One of the best parts about travelling is meeting other awesome travellers along the way. While travelling I’ve met people that have not only become friends, but have also inspired me by taking bold actions. They have stepped away from the norm and are now exploring and living their own dreams. Here is a list of some of these inspiring digital nomads that I’ve met while travelling.
1. Maria Scarpello
I met Maria at WordCamp Cape Town in 2013, where she gave an inspiring presentation titled ‘Working and Traveling Fulltime with WordPress‘. She works remotely for WooThemes and travels with her partner Brian. Together they roam the United States in their RV visiting and writing about the best beer destinations. You can follow their adventures @TheRoamingPint and at theroamingpint.com
2. Kevin Grimes
Kevin is a graphic designer and interactive art director, whom I met at a WordPress meet up in Cape Town in 2013. During that time I was working at home in isolation and it was great connecting with a likeminded WordPress developer and designer. At the time Kevin was living his digital nomadic dream in Cape Town with his wife and son. He has since moved back to the US. You can follow Kevin @designerkev and at kevingrimesdesign.com
3. Jodi Ettenberg
Lara and I met Jodi at the 2014 DCBKK conference in Bangkok. Jodi quit her job as a lawyer in 2008 and has been living and eating her way around the world ever since. As a travelling travel writer Jodi especially inspired Lara as she has expanded her brand by writing books and doing food tours. We were lucky enough to experience one of Jodi’s vegetarian street food tours in Chiang Mai after the conference. Follow her adventures @legalnomads and at legalnomads.com
4. Benny Lewis
Benny is a well-known digital nomad that travels the world mastering language learning. He was one of the keynote speakers at DCBKK2014, which is where I met him. His keynote discussed his experience of launching his own book and promoting it on his book tour. A few weeks later, I also attended one of his private workshops in Chiang Mai, where he spoke about language learning hacks and myths. Benny is featured in the Goodbye Commute, Hello World video and can be followed @irishpolyglot and at fluentin3months.com
5. Paul Kortman
Shortly after joining the DC (Dynamite Circle), I was surprised to find some DC members in my hometown of Cape Town. One of the members was Paul Kortman who I contacted and met at a beachfront cafe in Camps Bay. He was the first DC member that I met in person and he convinced me to attend my first ever DCBKK conference in Bangkok. Together we co-hosted the first DC Junto in Cape Town.
Together with his wife and their four kids, they’ve been traveling the world and proving that a digital nomad family is not an oxymoron. Follow Paul @namtrok, his family’s adventures at homealongtheway.com and check out their recently launched nomad community at nomadtogether.com.
6. Derek Murphy
Derek was one of the first people Lara and I met at the pre-DCBKK networking event in Bangkok. Derek and his wife quickly became our friends and we spent loads of time with them after the conference in Chiang Mai including a visit to Elephant Nature Park. Derek is a writer and book cover designer living in Taiwan currently pursuing his dream of buying a castle in Europe to host writing retreats. You can follow Derek @creativindie and at creativindie.com
7. Cody McKibben
No stranger in the digital nomad scene, Cody spends his time travelling the world and helping others do the same. I met him during the lunch break at the 2014 DCBKK conference. Cody’s inspirational videos titled Live Your Life Like a Damn HERO outlines some core beliefs that remind us that . You can follow his adventures @codymckibbat and thrillingheroics.com
8. Silver Keskküla
Silver was another friendly and interesting character that Lara and I got to meet at the 2014 DCBKK conference. Originally from Estonia, Silver was part of the team that built Skype. He has also worked for Nokia and Microsoft and is now the co-founder of Teleport, a website that helps digital nomads and startups decide where to base themselves. Follow him @keskkyla.
9. Derek Sivers
Well-known for successfully creating, running and selling the online mail order music store CD Baby, Derek is one of those role models that I personally was looking forward to meeting. He was also one of the keynote speakers at DCBKK, Derek shared his pearls of wisdom. Now he spends his time travelling, reading books and helping others whenever possible. If you have not seen them, make sure to watch his TED talks How to Start a Movement and Weird, or just different? You can follow Derek @sivers and at sivers.org.
10. Kevin Greenblat
Lara and I met Kevin while enjoying a beer on a small plastic chair in the Old Quarter of Hanoi in Vietnam. Kevin is a self employed graphic designer and a travel photographer that shoots on film. Having a passion for photography myself, I was interested to learn more about Kevin’s travels and his photography. To see his work visit kevingreenblat.com
11. Mads Singer
Mads is another digital nomad that Lara and I met at the 2014 DCBKK conference in Bangkok. We shared some interesting conversations about travelling, working online and living in Southeast Asia. Mads quickly became a friend and we look forward to visiting him in Davao City, Philippines, where he is based. He is passionate about personal effectiveness and offers training and consulting in the area of people management. Follow him @madssingers or at madssingers.com
12. Barbara Fernandez
Also known as the Raw Rock Chick, Barbara shares her passion for raw food and sells digital products in this niche. She was an attendee at the DCBKK 2014 conference in Bangkok where we met. She was friendly, positive and eager to learn as much as possible from the event. Follow her @therawrockchick and learn more about raw food at rawrockchick.com
These are just a few examples of many successful digital nomads earning a living online and enjoying a location independent lifestyle. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or tweet us @FreemadicLife.