My ‘brushes’ with digital nomad fame
I didn’t get to reading Tim Feriss’ The Four-Hour Work Week until after a decade of its 2007 release but the book would go on to inspire me like it has for a generation of adventure-seekers to explore life abroad.
By 2017, I would trade in my “normal” life-routine living in the Twin Cities of Minnesota for an unpredictable life abroad in Thailand and Vietnam with no return date in mind.
On August 1st, I landed in Chiang Mai, Thailand, best-known as the digital nomad capital of the world for its exceptional low-cost of living and convenient amenities which make living a laptop lifestyle possible: plenty of high-speed internet cafes, affordable coworking spaces, and a global community of like-minded nomads sharing their experiences, expertise, and business and life hacks.
For the next 5 years, being based in Southeast Asia, I would befriend unsuspecting individuals who would later go on to accomplish many great feats and accolades.
Here is the story of three of them.
The world’s most famous digital nomad
I first met Johnny FD at his 2018 Nomad Summit in Chiang Mai and worked closely with him at his dropshipping bootcamp a year later.
Johnny is well-known for his “rags to riches” story of sojourning to Thailand as a diver and Thai boxing amateur and, after nearly going broke, was introduced to Dropship Lifestyle founder Anton Kraly, who helped him become a millionaire in e-commerce.
Johnny helped put Chiang Mai on the map as the digital capital of the world.
Johnny is the most well-known digital nomad because he documents his daily life online through his blog, Youtube channel, Travel Like a Boss and most recently, Invest Like a Boss podcast.
Today, he has traded in his easy-going Southeast Asia lifestyle for Kiev, Ukraine, where he purchased an apartment and is based most of the year.
Johnny tells me he is re-launching Nomad Summit 2025 in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where it all started for him nearly a decade later.
The podcaster and real estate investor
I first met Matt Bowles at the 2019 Nomad Summit when I casually mentioned I was based in Danang, Vietnam to which he replied: “I’ll be going to Danang. Let’s meet up there!”
So we did and eventually met up two more times, once in Seoul, South Korea and later at Tropical MBA’s flagship Bangkok conference for location-independent entrepreneurs.
Matt spends a lot of time in far-flung places such as Africa and the Middle East.
At that time, Matt was just starting his podcast, The Maverick Show with Matt Bowles, where he interviews location-independent entrepreneurs and running his online real estate investor business.
Today, Matt’s podcast is the number-one ranked digital nomad and travel podcast on Apple iTunes, where he uses the platform to highlight social causes and societal inequities.
The world’s longest-running digital nomad
I was first introduced to James Clark through a blog posting and reached out to him on a trip to Saigon in 2019.
Our cafe meeting started a long-time friendship and several YouTube and podcast collaborations over the years.
James started his independent travels in 2003 and has been bouncing around the world ever since.
James holds the title as one of the world’s longest-running digital nomads, since 2003.
Most well-known for his blog, Nomadic Notes, the Aussie-native makes Vietnam his home-base as he reports on his Southeast travel adventures, documenting the noticeable changes many neighborhoods and cities undergo.
He is also the only Westerner who reports on Southeast Asia’s transport and urban development through his Future Southeast Asia blog, reporting on Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh’s metro-line and, most recently, China’s Belt and Road rail development in Laos, Thailand and Indonesia.
The Four-Hour Work Week has inspired these individuals as well as myself to experience life outside of developed countries, to become part of what Ferriss calls the “New Rich” by leveraging affordable local services, and to utilize the internet to build online businesses reaching a global audience.
