How Nomad Citizen became Juan's safety net, a contractor with no home base

I always don't know how to answer this question. I'm from Cali, Colombia, but I've been moving around since July 2021, so I don't really have a base. We could say my home base is Cali, but I'm not spending that much time there.

I spend my days fixing problems, as a contractor. I'm the Head of Operational Excellence at Loka, a consulting company focused on software development. I'm in charge of the project management department and the operations department. I'm also the regional manager for Latin America, which means I deal with performance issues, decisions, client escalations, issues with projects, issues with people. 

When I started traveling, I didn't like the word "digital nomad" that much because it had a connotation of not doing anything, or just living in Bali and not working. I was working my ass off to pay for all the trips. I actually found this backpack tag a while ago — it says "world citizen" — and I really like the concept. I don't have a home base. I like to travel a lot. I'm always working and trying to connect with people while traveling, meeting other cultures. I prefer that framing a little more than “digital nomad”.

I joined Loka in May 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. It was already a remote job. At some point I said, "I don't know why I'm paying rent when I don't need to be in one place. I can use that money to start traveling." That's how I started traveling around Colombia, and then to other places. It was a transition after I joined this company. And I haven't stopped since.

I don't feel like I'm going to settle down soon. I don't want to. Every time people ask me if I'm tired, the answer is no. When I'm in Cali, I'm like, "I need to go somewhere." I don't feel like I'm missing having a home.

A few things. First, people think we don't have a routine. That's not true. We do have a routine, but it moves. I have the same working hours, just in different countries. I go out early morning to explore cities, get coffee, go to a park, read. The place changes, but the routine stays.

Second, the resting thing. When you're traveling that much, people think you should use every minute to check off monuments and museums. That's not true. I remember being in Puerto Vallarta and thinking, "I don't want to go out even though the beach is right there. I just want to stay in and sleep." We have the same mechanics as anyone else.

Third, people say, "But don't you need your bed, your pillows?" You end up redefining the concept of home. When I say "I'm going home," I mean whatever Airbnb I'm staying at. It's a different mental model, and not everyone gets it.

My change management and stakeholder skills have been greatly improved thanks to traveling. If there's something that will go wrong, it's travel. You get used to handling it. I lost this flight, I missed this train, now what do I do? That kind of resilience translates directly into how I work professionally. Handling stress, changing plans, it's made me much better at that.

I've also started thinking differently about travel itself. Most of my friends approach travel from a scarcity perspective because they only travel on PTO. If you go to Barcelona, you feel like you have to see the Sagrada Familia, you have to do everything. But when you live like this, if you miss the Sagrada Familia, it's not that bad because you can come back. You travel more around the experience, you live the city. It's a different way of seeing things.

There's a downside though. When you travel that much, you start seeing too many patterns. Madrid starts to feel like a collage of Mexico City and Bogotá. You start having these déjà vu moments. You have to actively remind yourself that you're somewhere different. That's actually why I want to go to Japan, I'm hoping it'll be so different from everything I've seen that it'll break that pattern.

One of the main reasons I started using Nomad Citizen was the income protection. I figured maybe there's something here that could help if something happened with my job.

But I ended up also needing global health coverage since I'm constantly traveling. Before Nomad Citizen, I was using Nomad Insurance to fill the gaps because my Colombian medical plan only covers one month abroad, and I started traveling for longer periods. When I joined Nomad Citizen, it was actually the moment I started traveling the most and spending the least time in Colombia, so the timing was perfect.

I really like the company and the mission. I've been using it a lot for wellness therapies, mostly psychological therapy. Gladly, I haven't had to use it for anything more serious. At the end of the day, insurance is a product you're hoping you never have to use.

For me, it's peace of mind that I'm covered everywhere around the world. I don't have to think about it. There's also parental leave, income protection, those kinds of things. It's not only taking care of you right now, but also for the future. As a contractor, not every contractor has parental leave. So it's a proper safety net that works around the world.

It already is. As long as I keep traveling (and I don't see a reason to stop) I'll continue using the product. The only things that would make me reconsider would be if I stopped traveling, because it wouldn't make sense anymore, or if there were a decrease in income where I just couldn't afford it.

The app is super user-friendly. It's really easy to check if something is covered. The different coverages are laid out clearly. From a UX perspective, it's really nice. 

I have a fun story. I was in Bali and I got an email from SafetyWing saying one of their product team members wanted to chat. He mentioned he was in Bali and said if I ever came by, we should meet up. I was like, "Hold on, I'm currently in Bali." We ended up meeting in person. It was Emir Seremet, one of the front-end engineers on the Nomad Citizen team.

We ended up chatting about the product, about life. It was a really nice experience. Not about the product itself, but actually being able to meet someone behind the product. It was really nice from a cultural perspective to better understand what's being built.

I'd actually love it if there were more opportunities to meet other Nomad Citizen members. Some way to know who else has the product in the same city. The dinners that SafetyWing hosts are great: eating together creates bonds between people. That kind of casual networking over food works really well.