“I got a bit by accident into the nomad thing. I studied physics, and a friend at a wine bar knew the boss of a poker company. They were looking for someone who knows some math, some computer knowledge.. I applied and I got the job. It turned out to be a remote job.” It’s been a year now that he’s working for the poker company. “I like it, and I’ve been learning a lot on the job as well. It is funny though.. Much of my fellow workers I’ve never seen in real life. You think you know them but you’ve never seen more than their profile pictures. Nobody has an office at my job. Though remarkably, I’m the only one who travels.”
Ryan is an easy-going guy. He’s able to find joy in everything, and has the skill to make you laugh even with the most stupid joke. It’s someone who likes living, likes discovering. Only only 23 years old, he’s officially the youngest full-time online working nomad at Punta La Barca. “I decided to go travel when my girlfriend joined the peace corps in Panama for two years. At that point nothing really tied me down to staying home, so I decided to go explore.” “And it’s been incredible so far. Meeting people from all over the world, learning spanish, seeing places.. it works out great. My main concern was internet, but I’ve managed everywhere to find decent enough connection to work.”
He has no doubt that remote work will take off in the future. “It has so much benefits! Not having the cost of renting office space saves the company a lot of money. And not being constricted to the business location for hiring staff opens so much possibilities. And while I love it for travel, most of my colleagues are parents and love the the flexibility of the job in combination with their family life.”
Around 5pm Ryan ‘d come out from after his computer and shout ‘Volley time’! Supersocial, you’d take him to a beach and he’ll have met new people 5 minutes later. A bunch of Argentinians to go surf, a French cookie monster to make torta with, a Canadean quiet girl to learn spanish together, a Serbian guy for having a beer, the baby for playing in the waves, or a dog with big ears.. With whoever available, Ryan seems able to enjoy every single moment. “You know, comparison is the enemy of all joy. Once you start comparing what you do, with what you did/ will do/ others do/ have done, it takes all the joy out of that present moment. So it’s simple. You shouldn’t compare. Am I better here than there? Shouldn’t I go see the superbowl with my friends in the US? While traveling to a place you hear about 8 different places more that you’ll want to see: not comparing is the only way out of too much choices.”
Probably he’ll go on for a little while. “I lived in Buenos Aires, traveled Argentina, lived a month here in Ecuador at Punta La Barca. The work always shapes the way I travel a bit, since I can’t just take off not knowing where I’ll end up. I’ll go with my sister to Colombia, and want to travel more of the US as well. I’m seeing if I can join grad school the next year, so things depend on that. We’ll see. I just try to stay happy… Whatever that might mean”, he smiles.
