Location with intention
There is an emerging trend among digital nomads to return to the first world, and I’m not sure anyone knows what to make of it.
If we reframe the category it might make more sense.
Location independence means you can live anywhere, and like many terms it doesn’t actually mean that: often someone creates location independence, moves to the third world, and then becomes location stagnant.
A better term is “location intention.”
Location intention means you intentionally choose where you live, and once there you seek out the unique traits that make it the best.
This is the underlying premise of Tim Ferriss’ travels, when he goes to Argentina to learn Tango or gets blood work in South Africa.
This is what it means to “fill the void.”
Location intention means you embrace every moment, because you’ve made this choice.
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I’m location independent, but I’ve struggled to be location intentional.
I lived for years in San Diego and Santa Cruz, but only surfed once. I lived in Silicon Valley for a decade without appreciating anything about it. I spent 30 days in India without a moment of spirituality.
When I moved to Asia, I was completely location intentional, for a minute. I had discovered my priority of community over ambient scenery, and Thailand (then Vietnam) was an opportunity to explore this.
In Saigon I settled once again and lost the intentionality. I’d get so focused on work, and started to live online. The city became wallpaper to my real existence on the internet.
The one day, I became frustrated by the unspoken unease and booked a flight back to the US. Suddenly I felt amazing: the act of taking the flight restored my intentionality in life and brought focus to my actions.
This only lasted for a short time, and I had to return to Vietnam to regain the intention. But it worked, and exposed my lack of intentionality.
Most digital nomads will feel this less acutely if they take more short travel than I did. If so, it might hit you hard when you return to your hometown. You’ll feel like you lost ground to the Joneses and you’ll pine to get back to that place where you felt the joy of intention.
My suggestion: find the intention where you are.
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I live in San Francisco now, and as I found this familiar pattern creeping in, when I started asking the question “what is world class here that I cannot do anywhere else?”
Like Ferriss studying BJJ in Brazil, what could I do in SF that is uniquely amazing?
Startups, of course, are big here, and one nomad friend found himself in an incubator living in the largest private mansion in the city. Classic Silicon Valley.
Another nomad moved back here and enrolled in Hackreactor, a bootcamp to learn software development. This exists in other places but its probably uniquely great in Silicon Valley.
Crossfit, here, should be exceptional: Kelly Starrett runs a box in SF and the games take place just a hundred miles away in Aromas.
Improv is something I’ve wanted to study for five years, and I’m told BATS is world-class.
Next door to BATS I discovered a cafe devoted to the Long Now foundation, where you can ponder the next 10,000 years. Thats definitely uniquely SF.
Into spectator sports? The Warriors are in the middle of an historic season of basketball. the kind of year people will talk about for a decade.
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This isn’t about San Francisco: most things here aren’t actually the best in the world, they’re just close enough that locals assume it is the best.
Most things you’ll want to explore have an absolute world class location (the mecca) and numerous other locations where the price allows you to become world class faster.
The best isn’t just the absolute quality, its the quality that you receive.
To be location intentional is to embrace the best of where you are, and to be where you can embrace the best.
The best gym in Vietnam, at $200, is on par with many gyms in California for $50. I struggled with this, until I realized I could work with a world-class personal trainer for a fraction of the cost in the US. Suddenly my total exercise spend wasn’t too bad, and my learning curve improved.
Moving back to SF, I wanted to find a new personal trainer. Then I realized: the best Crossfit in the world is in my backyard! I can go there and experience something amazing, and my total spend will be on par to Vietnam.
Whether you’re in the absolute best city for something, or just in a city where they value is high, you can find intention by using that opportunity.
And the best in the world is often in a cheaper location, because it lacks the economic upside of the digital world.
Yoga might be world class in San Francisco, but would you rather study it here or in Thailand?
Surfing is legendary in California, but will you yourself learn better here or living with less financial constraints in Bali?
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The most interesting things in life happen on the edges, and the best is the easiest edge to find.