The last couple of days have been a struggle, fighting burnout as a digital nomad. I don’t know if it’s just the time of year or something else, but I’ve been feeling that sensation like the walls are closing in on me lately. Or it could just be that I’ve been at the same camp for 12 days now.
Burnout as a Digital Nomad is No Joke
I get that I am in a good place right now. While my friends and family back home are reporting sub-zero temperatures, I’ve been dealing with mid to upper 40s inside the bus at night. This is a problem with a couple solutions. I can either put more clothes on, or I can run my propane heater more often. I usually try not to run the heater too often, since that means buying more fuel. Buying more fuel can often mean driving to the next town over if you don’t want to pay Quartzsite prices–around $9 for a 1lb bottle of propane as opposed to $5 at Walmart. Factor in things like the cost of gasoline and you wonder if you are saving any money.
Math is Hard in the Digital Nomad Lifestyle
The other day I paid for fresh drinking water from a machine in Quartzsite. It was fifty cents per gallon. There are other stations in town that offer filtered, UV treated water at $1.00 for five gallons. I usually get 10 gallons. At the expensive place, that’s $5.00. At the cheaper spot, it’s $2.00. But around 20 miles outside of town is a rest area with unlimited potable water for free. It also has the added benefit of having some salts and minerals in it, so you actually feel like you are drinking something, and you don’t feel bad about taking a $3 shower in drinking water.
The drawback to using the rest area is you have to continue driving all the way to Ehrenberg just to turn around, since there are no overpasses. Just a few miles west is the California border, where you can find grocery stores that actually have things you are looking for. But the round trip math for me on a trip like that is often $40 for groceries, $4 for a block of ice to keep the groceries cool in my 30 liter Mule Canyon Cooler. So at 11mpg, I’m looking at 5 gallons of fuel at $3.29 per gallon, which is about $20 round trip on top of groceries, plus the time it took to go out there. Some days might be worth it, but many days it’s not. Some days it’s exactly what you need to avoid burnout.
That Sense of Feeling Stuck
When you have to economize to the point of justifying whether or not you should drive 40 miles of interstate for a water run, it really takes the romance out of van life. What happened to driving to new places every week? Beautiful pictures? Interesting new people? Well, it’s not much different than regular life if you are living in a bricks and sticks home. Nobody is out there just driving every day. It’s cost prohibitive and believe me, you can get burned out from being on the road too much.
And if you’ve been paying attention to the expenses I’ve been talking about, you’ll see that the solution to the cost of living, fuel, and all these upgrades I want to put in the bus is to take on more work. At that point, you can really start to burn yourself out, or at the very least affect the quality of the work you do have. Which isn’t a good look. You want to prevent burnout, not accelerate it.
Self Care is Important When Living on the Road
It’s a balancing act when you are living on the road. To push yourself enough mentally and financially so you don’t get bored, and to stay parked long enough to work, save money, and not get burned out from driving places all the time. Self-care is crucial. My change of scenery to Lake Havasu City and then New Years Eve in Phoenix were much-needed distractions from the daily grind of cleaning the bus, writing, pitching, and staying off social media long enough to actually get anything done.
In both Lake Havasu City and Phoenix, I got my Dutch Bros. fix. I ate good food that wasn’t overpriced and mediocre. They had a rec center with a hot tub and showers. Super Walmart. Standing water to look out over and decent wifi in town. I got to socialize to the point where my mental health and emotional batteries were charged again. By the time I got back to Quartzsite, I was ready to work again. Nearly two weeks later, I’m wondering if I just need a recharge. If so, where? When? For how long?
This Time of Year…Kinda Sucks
I’ve been following the weather online for the last several days. In Quartzsite, we’ve had freeze warnings, which don’t sound too bad, unless you consider the inside of my bus is 48 degrees. When you are at home and it’s -40F, it’s still 65-72F inside your house. Unless your furnace conks out, you still can’t see your breath inside. On nights like these, I can. Which is all the motivation I need to upgrade my heating, which also means upgrading my solar system, which means getting more work so I can meet these expenses. It’s starting to sound a little monotonous, isn’t it? Much like making a water run.
