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Lightning Talk: Nomadic Programmer

Grzegorz Witek • June 27, 2014 • Singapore • Lightning Talk

In the video titled "Lightning Talk: Nomadic Programmer," Grzegorz Witek shares his experiences and insights gained during six months of traveling around the world while working as a freelance Ruby developer. He emphasizes the excitement and benefits of becoming a nomadic programmer, even if only for a short period. The talk is structured around three key lessons learned during his journey:

  • Preventing Burnout: Witek shares his personal experience of burnout from a well-paid job and highlights that it's essential to take breaks before reaching a breaking point. He urges listeners to prioritize relaxation and mental health over continuous work pressure.

  • Facing Fears: He discusses the importance of stepping out of one's comfort zone. Traveling to New Zealand marked a turning point where he confronted his fears, such as heights and deep water. Through various challenges, including jumping off high places and diving, he discovered that conquering fears broadens personal limits and capabilities.

  • Working Remotely: Witek explains how he initially feared that freelance work would hinder his flexibility to travel. Contrary to his expectations, he found that he could work effectively from almost anywhere, whether on a train, in a hostel, or even in remote locations with a mobile data connection. He emphasizes that productivity is achievable without a traditional office setup; rather, it’s about finding a comfortable work environment.

Throughout his talk, Witek encourages others to embrace the nomadic lifestyle, highlighting that the ability to work from anywhere can enhance travel experiences and personal growth. He invites the audience to share their own stories and engage in further discussions during a social gathering following the talk.

Witek’s overall message is one of empowerment as he showcases how digital nomadism can lead to both professional success and personal fulfillment.

Lightning Talk: Nomadic Programmer
Grzegorz Witek • June 27, 2014 • Singapore • Lightning Talk

In December 2013 I quit my job, bought a ticket to the other end of the world, took my backpack and and went to the airport. Since then I've been travelling from country to country, visiting new places, experiencing new cultures, attending meetups and conferences, and working as a freelance Ruby developer. This is not another "I quit corporation" talk. What I want to tell you is: why it's exciting to become a nomadic programmer even just for a few months, what problems you can expect when you change your place once a week, and how to work effectively without your own office, big screen and fast, reliable internet connection.

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Red Dot Ruby Conference 2014

00:00:22.039 hi my name is Gregor my superpower is
00:00:25.760 resistance to alarm clocks and my talk
00:00:28.560 is about traveling the world and being a
00:00:31.080 nomadic
00:00:32.280 programmer So within the last six months
00:00:35.320 I've been traveling around the world
00:00:37.520 I've been living in hosts and I've been
00:00:39.879 working parttime as a ruby freelance
00:00:41.640 developer and today I want to share with
00:00:43.760 you three lessons that I learned during
00:00:45.440 this time let's go back in time uh a few
00:00:48.879 months ago I had really well-paid job I
00:00:51.079 had cool team that I could learn a lot
00:00:52.840 from but after some time I started
00:00:55.960 burning out I basically stopped enjoying
00:00:58.480 my work instead of taking a break I
00:01:00.879 started pushing harder and long story
00:01:03.280 short I ended up being totally burned
00:01:05.400 out I was considering giving up my
00:01:07.560 developer career and I didn't know what
00:01:09.920 to do with my life so what I did was I
00:01:13.320 quit my job I bought the ticket to the
00:01:15.520 furthest place on Earth which if you
00:01:17.400 live in Poland is New Zealand and I went
00:01:19.840 there with basically I went there with
00:01:22.159 basically no plans and no idea what I'm
00:01:24.079 goingon to do so lesson number one is
00:01:26.880 don't get burned out better chill out
00:01:29.079 like this bear really I I'm pretty sure
00:01:31.720 that preventing burnout is much easier
00:01:34.240 and better than recovering from it so
00:01:37.560 that's lesson number one but as you may
00:01:39.720 guess my journey wasn't that bad uh I've
00:01:42.439 been traveling a lot and actually it's
00:01:44.520 been the best time of my life I learned
00:01:47.040 a lot during this time as a programmer
00:01:49.840 and about and as a as a human being one
00:01:53.280 thing that I learn is that it's really
00:01:55.600 cool to fight your fears I am I am a man
00:01:58.799 who's afraid of lots of stuff I'm afraid
00:02:01.039 of height so if I'm in skyscraper I
00:02:03.039 don't go close to the window uh I'm
00:02:06.079 afraid of deep water if I cannot reach
00:02:08.039 ground with my feet I start panicking
00:02:10.440 and actually when I went to New Zealand
00:02:12.120 I left my comfort zone 70,000 kilometers
00:02:14.560 from home and I had no plans what to do
00:02:17.440 but within this time today is day number
00:02:20.319 178 I've been to 60 different places and
00:02:24.760 I learned that I can I can fight my
00:02:27.280 fears I can push my limit in one once
00:02:30.160 you once you leave your comfort zone
00:02:32.680 once you make this first step it's it's
00:02:35.519 much easier and much better to do the
00:02:37.879 things that you you thought you not a
00:02:39.920 you're not able to do so this was one
00:02:42.560 thing that I did the second one was
00:02:44.400 jumping from this stuff on the Rope the
00:02:46.720 third one was diving deep water and
00:02:50.319 that's lesson number one uh number two
00:02:53.040 you can do everything it's it's possible
00:02:55.599 you're just you're just not aware that
00:02:57.760 you can do it and lesson number three is
00:03:01.239 about working as I mentioned in the
00:03:02.800 beginning I I started working as a as a
00:03:05.519 freelancer when I started recovering
00:03:07.560 from burnout I I started taking some
00:03:10.680 small contracts I was afraid that
00:03:13.080 they're going to limit my
00:03:15.000 flexibility and that I will have to
00:03:17.159 somehow limit my travel but I started
00:03:20.120 working everywhere I work in trains in
00:03:22.840 planes and in the middle of nowhere this
00:03:25.720 photo was taken in the middle of Taiwan
00:03:28.280 uh the hostel that I stayed had no hot
00:03:30.319 water and no Wi-Fi but it had beautiful
00:03:32.879 views and I had SIM card and I had
00:03:35.560 mobile data package and that was enough
00:03:37.599 to work so lots of people tell me that
00:03:40.599 they cannot imagine working without big
00:03:42.239 screen and comfortable office and I say
00:03:44.560 that it's a matter of comfort it's not a
00:03:46.879 matter of productivity I was as
00:03:48.680 productive working there as I was in
00:03:50.560 office and it's just a trade-off of
00:03:52.640 comfort you can choose big screen and
00:03:55.120 coffee machine in the office or you can
00:03:57.120 choose this view or working next to the
00:03:59.959 and going for surfing lassons just after
00:04:01.799 you work so that's lesson number three
00:04:04.680 and I learned it I learn it in a hard
00:04:07.599 way I can work anywhere I just need
00:04:10.239 internet and I need the reasonable
00:04:12.640 temperature and level of noise around
00:04:16.120 me if you want to talk about this topic
00:04:18.840 about traveling about working when
00:04:20.400 you're traveling I will be happy to talk
00:04:22.000 to you I will be happy to hear your
00:04:23.479 stories and to tell you more about my
00:04:25.639 experience and I hope to see you tonight
00:04:28.120 at the party enjoy the rest of the
00:04:56.880 talk
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