my community. Daily self-improvement works best for me within a stable environment.
Now I'm based in Seoul with a permanent home, but I still travel for a few weeks at a time. Sometimes I bring my laptop and split my time (one week completely unplugged to fully immerse myself in a new country or city, followed by a hybrid week where I balance work with exploring local food and culture). The flexibility to visit family and friends in Europe during summer is invaluable (escaping Korea's intense heat and humidity for cooler, more comfortable weather).
For me, digital nomading isn't about constantly traveling while working. It's about having the freedom to choose. I can maintain my stable base in Seoul while still exploring the world on my own terms.
How Can You Become a Digital Nomad?
It doesn't happen overnight. I started as an employee, gained work experience, then transitioned to freelancing, and finally established my own company based in Korea. You'll first need a skill that allows you to work location-independently. Most people start with freelancing, building a portfolio of work and a network while still living in your home country. Once you have a solid base of clients and consistent work, you can take your work abroad.
After that, you can find a location you'd love to settle in and explore different mid-term visa options like Working Holiday visas, Digital Nomad visas, or investment visas for business owners. There are different paths depending on your situation and goals.
Why Korea?
Why Korea is so attractive to me, other than my lifelong fascination since the early 2010s where I dipped my toe into K-Pop and K-Dramas and got sucked into a black hole and never got out of it! Coming to Korea for the first time just felt right! The energy, the people the atmosphere the lifestyle. I knew deep down the day will come where I will live in Korea!
But it took a long time to make that dream/goal a reality, a lot of research a lot of asking people who are living in Korea how they are living in Korea. It took careful planning and execution to design a lifesyle that fits me.
Conclusion
The digital nomad lifestyle isn't for everyone, and neither is Korea. But that's not the point. The point is exploring what's possible, trying things for yourself, and making informed decisions based on your own experiences rather than other people's opinions.
Throughout my journey, I've heard countless people tell me that this lifestyle was too dangerous, too unstable, or not worth pursuing. If I had listened to all of them without trying, I would have never discovered this life that feels so right for me. I would have never known that living in Korea could bring me so much joy and fulfillment.
Life is about experience. It's about living it, evaluating it, and making your own choices. You won't know if something works for you until you try it. Maybe you'll discover that constant travel energizes you, or perhaps you'll realize you need more stability. Maybe Korea will feel like home, or maybe you'll find your place elsewhere. The only way to know is to experience it yourself.
Don't let fear or other people's doubts stop you from exploring possibilities. Take calculated risks, try new things, and trust yourself to make the right decisions based on your own experiences. Whether digital nomading and Korea are for you or not, you'll only truly know by taking that first step and finding out for yourself.
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Kim Ninja (Nguyen Huy Kim)
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