The thing is the weather is not great here, but in a lot of places I want to go, it’s much worse. I’m kinda trapped here for now, not only because of expenses, but because of my bus’s capabilities to handle extreme weather. I need to upgrade my tires too. Which costs money, and the nearest place where I would get my tires is 200 miles away, in the depths of California. Or 200 miles to the North in Utah, where the weather really sucks.
Meeting New People on the Road
When I do make it into town, or if I’m on a day trip, I usually find the time to visit with people I have met along the way. Yesterday, I met a traveling astrologer. It was great to meet someone and visit about things we’ve experienced out here on the road. The luxuries we have missed like long hot showers and baths, a place to call home that doesn’t need an oil change ever three months, and a sense of community.
I am enjoying my adventure, but I don’t always feel like I’ve met my “tribe” so to speak. But that isn’t much different from every other day of my life. I keep my circle small for a reason. Most people are exhausting. It’s a rare few that actually energize me and inspire me. After visiting with the traveling astrologer, I got three new ideas for pitches. I found the energy to check out the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous here in Quartzsite too. All work and no play, dontcha know?
Giving Yourself More Adventures Takes Patience
I have a few more adventures lined up that won’t be as risky as driving three and a half hours to Phoenix for a NYE party, or wasting gas by driving into the middle of the Mojave desert to find that even I have my limits for solitude and desolation. Part of these adventures is pushing my comfort zones, understanding my boundaries as a traveller, and having stories to share about the experience.
I get that my wanderlust is what is giving me itchy feet. As I keep an eye on the weather, with so many places getting hammered with snow or just bad weather, I’m really reining it in and hunkering down. Besides, if I save up, I can afford the ridiculous fuel prices to check out places like Yosemite and the Pacific Coast Highway when the weather improves. It just takes patience, which somedays I am lacking in supply. Slow travel is a great way to have adventures and be effective in your remote work.
Too Much of a Good Thing: Travel Burnout as a Digital Nomad
If I was on the road as much as I was in October, I would have quickly exhausted my resources, and probably myself in the process. I put on a lot of miles in the month of October, from Mesa Verde to Farmington, Chaco Canyon, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Roswell, Carlsbad Caverns, Alamogordo and White Sands. It felt like I was filling my tank every other day sometimes. Granted gas was nearly a dollar per gallon cheaper, and the nights weren’t so cold. I got a lot of exploring done and plenty to write about, but after a while I would get so sick of just driving to get to the next place. As much as I love to drive, it gets old, just like how these plains of creosote and palo verde and jagged mountains can get old.
I just need to change my attitude and temper my wanderlust with a little bit of writing for me. I’ve been working on paid projects so much lately that it has been hard to shift gears when it comes to having time for me. Or better yet, just not doing a damn thing for a day or two, like normal people do when they need a break. If you don’t it can affect your physical health too. This usually means your body is demanding some time off.
So, if you are living the digital nomadism lifestyle like me, working as a digital nomad or even just taking a road trip, give yourself some time to not always be running. Take some time off. Pet your dog. Eat a cheeseburger. Sit in the lawn chair and watch the sunset for once. You don’t always need to be On.
Other Resources for Digital Nomads
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Check out the link for Origin, which made a damn fine pair of boots for my travels and living on the road. Use the code HARRIS10 for 10% off your total purchase. I’ve been wearing mine for nearly 4 years and they are still taking me where I need to go. Fight some burnout by taking a hike, or walking through a new city you want to explore. In the nomad lifestyle, your boots can make all the difference in how far you can go.
Want to have an adventure all your own? It all starts with Booking.com. Book flights, trips, and lodging accommodations with this link to Booking.com. Living on the road requires a lot of self-care, and sometimes it’s nice to check into a hotel for the night instead of living in your bus. Get your life balance back!
For my van life adventures, you’ll want to check out my storefront on Wayward. From cookstoves to solar systems, these are items you won’t want to tackle living on the road without them. Another way you can Support the show is to BuyMeACoffee. Donations are a great way to show your appreciation for the site. Though I’m sure instead of a coffee it will probably get me a gallon of gas.
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