Carolin Pilligrath: Combining work and travel #NomadWeek

Welcome to Nomad Week, a ten part series revealing the adventures, knowledge and travel tips from experienced digital nomads located all across the globe. I recently reached out to some of the best in the industry to get their perspectives on world travel and the digital nomad life. This week we will share their stories with you. Real nomads. Real stories. Find all ten interviews here.

Dateline: Tbilisi, Georgia

Carolin Pilligrath is originally from Germany. Now she is a digital nomad and perpetual traveler, constantly on the move. She is a traveller soul, digital nomad and founder of the travel blog breathingtravel.com. German on passport, but home at the heart. She makes a living by working online while traveling the world and seeing amazing places.

Where are you living now?
Brisbane, Australia

How long have you been there?
Three weeks, however I have been here a few times before.

What’s your favorite thing about the city?
For a start, Brisbane is great for it’s beautiful sub-tropical climate. Despite it being winter over here right now, we still get 20 degrees celsius and sunshine almost every day. Waking up to blue skies just makes me smile. Brisbane is a very laid-back city and I especially like the quality of life you get while still being more affordable than other cities in Australia, like Sydney or Melbourne.

What’s your LEAST favorite thing about the city?
It’s quite spread out and a car would be handy. The startup scene is still small which is, of course, good and bad in a sense.

Is there a little known fact about the city people might find interesting?
You can find an incredible café scene around New Farm and the most amazing beaches are within an hour’s drive north or south from the city.

Where is your favorite place you’ve ever lived and why?
Most definitely Australia, because I love the weather, friendliness of people and the lifestyle. I do love Bali though too and I think nomads are generally not set on one place. There are many fantastic places where I would like to live. Ideally I would like to have 3-4 places to base myself for a few months a year.

What is your LEAST favorite place you’ve ever lived and why?
Don’t really have one.

What was the EASIEST country you’ve ever visited (i.e. easiest immigration, easiest to open a local bank account, etc)?
Probably Spain. Because I hold a European passport it’s easy to move around and stay however long I want. With other countries the main restriction is always the visa regulations.

Have you ever had any problems in a country? (i.e. immigration issues, getting robbed, etc.)
I never had any immigration issues. As for safety, I have been generally cautious so I haven’t had any big incidents anywhere, not even South America where most people say it’s dangerous (depending on the country and part of course). I have gotten sick a few times on my travels though and had to go to some local hospitals for help, which wasn’t amazing.

Do you prefer one region of the world over another, and why?
I love Southeast Asia and Oceania for the amazing food, friendly people and many places are easy to move around. I’d love to explore North America in the future.

Is there anything that would make you settle down and stop traveling as much?
It’s great to travel slower and stay in places longer, or even have a base or two around the world as it’s beneficial to build up personal and business relationships. I don’t see myself ever completely stopping my travel, it’s part of me.

Who has been the most influential person on your travels (someone that encouraged you to start, or someone who has influenced you along the way)?
There is not just one person, but many great people who I have met along the way who have encouraged me to keep going and pushed me into the right direction.

If you were coaching a new nomad, what would you recommend they do to get started?
Try this lifestyle out first to see if it’s really for them, some people just like the idea but they don’t know what the reality of this life looks like.

What country would you recommend a new nomad go to FIRST?
Thailand, Bali, Spain, Portugal, anywhere with a great community really.

What is one country that you have not been to but is high on your list, and why?
Ohh, there are many. I’d love to travel to Hawaii and all across the States really, just because I haven’t touched this part of the planet much yet. Then Sri Lanka, Japan and Portugal.

What was the most unexpected surprise you ever encountered as a nomad?
I am surprised by how big the scene really is. I continuously keep connecting with new nomads, especially over Instagram, and I am always surprised when we somehow end up in the same place and meet up in person.

What was the biggest mistake you made that other nomads can learn from?
Not being organized in terms of knowing where to look for decent Internet. Especially on days where you already know you have a Skype call or something important happening. I’ve wasted some good time hunting for Internet as I wanted to try a new café or something and ended up with really slow speeds or no Internet at all.

How do you meet new people while living the nomad lifestyle? Do you ever get lonely?
In co-working spaces, meetups, cafés, connect over social media, there are so many ways. I have not felt lonely on my nomad journey so far. I also frequently meet old friends along the way, as well as seeing family when I can. It’s important to keep a connection back home and I like that I have the flexibility to decide when I want to see them.